King Kong
Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack, USA, 1933o
A film crew travels to an exotic island and is surprised by indigenous people who want to sacrifice the female star of the film to a giant monkey they worship. After the woman is rescued and the monkey is captured and shipped to a Broadway theater as a lucrative showpiece, he breaks free and flees with the object of his desire and care onto a the Empire State Building.
A director travels with a boat crew from New York to an unknown jungle island to shoot a spectacular film. Among them is Ann (Fay Wray), a beautiful extra who is kidnapped by the island's indigenous people and offered as a sacrifice to the gorilla god Kong. However, the monster does not devour her, but protects and defends her against dinosaurs until he is overpowered by the (surviving) Americans and kidnapped and taken to New York. There, Kong is exhibited on Broadway as the “eighth wonder of the world” – until he breaks free and takes what he desires. With the giant gorilla, the directing duo Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack created the most famous animal monster in fantasy film: King Kong from 1933 is the original version of the mythical story. Remakes from 1996 and 2005 emphasize the erotic connotations between the beauty and the beast and elevate the role of women – in this first version, Ann is curious about adventure, but in King Kong's clutches she can only scream helplessly and look beautiful. But one can still only admire the mythical primal power of the story and the grotesque parallels between the jungle and the urban jungle that the film brings out so effectively: when Kong finally loses his battle against the air fleet of a barbaric civilization on top of the Empire State Building, it is still moving today. Iconic.
Kathrin Halter