Who?

Dir: Jack Gold

1974

*****

Who? is a rather ambiguous title for a movie. I’d never heard about it before watching, not much is written about it and I had no idea what to expect, all I knew was that it was released in 1974 and stared Elliott Gould – which was enough to make me interested. What I wasn’t expecting (but had secretly hoped for) was for it to be an intelligent, ridiculous, thrilling, absurdist, sci-fi cold war thriller – the type you could probably only find on late night TV and that could only have been made in the glorious 70s. The film starts with a classic 70s car chase, one that ends in disaster. We then learn that said car chase occurs along the East/West German boarder and the sole survivor of the crash, an American scientist, has been ‘captured’ by the East German military. Fast-forward six months and the East German military announce the scientist’s release, stating that they saved his life and are now returning him. A US Intelligence Agent (played by Elliott Gould) is sent to the release location and is ordered to find out why they would release someone as important as Dr Lucas Martino (Joseph Bova), the leading scientist working on the mysterious ‘Neptune’ project. We’re never really told what the Neptune project is, only that the Russians would want it and it could be the answer to winning the cold war, it’s fairly inconsequential to the story. Gould’s character is startled (as was I) to discover that Dr Lucas Martino is now, essentially, made of metal. It seems in order to save his life, the East German’s had to replace his torso, arms and skull with steal. It look terrible but also rather wonderful. I’m a sucker for 70s sci-fi and this looks like something out of a typical 70s futuristic sitcom, but with an ounce of intelligence behind it. Bad prosthetics aside, the story has a lot going for it. Firstly, the big question as to why the East Germans have decided to release him – even though he could have been some value to them, is now overshadowed by the question is he who they say he is, what is he and who is he? Is he a bomb? A bizarre data collecting robot? He certainly sounds like Dr Lucas Martino but how can they possibly prove it? He has no finger prints because his fingers are now metal, no real teeth for dental records and there is something uttered about blood manipulation which I suspect is sci-fi nonsense but it sounds plausible when you let yourself go along with it. The film switches from present day, where we follow Martino’s plight to try and prove who he is, against Gould who is trying to prove he isn’t; and the events following the crash, where we learn just why the East Germans built him a new body out of metal and why they decided to release him, if it is indeed really him. It’s a cracking little thriller, very simple in concept but quite broad in its idea. It makes you think about identity and also makes a subtle statement on civil rights and racism to some extent. It’s a modern day Man in the Iron Mask, with a little bit of the Manchurian Candidate thrown in for good measure. It’s the perfect cold war film in that is explores trust and paranoia. It makes a great case for both sides of the argument, better than you’d think for a film that features a serious character that looks a cross between the Tin Man and TWiki the robot. Trevor Howard is brilliant as Colonel Azarin, the counterpart and complete opposite to Gould’s Intelligence Agent. Gould is on top form, which is wonderful given the low budget and the aforementioned costume issue. The script is actually something rather special, again, the only thing that confuses the production is the ridiculous metal man. I loved it from the very beginning and it just got better and better. I believe the film has suffered greatly from the change of title is received when released on VHS. The marketing department clearly didn’t know how to sell it or maybe didn’t even see it, as it was renamed ‘Roboman’ and the new cover made it look like a ‘killer robot’ sci-fi horror. The conclusion of the film is one of my favourites of all time and I’m not even kidding. It’s one of the most overlooked and intelligent thrillers ever made, the production values may not be of the highest standards but the script, concept, performances and execution are, it’s everything you could want from a cold war mystery thriller and a great example of the sort of magic the decade produced. It’s Alexandre Dumas meets Metal Mickey.