Dark tower. The clock on the dark tower strikes, I do not shoot with the hand of the one who shoots

Cinemafia watched the adaptation of Stephen King and collected for you Interesting Facts about the movie.

One of the most anticipated films of this year (though let's not dissemble, decades), started at the box office on Thursday. The clash of Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey as the forces of good and evil in the film adaptation of the cult work of Stephen King. The shooter guards the Dark Tower, which is the center of all worlds, and the Man in Black seeks to destroy it. And there is one boy living in New York who sees these heroes in his dreams. It can upset the balance of power, but in which direction?

1. The history of the "Dark Tower" has almost 50 years.

The first publication about Strelka was in October 1978 in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. At the same time, King said that he had been thinking about this story eight years before. By 1982, four more stories had been released, which were then combined into a single book.

2. The history of adaptation is also not short - it all started almost 10 years ago.

JJ Abrams and Lost co-star Damon Lindelof were the first to think about adapting in 2007. But two years later, they abandoned this idea, giving way to the possible director of the cult series, Ron Howard.

Together with Universal Pictures and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, Howard planned a trilogy of films interspersed with two seasons of a television series that would bridge the gaps between the films. Javier Bardem was selected for leading role, and the film crew practically started the serial part of the adaptation. But Universal soon decided to cancel the project entirely due to filming delays and budgetary issues.

A few years ago, Sony teamed up with Media Rights Capital to finally breathe screen life into King's creation, and Howard, by the way, remained in the producers. Goldsman is also listed as the author of the script, although Nikolai Arcel rewrote it for the Sony project.

3. The film is a sequel to a series of books.

For those who have not read it, the Dark Tower series of books is cyclical, that is, the last book is the forerunner of the first. Arcel's film is an alternative sequel to the last book.

4. Elba added mysticism to his hero.

Idris Elba described Roland in an interview: It certainly has mysticism in it. He is about 200 years old. He has existed in this world for a very long time, and therefore is deeply attached to the entire mystical component of the film. Roland, I would say, is the ultimate epitome of that. When the viewer sees him for the first time, he is a stoic silent character, but when you get to know him better, you understand how much he knows about this world and its history.».

5. The lead actors exchanged cute tweets after the official cast announcement.

6. Stephen King liked it.

Everyone, of course, was worried about how the author would react to the film. But the strict King said: It's not exactly my story, but it keeps the mood and theme exactly, so I'm happy.».

7. There are several secrets hidden in the poster.

Of course, many have noticed that the poster for The Dark Tower is very similar to the poster for Inception, but it holds more mysteries that you don’t immediately pay attention to. The outlines of the tower, which are formed from the inverted skyscrapers of New York, are quite obvious. And the main characters are very clearly visible against her background. But the antagonist of the film - the Man in Black - is hiding in the shadows. To find it, look to the right of the tip of the tower.

8. Tom Taylor and his homage to his hero Jake Chambers.

Tom was chosen for this role from a dozen applicants. And for the official announcement of the role, he chose the well-known phrase of his hero.

9. Words to pictures.

By the release of the film, one portal made three famous phrases from the book with pictures. Try your hand too. Answers are at the end of the article.

10. Easter eggs.

The Dark Tower is part of the vast multiverse of Stephen King. Therefore, in the film there was a place for references to other works and adaptations of the author. For example, in the film you can see Pennywise. And one of the actors - Nicholas Hamilton - played Lucas Hanson in The Dark Tower, and soon we will see him in It.

11. And then there will be a series.

It was announced this week that the film will be a prequel to the Arrow series. It is not yet known whether Idris Elba will return to this role, but he will definitely appear in the cast. The series will be executive produced by Akiva Goldsman, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, who originally intended to bring King's books to television. 10-13 episodes are planned, filming will begin in 2018.

1. First a smile, then a lie. At the end, shots.
2. Battles lasting 5 minutes give rise to legends that have existed for millennia.
3. I don't aim with my hand
   He who aims with his hand has forgotten his father's face.
   I aim with my eye.
   I don't shoot with my hand
   The one who shoots with his hand has forgotten his father's face.
   I shoot mind.
   I don't kill with weapons
   He who kills with weapons has forgotten the face of his father.
   I kill with my heart.

On the screens of the whole world came out "The Dark Tower" - a film adaptation of the main work of the American science fiction writer Stephen King. The cycle of novels about Arrow Roland, looking for the Dark Tower in the center of the universe, has become a cult for many fans of the works of the "king of horrors". And now - the long-awaited film adaptation of books that were considered, in principle, unsuitable for film adaptation.

The film is somewhat reminiscent of Harry Potter, " The night Watch"and the novels of Vladislav Krapivin at the same time (a family conflict generally causes a feeling of deja vu with Krapivin's story" Three from the Carronade Square "). Unnecessary to parents, the boy Jake has the gift of clairvoyance and superpowers that the worthless tormentor of children - the man in black - wants to use to destroy the pillar of the universe. The villain uncomplicatedly bombards the Dark Tower with "tears of a child" put on a conveyor.Fortunately, the boy gets in the way of the Archer Roland and together they arrange such a fight for peace that no stone remains unturned.

All this is touching, well-intentioned, very patriarchal - with family values and protection of the tower, as the center of the world's good, from the world's evil. There are completely New Testament scenes in the film - a raid by the villain's servants on the village in search of a boy who kills all the children they come across - pure water massacre of the innocents.

However, in accordance with Hollywood racial correctness, Arrow, invented on the basis of the character of Clint Eastwood in the films of Sergio Leone, is played by ... black actor Idris Alba. In New York, he looks, of course, not like a knight from an ancient order from another world dimension, but like a gopnik "from the district": that look, he will start rapping.

But the villain, of course, must certainly be white and with the manners of a true aristocrat. And so Matthew McConaughey, until recently considered as a candidate for the role of the Shooter himself, goes to a dark corner - evil, of course, must be white, with delicate features and exquisite refined irony.

Great movie, overall. For those who have not read the original - Stephen King novels, which are generally about something else. This is a story about the search for, if not God, then the secrets of the universe. And no more beaver vs donkey fight. The dark tower is an old Celtic symbol of the center of tradition. We can recall, for example, the famous poems of W.B. Yeats.

Heard: at the guards on the black tower
Sour wine and poor food,
But without dreaming of a better brush,
Warriors are always true to their oath,
They watch the tower:
Banners of enemies will not pass.

The dead stand in coffins full height,
The winds blow from the shores
Old bones creak.

Banners come, threaten, bribe,
They whisper: "Your king is long forgotten,
New to the throne now rise,
Do you care?"
But if it has decayed for a long time,
What is it that has overcome your fear?

In the coffins - the dim light of the moon and stars,
The winds blow from the shores
The oppression of their heavy wind roar,
Old bones creak.

Our old cook, what with the first dawn
Climbing up, catching birds in a snare,
He assures us, swears to us of this:
Like, the royal horn blew.
Everything would lie to the old!
The oath is observed by our army.

The darkness of night thickens in the coffins,
The winds blow from the shores
The oppression of their heavy wind roar,
Old bones creak.

(Translated by A. Serebrennikov)

But the tower as an image of tradition and knowledge is completely outside the ethical horizons. In King's novel, the Shooter, after talking with a man in black (who is not an enemy there, but, on the contrary, a guide), easily steps over the death of the boy Jake and rushes further for secret knowledge. A purely gnostic idea - knowledge (essentially - occult) is higher than goodness, conscience and life.

This Gnostic path ends rather badly. Having reached the end of the story, Roland discovers behind the last door ... the beginning of the story and falls with an erased memory into new circle running squirrels in the wheel. No higher truth top level no, there is only an endless circle of the lost Ego.

Photo: www.globallookpress.com

King's hero repeats the shooters' catechism all the time:

"I'm not aiming with my hand,
He who aims with his hand has forgotten his father's face.
I aim with my eye.
I don't shoot with my hand
The one who shoots with his hand has forgotten his father's face.
I shoot mind.
I don't kill with weapons
He who kills with weapons has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart."

Our stupid film translators remade it into "disgrace his father", but, of course, this is not about patriarchal mores, but about the universe that has turned its back on its creator. Stephen King's saga is a story about worlds that have tradition and honor, but who have forgotten the face of their Father and are immersed in the hopelessness of eternal circulation.

Inconsistency with King's books and primitiveness went to the "Dark Tower" in favor. Craft with shooting, fireworks, and a beginner Harry Potter, much kinder, more humane, and closer to Christian values. If in modern Western culture somewhere else there is a citadel of simple and healthy Christian values, it is in the dark towers of Hollywood. However, from there they are successfully squeezed out.

Look at Tsargrad TV program "Cinema with Kholmogorov"

I do not aim with my hand, he who aims with his hand has forgotten his father's face. I aim with my eye. I do not shoot with my hand, he who shoots with his hand has forgotten his father's face. I shoot mind. I do not kill with a shot from a revolver, the one who kills with a shot has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart.
S. King "The Dark Tower".

Crystal goblets and silver goblets,
Filled with scarlet wine, like scarlet blood...
The toast is raised... the horses are saddled... and it's time for us...
Not the fact that we will all go back, perhaps.
The last knights of Eld blew their horn,
Today will be as hard as yesterday
And we choose from thousands of other roads
The road to the field of roses near the Dark Tower.
The Servants of Darkness are sent for us by the Scarlet King.
The rays that held the World are killing time.
We are waiting ahead of betrayal, blood and pain,
Loss of friends and loved ones, vows a burden.
For a long time, revolvers managed to change blades,
But, seeing the descendants of Arthur, people believe in us.
The last knights of Eld are called Arrows
You do what you must ... and then? - and be what will be!

Reviews

It seems that you have added something new to the trilogy about the Dark Tower and the Arrow .. :) But also good :)
For me, the Dark Tower is mixed in sensations with the Talisman (although they are different, these books) ... there the line is unsteady ...
But your last line is just about this general :)

Yes, I understand - there, in these two Books, there is one spring - not the one in the alarm clock, but the mainspring in firearms.. not counting time, but changing it ....

One of the most favorite books :))) "The Dark Tower" fascinated even years ago ... 12 years ago :)) Then, after reading the fourth book, I put everyone on their ears looking for the next one :))) well, who could know that King has been writing "The Tower" all his life ... Now everything is finished ... seven books ... a mystical number, like the work itself.

Thanks for the response...

And the spring ... we also love springs ... one lives with me ... most likely she too ... not from the alarm clock :)))

I am not a steel rod - a spring.
I bend, does not mean surrender.
I am submissive and immovable
Until your fingers get tired

Thank you ... now I know that there are seven books ... And then, for a long time, I thought that if a trilogy, then it is so forever .. but, it turns out, there are still ..
I will look for

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Ehh ... This heavy sigh was caused by watching the long-awaited film adaptation of "The Dark Tower" by Stephen, ours, King. I approached the screening as someone who couldn't even get through the first book, because it's insanely boring, and even with such favorable conditions (and zero expectations), the film specifically disappointed me so much.

Our world is not the only one in existence. Sworn enemies Roland Deschain, the last of the order of shooters, and Walter O'Dimm, also known as the Man in Black, are waging an age-old struggle. At stake is the mythical Dark Tower, last stronghold and the hope of the universe, without which the world will be plunged into complete chaos and destruction. The forces of good and evil are destined to clash in the final battle, because Roland Deschain is the only one who can stop the Man in Black before he destroys the Dark Tower.

Yes, in relation to this film, I was too lazy to even briefly describe the plot in my own words. The plot itself is bad. And bad, not because “NOT AS IN THE BOOK!!!”, but because it is eerily banal and boring. Throughout the film, the Man in Black is looking for the kid to destroy the Tower, and the Gunslinger is looking for the Man in Black to get revenge. All. The film does not go beyond this. And it's fucking embarrassing. Even without much regard for the original source, one could come up with something more interesting. But I'll give it credit, there are some good jokes here.

The most controversial point: Actors and how they act. I will say right away that from the very beginning I was on the side of Idris Elba. He is an excellent actor, and he proved it at least with Luther, Beasts of No Nation and Long Road to Freedom, and since I haven’t read the books, I don’t care at all about his skin color, and after watching I declare with all responsibility : Idris Elba was perfect for the role of Strelka, at least in his cinematic incarnation. The shooter in the film version is a man who lost everything, and whom it broke, and now he is consumed by a thirst for revenge, and even the purpose of the shooters is, to put it mildly, on the drum. And Elba fit the role of such a shooter well. The Man in Black by everyone's favorite Matthew Macanagi turned out to be a little strange. Walter Padik here reminds me of Killgrave from Jessica Jones, but with some shades of Voldemort, although in a couple of moments he reminded me with his behavior ... Shaitanych from Hottabych with Tolokonnikov. But Makanagi drags with his charisma, there are no questions for him. But the second plan is not at all happy. Jake is no-nonsense and resembles Acre, his mom, played by Katheryn Winnick, quickly blends in, although Katherine herself is gorgeous. Jackie Earle Haley and Abbey Lee, very talented actors pushed into the background, as was Dennis Haysbert, who only appeared in two scenes.

The technical side of the film is also, to put it mildly, not very good. All this could be written off on the budget, but there are two things in the film that simply do not allow it:

The first is that there are no special effects or scenery in the film, for which it was necessary to spend a lot of money. There are few unusual locations in the film, and the rest of the action takes place in New York. Of the special effects, only a couple of explosions, a couple of monsters, and other light music;

The second is darkness. Almost all the Action takes place at night or in semi-darkness, and it's just hard for you to even see who is shooting at whom. It seems to me that this was done on purpose to hide a certain wretchedness of the graphics, and it infuriates.

Also, the music was very disappointing, and it's just a blow from the very unexpected side, since Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL, was responsible for the music. The soundtrack is not a bit expressive, and not memorable, which is strange, because I listened to the soundtrack of the last Mad Max to the holes. That's really a stab in the back.

And, probably, the main disadvantage that killed the film for me is boredom. Crazy boredom of everything that happens. Four of us went to the film, as a result, one slept through half the film, the second also fell asleep from time to time, and with the third we just chatted for the rest of the film, commented on what was shown on the screen and climbed on the phone. And for a film positioned as a blockbuster, it seems to me that this is a death sentence. Basically, there is nothing more to say. Disgusting and boring film with shitty potential, little blockbuster, all the action of which is tied to the use of auto-aim revolvers. And in the end, I’ll probably point out that I don’t want to blame the film’s director, Nikolai Arcel, for anything, because in terms of directing work, the film is not so bad. He just got a terrible script, which at the time of filming looked like Frankenstein's monster, and Nikolai himself, as a newcomer to Hollywood, did not have much opportunity to influence the situation. In general, go better to the Atomic Blonde.

P.S.
I still don't understand why Horror is listed in the genres? Horror from the quality of the film, perhaps.

P.P.S.
By the way, before the screening of The Dark Tower, the trailer for The Dark Tower was suddenly shown!!! Probably like The Last Frontier, they say, “Boy, you don’t understand what movie you came to? Get out of here before it's too late!!!

P.P.P.S.
And by the way, our dubbing again excelled, and remade the cult "Forgot the face of his father" in "Dishonors his father."