For those that don’t know, there aren’t a lot of things in this world that are better than witnessing fan joy. I mean that moment when an audience is brought to its feet by the sheer awesomeness of a well-executed labour of love. That’s what Chris, Eric, and, in the corner, Jayson, felt about Raiders of the Lost Ark. This film spoke directly to their 11-year-old selves, and, rightly, the only thing they could think of doing, was to speak back.
What happened over the next seven years of summer holidays, their entire adolescence, involved the teens devoting their summer holidays to recreating Raiders shot-for-shot. If your first response is ‘Why would you waste your time doing that?’ This film is not for you. If your response is ‘Awesome!’ then you are one of many who understand that feeling of loving a film, or TV show, or book so much that you just have to do something about it, you just have to make something that not only shows you care, but allows to you into the world itself.
Documenting the cult explosion of the Raiders of the Lost Ark adaptation, we follow Chris and Eric (Jayson has been ejected), now in their 40s, as they attempt to film the only scene they couldn’t get in the can before having an adolescent falling out – the plane fight and explosion sequence. There are real smackings of Hearts of Darkness, Eleanor Coppola’s documentary on the making of Apocalypse Now! as these men, middle-aged now, riddled with the compromises they have made, sacrifice their ‘company man’ respectability to make this work, drawing the rest of the crew to the point of obsession. In doing this there’s insight into the comfort that these seminal texts can bring to people in their formative years, helping to establish their moral compass, and stabilising their memories of a sometimes uncertain and chaotic time. With the counterpoint of the exiled Jayson, and the actually very dramatic climax to their chaotic filming schedule, this documentary truly is a nail-biting romp.
BY SAM WILSON
