The Pied Piper

A previous reviewer said that this version is probably closer to the original version of the story than any other version with which we're familiar in this day and age. Given the portrayal of the bubonic plague, I would have to agree. And it only adds to the movie's quality that they cast Donovan as the title character. I should warn you that this movie is rather dark - but never gross - and not even trying to be "cute", so don't expect that. Also starring Jack Wild, John Hurt and Donald Pleasance.

One other thing is that "The Pied Piper" is (as far as I know) not officially available on video or DVD. It is available in the video/DVD store Movie Madness, here in Portland, Oregon. If you're ever in Portland, you should come to Movie Madness.

Grimm Brothers tale of a strolling minstrel in 1349 Germany who agrees to rid the village of Hamelin of plague-carrying rats is given a serious, perhaps overly-solemn treatment. Jacques Demy has directed the story in a straightforward fashion, without any humor or playfulness, mystery or beauty (with the exception of the sunrise-heightened finale). Pop singer Donovan is well-cast in the title role, and his music compositions are good even if his songs are not of the Medieval period. The other cast members--top-billed Jack Wild, Donald Pleasance and John Hurt--have very little to do; Wild, in particular, is forced to painfully hobble around with a crutch as an alchemist's assistant. Michael Hordern as Melius, who is unable to conjure a cure for the Black Death and is arrested for being a heretic, gives the picture's finest performance, though his final moment tied to a stake may prove to be too heavy for the movie's supposed 'family audience.' The dank, mildewy locations, period costumes and bedraggled extras all lend a convincing air to the film, but "Piper"'s downbeat nature (not to mention all those rats!) makes it a tough sell. ** from ****

The bubonic plague often began with the death of the rats before it spread to the people. This movie's version of the pied piper seems far closer to the origin of the story than anything else I've seen.

The original 303-line poem "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" was published by Robert Browning in 1842, and wow it's a doozy--thoroughly disturbing to the core and meant to be so. How we ended up with a cute bedtime fable is beyond me, but then again, in the original Sleeping Beauty, the Prince rapes her in her sleep. So.

Here in 1972, we get an excellent adaptation of the tale which retains much of the poem's disturbing nature but with a slightly softened tone, offering glimmers of goodness and hope despite the backdrop of 13th Century inhumanity, greed, religious murders and child marriages. Yea, did I mention this is not for kids?

What offsets the disturbing story is largely the wonderful performance and gentle voice of Donovan who plays the titular Piper. Whereas in the original poem the piper was sort of a mysterious opportunistic rogue, here we get a mysterious character who is more of a wise, savior figure. The songs he sings (written by Donovan) are not just beautiful to the ear, but the lyrics are tranquil and reassuring.

This contrasts brilliantly against the disturbing story which is about a small German village that is besieged not only by the plague but, even worse, besieged by a consortium of corrupt politicians, priests and landowners who would tax their own grandmother's false teeth. It gets even more disturbing as the plot revolves around a baron's shifty son who is preparing to wed an 11-year-old-girl so he can collect the dowry and fund his violent exploits, and all the while his father the baron is squeezing blood out of the villagers so he can build a cathedral in his own honor--much to the drooling approval of the local bishops. This is heavy stuff. This is not a children's fable. But it's a brilliantly done film.

Not only are the acting performances riveting, from Donald Pleasance as the tyrannical baron to John Hurt as his loathsome son to Michael Hordern as Melius the scholar who is the sole voice of reason, but the camera style is thoroughly engaging as it follows the action gracefully for long stretches without a cut. If you watch this film, notice how the camera moves through the scenery almost like a silent character in the film, and this draws us tighter into the drama in a voyeuristic way. The sets are enormous and authentic, and as I mentioned the music is first rate.

On a subtle note, the film also attempts to nudge history back toward the truth. In the original poem, as well as for centuries, it was commonly accepted and taught that rats were the cause of the Black Plague, but only in recent years have we learned that the plague was spread by people basically drinking water out of their own sewers (go figure). And in this adaptation, the rats are not shown to be the vile "vermin" which Robert Browning accused them of being, but instead they are shown to be more like symbolic warnings of what will befall man if man doesn't clean up his act.

There's a beautiful, sobering moment where the piper talks to a rat and says something like "I know you must treat each other much better than men treat each other" and that short scene summarizes the spirit of this film. Yes, it's disturbing, yes it shows the atrocities and cruelty that humans inflict upon each other, but there's a subtle undercurrent that tells us wisdom will eventually prevail. Will it? I dunno, nearly 50 years after the film's release we're still waiting.

Jacques Demy, at his best, was one of those directors who, like Charlie Chaplin, Akira Kurosawa, Jim Jarmusch, or Ernst Lubitsch, could ascend to the ranks of the greats without possessing the immense intellectual and artistic faculties of many of his contemporaries (i.e. Bergman, Tarkovsky, Godard, Pasolini, Antonioni, Buñuel, Bresson, et cetera). Unfortunately, Demy was never as consistent or as prolific as Chaplin or Kurosawa, for instance, who released one good-to-great film after another for such an extensive career. Nevertheless, films like "Lola" and particularly "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" showed that cinema could be masterful without being artistically ambitious. Like Ozu, Demy proved that a true masterpiece could derive from emotional expressiveness, not only intellectual expressiveness.

In addition to this emotional depth, the other impressive facet of Demy's cinema was, of course, his stylistic abilities. "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" is truly one of the most stylistically impressive films ever made; visually sumptuous on a level entirely of its own. "The Young Girls of Rochefort" also demonstrates Demy's capacity for stylistically rich and luxurious cinema. We can even see it as early as "Le bel indifférent", his 1957 short film based on a Cocteau play.

Resplendent visuals and extreme emotional potency — these two things Demy did as well as just about anyone to ever sit in a director's chair. "The Pied Piper", therefore, was a bit perplexing to me. It wasn't by any means poorly filmed, but like "The Model Shop", Demy's other previous film made outside of France, it simply lacked his usual flare for lush and lavish visuals. By comparison to his French films, "The Pied Piper" is very mundane, aesthetically speaking.

As for the emotional potency, there is very little. There's not much plot, which in and of itself is absolutely fine by me, but the film seems to lack the emotional punch that we're used to from Demy, although naturally that will vary from person to person, to some degree.

Furthermore, although the film is definitely a fantasy, which is in keeping with Demy's last film, "Donkey Skin", it is really quite gloomy in its mood. Demy, who is usually so filled with life and energy, is quite dreary here. Of course, "The Model Shop", an American film, was also rather dull in tone and lifeless compared to his usual work, so perhaps Demy is a product of his environment. Perhaps his milieu determines the nature of his films. Working in France, his films tend to be filled to the brim with warmth and vibrancy. Outside of France, he seems to be another filmmaker all together.

"The Pied Piper" is also extremely cynical. Demy, who has always been the classic romantic, takes a completely different look at humanity in this film. Instead of his characteristic enthusiasm for life and romantic fervor, "The Pied Piper" is deprived of anything that could be perceived as the kind of life-affirming fun and joyousness that permeated most of his previous films. Truly, he is unrecognizable here.

The film, which is set in Germany in the 1300s, satirizes the Catholic Church and politicians, among other things, and paints a very grim portrait of humanity. It stars Jack Wild, John Hurt, Donald Pleasence, and others, including Donovan, who composed and performed the music for the film. As far as that goes, let's just say he's no Michel Legrand. One of the most ridiculous aspects of the film was the way that '60s/'70s culture so obtrusively pervaded a film that was meant to be set in the 14th century. Throughout the film, Donovan plays music on a style of six-string guitar that I'm almost certain did not exist at the time, and the music he plays sounds so laughably like the '60s/'70s that it became difficult to take anything I was seeing seriously. Generally a period piece makes an effort to disguise the modernity of its production, but not here.

At times this film reminded me of the later work of Roberto Rossellini, such as "Blaise Pascal", "Cartesius", and especially "The Age of the Medici". Needless to say, those were historical films, and Demy's film is a fantasy, but the style and tone of the films are similar in some ways.

While "The Pied Piper" is not truly a musical, Donovan's score and the songs he plays on a few occasions during the film certainly are a large part of defining the overall feel of the film, and he simply can't do for "The Pied Piper" what Legrand was able to do for "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" or even "The Young Girls of Rochefort". Donovan's music here just isn't very good, and it contributes nothing of any real value to the film.

At the end of the day, this film represents to me the paragon of mediocrity. It is certainly not a bad film, and certainly not a good one. The most interesting parts of the film are the social commentary and satire that Demy delivers with a surprisingly scathing and uncompromising bluntness, but even there, the film doesn't really say anything new or different than what we've seen many times before in cinema: Authority is corrupt and human vice takes root where man attempts to attain or maintain power. Demy exposes religious officials' use of apparent piety and ecclesiastical values as a thinly veiled disguise for greed and immorality. This really isn't anything original or profound in terms of new ideas in cinema, but it's interesting coming from Demy, who I wouldn't have pegged for this kind of cynicism.

I can't say I'd recommend this film, but I don't think it's a real waste of time either. There will inevitably be those with whom the film clicks, but I'm guessing that the majority of experienced filmgoers won't take much away from this one.

RATING: 5.00 out of 10 stars