Blu-ray Review: The Point (1971)

February 13, 2020

Written by DanXIII

Daniel XIII; the result of an arcane ritual involving a King Diamond album, a box of Count Chocula, and a copy of Swank magazine, is a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, artist, and reviewer of fright flicks…Who hates ya baby?

Dig on this y’all; in a kingdom where everything has a point (think a whole ass-load of triangles folks) a boy with a round head named Oblio (The Brady Bunch‘s Mike Lookinland) is having a tough go of it. You see, unlike everyone else in the kingdom, he has no point (real subtle film… real subtle), and when he beats the son of a powerful Count (Lennie Weinrib) at that classic pastime, the triangle toss, his ass is kicked out of the kingdom with the quickness.

Oblio arrives in the Pointless Forest and goes on a surreal journey (which is saying something considering what proceeds these events) where he begins to learn, through interactions with the bizarre creatures that inhabit the land, that everything does have a point, even if it isn’t obvious.

The Point is nothing if not completely charming… and more than just a little delightfully whacked out, and of course it’s message of everyone has meaning and a point-of-view is timeless and eternally relevant.

A great deal of the credit to why this film is so wonderful is the talent behind the camera. Famed celebrated singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson who provides the many excellent songs that populate the film’ soundtrack, but he also did so much more for the production including writing the original fable that forms the basis of the narrative (which he also co-wrote), as well as serving as a producer for the piece. Complimenting Nilsson’s vision is the abstract, rough-hewn animation and character designs from director Fred Wolf and his team that creates a unique visual aesthetic to this one-of-a-kind flick that just fires on all levels.

Along with the fantastic feature film, we also get a healthy dose of bonus material on this MVD Entertainment Blu-ray release (courtesy of their MVD Rewind label). First up we get a lengthy examination of Nilsson’s various contributions to film and television (including some fascinating projects that never came to fruition), followed by a brief claymation short that Nilsson worked on that served as inspiration for the film.

Next up we get interviews with Lookinland, screenwriter Norm Lenzer, and Kiefo Nilsson (Harry’s son) and Bobby Halvorson on adapting The Point, followed by featurettes dedicated to Nilsson, pitching the film, a “making-of”, and the picture’s enduring legacy.

So there ya have it; The Point is an off-the-wall journey into a bizarre land that at it’s core is much like our own, plus there’s a lesson to be learned along the way… it’s a delight of a flick to share with the family, or to watch alone while high off your ass…

 

 

 

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