PICKET TICKETS: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: THE ADAPTATION

The problem: It's Friday night. And, due to the strike dimming The Great White Way, you can't see the Broadway versions of the movies Hairspray, Legally Blonde, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. And you so wanted to see a version of a movie!

The solution: It's child's play. Literally. Because tonight, Anthology Film Archives screens the almost shot-by-shot remake Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation...videotaped and performed by teenagers...mostly in Mississippi...on Betamax...over the course of several years...during the 1980s!

Like some kind of rare archelogical artifact, the tape was more or less forgotten for more than a decade. Then, soon after the turn of the century, its time finally came in the form of a "world premiere" at Austin's Alamo Drafthouse, a "thumbs up" from Steven Spielberg, and a cavalcade of warmly received screenings including some at the Anthology Film Archives, which brought it back this week. With the help of friends who got $10 tickets at 6 pm for the 8 pm screening, I just saw it myself in all of its low fidelity, fell under its hypnotic spell, and greatly enjoyed the Q&A with director-performer Eric Zala and star Chris Zompolos, both very good storytellers with very good stories to tell.

One of the exciting things about watching this work is seeing how creative the low-budget copying can be. With very few resources and no video reference source for a substantial part of the shoot, the filmmaking kids worked their way through this major Hollywood film, coming up with at least some kind of solution for most of the challenges they faced—including the melting people, Myra. The more you learn the backstory, the more you can appreciate the risks and the tenacity involved. For the kids participating in the project—and the adults in their orbits—the effort was akin to that behind the making of Apocalypse Now.

If you want to get in tonight, get in line early! And wear layers so you can stand outside in the cold and be comfortable in the warm and crowded theater.

Click here for more info.

And here's a revealing interview with the filmmakers.



Source (8:51)