 "Photo: Courtesy Photo")
"Small town - not much to do in the evening," drawls Paul Newman's Cool Hand Luke when asked why he decapitated a whole street's worth of parking meters. Luke delivers his explanation with a shrug and a grin, and seems unconcerned that this destruction of municipal property has landed him on a chain gang. To him, prison is just a temporary inconvenience, another place to pass the time. However, despite his nonchalance, it quickly becomes clear that the humorless, regimented structure of prison life is constructed to break men like Lucas Jackson.
Cool Hand Luke (1967) was released before dramas like One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), and Bonnie and Clyde (1967), and it is typically grouped with these and other contemporary films as a paean to anti-establishment rebellion and protest. However, Newman's Luke differs from Nicholson's fiery McMurphy, or Beatty's reckless outlaw Clyde Barrow. Luke's rebellion is shapeless and indifferent; he isn't out to prove anything, or change the world to suit his disposition. Indeed, he seems quite content to ignore authority as long as he is left alone in turn.
"Ain't you scared of dying?" a fellow prisoner asks Luke, who replies that he's ready to go at any time. Luke's lack of fear is a threat to the prison authorities, who rely on intimidation and the threat of punishment to control the inmates; insubordination or an attempted escape results in a night in the dreaded "box," or a permanent set of leg-irons and chains. "Get your mind right" is the warden's motto, and he takes particular offense to Luke's disposition.
As the conflict between Luke and his captors intensifies, at times the film becomes uncomfortable to watch. Cool Hand Luke is not the uplifting story of an irrepressible rebel who sets out to fight the system, but rather a troubling portrait of a stubborn, self-destructive man who is unwilling or unable to compromise with authority. More than just fighting the system, Luke is struggling to understand his own motivations and cope with the pressure of his fellow inmates' expectations. For every triumphant moment the film offers, there is an equally harsh reminder of the reality of prison life.
Cool Hand Luke features several strong performances - George Kennedy won an Oscar for his role as Dragline, and Strother Martin is appropriately loathsome as the sadistic warden - but ultimately the film belongs to Newman. He was entering his second decade as a major Hollywood star, and Cool Hand Luke marked a major step forward from his acclaimed work in previous films like Hud (1963), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). He portrays Luke as an eminently likable and sympathetic character. Given his casual charisma, evident from the moment he drunkenly slumps against a parking meter in the opening credits, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that his fellow inmates - and the audience as well - will respond to him.
Newman was 42 years old when he filmed Cool Hand Luke, and he brings a mature resignation to the role. Luke seems to be aware of how hopeless it is to defy the self-righteous authority figures in the prison system, but he does so anyways. The question arises of whether he is a man who has nothing left to lose, or a masochist bent on self-destruction. In either case, the other prisoners adore Luke, and they come to view him as a savior of sorts. Their belief in Luke's indomitable spirit makes their own captivity easier to bear; as long as Luke refuses to bend, their own submissions to authority are forgivable.
So, since this is a small town too, and there isn't much to do in the evening, we hope that you will join Film Underground for our free screening and discussion of Cool Hand Luke on Thursday, February 8, at 7p.m. in Murkland 115.
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