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Cool Hand Luke
(1967)
 | Information at Internet Movie Database |
| Themes
 | Cleansing/Destroying
the Temple
 | "Conflict with the prison
establishment is inevitable and the last straw comes when Luke
encourages his fellow inmates to complete, with enthusiasm, the
arduous task of repaving a highway well before five o’clock. The
road paving episode is the equivalent of Jesus cursing the Jerusalem
Temple. Luke is seen as a dissident and the ruling authorities plot
to humiliate him." ("The
Messianic Figure in Film: Christology Beyond the Biblical
Epic," Matthew Mc Ever, Journal of Religion and Film,
1998) |
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| Crucifixion
| In the final scene, Dragline is
reminiscing/preaching about Luke and the torn photograph of Luke
with the two prostitutes is superimposed on the shot. As the camera
pulls away further into the sky, the crossroad becomes a
cross and Luke of course is imposed on it. I think this is even more
interesting image of crucifixion than the scene following the egg
eating episode. (Dean Cramer) |
| Luke lies in shape of
cross after eating the 50 eggs |
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| Faith
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Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Luke wins the poker game with nothing. He reply to
"Dragline" stating sometimes nothin' can be a real cool
hand. Luke's prison uniform number is 37. (Dean
Cramer)
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| Eucharist
| I don't have a one to one relationship for this
analogy, but the scene after Luke comes out of the box for a week, and his
stomach is shrunk so that he can't eat his rice, when prisoner after
prisoner takes a scoop of his rice so that he won't have to be punished
anymore gives me a strong feeling of the communal aspect of the Lord's
Supper. Take and eat, this is my body... (Tim Ihssen) |
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| Great Commission
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After he's escaped for the last time, and before he's
delivered unto his death, Luke tells Dragline that he's done enough
world-shakin', that he's going to leave that job to them (his
disciples), which Dragline proves in the final sequence as he has
gathered about him all the inmates, who will spread Luke's story. (Tim
Ihssen)
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| Judas
| Judas also enters into the story in that Dragline
betrays Luke by telling the authorities where Luke is hiding. (Rev.
and Mrs. Kenneth Chorle Beaver-Butler Presbytery) |
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| Mary
| Luke's mother's name is Arletta (Our Lady), and when he
learns about her death, he sings about the Virgin Mary sitting on a
abalone shell. In his conversation with his mother, he makes sure his
brother John ought to receive the inherited land, just as Jesus made sure
John and Mary took care of one another from the cross. Some Christians
might have a hard time reconciling the image of an ancient, smoking,
hacking woman as the Virgin Mary, but there it is... (Tim Ihssen) |
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| Miracles
| Another way that Luke is like Jesus is that Luke is
a miracle worker.The road gang completes their assignment of
preparing the road for paving two hours ahead of schedule. He gave
the prisoners, or disciples rest at the stop sign. In another scene,
Luke picks up a deadly rattle snake without being hurt as if to say
that Satan has no power over him. In his final escape, Luke tells
two African-American children "when I return you can tell me
all about it." Luke was refering to the humor of the
bloodhounds sneezing after sniffing the pepper and powder. Jesus
often spoke to people about his second coming. (Rev. and Mrs.
Kenneth Chorle Beaver-Butler Presbytery) |
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| Prayer
| [Discussing God and the rain]
Lucas (Luke) Jackson: Let him go. Bam, Bam.
Dragline: Knock it off, Luke. You can't talk about Him that
way.
Lucas (Luke) Jackson: Are you still believin' in that big bearded
Boss up there? You think he's watchin' us?
Dragline: Get in here. Ain't ya scared? Ain't ya scared of dyin'?
Lucas (Luke) Jackson: Dyin'? Boy, he can have this little life any
time he wants to. Do ya hear that? Are ya hearin' it? Come on.
You're welcome to it, ol' timer. Let me know you're up there. Come
on. Love me, hate me, kill me, anything. Just let me know it. [He
looks around] I'm just standin' in the rain talkin' to myself.
(Quote from Internet Movie Database @ http://us.imdb.com/Quotes?0061512)
(David K. Miller) |
| At the end of the movie, Luke has escaped from a prison work
gang and finds himself in an abandoned church. His prayers sounds
much like a rebellious son trying to get the attention of an
absent father. (David K. Miller) |
| The Prayer in the Church: An
absolutely perfect representation of the Garden of Gethsemane. For
heaven's sake, he even calls God "Old Man," which is slang for Father, of
course; but he also asks if there isn't another way out of this mess, and
God answers with silence, which Jesus must have felt. And the "answer"
that God sends him is Judas, leading the authorities who will take him
away to his death. Luke's "If that's the way you want it..." equals "Not
my will, but yours be done," with a Luke attitude, naturally.
(Tim Ihssen) |
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| Resurrection
| photo of Luke with 2
women is taped back together |
| Even though Luke dies a tragic death, the story is
told over again to the disciples at the near end when Dragline
recounts in great joy the life and death of Luke. (Rev. and Mrs.
Kenneth Chorle Beaver-Butler Presbytery) |
| This film has several resurrections, starting with his
"crucifixion" following the egg incident. The other, as was mentioned, was
his picture being taped up and superimposed on a cross. A third was when
he was ordered to dig his own grave, and kept on crawling out; he finally
gave up the ghost, and the reaction of his "disciples" was very
interesting. The ignored him as a "sell out," which is what the disciples
might have felt when he died that Good Friday - 'Here we put all our
marbles in this one hat, and he goes and dies on us. What a waste. Boy,
were we ever stupid. This isn't God after all - it's just a guy, like you
and me, a guy who can be killed.' Which made his ensuing escape even more
victorious. (Tim Ihssen) |
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| Rebirth/New Life
| Luke is gunned down by the
spiritually blind "man with no eyes," a guard who wears
reflective sunglasses throughout the film. "Dragline"
(George Kennedy), Luke’s companion, attacks the guard and his
trademark glasses are crushed, suggesting that Luke’s death has
liberated the inmates once and for all. ("The
Messianic Figure in Film: Christology Beyond the Biblical
Epic," Matthew Mc Ever, Journal of Religion and Film,
1998) |
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| Sacrifice/Redemption
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The 50 eggs also represent the 50 souls of the
inmates that Luke sacrifices himself for. (Dean
Cramer)
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| Temptation
| Luke, like Jesus in the wilderness, faces
temptation when the prisoners are watching the attractive woman
wash her car. (Rev. and Mrs. Kenneth Chorle Beaver-Butler
Presbytery)
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