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AND THE READERS OF THE LOST ART: MAKING THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL EDUCATIONAL
The release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Steven Spielberg, 2008) marks the much-anticipated return of the iconic globetrotting archaeologist to our screens for a fourth outing, following on from Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Steven Spielberg, 1984) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Steven Spielberg, 1989). This hiatus of nearly twenty years is oddly appropriate to the material, as the entire movie franchise has always been about bringing adventure back from the past and dusting it off.t off.
Indy's serial past
Like the golden Peruvian idol that he first swipes in Raiders, Dr Henry 'Indiana' Jones (Harrison Ford) is a tongue-incheek throwback to the screen idols of the golden age of Hollywood. The likeable, roguish treasure hunter is the sort of old-fashioned hero you rarely see these days. With a playful enthusiasm, George Lucas (producer and writer of the series) and Steven Spielberg have taken the character of Indy straight out of the rip-roaring, rollicking Saturday matinee serials of the 1930s and 1940s.
The concept behind Indiana Jones, from Raiders onwards, is that we see all of the episodes of an old Republic Pictures adventure serial back-to-back (with all their cliffhangers). The dangers that arise - such as ancient temples, forbidden treasures, poisonous spiders, hissing snakes, sadistic Nazis, Thuggee cults, human sacrifices in molten lava, highspeed chases, brawls and booby traps - are all piled on, one after the other in rapid succession.1
In fact, homage to this format is why each Indiana Jones film starts with the finishing chapter of a previous adventure (about which we are given no background information). It is as if one serial is coming to a close while the next escapade is about to begin. We enter in medias res, just like ticket-buyers of the time, catching up on the latest instalment (a similar thing would be done by George Lucas in 1977 with the original Star Wars trilogy, which famously starts with Episode IV: A New Hope).
That the viewer is plunged into the action recreates an exciting, romanticized viewing experience appropriate to the material....