Videoage International October 2019

14 Book Review October 2019 V I D E O A G E By Luis Polanco R ollerball is a 1975 film that looked forward 43years later to theyear 2018. In its dystopic vision, as directed by Canadian filmmaker Norman Jewison, the future holds neither war nor famine, borders have been dissolved, and six corporations control our basic needs. In place of entertainment, the ruling multina- tionals have devised a new form of recreational activity that is carried to audiences through a conglomerate-owned broadcast called “multivi- sion.” Similar to the appeal of reality television, this modern amusement organized by the elite class is part athletic event and part armed con- flict. It’s Rollerball, a hybrid game of roller derby, motor cross, American football, and hockey. Pla- yers are goaded to injure and even kill competing team members. Written by Andrew Nette, Rollerball (120 pgs., Auteur, 2018, U.S.$15) is a slim book dedicated to the science-fiction sports action of the same name. It is part of a series titled Constellations , which allows writers to expound on science fic- tion cinema and television and relate the signi- ficance of singular projects, covering cult clas- sics such as Blade Runner (1982) and RoboCop (1987) alongside more contemporary works like Children of Men (2006). Nette is a writer and re- searcher based in Melbourne, Australia, who has previously been a co-recipient of the Australian Film Institute Research Fellowship, and has pu- blished a book on the portrayal of youth culture in pulp fiction. Nette’s book is partly an academic study for cinema and television scholars, and partly an illuminative history of the film’s production and its reception by the public. In his prologue, Nette writes, “This book will attempt to redress the lack of criticalworkon Rollerball andexamine theways in which it simultaneously exhibits the cinematic aesthetics of mainstream, exploitation, and art house cinema, in the process transcending its commercial prerogative of action entertainment to be a sophisticated and disturbing portrayal of a dystopian future.” AsNetteexplains, Rollerball the filmcameabout because of a short story published in Esquire from a former theology student and novelist, William Harrison, who worked with Jewison on the film’s script. Nette is meticulous as he outlines the cast and crew, running through some of the actors’ previous roles or descriptions of how certain stunts in the film played out. Elsewhere, the chapters sometimes devolve into shot-by-shot action and dialogue. At times, the procedural approach produces a reading experience akin to scrolling through an extended IMDB page. Interestingly, Nette finds that part of the issue with Rollerball ’s reception is the effort in branding the film as an overly violent exploitation project, which he attributes to the film’s distributor, United Artists (UA). He cites the poster, which highlights Rollerball ’s intensity with leather gloves and steel spikes, illustrated by commercial artist Bob Peak, who designed movie posters throughout the ’60s and ’80s. As a result, the film’s critical response in the media tended to focus on the violence portrayed in the game scenes rather than the political ideas behind the film. Nette writes, “In retrospect, Jewison’s desire to helm a film with a strong message about the dangers of violence in sport stood little chance once UA’s marketing department had done its job. The stylized ferocity of Peak’s poster… would become the dominant image associated with the film’s release.” Beyond mentioning the poster, however, Nette does not follow up on UA’s role in developing a commercial strategy that focused on the film’s content that would play well with viewers. In an interview with the director, Norman Jewison, Nette asks about the difference in Rollerball ’s media coverage between the U.S. and Europe. Jewison shrewdly explains, “[British and European critics] saw in it the philosophical side of the film, the economic side, the political side, of the film. In America, all they saw was the game. And they still talk about it like it was a game.” Science fiction is a contradictory genre, ente- ring fantastical realms of the imagination while attempting to offer insight into the world of to- morrow. Sci-fi films often portray disagreeable and objectionable pictures of the future yet hold grains of truth for the present. Nette attempts to connect the themes of the film to contemporary issues and events, such as the 2016 American pre- sidential election. He writes, “While American politics has long been in thrall to major corporate interests, in [Donald] Trump, America finally has a president who is not just closely associated with big business, but is the very embodiment of the corporate class envisaged in Rollerball .” Nette finds a unique perspective in the film which may have some bearing to today’s under- standing of technology and politics. “Another aspect of Rollerball ’s narrative highlighted by the Trump presidency is the rise of so-called ‘fake news,’ which played an albeit undetermined role in Trump’s 2016 victory and, linked to this, the stresses placed on memory and knowledge in the context of a rapidly digitalizing economy and society.” This topic is interesting, and in a longer book, might have come near even more intere- sting conclusions. For this book, Nette has perceptively chosen a rare film that attempted to accomplish a highly astute reading of society and entertainment. “It depicts future society as a place of relative material abundance but riven with political apathy, spiritual ennui, and declining functional literary and historical memory,” he notes. “It is a place where order is kept through the widespread use of unspecified mind-altering drugs as well as spectacularly violent, almost addictive, public entertainment, which has the function of turning citizens into active participants in their own oppression.” One need not be paranoid to remark on the striking similarities to the political climate of today. A SportsMedia Dystopia: HowA 1975 Sci-Fi Movie Provides A Lens To The Future “Rollerball depicts future society as a place of relative material abundance but riven with political apathy, spiritual ennui, and declining functional literary and historical memory.”