Rollerball

The original (not the atrocious remake)

Rollerball (1975)

Streaming; 5 / 5

There’s an academic term floating around to describe the shift in America during the 1970s: the cultural turn. The easy way to read “turn” is the directional sense, like things were going one way and then turned a different direction. But there’s a deeper, darker meaning, using “turn” the way you would talk about milk that has “turned,” or spoiled. This second interpretation holds that in the 1970s things started to rot. And a lot of the media (including the cinema) of the 70s seems to intuitively grasp this, looking hard at the possible outcomes, sometimes from some very weird but deeply thought-provoking directions. 

So amidst the dystopian sci-fi of the period (like Logan’s Run and Death Race: 2000) sits Rollerball, a gem of a movie staring deep into the abyss of bread-and-circus bloodsport. Jonathan E (James Caan) is the undisputed greatest-ever player of the titular game (a lethal roller-derby that adds motorcycles and a cannonball), who comes to realize the game is used as propaganda by the council of megacorporations that own the world. Jonathan comes to see that his elite position is a box he cannot escape, even though it appears to grant him limitless luxury (he even has a literal privilege card, which he shows to get free stuff unavailable to his lessers). His search for something more leads him (and the audience) to contemplate some dark subjects. 

What Jonathan wants is freedom. The genius of the film is that it presents a world around Jonathan that has purposefully robbed him of his ability to even verbalize this longing (and, we learn, will seek to subvert or punish him for even trying). Books and learning are all curated by the ruling elite (“abridged” for everyone’s convenience) to keep the language of the idea out of the minds of the public. Jonathan never says he wants freedom, not because he’s not sure, but because he does not know the word. It’s chilling and heartbreaking to watch Jonathan grope toward a concept he cannot articulate. And you’ll need to sit a moment once the movie is over to wonder about your own life, too. 

5 stars of 5: It’s a personal favorite, and fiercely relevant even today.