Zardoz Speaks To You! How a Classic Movie was Created, Died, and was Born Again

"It's the year 2293 and mankind is barely alive divided between the ruling Eternals, who live walled off in the Vortex and can never die (they're punished with aging), and the underclass Brutals, growing food for the Eternals on contaminated land and killing each other on orders of the food and weapons-trading, airbone, stonehead god, Zardoz. Zed (Sean Connery), a top-dog Brutal killer, sneaks aboard Zardoz, neutralizes its operator-creator, and in between a rambling plot, some murky exposition, assorted standout scenes, a mishmash of philosophical musings and extraordinary effects, the film is alternately a nightmare and a stroke of genius. In Zardoz Speaks, writer/director/producer John (Deliverance) Boorman explains he made the film to critique the pitfalls of the capitalist system. It was a box office flop. He put up a million dollars of his own money, wanted Burt Reynolds for Zed, and welcomed Connery who was looking to reinvent himself post Bond.  Mitchell interviews cast and crew, including Charlotte Rampling who reveals Connery chased her (and every other female on set) and designer Bill Stair who divulges Zardoz's eyes were made with tin foil. Boorman readily admits he didn't like to use anyone's script ("because then the film isn't mine"). If Zardoz (1974) is overly complicated and opaque, it's because they were making it up as they went along. Mitchell fell in love with the film the first time he saw it; his obsession shows in the detailed explanation of how scenes were shot, crammed with factoids (Connery had two tattoos on his arms that had to be covered up: "Mom & Dad" and "Scotland the Brave") and cast profiles (Rampling, on set with her husband, boyfriend and child, got her start in A Hard Day's Night), paired with excerpts from the script. The biggest surprise: Zardoz's face was influenced by a drawing by the poet William Blake. If Boorman was unable to clarify his vision, it wasn't for lack of trying. His list of influences reads like a mid-20th century Western Civilization course-Brave New World, Lost Horizon, "Man and Superman" and, of course, The Wizard of Oz. In a post-industrialized, A.I. world, with class inequities intensifying, the film is more relevant than ever. Boorman has the last word: It went from being "a failure to a classic without ever passing through success."