Philip Kaufman's 1978 remake of 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' updates the story from a small fictional town to San Francisco. His film stresses the influence of Watergate and the Vietnam War in fuelling government mistrust, and casts the Pod-people as New Age fanatics (literally "flower children") who are disturbingly detached from reality. One implication of the film is that humans are open to invasion because citizens have become fragmented and alienated, searching desperately for a sense of belonging. Kaufman's canted cinematography evokes a potent sense of disorder and paranoia; even from the opening moments, the order of San Francisco is eerily askew, suggesting that the invasion is already well underway (Kevin McCarthy's cameo appearance is particularly unsettling).
The 1950s film adaptation of War of the Worlds (Haskin, 1953) prominently featured religion as Mankind's ultimate saviour. Religion is largely absent from the 1956 'Body Snatchers,' but remains important as a defining characteristic separating "us" from "them". Conversely, in the 1978 film, religion is obliquely offered as a mode of conformity in direct association with the Pod-invasion: a priest (Robert Duvall) swings eerily on playground equipment, possibly a newly-transformed Pod- person – one of the first, and so unacquainted with social customs. The ending, one of the most devastating in cinema history, is likely to disrupt your sleep patterns; silence over credits hasn't been used so well since Sidney Lumet's 'Fail-Safe (1964).'
The 1950s film adaptation of War of the Worlds (Haskin, 1953) prominently featured religion as Mankind's ultimate saviour. Religion is largely absent from the 1956 'Body Snatchers,' but remains important as a defining characteristic separating "us" from "them". Conversely, in the 1978 film, religion is obliquely offered as a mode of conformity in direct association with the Pod-invasion: a priest (Robert Duvall) swings eerily on playground equipment, possibly a newly-transformed Pod- person – one of the first, and so unacquainted with social customs. The ending, one of the most devastating in cinema history, is likely to disrupt your sleep patterns; silence over credits hasn't been used so well since Sidney Lumet's 'Fail-Safe (1964).'