Retrospective: Rollerball (1975)
Dragan Antulov
A Film Review
Copyright Dragan Antulov 2004
For the most of 20th Century science fiction films, especially those
coming from Hollywood, were usually seen as a sorry excuse for
infantile escapism. Today science fiction films are seen as a sorry
excuse for display of CGI. In between those two eras there was a brief
but glorious period when Hollywood science fiction films tried to be
the medium for some important messages about the world and its
future. Unsurprisingly, this period corresponds with the era which is
today referenced as the last Golden Age of Hollywood. Many classics
of science fiction cinema were made then, and one of them is
ROLLERBALL, directed in 1975 by Norman Jewison.
The plot of the film, based on the short story by William Harrison, is
set in the year 2018. The world is controlled by small number of large
corporations that have apparently managed to end wars and poverty.
Masses are held in check through drugs and mass media, but the
most popular form of entertainment is rollerball - incredibly violent
sport in which players can get killed. Rollerball, which happens to
satisfy violent impulses of the masses, is immensely popular and the
most popular athlete is Jonathan E (played by James Caan), the
veteran star of Houston team. Bartholomew (played by John
Houseman), powerful executive of the corporation that controls
Houston team, thinks that Jonathan became too popular and wants
him to announce his retirement. Jonathan feels that his team mates
can't survive in the arena without him and rejects Bartholomew's
order. When attempts to change Jonathan's mind fail, Bartholomew
and people around him take different course of action -they arrange
the rules to be changed in order to make the game even more violent
and Jonathan more likely to die in the arena.
Most futuristic films don't age well, mostly due to filmmakers' lack of
imagination and resources to portray brave new worlds realistically.
Many futuristic films, regardless of how filmmakers try to hide that,
are reflections of the time in which they were made. And even worse
things can happen to the films when the future they represented
becomes present day for contemporary audiences. ROLLERBALL
didn't reach that point yet, but it could be argued that at least some
elements of the film universe aren't that different from the world we
live in.
The very fact that the makers of ROLLERBALL didn't have resources
to completely create a brave new world was the film's biggest
advantage. Without special effects and immense budgets, Jewison
and his team had to use simpler but more effective methods. The
very beginning of the film illustrates that point. Instead of trying to
speculate about the pop music people of early 21st Century would
listen to, filmmakers chose to use accompany the film with classic
music. This gave ROLLERBALL the element of timelessness.
Another thing that makes ROLLERBALL as compelling to us now as
it was quarter of century ago is the game of rollerball. Jewison, left
without CGI or any neat tricks, used old-fashioned but effective way
to portray it - his team has built the rollerball arena and let the
stuntmen work. The rules of the game were improvised during the
shooting. The result is a series of three brutal and magnificent scenes
that would captivate even those audiences who don't care much
about important messages.
The world that created such game is portrayed with equal skill.
Jewison, just like many creators of 1970s science fiction films, used
contemporary yet futuristic-looking architecture. He was also very
careful in showing only those elements of the future world that
couldn't belong into 1970s. For example, there aren't any cars in the
film. Even the costumes and make-up, which indeed look like they
were made in 1970s, wouldn't mean much to viewers who don't
remember 1970s. Jewison also makes clever choice of showing only
the top classes of future society - executives (who happen to dress
more or less like modern executive do) and top athletes (who are
mostly in their sports outfits). The plot takes place either in cold
futuristic offices or in private homes of wealthy and influential
people where retro look can be taken as a sign of someone's refined
taste.
On the surface, world of ROLLERBALL looks perfect - people live in
luxury, women are beautiful, wars and crime don't exist and
everyone can reach instant happiness through drugs. But this
outward utopia hides the unpleasant truth the protagonist finally
reveals - that the price of happiness was the loss of freedom and
individuality. Books are purged or "simplified", while average citizen
can't find basic data about world's recent history. And, which is even
more disturbing, the very people who run this brave new world are
either incompetent or prone to very human failings they were
supposed to prevent.
Some of the films' most criticised scenes actually illustrate that point.
In of those scenes Jewison offers vision of drugged-out partygoers
who indulge themselves in senseless orgy of destruction. Even more
telling is the scene that seems like cheap science fiction cliche -
Jonathan tries to find some answers by visiting world's
supercomputer that makes all important decision. All he finds is a
mad scientist and obviously malfunctioning piece of
incomprehensible technology.
Some elements of ROLLERBALL can be found in our world.
Although the number of nation-states has increased in past three
decades, most of them are small and powerless against major
corporations. Mass media is dominated by extreme sports and reality
shows. Drugs - either illegal or their legal substitutes - are
aggressively promoted as an escapist panacea to millions. And
individuals, like Jonathan E, have few chances of beating the system.
Because of its ability to withstand the test of time, ROLLERBALL
remains as one of the most powerful science fiction films ever made.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
Review written on October 21st 2004
Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax
http://film.purger.com - Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in
Croatian
http://www.ofcs.org - Online Film Critics Society
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X-RT-RatingText: 8/10