Some movies don’t stand up to a second viewing, and I found this to be the case with 1983’s The Keep. I can’t recall how I saw the first time, but I remember being overall impressed with it. Then I watched it again years later and I am baffled by what I saw in it originally.
I was especially struck by the difficult I experienced following the plot this time around, when I had read the novel and even a graphic novel adaptation. And I read those after seeing the film the first time, so I have no idea how I was able to piece together this very disjointed narrative without that knowledge.
It likely didn’t help that the original 210-minute cut delivered by director Michael Mann was trimmed to 120 minutes for previews and then 97 minutes for the release version, which is the only one we have today. What I find odd is, despite some detectable gaps where footage had clearly been excised, I have no idea how this was ever a movie more than twice its current length.
I definitely wouldn’t care to spend any more time with these characters. Set in Romania in 1941, a group of German-but-not-Nazi soldiers arrive and secure a mountain pass in the Carpathians. They have taken sanctuary at the keep–an eerie, black rock structure that is trapezoidal in shape, as if somebody had lifted up a pyramid and shoved it into the ground upside down.
Jürgen Prochnow is the captain of that group, a stern but seemingly reasonable man. It is hard to get a read on him here, as the character doesn’t have the extent of shading the book provides. Still, he isn’t happy his men are doggedly determined to find treasure they believe is hidden there. Prochnow is more concerned as to why the fortress is constructed in a way that wouldn’t keep anybody out, but which seems built to keep something in.
That being will be unleashed when a couple of soldiers manage to extract one of the 108 metal cross-like objects embedded in the walls. These two think the crosses are silver because of a strong light that shines through them. Apparently, they are from some place where the silver is of such inferior quality as to be translucent.
The evil spirit that is unleashed kills those men, then kills additional soldiers each night. This brings about a second group of soldiers, and these are card-carrying Nazis. Gabriel Byrne is the sadistic commandant of this unit, and his brutal methods immediately put him at odds against Prochnow.
Eventually, graffiti written in a long dead language is found and Byrne brings in an old Jewish professor played by Ian McKellen to translate. Having largely seen McKellen in films when he was really at an advanced age, it is weird to see him as a much younger man and made up to be seriously fake old. He is supposed to have a disease which has prematurely aged him, only for the evil force unleashed in the keep to restore him to his youthful vigor. Then he looks almost as young as Alberta Watson, who plays his daughter.
Also in the mix is Scott Glenn, as the protector of the keep, who is so lax in his duties that he has to take a very long journey to get there when the walls have been breached. I guess waiting centuries for something to happen could result in a person letting their guard down, but I still think he would stay in the general vicinity. So, he arrives at the pass with his magic staff which can kill the evil supernatural force, and also ends up slipping a different staff to Watson.
The relationship between those two is a critical failure in this film as we don’t see any development. Basically, they meet, they sit in front a sunset and then they’re conjoined in an odd position I can only describe as “crucifucking”. I was reminded of one of the worst moments of David Lynch’s Dune, where Virginia Madsen’s narrator bluntly tells us “Paul and Chani’s love grew” instead of having scenes where we see that happening.
There are other aspects of the production I found underwhelming. Soundtracks by Tangerine Dream tend to be a crapshoot, and what they delivered for this frequently undercuts the tension of a scene. One exception is an amazing, trance-like piece in the climatic battle at the end. My wife commented it was reminiscent of Philip Glass, and I can hear a resemblance.
Far worse is the very 1980’s nature of the visuals. Slow-motion is employed at inappropriate moments, rendering many of these unintentionally humorous. Also, there’s waaay too much use of light rays. I swear one could create a new music video for “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” using only footage from The Keep. Hell, the result would probably make more sense than The Keep.
Dir: Michael Mann
Starring Jürgen Prochnow, Ian McKellen, Scott Glenn, Alberta Watson
Watched on ViaVision Australia DVD (region free)