Director: Michael Anderson
Starring: Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling, Will Sampson, Bo Derek, Keenan Wynn, Robert Carradine
Running Time: 88 minutes
Certificate: PG
This 1977 cash in on JAWS could have just changed the animal and ran with it. Instead it goes for something a lot deeper and poignant. Philosophical themes are interwoven throughout the film and before you know it you’re gripped. From legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis, the man who produced pretty much everything from Federico Fellini classics to the Hannibal Lecter films, he knew when a specific genre was popular, he knew how to exploit it, but he also knew to make it its own.
We follow Richard Harris as Captain Nolan, a hard drinking Irishman who loves to hunt the beasts of the ocean. Despite this, his character has a dramatic arc and one that is completely believable thanks to Harris’ nuanced performance. He’s disgusted after an injured killer whale’s unborn foetus falls from its mother’s corpse and he immediately questions his motives and methods. The script even goes so far as to bring religion into the mix as Nolan questions the local reverend as to whether you can sin against an animal. Opposite Harris is Charlotte Rampling as marine biologist Rachel Bedford. Again, it could have been a simple one note character, but Rachel begins to hate herself for placing too much guilt in Nolan for the murder of the Whale, and also realises that its vengeful mate must be stopped.
This is a very rare case of wanting to see the humans more than the monster and that’s by no means a slight on the effects. The animatronics look beautiful and the stock footage is brilliantly intercut. Not so well cut are other parts of the film, where people jump positions mid conversations and sometimes reaction shots of horrific deaths cut to an alternate angle to blasé facial expressions. This highlights the faltering points of ORCA and that is the fact the construction is a bit uneven. You have an incredible score from Ennio Morricone, but the direction fails to build tension or execute the action sequences. Michael Andersen, of LOGAN’S RUN fame, again directs a film where the material and subject matter eclipse the execution.
All in all though, this was a wonderful surprise, JAWS meets Moby Dick with a surprising lean towards the deep literature rather than the suspense filled summer entertainment. If you like films where characters question themselves and seem very human then ORCA is certainly for you, although you’ll also need to be able to handle a little bit of silly along the way.
[usr=4]ORCA is released on DVD on 14th April via StudioCanal.
