June 30 will take the poster Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), in which Harrison Ford performs a fifth and final lap in the role he immortalized. However, the iconic adventurer created by George Lucas and directed, at least during the four previous films, by Steven Spielberg would not be what he is without the five women who crossed his path. The exploration of the past being at the heart of the saga, one of the most significant in the history of cinema, the occasion is ideal for a retrospective. Warning: whistleblowers are inherent in the exercise.
The first heroine is, precisely, from the past of Indiana Jones. Camped in 1936, Raiders of the Lost Ark (The Raiders of the Lost Ark1981) sees “Indy” trying to find the legendary Ark of the Covenant, endowed with immeasurable powers, before the Nazis.
This treasure hunt brings the seductive archaeologist to Marion Ravenwood’s doorstep. Daughter of Indy’s former mentor, she is in possession of a key item. After swinging a right hook at the explorer, she agrees to help him, but as a partner. Owner of a mountain bar in Nepal, Marion previously knocked out a behemoth in a drinking contest: from the outset, she imposed herself as a woman with a strong character.
If Indiana Jones is an amalgamation of different movie soap opera heroes (or “ serials “) of the 1930s and 1940s that rocked the childhood of George Lucas, Marion has a specific model. In his work The Complete SpielbergIan Freer writes: “Marion Ravenwood is the badass type dear to beloved director Howard Hawks — more closely modeled on Bonnie Fee, played by Jean Arthur in Only Angels Have Wings (1939), by Hawks. »
Karen Allen’s contribution
In a case of perfect adequacy between a character and its interpreter, Karen Allen is unforgettable in Marion. No wonder, since the actress helped transform the score. AT IndieWireKaren Allen explains in 2021: “There were times when this boys club wonderful, brilliant, intelligent and talented who had written the screenplay left in the lurch [Marion]. They had created this very ingenious, very independent, very strong woman, and sometimes, unconsciously or for comic effect. […], she was becoming a real damsel in distress. I was constantly looking for these passages and trying to say, “No, this is not a person waving their hands and crying out for help.” »
Steven Spielberg was receptive and changes were made. No female character imposed herself in the saga in this way thereafter. So much so that Lucas and Spielberg had to face the facts and bring Marion back into Indy’s existence: we’ll come back to that.
But first, we have to talk about Willie Scott in Indiana Jones years the Temple of Doom (Indiana Jones and the cursed temple, 1984). Not very resourceful and dreaming of a rich marriage, this cabaret singer is not only the antithesis of Marion, she is the incarnation of the so-called “damsel in distress”.
If actress Kate Capshaw (Spielberg’s future wife) had nothing to do with the way the character was written, her shrill performance doesn’t help.
Between two reproaches from Willie, Indy tries here to snatch children, including his young accomplice Demi-Lune (Ke Huy Quan), from the clutches of an evil cult in a Himalayan kingdom, in 1935 (in theory, a year before the events of Raiders).
Make way for the bad guys
After having suffered various criticisms, such as an unwelcome propensity to sadism in a production with family aims, Lucas and Spielberg returned to a formula closer to the first film for the third opus. After the Ark, it is the turn of the Holy Grail to be in the crosshairs of Indy and, again, of the Nazis.
In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Indiana Jones and the Last crusade, 1989), set in 1938, we witness a tense reunion between Indy and his father, a history teacher obsessed with the Grail (Sean Connery). Dr. Elsa Scheider, an Austrian historian whom Indy has a crush on (like his father before him, as we’ll see), turns out to be a Nazi spy. Alison Doody is flawless in the role, but this variation on the femme fatale archetype lacks personality (as annoying as it was, Willie had it in spades).
Nearly twenty years later appeared the divisive Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, 2008). In 1957, when the American government is in full communist paranoia, Indy travels to Peru with a rebellious young man (Shia LaBeouf) in order to rescue an old friend there.
There, he comes across Marion, who tells him that the said young man is their son. And this irresistible waltz of conflicts and reconciliations to resume between an Indy still as skilful of the whip and a Marion more intrepid than ever.
The newcomer to the “Indiana Jones universe”, and therefore the fourth notable female character in the saga, is Irina Spalko, a KGB agent specializing in occult sciences and the mysterious skull of the title. Cate Blanchett is having a blast in this villainous role and her pleasure is contagious. Note that the black hair cut in the square way Louise Brooks was an idea of the actress retained by Spielberg.
Why was the film polarizing? Because of the skull’s extraterrestrial origins, which drags the film down the science fiction side. With their respective sacred objects, the previous films had rather a supernatural, fantastic component. In 2011, Spielberg admitted to Empire Magazine to have had reservations himself.
With Marion
Unveiled out of competition at Cannes, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the only film in the saga that Steven Spielberg, who co-produced with George Lucas, did not direct. Officially, he wanted to pass the torch to a younger filmmaker who would join a new generation with a different perspective, according to varietywho had the first of the news.
Faced with the result, we remain perplexed since, far from bringing a “different perspective”, James Mangold, 59, strives to do “in the manner of” Spielberg. Except for a prologue set in 1944 with a computer-rejuvenated Harrison Ford, the film is set in 1969. Helena Shaw, Indy’s goddaughter, drags her grumpy godfather into a race against time to locate the missing half. of a device invented long ago by Archimedes. Phoebe Waller-Bridge embodies this fifth female character in the saga with aplomb and humor. As for the enemy, he is still Nazi.
Apart from her murderous repartee, the character of Helena is clearly based on that of Marion: a legacy that the film honors.
In fact, during the last scene, Indy finds Marion for good after yet another separation. If we regret the absence of Steven Spielberg behind the camera, we cannot restrain a broad smile at the sight of Karen Allen in front of it. Because the only valid retirement for Indy is with Marion.
The first four films of the saga IndianaJones are available on Disney+ and in VOD on most platforms.