#the keep

The Keep (1983)

Directed by Michael Mann

Doomsy’s Rating: 78/100

I think everyone that follows my blog closely at this point realizes I have certain directors whose body of work as a whole I absolutely adore. Michael Mann is, in my opinion, one of cinema’s true visionary geniuses, and has done more for the medium than nearly any director working today. Even The Keep,which most cinephiles would agree is Mann’s weakest film (not his fault, to be fair; studio interference led to a severely compromised vision) is so full of beautiful composition and highly unorthodox storytelling that you can easily lose yourself in the expansive gothic dream world the film lives in. It’s a strange inclusion in Mann’s catalog, as it remains the director’s only entry in the horror genre. Actually, calling it a horror film is to undermine its true nature — a spooky atmospheric, fairy-tale set in the modern day, replacing Philistines with Nazis and sort of re-imagining Jewish folklore for the neon-drenched, synth-heavy 80s vibe Mann pretty much invented. 

Gabriel Byrne (who I normally view as a subpar and irritating screen presence) and Jurgen Prochnow are sensational as two Nazi officers so swept up in their poisonous ideologies, so intent on enveloping everything in their path, that they are at a loss when they become absorbed themselves in a spiritual realm of something that to them is a sinister being, but for Ian McKellen’s professor character, is a creature whose mere existence results from the evil of the outside world. The story of the Golem, which was appropriated by the Nazis as a symbol of the retrograde culture of the Jews, is instead presented as a lonely creature trapped away from the world, whose humanity can only exist in the body of a man from nowhere. The physical manifestation of the Golem’s soul is in the form of leather-jacketed, motorcycle-riding Scott Glenn.

The Keep also has the distinction of containing one of Michael Mann’s only proper love scenes, impressive given his extensive filmography.The sex between the Golem (in Scott Glenn’s body) and Alberta Watson (as McKellen’s daughter) is as artsy, passionate and ethereal as any I’ve ever seen. It’s amazing how many colors Mann uses in this scene, starting in sepia and finishing in an almost cyan iridescence that drips off the screen and overwhelms the senses. 

I suppose one of the reasons this film is looked badly upon in Mann’s filmography is that he a) disowned it, and b) had very little say in what ended up on screen. It is here where I must disagree — while the film is effectively incomplete and over two hours were cut against Mann’s wishes, his stark and gorgeous world-building is on full display and almost everything goes right for me by the end. If I have a reservation about the film in totality, it would be a lack of proper character development, although again, this is not the actors’, nor Mann’s fault.To me, in the form it exists today, The Keep is still an essential Mann film, featuring all his trademarks and boasting some of his most luscious and sensuous production design to date. A must watch. 

Also, make the effort to listen to the pulsing, phantasmagoric Tangerine Dream score on YouTube, it’s a perfect sound for a quiet night.