Sergey Kuznetsov. Scarecrow, not a person

Scarecrow, not a person
Sergey Kuznetsov

Date of publication: October 11, 2000

The original English name Hollow Man means, of course, not invisible at all, but “Hollow Man.” Its meaning is clear: with a rubber mask placed over the void, Kevin Bacon looks truly hollow. The additional charm of the title is that The Hollow Men is a famous poem by T. S. Eliot, known to at least every American film critic. It begins with the words:

We are the hollow men.
We are the stuffed men.

The second line is usually translated as “stuffed animals, not people” or “stuffed people” (A. Sergeev and S. Stepanov, respectively). And therefore, when Bacon's hero - an invisible scientist named Caine (Caine - not like "Citizen Kane" and not like "The Raising of Cain"; but to the English ear Cain can still be heard) - rides through the city in his rubber mask and the children shout: " Mom, look - it’s a scarecrow!” - I most want to hear the English original: scarecrow or stuffed man . Because if it’s stuffed man , then in the film by one of the best masters of science fiction cinema, Paul Verhoeven, there will be at least one episode that pleased me. Otherwise, there will be none.

Of course I'm exaggerating. The special effects are fantastic. We observe the sequential disappearance (and appearance) of tissues several times. We see how an invisible person becomes visible when tobacco smoke is exhaled on him or water or liquid from a spray bottle is poured on him. We see him floating in the water and throwing off burnt pieces of skin. In short, we see a lot of interesting things. But inside the film is completely empty.

Its plot does not stand up to criticism from beginning to end - and not only from the point of view of science (as we know, the invisible man must also be blind), but also from the point of view of the “genre”. Was it worth the fuss to show us a vulgar slasher film for the last half hour, with a maniac wandering around the laboratory and killing his former colleagues. Considering that his colleagues are wearing infrared glasses (that is, they can see him), even Kane’s invisibility is not so important. By the time the hero, like Terminator 2, begins to emerge from the fire alive and unharmed, irritation reaches its peak.

Of course, a summer (and in Russia - autumn) blockbuster should not be smart. Mission: Impossible 2 doesn't provide much brain food either. But it’s really a pity that such wonderful special effects were not supported by anything: much more was expected from the creator of “Total Recall,” “RoboCop” and “Starship Troopers.”

But the creator of “Basic Instinct” and “Showgirls” pleased us with an episode in which an invisible woman unbuttons a sleeping girl’s blouse and begins to suck her breasts. Have you ever seen what a nipple looks like when it's inside your mouth? That's it! For some reason I immediately thought about the porn film Hollow Woman . Imagine an invisible woman who...

However, I'll stop. Not only for reasons of decency, but also because I am increasingly convinced that Verhoeven should have made the invisible woman a woman. And invite Sharon Stone to play the lead role. Remembering “Basic Instinct,” we can say that this time the heroine could not only have nothing under her skirt, but also the skirt itself.