Review by Dragan Antulov
3 stars out of 4
One of the things that differentiates the author of this
review from most of the world's film critics is the opinion
of John Landis. Many of Landis' films, often lauded by
critics, were disappointments for me. That is especially the
case in the latter part of his career, and it is hard to
imagine why and how this author reached a cult status. But,
earlier, while he was starting his cinema career in 1970s,
he used to make quite nice films. One of the most legendary
ones is ANIMAL HOUSE, 1978 comedy that was overshadowed by
his greatest success - BLUES BROTHERS, shot two years later.
This film actually doesn't have a lot of plot. It is set in
fictional Faber college in 1962 and chronicles the struggle
between two student fraternities - Omegas, nice,
by-the-book, rich, arrogant and powerful students, and
Deltas, nonconformist losers who, instead of studying, spend
all their time for alcohol, drugs, sex and different kinds
of orgies. Their activity become the thorn in the side of
the college administration who decide to kick them all out.
But the brave Deltas would refuse to give up without a
fight, that would culminate in the apocalyptic parade in the
end.
Some may think that ANIMAL HOUSE represents sorts of
autobiography for its writer Chris Miller, who based the
plot on his own experiences as Darthmouth College student in
1962. Others may argue that Landis in this film, by
portraying the rivalry between Omegas and Deltas, gives his
own commentary about the great struggle between the forces
of Old and New in 1960s America. But the real motive for
ANIMAL HOUSE was most likely nothing more but the excuse for
entire series of jokes, many of them so tasteless that they
really questioned the standards of its, rather liberal,
times. Yes, some of these jokes are rather tasteless, many
of them including Bluto (brilliantly played by late John
Belushi) and his repetitive use of bodily fluids becomes
boring after a while. Some other jokes also aren't so funny.
But guess what? Film as a whole works as an excellent guilty
pleasure - made without any redeeming values nor high
artistic standards, but film that makes other, more noble
and ambitious works, to pale in comparison simply by
entertaining viewers. Most of the jokes are funny,
characters are well- played by excellent actors (Donald
Sutherland, John Vernon, young Kevin Bacon among others),
and the soundtrack is very good. The only real reason to
bash ANIMAL HOUSE is the fact that it spawned entire
sub-genre of its imitations in the decade to come - movies
with the words "soft", "hard" and "body" in title, all of
them sharing its low standards, but not the talent of its
creators. But we shouldn't be too harsh towards ANIMAL HOUSE
- today, same as two decades ago, it serves its purpose by
entertaining us.
Copyright © 1999 Dragan Antulov
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