Featured

CHRISTINE - John Carpenter’s visual peak.

John Carpenter’s Christine is a 1983 horror film about a supernaturally malevolent automobile and its effects on the teenager who owns it, adapted from a novel written by Stephen King. One of my favorite films of all time and John Carpenter’s most underrated and least talked about films.

The movie starred Keith Gordon as Arnie Cunningham, the typical high school nerd with only one friend, a childhood companion named Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell, who is a director now; Turistas (2006), Into the Blue (2005)) a popular jock. Arnie’s life changes when he discovers Christine, a red 1958 Plymouth Fury. Arnie begins to restore Christine to her original beauty, but as he spends more and more of his time repairing her, those in his life notice that he is changing as well.

Arnie metamorphoses from timid and insecure to confident and assured. But this transformation is filled with an evil streak and a very jealous, supernaturally possessed car.

As the film develops, we discover the car the car has a deadly past. The previous owner, Roland LeBay, became consumed with Christine and he paid for it with his life. Dennis and Arnie’s new girlfriend, Leigh, played by Alexandra Paul, try to save Arnie from a similar fate. They realize that the only way to save Arnie is by destroying Christine. Christine, however, isn’t ready to give up Arnie without a fight.

I thought this was Carpenter’s last real good work and showed him at the top of his game in visual terms. After that, he seemed to have lost the edge. As much as I like his body of work, yes, even Vampires and Ghost of Mars, Carpenter seems to have peaked with this film. His glory years being from 1976 to 1983 when we were given the masterpieces The Thing, Escape from New York, The Fog (okay, campy, I know, but I love it), Halloween and Assault on Precinct 13, Carpenter gives us such wonderful visual language and efficiency in this film. A true Auteur of his time.

What I want to look at in the following scene, is Carpenter’s use of the P.O.V., Blocking and impressively, his use of generally longer takes that keeps the camera moving and actors staging in a constant flux, changing the frame and composition.

What appears on the surface as a fairly straightforward scene, with Arnie seeing Christine for the first time and getting out of the car to check her out and ultimately purchase her is much, much more. This is love at first sight for Arnie and the catalyst for the rest of the film’s plot and ultimate climax.

Now, I cannot find the Script online anywhere, but remember, Arnie and Dennis are getting out of their car to look at another car. Watch what Carpenter does with it. You’ll see that he is (was?) a true master of the game, one in which I felt he always spoke the same language as his contemporaries (Spielberg, De Palma, Scorsese …).

Now let’s break it down. You can watch the scene in it’s entirety at the end of this page.

Now watch the scene and see it in action. Get past the Buddy Reperton scene and you can view the scene in its entirety.

Next time out shooting, keep in mind several things. How can you visually excite your audience with limited cuts ? By changing the frame and composition within a single shot using the actors with creative and motivated blocking. It is not only visually exciting, but efficient. It takes much longer to do multiple set ups than it does to take the time to block the scene in one fell swoop.

I hope you enjoyed this breakdown !

“In England, I’m a horror movie director. In Germany, I’m a filmmaker. In the US, I’m a bum.” -John Carpenter

© 2008 Cineobscure.