In a surreal universe, a wacky cast of gangsters is thrown into a deadly game against one another to claim a mystical relic known as “The King’s Board” in Nick Gatsby’s Zapper!
To understand surrealist films, you probably need to know the basics of the term. Everyone can probably guess what realism is, strict adherence to reality, surrealism, on the other hand, takes those rules and expectations of realism and turns them upside down. You don’t need to use logic, and if you are expecting any reasoned explanations of scenes, characters, or plot, well, don’t hold your breath. Filmmakers have embraced the freedom and creative expression that surrealism gives them for almost a century, and in doing so, they have produced some of the most fascinating productions ever seen.
Legendary director Luis Bunuel was the godfather of surrealism having made the short cinematic masterpiece Un Chien Andalou with artist Salvador Dali in 1929, and now director Nick Gatsby adds his voice to this rogue’s gallery of artistic extremists. Although surrealists and Gatsby himself won’t consider themselves extreme, amongst the visuals in their films, they are often found to be constantly fighting a society they despise. In a world in which things are a little lop-sided, the surrealist filmmaker’s principal weapon was not guns, but chaos and confusion.
Gatsby’s Zapper! is a mish-mash of surrealist ideas and techniques wrapped up in a paper-thin plot. He chooses to use psychedelic colours, pop art imagery, and what looks like rotoscoping, throughout the 90-minute run time, and although I can’t be positive that he uses rotoscoping, a lot of the scenes are created to give us that type of look. Amongst all of this visual wizardry is a number of heightened performances from its cast, sound effects that attack the senses, and a variety of different musical numbers on the soundtrack that are used to throw us off the scent of comparing it to any particular movie genre.
There is at least some semblance of a plot to the film that sees a group of people known as Zappers fighting each other in order to be the first person to find and claim a mysterious relic. In that sense, it can be seen as a caper movie or adventure film, and there is a great deal of world-building that has gone on. Gatsby has certainly not shirked the background, but in the end, it isn’t about anything in particular. Devoted movie scholars who look for symbolism in everything may be able to make something of the banana that shoots laser beams, the cans of soup that are used as hand grenades, or the three individuals filmed in black-and-white who oversee everything like a group of uncouth and sweary America’s Got Talent judges. At times when Gatsby decides to break the fourth wall and insert outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage into his film, he seems to have done away with the plot completely and dedicates himself to putting whatever he wants to see on the screen.
Because we are all so accustomed to following a narrative in movies, audiences want their movies to make sense even if they don’t. Zapper! doesn’t make sense, not in any way, but it makes you think it does and Gatsby’s directing manages to stop us from asking questions and allow us to have an experience. Once the final credits roll, what we do ask for is a lie-down.
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