Andres Munoz
Blog week 5 (make up)
Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is a dynamic character in many
ways, becoming a hero and a respectful man to going back to a mercenary, which
only cares for fortune and glory. The Last Crusade was the best movie from the
Indy trilogies because of many factors, thus tying up some loose ends on how
Indiana became the famous bullwhip and fedora hat Indiana Jones. But this movie
shows not only his character development but also the most important theme,
which is his atonement with his father. In the beginning of the movie we can
see a separation on the relationship as a whole in the family, considering as
well the lack of a female role as the mother presuming she has died.
Indiana
Jones throughout the whole movie is constantly making it clear that it isn’t about
the grail rather the rescuing of his father. This happens when Donovan is
trying to recruit Indy and tells him that the man who was helping them and
disappeared was the one and only Henry Sr. (Sean Connery). The first scene when
we can see progress of the relationship is when they scape the castle where
Henry Sr. was being hold, and are stuck in a decision to go to either Berlin or
go to save Marcus. This discussion showed how Henry Sr. still has power over
Indy, later on we encounter the issue where they are being chased by a Nazi
plane fighter, Indy is without ammunition and Henry steps up. “The action
sequences are woven into the story to allow Indy and his dad to demonstrate
their own types of resourcefulness: Indy with strength and force, his father
with ingenuity and wit.” (Pfeiffer, 180) Here they show a side where they can
learn from each other to become a better person and to show that each one is
unique in its own way.
Another
scene is when Indy is coming to the end of the cliff and falls with the tank.
Here we can see Henry Sr. reaction shot towards the realization of “if he had
five minutes more” and that he wants to have a better relationship. Finally we
got to the last scene where both father and son reaches the atonement and
becomes for the first time a family. In this scene they overcome a lot of
trials to reach to the grail to save his father from death over a bullet wound.
After saving his father, greed from Elsa manages to activate the booby trap.
Indiana is holding his father one-handed for dear life, the other hand is
trying to grasp the grail though it seem possible his hand being hold by his
father is slipping, his father tells him to let it go. Indy realizes that he is
being recognized and more important than a wholes life obsession with the
grail.
It was
interesting how both Jones had a life obsession artifact that managed to get
them in life and death situation though my question would be was it for the museum
or his own fortune and glory re-capturing the cross of el Coronado.
It’s interesting that you talk about each Jones demonstrating their own particular brands of resourcefulness. For quite a while while watching through, I was under the impression the Jones Sr. would be little more than comic relief with all his bumbling antics, but the “Charlemagne” scene on the beach redeemed his character to seem of more use in the viewers’ -- and in Indy’s -- eyes. Sr. seems to learn from Indy more practical skills, and Indy seems to learn to think more, not to rush headlong into everything.
ReplyDeleteI have to wonder if Indiana’s survival of the tank explosion was when the redemption of the father took place, though. It seems more like right there we get a glimpse of it, but it fails to go through. Even though Sr. has the five minutes he prayed for, instead of telling Indy how he feels, all he says is “I thought I’d lost you, boy” and moves right on, with a critique of Indy’s post-traumatic slacking off. I’d have to say the real redemption with the father has to be more complete, like in the climax when Indiana is applying all of his father’s knowledge to the traps; That scene seems to show the biggest connection between the two coming to terms with each other.