DOWSE guide to the movies                                                                                         

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  New Century of Cinema


DOWSE Guide to the Movies
by Tony Lee editor of Pigasus Press

The Iron Giant

Director: Brad Bird
84 minutes (U) Warner
review by Mark Lacey

With a Russian satellite orbiting overhead, and the threat of atomic destruction an everyday fear, 1957 America is gripped with mistrust and paranoia. Not the best time, you'd imagine, for a 50 foot tall robot to crash land in small town USA! The reporting of the strange object seen hurtling to Earth sees a shadowy government official dispatched to Rockwell, Maine. Initially, the incident is dismissed as a meteor or a satellite, but it is not until large chunks of metal mysteriously start to disappear (food for the Giant) that the matter is treated seriously. Inevitably, America's fear of the unknown causes the US military (with no small assistance from the government official) to strike against the Giant. It is left to the bond of a young boy and the Iron Giant to show that being different is not necessarily something to be feared.
  The Iron Giant is a tale that encapsulates life, death, tolerance and above all friendship; the friendship of a young boy, Hogarth Hughes, and the strange Iron Giant (voiced by Vin Diesel). Originally written by Ted Hughes, its transfer to animation is glorious in every respect; from the vivid artwork to the characters' voices. It is a masterpiece in storytelling, with a rich moral message that never preaches, but just suggests. And as the final credits roll, you can't help but wonder why we all can't show the same level of tolerance and understanding to each other, as that showed by a young boy, and a 50-foot Iron Giant. A film to be cherished.

Mark Lacey
originally published online in VideoVista #15, June 2000 issue

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