THE WICKER MAN

The life of police officer Edward Malus changed significantly from the day he failed to save a woman, along with her daughter, from a tragic car accident. He now suffers from a great depressive crisis and does nothing but fill himself with drugs in an attempt to forget. One day, he unexpectedly receives a letter from his ex, Willow, who begs him to join her on the small private island of Summersisle to search for her daughter Rowan, who has mysteriously disappeared for a few days. Agent Edward immediately goes to the island where he will notice from the start the strange behavior of the inhabitants who practice a backward life dedicated to agriculture. Even stranger, the island seems to be completely under the command of the female sex. Edward will begin to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the child, which seems closely linked to the approaching recurrent village festival where the goddess Summersisle is worshipped with human sacrifices. In an era where remakes are in vogue thanks to the great success that, most of the time, they achieve upon release, one could not miss the opportunity to make a remake of "The Wicker Man", a British film released in 1973 and directed by Robin Hardy, which, unfortunately, remains unreleased in Italy. This "The Wicker Man" remake (retitled for Italian as the incorrect "Il Prescelto") turns out to be one of the most criticized (negatively) films of recent times, described as a disaster that does nothing but ruin the fame of the 1973 film. But is this remake really so disastrous? The answer is undoubtedly no. The film in question decides, in a first time, to rework and modify several aspects of the original film so that the final result is not just a bland and wasteful re-reading of Hardy's film. Here, contrary to what happened in the original film, the religious component that previously played a leading role becomes an element not particularly relevant, and the numerous orgiastic or musical scenes that characterized the 1973 film are completely abolished. But the changes do not stop here; in fact, in this "Il Prescelto" it is decided to introduce and give great importance to the feminist component, and here is the island of Summersisle completely under the control/command of the female sex while the male sex is represented as a decisively submissive sex, without rights and whose only importance is to carry out reproduction. Quite a bit of importance is also given to the psychological/character component of the sect, which is framed in an extremely backward manner, so that subsistence economy is still practiced and fundamental importance is given to agriculture. In addition to this marked economic backwardness, there is also a particular psychological backwardness, so that on the island of Summersisle prejudices towards strangers clearly dominate (no one is allowed to access the island unless in possession of a particular invitation) and there is a marked theocentric conception (the deity at the center of everything) so that all events are attributed to the deity worshipped and it is in her honor that a human sacrifice is performed every year to ensure a good harvest in the following year. But to a series of very accurate and well-developed findings, some small flaws also contribute, such as the scene at the end, a bit unfortunate, which sees our agent Edward fighting against the female sex with kicks and punches, a choice that, although not particularly disastrous, can be somewhat inelegant and not very clever. Worthy of note is the fantastic realization of the ending that takes place during the day dedicated to the goddess and in which the long-awaited sacrifice involving a gigantic "Wicker Man" (the wicker man indeed) takes place, an ending that will surely leave viewers astonished at the cruelty and negativity it exposes; too bad for the addition of the double "useless" ending that comes a bit too much out of the "track" resulting somewhat out of place. The direction of "Il Prescelto" is entrusted to a little-known (at least concerning the horror genre) Neil LaBute, who directs everything in a rather elementary way without conferring any particular identity to the work; while the strong point of the film can be found in the one who plays the role of agent Edward Malus, namely a perfect, as always, Nicolas Cage, who once again gives us a splendid performance managing to characterize the best the character played, giving him a sympathetic and extroverted personality that comes out of the common stereotypes of "tough guy all in one piece"; while in the role of the head of the sect (in the original played by Christopher Lee) we find an Ellen Burstyn who is not always up to the situation and offers a somewhat too exaggerated performance. In conclusion, it can be said that "Il Prescelto" is a very underrated product, which, although it does not shine in the firmament of the best remakes, remains a pleasant and very fluid product that manages to capture the viewer's attention from start to finish.