``They Live'' We are trapped in something... A collection of condensed themes from the genius John Carpenter

Origin: Howard Hawks' western drama

Carpenter has continued to make films in which humans are confined geographically, physically, and mentally.

His earliest work, `` Fortress Police '' (1976), depicts the joint struggle between prisoners and police officers trapped in a police station besieged by gangsters, and `` Escape from New York '' (1981) depicts a New York City where the entire city has been turned into a prison. The protagonist's mission was to rescue the stranded president. The main characters of `` Object X from the Planet '' (1982) are men trapped in an Antarctic base with Alien. Even in `` Halloween '' (1978), which depicts the horror of the boogeyman, a killer with a creepy mask, the protagonist escapes into smaller and smaller spaces, trapping himself inside. The Japanese title of his latest work is ` `The Ward '' (11), which inadvertently reflects his artistry. Why does Carpenter go to such lengths to depict the struggle of people who are trapped? This has a lot to do with his childhood movie experience.

“The Ward” preview

Carpenter was inspired to become a film director by a film he encountered as a child. This is the Western movie ` `Rio Bravo '' (59), directed by Howard Hawks. Carpenter, a young boy, was captivated by the hilarious drama starring John Wayne, and would often go to the movie theater and watch the movie over and over again, as if to imprint the story on his body.

Sheriff Being There(John Wayne) arrests the murderer, Joe, but his comrades blockade the city and try to get Joe back. Being There and his friends barricade themselves in the sheriff's office and take on the outlaws. This is a scenario in which the trapped men break out of the situation.

The plot of this work was adopted almost unchanged from the aforementioned ``Fortress Police'', and it also had a great influence on the later ``Object X'' and ` `Ghosts of Mars '' (2001).

“They Live” (c)1988 StudioCanal. All Rights Reserved.

From then on, the young Carpenter learned about filmmaking by watching the works of Howard Hawks, John Huston, Hitchcock, and other directors who could be called the kings of American cinema. When he entered the University of Southern California, he had the opportunity to speak directly with those legendary managers. That's why Carpenter still doesn't hide his respect for the above-mentioned directors (perhaps it's a coincidence that he remade Howard Hawks's ``Object X'' (51), which he admires the most).

Carpenter, heir to the classic American film industry