Friday, October 21, 2016
Hear Christopher Walken's Wonderful Reading of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"
Open Culture: Christopher Walken, writes Arifa Akbar in the Independent, is a “sinister-looking man who has made a living from looking — and acting — sinister,” but he didn’t start out that way. His “career trajectory – starting benignly enough in children’s commercials, musicals, and dance – took a darker turn two years after his near-miss with Star Wars,” when he’d almost landed the Han Solo role that went to Harrison Ford.
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To me, Christopher Walken has always been an actor associated with memes, a impression worthy voice, and the 2007 movie of Hairspray. I haven’t watched Deer Hunter, or seen any movies of him being taken seriously, so when I saw the title of the article, it immediately interested me. Listening him reading the Raven, which is definitely one of my favorite Edgar Allen Poe poem, alongside Annabel Lee, brought a new haunting image to my head. There were some points were that iconic Christopher Walken voice was very thick, sometimes the music didn’t really help his voice and became too loud, and I couldn’t watch the video, which took me away from the poem and creepiness, but overall I really loved hearing this recording. I also love it when celebrities read stories, for example Samuel L. Jackson reading Go the Fuck To Sleep (look it up on youtube), even though that one is a more funny than the Raven.
I always think of the art form of theatre as a combination of all art forms. However, in doing this, I often forget to look for the theatre within other art. Thus, such a rich portrayal of a classic and beloved piece of literature is a more than welcome reminder of the theatre in all things. Theatricality can exist in so many more places than simply onstage, and the vibrancy and honesty in Walken's voice is proof of this. It is important to remember that theatre's more literal representation of art imitating life is not always the most accurate, deep, or necessary, and I am glad to see a dramatic artist like Walken taking part in the exploration of this element of the craft - that element being its weaknesses. For here we see that where theatre might fail, the application of a minor theatricality to another class of art makes all the difference. I would love to see more beloved actors like Walken bringing life to classic works of literature in such a simple yet effective way, and hope to in the future.
i hope to one day be as good as whatever I end up doing as Christopher Walken is at being sinister. While I do think this article focuses perhaps a bit too much on the darker side of Walken's huge body of work (he's a very good, very flexible actor, as his resume shows.) While "The Deer Hunter" was certainly a pinnacle of Walken's career, it's not indicative of all roles he's had since, and ignoring the carefully-crafted, well-researched nuance that Walken puts into his roles is a disservice to his work. Labeling his characters as simply "demonic" or "deranged" is a bit of a sweeping generalization. It's important to note that the most of this article is in fact a quote from an Independent article by Arifa Akbar on Walken's work. The rest of the article simply pertains to the very good, very fitting reading of "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe, a man who could be called deranged and demonic in his own right. this recording celebrates the 167th anniversary of Poes unexplained death in a very fitting manner.
This is a great performance. Christopher Walkens's voice is simple, yet haunting. It really gives a sinister character to the work. However, this piece of art isn't just Walken reading the poem. The soundscape of the piece is as important as the voice actor. Not only does it set the mood and the scene, it modifies Walken's voice to fir better with the story. The addition of reverb and the choice to keep the sibilance of Walken's voice add to the tone of the piece. Once we're into the meat of the story, the droning background line almost fades into our subconscious. It affects our perception of the story, but we aren't actively thinking about the eerie laughter or distorted guitar sounds. The raven's caw is also another important aural element to this piece. It's sharp, piercing caw breaks the almost soothing rhythm of Walken's voice, thereby heightening the tension of the listener. This is a great aural performance that we can all enjoy just in time for Halloween.
I think that while many people may talk about how well Christopher Walken portrays the sinister and deranged, something which he does masterfully, we must also consider the man's amazing capacity for comedy. There's something so tantalizing about his figure and his marvelously unique voice which I believe lends itself so well to the craft of comedy. My first recollection of such a role would be his cameo appearance in Pulp Fiction where he plays Butch's father's war buddy who hid a watch in his ass, making for one of the more unforgettable parts of that movie. I think its also interesting to think about his trajectory through success, and how much of his success is due to his obvious acting talent, and how much is due to the uniqueness of his demeanor.
I remember when I first heard The Raven in english class in sixth grade and how creepy and odd it seemed. In that moment I believed that The Raven was written while Poe was on hallucinogens. Now, hearing this poem by Christopher Walken I am reminded again of this quality of the poem but now in a much more appreciative way. The quality of Walken's voice adds an eery quality to this famous poem that is inviting at the same time it is creepy. It is this quality of dragging you into the story only to scare you mare that creates a successful piece of horror or suspense writing and or reading. If the reading were to only scare you then there would be no reason to continue listening and thus the piece would lose its audience. Instead, by keeping the listeners close to the action Walken creates a sense of comfort that he is able to grow into suspense, discomfort and overall creepy factor, For these reasons, I find this piece successful and entertaining despite the fear it still arrises inside me (just like sixth grade all over again.)
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