Best movie villians ever
Something on this show a couple of weeks ago (I completely forgot what it was!) got me thinking about cinema villians. I started to reminisc (is that how you spell it? Never written 'reminisc' before) about films I've seen, and the most scary villains I've seen in them. I'm not one for particularly violent ones; I have seldom watched '18's in the last ten years, but characters in even the most childishly innocent films can leave a really lasting impression - I think most readers of this will recall the evil rabbits in Watership Down, and my wife shudders when she thinks of the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - so I'd be interested to hear/see what Eamon and the listeners think about their most scary villians.
For the record, I can think of 5t hat have had a big effect on me:
1) Gary Oldman as the cheif baddy in Leon.
2) Darth Vader in his big entry in the first Star Wars film.
3) Matt Damon's Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr Ripley. That film chills me to the core.
4) Robert Carlyle's Begby in Trainspotting
5) Robert de Niro in (the re-make of?) Cape Fear, particularly when you realise he's under the car.
What does everyone else think?
Not seen Watership down myself, though I'm pretty sure I read it. I think I read stuff like that and Jonathan Livingstone Seagull when they came out. I don't remember much about either, but the point about mothers chiding their children with a threart of a visit from the villain is a good touch. I've seen it used by a movie governess to children where she casts their dad in the villain role. Inevitably dad overhears her,and instead of instantly dismiossing her he and the governess fall in love. Can't exactly remember which gushy romance this was now, but it's early '60s. Imagine making a film with that plot in it these days. It's all in the context.
There was a film starring De niro as a dad who takes his daughter to the country so they can get over the death of his wife on tv this week. From what the camera shows us, the daughter plays the villain throughout the film until the resolution at the end. Bob is a psychiatrist with a telescope and a lot of stress in his life. It's a gothic thriller so I won't reveal more detail, but it shows villainy as a one-dimensional illness. Tough to portray, but successfully done so here. Rather like Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer. Not a film to watch more than once, but should be compulsory just that once.
I am glad Watership Down is mentioned as containing credible movie villians. The General Woundwort is a terrifying charachter and his legacy to lupine cinema is unsupassed.
"Narrator:
General Woundwort's body was never found. It could be that he still lives his fierce life somewhere else, but from that day on, mother rabbits would tell their kittens that if they did not do as they were told, the General would get them. Such was Woundwort's monument, and perhaps it would not have displeased him."
Ta for comment about movie villains, P
I watched Internal Affairs for the 3rd time last week. It features Richard Gere in his only villainous role that I know of and the whole films works only because of the brilliant casting of ol' piggy eyes as one of the most duplicitous, menacing scumbags I've ever seen. because I already don't like RG for no rational reason, I want him to die and lose as soon as possible, which he resolutely refuses to do.
If you don't know the movie in question it is a play on words, not only do the IA investigate Gere and his fellow corrupt cops, but they are all fooling around with each others' spouses. Show me a better villain. He is calm, understated and as real as the next person you see. I'm not a fan of, say De Niro's Max Cady in the reprise of the Mitchum role for the same reason. I find his superhuman powers too OTT to be believable.
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