Deliverance is based on James Dickey's bestseller about four men embarked on an dangerous and violent canoe trip through an raging river. Dickey states in his novel that one day, the American wilderness will soon expired because of the technology that we have today. He states that the rivers and streams in the wild is very useful to our environment. Even after Dickey's passing, we still today struggle through this hardship. The fact that in today's world, the environment is still hanging in the balance.
The movie version of the bestseller is a perfectly great example of his theory. Four Atlanta businessmen, Ed, (Jon Voight), Lewis, (Burt Reynolds), Drew, (Ronny Cox), and Bobby, (Ned Beatty), are spending their weekend canoeing down an Georgia river that will soon turn into a lake, thanks to the local power company damming the river. The four men all come from different backgrounds and perspectives. Ed is a mild- mannered everyday man who has a wife, a kid and a profession he enjoys. Lewis is a outdoors-man. He is very concerned by the fact that the river is turning into a lake. He even has his philosophy about machines taking over the land that America sits on. Drew is a very deeply moral person. He doesn't seem to bother anybody since he spends most of his time playing his guitar. Bobby is a lovable, sometimes clumsy person who seems to have a big heart. In the beginning of their canoe trip, the group tries to communicate with the locals by telling them that they want someone to drive their cars down to Aintry, which is the closest town near the river. The folks, however, are not very friendly. Some are inbred, while other suffered from the living conditions.
After settling in, the boys decides to canoe down the river and along the way, they run into a pair of backwoods men. One of them is a mountain man, (Bill McKinney), who turns the movie into a very sinister adventure film. As the canoe trip becomes more and more dangerous to handle, the boys find themselves in constant danger after committing an murder in the woods since one of the mountain man raped Bobby.
The cinematography of the movie is very beautifully done by Vilmos Zsigmond. He does know how to photograph unfake shots of the mountains and especially the white water. The whole movie is very well- photographed since the movie has a very deceiving look of the wilderness. It also as if there's something evil lurking under something beautiful. It always nice to see a movie where there's an authentic look and feel of nature itself. Even though some people never went canoeing down a river, this is a perfect example what could happen when you travel through the rapids and the jagged rocks that are in the river.
One of the best scenes in Deliverance is when Drew and a local boy feud against each other with their musical instruments. Drew is strumming his guitar, peacefully. The local boy, with a very dark look on his stoned face, plucks on one of his strings on his banjo. This scene is famously called "Dueling Banjos", since the music involves shows the contrasts of city life and country life. Of course, that is very significant in the movie. But never done quite like this before. The attitude that the boys have on the locals is another example of the city life/country life contrast. Lewis seems to taunt the locals by instigating them. But, even with his wisecracks, Lewis doesn't seem to realize that he could wound up being hurt if he doesn't close his mouth.
Ever since Deliverance was released, people had mixed feelings toward the way the locals were represented in the movie. Billy Redden, who plays the banjo player, said that he enjoyed working on the movie and said that it is just a movie. Yet some locals thinks the movie is an insult to those who live in deep Georgia. In my opinion, a movie is a movie. I doubt that the makers of this movie were creating a land that was slipping away at the time. In fact, there are a lot of ideas that Deliverance has to offer.
Several critics stated that the movie is an allegory of the Vietnam War. To some, that is a very interesting point because according to Lewis, the boys, not knowing that they going into uncharted territory, are raping the land. They have no idea what they are about to get into. That statement can be made about the ongoing Vietnam War that was going on at that time. And besides, the unforgettable climax of the movie is a example of what the American soldiers experienced while coming to America. The fact that Ed, suffers from what happened on the river. Not only Ed, but Lewis, Bobby and even Drew.
Out of all of the movies that Burt Reynolds starred in, this is his best. This movie is long before he starred in Smokey and the Bandit in 1977. His performance in Deliverance is great and also interesting because you think that they would hired an different actor to play Lewis. But, Reynolds is outstanding. He doesn't grandstand or overact his part. He plays Lewis very sharp. Jon Voight, who at the time was struggling to become a serious actor is very well-casted in this movie. To me, Voight plays Ed in a very mild-mannered way. He is very open- minded especially in a scene where the boys talk about what they are going to do with the body. Voight in that scene holds himself back while the others try to figure out what to do. The two lesser known actors, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty, did a very good job. Beatty is perfect as Bobby, the clumsy and always cheerful businessman.
★★★★ 4 stars.
The movie version of the bestseller is a perfectly great example of his theory. Four Atlanta businessmen, Ed, (Jon Voight), Lewis, (Burt Reynolds), Drew, (Ronny Cox), and Bobby, (Ned Beatty), are spending their weekend canoeing down an Georgia river that will soon turn into a lake, thanks to the local power company damming the river. The four men all come from different backgrounds and perspectives. Ed is a mild- mannered everyday man who has a wife, a kid and a profession he enjoys. Lewis is a outdoors-man. He is very concerned by the fact that the river is turning into a lake. He even has his philosophy about machines taking over the land that America sits on. Drew is a very deeply moral person. He doesn't seem to bother anybody since he spends most of his time playing his guitar. Bobby is a lovable, sometimes clumsy person who seems to have a big heart. In the beginning of their canoe trip, the group tries to communicate with the locals by telling them that they want someone to drive their cars down to Aintry, which is the closest town near the river. The folks, however, are not very friendly. Some are inbred, while other suffered from the living conditions.
After settling in, the boys decides to canoe down the river and along the way, they run into a pair of backwoods men. One of them is a mountain man, (Bill McKinney), who turns the movie into a very sinister adventure film. As the canoe trip becomes more and more dangerous to handle, the boys find themselves in constant danger after committing an murder in the woods since one of the mountain man raped Bobby.
The cinematography of the movie is very beautifully done by Vilmos Zsigmond. He does know how to photograph unfake shots of the mountains and especially the white water. The whole movie is very well- photographed since the movie has a very deceiving look of the wilderness. It also as if there's something evil lurking under something beautiful. It always nice to see a movie where there's an authentic look and feel of nature itself. Even though some people never went canoeing down a river, this is a perfect example what could happen when you travel through the rapids and the jagged rocks that are in the river.
One of the best scenes in Deliverance is when Drew and a local boy feud against each other with their musical instruments. Drew is strumming his guitar, peacefully. The local boy, with a very dark look on his stoned face, plucks on one of his strings on his banjo. This scene is famously called "Dueling Banjos", since the music involves shows the contrasts of city life and country life. Of course, that is very significant in the movie. But never done quite like this before. The attitude that the boys have on the locals is another example of the city life/country life contrast. Lewis seems to taunt the locals by instigating them. But, even with his wisecracks, Lewis doesn't seem to realize that he could wound up being hurt if he doesn't close his mouth.
Ever since Deliverance was released, people had mixed feelings toward the way the locals were represented in the movie. Billy Redden, who plays the banjo player, said that he enjoyed working on the movie and said that it is just a movie. Yet some locals thinks the movie is an insult to those who live in deep Georgia. In my opinion, a movie is a movie. I doubt that the makers of this movie were creating a land that was slipping away at the time. In fact, there are a lot of ideas that Deliverance has to offer.
Several critics stated that the movie is an allegory of the Vietnam War. To some, that is a very interesting point because according to Lewis, the boys, not knowing that they going into uncharted territory, are raping the land. They have no idea what they are about to get into. That statement can be made about the ongoing Vietnam War that was going on at that time. And besides, the unforgettable climax of the movie is a example of what the American soldiers experienced while coming to America. The fact that Ed, suffers from what happened on the river. Not only Ed, but Lewis, Bobby and even Drew.
Out of all of the movies that Burt Reynolds starred in, this is his best. This movie is long before he starred in Smokey and the Bandit in 1977. His performance in Deliverance is great and also interesting because you think that they would hired an different actor to play Lewis. But, Reynolds is outstanding. He doesn't grandstand or overact his part. He plays Lewis very sharp. Jon Voight, who at the time was struggling to become a serious actor is very well-casted in this movie. To me, Voight plays Ed in a very mild-mannered way. He is very open- minded especially in a scene where the boys talk about what they are going to do with the body. Voight in that scene holds himself back while the others try to figure out what to do. The two lesser known actors, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty, did a very good job. Beatty is perfect as Bobby, the clumsy and always cheerful businessman.
★★★★ 4 stars.