Wider Screeningsfilm review

KHARTOUM (1966: d. Basil Dearden)
(updated 02-Nov-2011 2:44 PM )

The Glory of the Roadshow Epic

Emerging in the late 1960s was a popular new form of cinematic exhibition known as the so-called Roadshow picture.

These movies were self-proclaimed bold spectaculars, often vivid in theme and characterization but always marketed as visual feasts and epic statements of “important” historical sweep and validity. Emerging perhaps as an extension of the Biblical epics of the late 1950s, these Roadshow pictures were ambitious in length as well as design. Subject matter had to be expansive and of historical weight, and running times regularly approached the three hour mark. For a while, it was a format associated with cinematic prestige, a showcase for the studios involved. These movies began with a musical overture, contained an intermission, and took their time on screen, as if freed from the conventional length restrictions of the ordinary Hollywood feature. They were promoted as something special, rare achievements in cinematic splendor and craftsmanship and epic entertainments. In addition, they would take advantage of new film stocks (usually 70mm for extra clarity) and sound recording technologies. Most of these films, however dated the Roadshow format, still stand up remarkably well. Some, like Khartoum, find their political content to have unusual resonance and longevity even some forty years after initial release. It is this resonance that remains of interest.

Synopsis (contains spoilers)

Khartoum is based on historical fact. It takes place in Egypt and the Sudan in 1883.

A fanatical Muslim leader, self-proclaimed visionary and deliverer (Laurence Olivier) who declares himself the Mahdi, “the expected one” proclaimed in the Qu’ran, has defeated a British led army from Egypt and seized their weapons. He is now marching for conquest to the Sudan capital of Khartoum, intent on slaughtering the Egyptian population and any Muslims who do not convert to his particular blend of pure Islam. The British government (headed by Sir Ralph Richardson) is in a corner, forced to make some kind of gesture to protect the Egyptian civilians but unwilling to commit a military presence as a gesture of foreign policy. Instead, they send in a military and popular hero, General Charles Gordon (Charlton Heston), a seminal figure in the independence of the Sudan, who journeys alone to Khartoum. He meets the Mahdi and tries to organize the city’s evacuation, but the Muslim leader is intent on a slaughter as evidence of his divine sanction, his seizure of the city to be the miracle making him a feared leader throughout the Middle East he systematically intends to unite (conquer) and convert. Thus, Heston must arrange to somehow protect the city from the violent Muslim army that has embraced the mad Olivier as their leader, and to put pressure on the British to send their army to face the mad Muslim.

A Film of Unusual Contemporary Relevance

What gives the film of Khartoum added relevance in today’s world, evident in the synopsis, is its depiction of a radical Muslim leader intent on a Holy War, not only with the West but to purify his own Islamic world.

However, Olivier remains something of an enigmatic figure throughout the film, an absent threat to the Western hero Heston whose burden and growing sense of responsibility the film explores with more conviction. In the opposition of Olivier and Heston, the film thus addresses the Khartoum conflict as a clash of cultures, civilizations and religions, each represented by a great military leader, stubborn and proud. It is impossible not to see the film in such terms, for Olivier proclaims himself a prophet and deliverer and thus is set up as the monstrous epitome of the religious madness of Islam, his ferocious journey inevitably bringing him into a clash with the civilizing forces of the West, a new crusade in a sense. The colonial West fears this version of Islam and the film regards it with due awe, although in its portrayal of Olivier is still respectable – indeed, the constant comparison between the Islamic and the Western leader explore the parallels that exist, despite religious and political oppositions. However, the two great civilizations are inherently at odds, the radical Muslim an enemy to the progress that Western influence has brought the Muslim world – a situation the film takes for granted.

Yet there is a telling cynicism to the film in its opposition between Islam and the West as important to the West (Britain) only when it affects foreign policy (fear of losing the Suez Canal) or threatens political embarrassment.

The film is thus a sustained critique of the varied egos that escalate any violence into a clash of civilizations, Heston’s presence in a sense validating Olivier’s call for a Holy War. It subtly juxtaposes the idea of the deliverer in terms of this clash of civilizations, battling for the future stability of the region, but finds enormous personal similarity between the two opponents as both cling to a form of religious validation. Tellingly, Britain then is arguably in the position of the US today, facing the imperative to maintain order but also in part unwilling to face the responsibility of policing the world. Yet it boils down to personal and national pride, religious vs. political sanction. Thus, the film shows a divided Muslim populace, those who value Heston, who is called the savior of the Sudan (as he had previously rid it of the slave trade) and thus the positive influence of the West and those who choose the religious violence of fundamentalist Islam. The film in turn addresses the question of the responsibility of “civilization” to regulate the future of the Middle East and in essence protect it from its own mad self-destruction, as if such a fate were inherent in Islam. All this is arguable subtext, but underlies the film as it examines the Khartoum incident as a prototype Holy War (also cultural, political and socio-economic) as the Christian leader Heston realizes that the clash has repercussions beyond the moment – the defeat of one side would be the failure of its God.

An Intimate Grandeur

Khartoum was shot on Ultra-Panavision 70mm film and the visual transfer is for the most part superb, preserving the added clarity and grandeur of this form.

However it is a talky film and the expected stirring visual set-pieces are few, though effective. There is a fine prologue concerning the Nile, which functions as a lifeline in the film, repeatedly paralleled to the immense desert around it. Colors are bright and clear and there is a nice comparison between costumes in this mostly pristine print. It is true to the desert tones, nicely contrasting interiors and exteriors although is mostly a character piece centered on Heston. The desert scenes carry the necessary visual majesty and spectacle although the film is not the adventure perhaps expected; indeed, much of it deals with the notion of confinement and constriction in an inhospitable land. There are some dazzling mobile camera shots in desert charge sequences but much of the film is staid in composition, favoring its people and how the great Western hero grows to dominate the space around him. In its emphasis on Heston, the film reveals its stress on Western responsibility in the face of an essentially unaccountable Islamic ferocity. Much is thus made of Olivier’s absence, as he becomes an off-screen threat to security and peace in the city.

A Clash of Cultures from Overture to Climax

The sound transfer has the intended epic quality in this Stereo Surround version.

The musical overture and intermission scenes are clear and concise as is the score throughout the film, with its clash of Western and Middle-Eastern themes complementing the thematic emphasis on an impending clash of civilizations and religions. Directional effects are well deployed and the transfer manages a fullness it nicely contrasts to scenes which stress the ironic communication between adversaries reaching an impasse based on pride and ego alone. The battle scenes have added emphasis accordingly. Isolated details (sandstorms) add to the physicality of the locations, but the mix favors the dialogue in this talk-heavy epic – indeed it is often the music that adds to the pace in this instance. The voice-over narration that begins and ends the film contributes to its historical status and in the end suggests the film about two men whose religious destinies were intertwined. Despite the proficiency of this mix, there is little unique about it and it emerges as mostly functional, the transfer at its best with voices and battle scenes. Backgrounds feel somewhat rather subdued in comparison. Although a sense of presence is there, the film is more about how Heston rises to the challenge of circumstance, the film stressing his presence aurally and visually.

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