Survival of the Dead - Cowboys vs. Zombies

In 2009, George Romero made another zombie movie. Oh, well, you might ask: Zombies are everywhere – so why would anyone care? Let me tell you why. First of all, Romero's zombies are special. They are vicious, cannibalistic beasts, but with each movie, they gain a little more consciousness. From Dawn of the Dead on, zombies can be observed as they are trying to find back into the lives they once had. They start imitating the living, be it the zombified guy at the gas station who does not know where to go with his fuel pump (Land of the Dead) or the undead mailman who keeps stuffing the same mailbox over and over again (Survival of the Dead). Aside of being zombies, they aptly show how monotonous most of human work is and in Land of the Dead they even become a kind of undead homeless working class. 

Cowboys will be cowboys.

The story of Survival of the Dead revolves around two clans on an island who have nothing better to do than fight each other to the death during the apocalypse. The conflict centers on the question whether one should chain the dead like cattle but not harm them (a process dangerous enough in itself) or kill them to avoid further tragedy. Ironically, the anti-zombie family (O’Flynn) is the one that is more sympathetic, but their patriarch, Patrick O’Flynn, is banned from the island as a result of the two (Irish) families’ disagreement on the zombie situation. 

 

Romero’s movie is strangely reminiscent of real-life disputes between pro-life (here: pro-unlife) and pro-choice activists. Hence, the pro-unlife faction (the Muldoons) is portrayed as very conservative (“I trust in God”), whereas the pro-choice faction (the O’Flynns) is willing to adapt to the new situation, which makes killing a few zombies now and then unavoidable. Patrick O’Flynn may be robbing helpless survivors while in exile, but at least he lets them live. Not so old Muldoon, his family-first antagonist. He shoots ‘immigrants’ mercilessly at the shore of his island as they arrive, and as his rule crumbles, ends up preferring the dead over the living. 

The Muldoons ready for action.

The movie combines Western and zombie apocalypse, but manages to be not trashy - in contrast to many other cross-genre Western movies (Cowboys vs. Aliens, anyone?). Both parties suffer from conflicts emerging from within as the crisis reaches its climax, and the only characters that come off as a little bland are the soldiers who are, ironically, the actual main characters in our film.

 

Although the movie treats them as protagonists and the viewer easily identifies with them, they are the least interesting. They, being the good guys, naturally cooperate with the O’Flynns, and beyond that there is little worth mentioning about them. They adopt a young fugitive – who has his very own mind – but they all stand together when it comes to facing the Muldoons, who have figured out their very own way of solving the zombie problem. Without going into further details in order to not spoil the movie, I can assure you that it backfires to some degree.

Trailer

If you need something to fill the pause until The Walking Dead returns, Romero’s work comes highly recommended, in general. Romero’s Dead movies stand out among the mass of brainless zombie movies for being both gory and intelligent, but Survival of the Dead effectively adds both a new setting and new aspects to the zombie theme, leaving urban areas for a silent, but nonetheless deadly island.

Trumbo - A man who wouldn't be silenced

A few weeks ago, some friends and I went to the cinema. We did not know which movie to watch, so we settled for the sneak peek preview. And oh, boy, were we in for a surprise! None of us had heard from the movie we were going to watch: Trumbo. Neither did we know that Breaking Bad-Star Bryan Cranston would play the main role!

When we realized what kind of movie this would be, we were skeptical. We had not come to the cinema with the intention of learning about a communist screenwriter living and working in America during the 1940’s and following. We were not sure if we were in the mood for ‘something intellectual’. 

The story is concerned with Dalton Trumbo, a man who believes in fair wages, but who does not want to give up his privileges at the same time – a moderate socialist, you might say, but nevertheless a member of the infamous “Hollywood 10” (alleged communists in the movie business). Thus, he is considered a radical and a public enemy. Trumbo has to endure public shaming, first and foremost led by journalist Hedda Hopper (well portrayed by Helen Mirren), whose slanderous reporting inspires one angry viewer to shove his drink in Trumbo’s face.

Trumbo defending himself. Source.

A little bit later, when famous movie star John Wayne (David James Elliot) tries to lecture Trumbo on being a true American, Trumbo embarrasses him, reminding him that he, unlike Trumbo, never fought for his country during WWII – only on screen. As Trumbo notices that Wayne is on the verge of exploding, he just says: “And if you're going to hit me I'd like to take off my glasses.” Wayne walks away, leaving a baffled crowd, both on and off screen, behind. 

If anything is clear from that scene on, it is that Trumbo is not only brave, but resilient. A short clip from the real Trumbo's testimony given during the hearings in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities gives you a good idea of Trumbo’s chutzpah in the face of his prosecutors. Cranston masterfully revives this one of the most daring testimonies of history, comparable to Oscar Wilde’s passionate speech in his 1895 trial. 

Official Trailer

Later on, Trumbo is convicted – without having committed a crime. The movie succeeds in portraying this little known director both as a humble and – most of all – truly sympathetic hero, certainly influenced by his two daughters, Nikola and Melissa, who were involved in the writing of the film. The importance of Trumbo's story can hardly be overstated, for it depicts the American Nation when it had just defeated a great evil – Nazi Germany – but instantaneously became oblivious to its own oppressive power during the McCarthy era.

What the movie falls short of, however, is to keep up its very interesting start. By the end, watching Trumbo’s biography feels a little tedious. However, the actors’ great performances make up for it, and if characters sometimes seem comical (most notably B-movie producers Frank King (John Goodman) and his brother Herman (Stephen Root)), it is for the better. In most cases, however, performances are spot-on. 

The Trumbo biopic is definitely a movie you wouldn’t want to miss if you are interested in American history. It is a well-deserved tribute to one of Hollywood's greatest directors.