Directed by Antonia Bird, 1998, 101 minutes

In the winter of 1847 cowardly war hero Captain John Boyd (Guy Pearce) is sent to Fort Spencer, an isolated outpost situated in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He finds that the small garrison, led by Colonel Hart (Jeffrey Jones) has little do but wait for the spring and the steady stream of pioneer wagon trains heading to new territories in California. When a starving stranger Colqhoun (Robert Carlyle) arrives at the fort bringing tales of a lost wagon train, starvation and cannibalism the troops set out to look for survivors.

The story of the production of ‘Ravenous’ has enough overreaching ambition, struggle and misfortune to rival the grim events that it portrays. Like the naïve, poorly equipped pioneers of the Donner Party the cast and crew embarked on a journey into the wilds that seemed bound to fail from the outset. Screenwriter Ted Griffin admits the film’s queasy blend of comedy and cannibalism is more suited to a small independent production than a major studio film. With its mixture of frontier horror, black comedy and socio-political metaphor ‘Ravenous’ was a tricky proposition for studio Fox Searchlight from the very beginning. The isolated eastern European shoot and a director unused to the politics of major studio filmmaking may also have contributed to the disasters that followed. English director Antonia Bird was brought in by producer Laura Ziskin to salvage what looked like a doomed shoot. She replaced the original director, Milo Manchevski who had been dismissed in a stormy dispute over what are best described as ‘creative differences’.  The quality of the finished film is testament to Bird’s abilities and the tenacity of cast and crew determined to bring this film to life.

The frontier setting of ‘Ravenous’ is recreated evocatively in the Tatra Mountains bordering Slovakia and Poland. Fort Spencer is a guttering candle of humanity dwarfed by the surrounding landscape. Nature seems complicit in the horrors of ‘Ravenous’ and the wilderness, beautifully shot by Anthony B. Richmond seems to possess an appetite as insatiable as the creatures that feed there. This environment swallows weak and strong alike and leaves no trace of their passing. Fort Spencer’s isolation provides refuge for a community of characters who seem unable to find a place elsewhere in society. They are led by Colonel Hart (Jeffrey Jones), a cultured man who survives by surrounding himself with literature and philosophy; Private Reich (Neal McDonough) has embraced psychotic militarism and the pathologically shy Private Toffler (Jeremy Davies) has withdrawn into religious fervour. Fort medic Knox (Stephen Spinella) spends most of his time in a dipsomaniac trance and Private Cleaves (an eccentric comic turn by David Arquette) is a stupefied stoner. Martha (Sheila Tousey) and George (Joseph Runningfox) provide an alternative cultural perspective as watchful, bemused Native Americans.

The settled domestic tedium of the fort is shattered by the sudden arrival of Colqhoun (Robert Carlyle); even in his weakened state this stranger, with his messianic bearing is an arresting contrast to the other residents of Fort Spencer. Colqhoun relates the story of how his party met their fate in a compelling monologue that pulls the viewer into the narrative and shifts the film’s tempo from wry social observation to energised suspense. As Colqhoun gains strength his magnetic charisma and intimidating physical presence become dominant. Carlyle combines the unsettling capacity for unpredictable violence that he showed in ‘Trainspotting’ (1996) with a suave and knowing charm. He has described ‘Ravenous’ as a love story and his relationship with Boyd has a strong homoerotic charge in keeping with the films nuanced portrayal of masculinity. Boyd has been banished to Fort Spencer as a military embarrassment when in a moment of cowardice, he accidentally infiltrated and captured an enemy outpost. Guy Pearce’s portrayal of Boyd’s conflicted nature and his transition from frailty to steely resolve provide the emotional heart of the film.

‘Ravenous’ gleefully subverts religious imagery to create its own slant on the literary and cinematic tropes of vampirism.  The act of eating human flesh endows the cannibal with his victim’s strength in the same way that blood feeds a vampire. This process is reflected in Native American myths of the wendigo and in the imagery of the Christian Eucharist. Recurrent imagery of communion and resurrection reinforce these parallels: Colqhoun is attracted, rather than repelled by Christian iconography and presents himself as a distorted reflection of Christ, an evangelical messiah on the lookout for disciples. Antonia Bird makes explicit the links between the wendigo myth, cannibalism and territorial expansion to develop a critique of capitalist consumerism with the central image of white man as ravening monster. The Native Americans represented by Martha and George can only look on in horror as the immigrants devour their world in pursuit of their ‘manifest destiny’.  As civilization spreads westwards towards California Fort Spencer will become a gaping maw allowing Colqhoun and his coverts to swallow as much prey as they can eat. The portrayal of rapacious greed found in ‘Ravenous’ has much in common with Kaneto Shindô’s ‘Onibaba’ (1964): The more we eat, the more monstrous we become. Fortunately, ‘Ravenous’ handles this overused metaphor with enough wit to keep the irony fresh and funny.

In common with Sergio Leone’s ‘Once upon a Time in the West’ (1968) or Jarmusch’s ‘Dead Man’ (1998), films that present a similarly eccentric portrayal of the American West the score of ‘Ravenous’ plays an integral role in creating atmosphere. Michael Nyman and Damon Albarn have crafted a musical style that complements the film perfectly. The colourful combination of Appalachian loops, Native American motifs and Nyman’s driving rhythms is constantly surprising. The score may often sound like it is being belaboured by solemn and inept schoolchildren, but it also has moments of great beauty. Albarn’s first experience of writing music for film demonstrates an instinctive understanding of how to use music for comic and dramatic effect. Like Morricone’s work the score stands independently of the film and would make the perfect soundtrack for an awkward family dinner.

Despite its grim prognosis for a world which continues to idolise predatory competition as the only way to manage human affairs Antonia Bird’s ‘Ravenous’ remains a curiously hopeful film. The understated courage of Colonel Hart as he sets out into a hostile wilderness to find Colqhoun’s party and Boyd’s faltering journey towards redemption exemplify an essential humanity that acts as a balance the film’s violence and pessimism.  ‘Ravenous’ has improved with age, rather like a ripe cheese (or perhaps cured meat). Although Antonia Bird remained ambivalent about the finished film, she builds on the foundations laid by Manchevski to create a fine metaphysical western.  ‘Ravenous’ is a short film and much more material was shot than appears in the final cut. This lends the film considerable élan; the viewer is too busy running to keep up to notice any narrative shortcomings. Vegetarians will shudder at the sight of so much rare meat but the ‘Ravenous’ will make even the most enthusiastic carnivore consider the meat at the end of his or her fork with a more critical eye.

Quotes

“bon appetit!” Colqhoun (Robert Carlyle)

Connections

Film

‘Onibaba’ directed by Kaneto Shindô (1964)

‘Once upon a Time in the West’ directed by Sergio Leone (1968)

‘Wolfen’ directed by Michael Wadleigh (1981)

‘Cannibal! The Musical’ directed by Trey Parker (1993)

‘Dead Man’ directed by Jim Jarmusch (1995)

‘Wisconsin Death Trip’ directed by James Marsh (1999)

‘The Proposition’ directed by John Hillcoat (2005)

‘My Winnipeg’ directed by Guy Maddin (2007)

‘The Burrowers’ directed by J.T. Petty (2008)

‘Meek’s Cutoff’ directed by Kelly Reichardt (2010)

‘Bone Tomahawk’ directed by S. Craig Zahler (2015)

Reading

Herman Melville, Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life, CreateSpace, 2011, ISBN 978-1463748012

George R Stewart, Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party, Houghton Mifflin, 1997

James Meek, The People’s Act of Love, Canongate Books, 2005, ISBN 9781841956541

Amy Greenberg, Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion: A Brief History with Documents, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

Music

Damon Albarn and Michael Nyman, ‘Ravenous: Original Soundtrack’, EMI, 1999

Radio

BBC Radio 4: ‘In Our Time’ 13th June 2002 -The American West