Christine [M]

A teenage boy will never forget his first car. This is certainly the case for young and sweetly innocent geek Arnie who falls in love with a beat-up ’58 Plymouth named Christine. In the months following Arnie’s purchase of Christine, he spends every free moment fixing her up and making her beautiful, much to the dismay and irritation of his girlfriend Lee and best friend Dennis. Soon, Arnie has become another person, pushing away friends, family, anyone who says a bad word about Christine. And the jealously obsessive car herself will not let anyone mess her owner. 

Based on the novel by Stephen King, John Carpenter delivers a movie about teenage rebellion to be taken with a grain of salt. Admittedly I haven’t read the book so I can’t really say how close of an adaptation this movie is, but the themes that it explores and the angle that Carpenter takes proves to make for an engaging viewing experience. 

Whilst the car may be the film’s namesake and certainly the most colourful character on the screen, I would argue that it is not really about her. This right here is a story of teenagers struggling through that transitional period between adolescence and adulthood. Our heroes are in that stage of both hating and fearing adults and this is most clearly conveyed in the way that the adults and people of authority are depicted. 

Practically all grown-ups in this film are people that you hate: they’re either bumbling, hypocritical idiots who go on the offense when dealing with teens, or ridiculously demanding and over-authoritative parental figures attempting to keep the teens under their thumb. All are shown in a negative light, priming us to be on the side of the teens; after all we’ve all been there right? 

Carpenter establishes this connection with the heroes through a biased adult depiction very well and the journey that our heroes go through becomes all the more poignant at the end when those that remain speak to members of authority as equals and end the film with that cutting line “I hate rock ‘n’ roll”. 

The explanation behind the car and its ‘life’ is never explained and no real intimations are given to the audience to form their own conclusions from. All we know is that this car is somehow alive and in love with her owner. The only true titbit of character that comes from Christine comes in the form of the rock ‘n’ roll music she plays through her radio, making Carpenter’s choice of music a poignant narrative device. ‘50s rock lyrics blended with circumstances provide horror, romance, and even comedy; keep an ear out for it. 

The car herself is pretty shiny and impressive with the special effects of her ability to self-heal doing a good job in conveying that idea that this thing is more than a machine. The fact that she’s given a voice through the radio and movement of her own accord is kind of telling of our relationship with technology: the romance and terror of it. There are a fair few themes being explored within this movie so if you sit down to watch it, do it with a mind open to all possible interpretations. 

Starring Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul. Robert Protsky, Christine Belford, Roberts Blossom, William Ostrander, David Spielberg, Malcolm Danare, Steven Tash, Stuart Charno, Kelly Preston, Robert Darnell, and Harry Dean Stanton, Christine is an interesting film that offers multiple stories and interpretations as well as a twisted, dark ending. 

Filled with drama, horror, violence, suspense, and a good dose of car chases, it’s not overly special in any way, but there’s enjoyment to be taken away from it.