By James Vickary
The Holy Grail is the sole focal point in this film. The grail diary by
whom his father has trouble holding onto throughout the film is very
important as well. I am going to talk about the sequence in Venice where
Indiana and Marcus travel to Venice, Italy to meet Elsa. Indiana was
introduced to Marcus Brody as a source of donating his previous Cross to
his museum. Elsa is Dr. Henry’s estranged co-worker and sort of
colleague within his travels. Indiana is on the mission though. He tries
to not get distracted by Elsa’s great looks and suspicious ways.
Indiana has received his father’s diary and goes to the library in
Venice with Elsa and Marcus. His father’s diary is the best given
information has as to where the grail might be. There are some missing
pieces to the puzzle though. The diary gives only a little bit of
information to its whereabouts.
Therefore Indiana must travel and bring
the diary with him in search for more clues about where the Grail is.
The importance of the library is finding the first crusade with the
missing tombstone piece which leads to more discoveries. I find that it
is important with whom Indiana makes his discoveries with. He travels
with Elsa beneath the library in the sewage with rats and makes his way.
But later on Elsa deceives Indiana and sides with the Nazis. I think it
is important to evaluate Elsa’s existence in Indiana’s life. She
basically uses him as a love interest as he is lured to take her to find
more clues as to where the the grail might be. The discovery of the
tombstone and the first crusader are short lived though. They get into
more trouble as Marcus isn’t a very good lookout and the Brotherhood of
the Cruciform Sword chase Indiana and Elsa underneath the library. Kazim
the leader of the brotherhood sets fire so that Indiana and Elsa cannot
escape. They eventually escape in a speedboat and flea from the
brotherhood in a close escape. The enemies boats are destroyed. One boat
being crushed between two bigger ships. I think this sequence plays a
very valuable role when looking at the big picture. The big picture
being the holy grail. We see the diary being used, the secret Nazi
informant being used, and the tombstone from the first crusade being
utilized as well. These people and objects help drive the story forward.
The diary is such a huge symbolic piece in the film though. It’s
whereabouts are extremely important and the delicacy of its condition is
crucial. It is stolen, being as a gift, won back, and tossed around in
so many ways. The diary is a key piece to unlocking the secrets of where
the holy grail is and its dangers within. I think George Lucas wrote it
as if the diary is a safe keeper. When so many things are going on in
the story, it is always reverted back to the diary for reference.
Whether it is in Henry’s hand, Indiana’s hand, or the Nazi’s hands. The
diary is the centerpiece for driving the last crusade deeper into its
importance. These are important sequences because they show content and
tone. They show discoveries and hints as to where the story might lead.
It is always good to look at what you have and then to use what you have
and look ahead. All this leads to the finding of the holy grail. They
eventually get their with the brotherhood and Elsa. After some trial and
tribulation, Henry ends up getting shot. Indiana cures it by the water
he drinks from the right cup. Lucas wrote this as a thrilling adventure.
He would want their to be drastic explosions, cool special effects of
the last crusade, and high speed boat chases. It is important to realize
his use of objectivity to allow each character to suffer and overcome
struggle in their own way. With the diary being the driving point of the
story, the rest is an adventure to the grail. As you watch, you wonder.
Where is the grail at? Will the diary solve the next clue? Will they
get the diary back? Will the Nazi’s kill Indiana and Dr. Jones.
While
secretly she is working with the Nazi’s as an undercover personnel as
she works Indiana’s weaknesses. Whether it is the sequence or the
characters in a sequence, we see people changing as the plot changes
too. It is important to see what is going on in Indiana’s head so that
the audience will have an understanding of why he has made a decision
and what he stands for. These sequences are important landmarks in the
movie. They help establish genre, tone, character development, and plot
details. I think that Indiana thrives in these sequences and learns from
his mistakes. Indiana must overcome obstacles in order to better
himself, to help his dad, and to come out victorious. Indiana Jones is
the national hero of adventurous films.
These
are the questions the audience asks ourselves while intently watching
this film. Sequences like the library tombstone, the holy grail
camouflaged bridge walk, and the opening sequence where young Indiana
retrieves the cross from the thieves are all important to help drive the
story forward. Of course all these sequences come with plenty of
action, but its significance is outstanding. Indiana retrieves the
stolen cross because it was the right thing to do. He said that it
belonged in a museum. With this sequence we see Indiana stepping up from
being a boy to a young man and stealing the cross from the thieves
because it was the right thing to do. He was a hero, so he thought. By
that situation though, we see Indiana as a good person. We see that he
is more of the heroic good guy rather than an evil villain. With his
instances with Elsa we see Indiana fall for her as she suckers him in to
believing that she is innocent and doing the right thing.
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