MILD SPOILERS!
After having seen some of this in my youth, I finally broke down and watched the whole thing recently. I was very impressed! I thought it was entertaining and even moving at times. I could see (retrospectively) how this seminal movie has influenced many of my favorites. (Dead Man Walking, Stand By Me, Apocalypse Now, etc.)
Oddly, while "African Queen" had a strong beginning and ending, it was its incredible MIDDLE that made it such a classic. It is in its middle sections that "African Queen" wins our hearts. Here we see Rose lose her annoyingly prim composure during a vicious bug attack. We watch Rose and Charlie's first kiss and see their initially awkward love blossom into something comfortable and natural.
And of course my favorite: the leech scene! We see the now indomitable Charlie enter the water to drag the Queen through the mud. Then, before long, we see his utterly believable discomfiture as he and Rose discover that he is covered in leeches.
(SNAKES:INDIANA JONES::LEECHES:CHARLIE ALLNUT)
And then, once they've all been salted off...Charlie resigns himself to get back in the water. Why? For his new-found love of country, self, and (most significant) Rose. At least that's what his scared but determined face seems to say.
In such scenes, our love for these characters grows as does theirs for each other. In the face of terror and pain and even specific phobias, the initially annoying personas are stripped away and we see Rose and Charlie in their truest forms: afraid and hurting. Yet, in spite of their weaknesses, they struggle onward. In this, they are TRUE HEROES. They are terrified and discouraged (far from the imperturbable Superman-types) and still they do the impossible (or the unnavigable as the case may be). These are my kind of heroes!
And, while the eleventh hour ending may be a bit far-fetched, we don't mind. These two have earned a victorious ending, however it is delivered!
After having seen some of this in my youth, I finally broke down and watched the whole thing recently. I was very impressed! I thought it was entertaining and even moving at times. I could see (retrospectively) how this seminal movie has influenced many of my favorites. (Dead Man Walking, Stand By Me, Apocalypse Now, etc.)
Oddly, while "African Queen" had a strong beginning and ending, it was its incredible MIDDLE that made it such a classic. It is in its middle sections that "African Queen" wins our hearts. Here we see Rose lose her annoyingly prim composure during a vicious bug attack. We watch Rose and Charlie's first kiss and see their initially awkward love blossom into something comfortable and natural.
And of course my favorite: the leech scene! We see the now indomitable Charlie enter the water to drag the Queen through the mud. Then, before long, we see his utterly believable discomfiture as he and Rose discover that he is covered in leeches.
(SNAKES:INDIANA JONES::LEECHES:CHARLIE ALLNUT)
And then, once they've all been salted off...Charlie resigns himself to get back in the water. Why? For his new-found love of country, self, and (most significant) Rose. At least that's what his scared but determined face seems to say.
In such scenes, our love for these characters grows as does theirs for each other. In the face of terror and pain and even specific phobias, the initially annoying personas are stripped away and we see Rose and Charlie in their truest forms: afraid and hurting. Yet, in spite of their weaknesses, they struggle onward. In this, they are TRUE HEROES. They are terrified and discouraged (far from the imperturbable Superman-types) and still they do the impossible (or the unnavigable as the case may be). These are my kind of heroes!
And, while the eleventh hour ending may be a bit far-fetched, we don't mind. These two have earned a victorious ending, however it is delivered!