In the book War and Cinema: The Logistics of Perception, Paul Virilio addresses several aspects of the relationship between war and visual technology. His prime focuses were on the development of camera technology and its vast military applications both tactical and non-tactical, the advancement of color film, the power of shocking images, and the use of visual technology is public relations and propaganda campaigns. Whilst reading Virilio’s work and pondering the concept of whichever side possesses the visual advantage in a military scenario, that side holds tactical and motivational advantages as well, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the importance of visual technology displayed throughout John McTiernan’s classic 1987 film Predator.
In Predator, an elite force of muscle bound commandos, heroically led by Arnold Schwarzenegger, are dropped into a Central American jungle in search of POW’s only to find themselves being hunted by a brutal alien with advanced weaponry and visual technology. Perhaps the predator’s greatest use of visual technology, and one of his biggest assets, is an advanced form of camouflage which makes him a blur while he literally blends in with the jungle. For most of the film Schwarzenegger and company remain clueless as to what is hunting them. Even the audience isn’t sure what the predator looks like, they just see a fuzzy blur seamlessly jumping through the jungle canopy picking off heavily armed commandos one at a time.
How can you fight something you cannot see? Virilio explains the importance of optical advantages in military scenarios: “Rather like a Western gun duel, where firepower equilibrium is less important than reflex response, eyeshot will then finally get the better of gunshot. It will be an optical confrontation; its likely slogan, “winning is keeping the target in constant sight.” No amount of bullets can help Schwarzenegger’s team when they can’t see what they’re shooting at. This is fabulously illustrated in a pivotal scene where the predator attacks and the team blindly fires hundreds of rounds into the jungle only to realize the futility of their actions when they find their shots hit nothing.
The mystery and violence surrounding the Predator causes “moral shock” in the commandos. They become panicked and frightened, therefore less deliberate and effective on the battlefield. Virilio quotes General F Gambiez when addressing the effects of fear on the battlefield: “The search for psychological factors – whether depressive or tonic – helps to restore the true countenance of battle.” The Predator’s mystery increasingly becomes more terrifying to the commandos and the audience as well, while the Predator’s appearance and location remain unknown. Virilio also discusses this phenomenon: “To fell the enemy is not so much to capture as to “captivate” him, to instill the fear of death before he actually dies.”
Such as the case in the classic film Jaws. During the filming of Jaws, the mechanical shark built for the film kept malfunctioning and the result was not being able to shoot that much of “the shark” for integral scenes. The unintended result however was fantastic. Not seeing the shark very much in the film, even in scenes where the shark is attacking people, actually enhanced the terror and suspense, making the film more frightening. Throughout Predator the characters’ fear is illustrated in the action scenes and in conversational scenes where they attempt to figure out what kind of sinister villain is after them.
Just as the predator makes use of visual technology for defense, he also employs his advanced visual technology offensively. The predator sees in infra-red thus rendering Schwarzenegger and his team’s camouflage and any attempts to hide virtually useless. To his supreme advantage, the predator maintains this visual superiority throughout the film until the third act when Schwarzenegger recognizes that the predator’s vision is based on heat. While our hero is covered in mud, the Predator’s infra-red vision is rendered impotent. As Schwarzenegger gains visual superiority, he is then able to deliver to the audience a final battle for the ages.
Author Does Not Exist
No comments:
Post a Comment