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Savages: Satiric Primitivism

Savages: Satiric Primitivism image
Parent Issue
Day
11
Month
April
Year
1975
Additional Text

SAVAGES, directed by James F. Ivory, produced by Ismail Merchant, screenplay by George Swift Trow and Michael O'Donoghue, Susan Blakely as Cecily, a Debutante; Margaret Brewster as Lady Cora; Thayer David as Otto Nurder, a Capitalist; Neil Fitzgerald as Sir Harry; Anne Francine as Carlotta, a Hostess; Salome Jens as Emily Penning, a Woman in Disgrace; Martin Kove as Archie. a Bully; Christopher Pennock as Hester; Asha Puthli as The Forest Girl; Eve Saleh as Zia, the Child; Paulita Sedgewick as Penelope, a high-strung Girl; Lewis J. Stadlen as Julian Branch, a Song Writer; Russ Thacker as Andrew, an Eligible Young Man; Ultra Violet as Iliona, A Decadent; Sam Waterson as James, the Limping Man; and Kathleen Widdoes as Lilly Lessing and Claus Jurgen. Angelika Films.

Clothes do not the person make says an old Latin proverb. In Savages, the trappings run from mud and feathers to silks and jewels, but underneath remains a primitive and savage human being.

This satiric film made its world debut in Cannes in 1972, but has taken two years for its midwest premiere run in Ann Arbor at the Campus Theater.

Opening in a forest, the audience is treated to what seems a scholarly, anthropological documentary on the Mud People, complete with untranslated German narration. The tribe runs through its mysterious rituals culminating in the inevitable human sacrifice. Suddenly, the flow is disrupted by a rolling croquet ball, bringing the ceremony to a halt and leading the tribe on to adventure.

Backtracking through the woods leads the group to an ancient mansion, white-pillared and overgrown. Exploring the many-roomed wonder, the tribe begins to play with the old clothes, books and toy trains, growing progressively more civilized. Again a ritual is performed, this time a society dinner party reminiscent of the turn of the century or maybe pre-Depression upper class, complete with evening gowns, champagne and cigars. But despite the outward appearance of civilization, basic instincts are simply covered by a new facade and ancient ceremonies are lightly disguised as scholarly conversation and parlor games.

All too soon, their civilization crumbles, for society is only a fitting mirage. Following a decadent croquet game, the tribe drives its wooden balls back into the forest from whence they came only 24 hours earlier.

Some witty incidents throughout Savages cut into the niceties of daily society, keeping the audience guessing at motives. The zany characters are offbeat, but always too close to reality for comfort. As their civilization falls, the effects are unsettling when the audience must emerge back into the real world, more subtly attuned to society's hypocrisy.

Filmed in New York, the film has its own surrounding cult in the high-brow East, but has yet to make its mark on the more down to earth midwest. Perhaps a following will develop for Savages in this "sophisticated" University community, but my tough Detroit upbringing suggests this film is just a bit too far off the beaten track for most folks.