File this under things we are late to but hopefully understandably so as we’re not particularly an outlet that often reports movie news outside of The Rundown.
According to Indiewire, the acclaimed director of Drive, Bronson and the upcoming Only God Forgives is set to adapt Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius’ classic comic series “The Incal” for the big screen. Refn and Jodorowsky are reported to be friends so you’d imagine that the project is something that is signed off on at least to that regard, Refn does seem like a good choice to bring the staple sci-fi comic series to life, perhaps as the antithesis to his work on Valhalla Rising (in a manner of speaking).
The question is: should he?
There are two ways of looking at an announcement like this — the optimist, and the pessimist. The optimist will look at an announcement and say, hey, Refn’s a solid director and this will bring new eyes to Moebius and Jodorowsky’s work, which is never a bad thing. If there’s an Incal film and it does well then assumedly people will want to read the book, as sales of things like “A Song of Ice and Fire” and “The Walking Dead” certainly saw some small inkling of an uptick in circulation post-adaptation (though those are TV, not movies — I just didn’t want to use “Kick-Ass” and “Watchmen” as positive examples). While those are obviously not the best comparisons if we’re talking good movies, there is a certain sense of hope in thinking that more people may be aware of this gem of a title if there’s a film about it (although what that says about modern audiences and their need to be placated by motion pictures over reading is a discussion in and of itself).
And it’ll probably star Ryan Gosling, which isn’t a horrible thing. People love the Gosling.
On the other hand, the most prevalent thought that folks like myself and other fans of the series is probably around the lines of “do they have to?” Jodorowsky has a background in film along side Moebius and I’m sure the idea that their work would be made into a film wasn’t outside of the realm of possibility, but at the same time the comic is pretty perfect on its own. This, like most comics we know and love, doesn’t really need an adaptation in any shape besides perhaps an animated film featuring Moebius’ original art — and I’m not saying this to sound like a snob, thumbing my nose at the industry as a whole. It’s just a simple fact of the matter that no human could adapt the beautiful and surreal vision Moebius and Jodorowsky brought to the page onto the big screen, and as good as Refn may be there’s just no conceivable way that a large majority of what makes “The Incal” such a comic staple can be removed outside of its original medium. It’s a comic to be read and adored from the talent and passion imbued to it by the creators.
No film ever will be able to capture the beauty of work like this:
So, without trying to sound defeatist or prematurely negative — why bother? Sometimes it’s better for a comic to just be a comic.
Either way, there’s probably no way it’ll be as good without the Moebius art, like this trailer for the graphic novel:
With nothing official yet, there’s no real reason to grab pitchforks and torches just yet. Still, as much as I have to grit my teeth in saying it, Refn directing an “Incal” film is probably as good as it’ll get, since he’s clearly a director who requires intimate knowledge of what he’s working on, has successfully adapted a book for the big screen twice (Bronson and Drive) and doesn’t seem like a director who will cave artistic integrity of some kind to the whims of a studio. The Incal would probably require Refn’s biggest budget yet, but should this be a thing that happen I’d cross my fingers and hope for the best.
