by Few of Stephen King’s books have developed a life of their own as much as his huge novel It (1986) has over the decades following its publication. It was the book kids talked about secretly, sharing and exchanging information gathered somewhere and often from unreliable sources. A story of strange, almost morbid and uncontrollable fascination. Everyone wanted to know about that strange clown feasting on children and why – just to lie awake at night, hidden underneath a blanket. It is probably King’s biggest accomplishment, a big but fast and entertaining read with a huge fan base. Serious fans can be brutal when they wish for scenes from the novel that couldn’t make the film because they feel a personal devotion to them. But adapting an epic novel is challenging anyway, given that the original story in this case is much too long and dense to be put on screen as is. Director Andy Muschietti and the screenwriters, most notably Cary Fukunaga, who developed the project from scratch, picked wisely and decided to tell the story chronologically, contrary to the first TV-adaptation filmed in 1990, and also to postmodern filmmaking ideals. Their approach makes the story a lot more accessible. Praised then the TV-film is considered dated now, sometimes ridiculed, but Muschietti’s take on It often feels as if it were paying respect to its predecessor. It’s surprising how often the two films feel alike in how they’re successfully capturing the essence of what Stephen King told on 1000+ paperback pages.
Hailed as ultimate horror story, Stephen King’s It always felt much more complex than that. Much like many of his stories, it is about growing up and living in a small town, a microcosm, self-contained and dense with history, but also decay. Derry is not an exception here. It looks like an ideal town to start a family, quiet, green and beautiful, but then a city is always only as good as the people that live in it. This is valid for any big city in the world as much as it is for Derry. Even when it’s raining cats and dogs it retains a certain beautiful quality, amplified when Billy Denbrough builds a paper boat for his little brother, Georgie. Nursing a cold, Bill can’t play with his brother, who goes outside but loses his boat when it’s washed into the gutter. Suddenly, there’s nothing left of Derry’s beauty. It’s virtually washed away. George encounters Pennywise the Dancing Clown, incarnation of purest evil and plaguing Derry for centuries. Why George isn’t scared away by this drooling creep is anybody’s guess, but after Pennywise lured him closer and severed his arm, George is spotted by a neighbor who turns a blind eye on the incident. This depicts perfectly the two sides of Derry: beautiful on the surface, sinister and ugly underneath. A life is lost, either for apathy or an instinct of self-preservation. The city below the city is an allegory, it is where all the secrets of all the people are washed into, the Empire of Fear ruled by Pennywise.
Pennywise is the most effective disguise of It, a supernatural entity that appears in Derry every 27 years. Many children are afraid of clowns and they still are when they’re adults. The phenomenon is called coulrophobia, a presumably irrational fear that is deeply rooted in human instincts. We fear what we don’t understand and we fear strangers, especially when they look kind of demonic. Warriors of all cultures painted their faces before battle to scare their enemies. But It is a shape shifter, assuming whatever shape his victim is most afraid of. The kids are trying to enjoy their lives but everyone has a terrifying encounter with It and their attitude changes. Fear is what brings the members of “The Losers Club” together. Led by Bill Denbrough, the poor boy who lost his brother, they’re an unlikely gang that probably wouldn’t have formed if it weren’t for It, but also Derry’s bullies Henry Bowers and his two sidekicks/stooges. Henry and his mob chase Ben Handscom, who escapes to the Barrens, a swamp-like strip of greenery cutting right through Derry where part of the sewage system surfaces, and Bill and his friends help him hide. They’re in the Barrens searching for a missing girl and find one of her shoes in the sewers, where Patrick Hockstetter out of Henry’s group is killed by Pennywise. As strange as it sounds, pun not intended, it all comes together in the sewers. Overweight and formerly an outcast, Ben is an effective addition to The Losers Club. Hiding at the library from Henry most of the times, who bullies him the most simply for being fat, he’s accumulated a broad knowledge of Derry’s history. It’s Ben who figures out that Pennywise is what is hunting them and comes out to play every 27 years.
Pennywise appears in photographs throughout Derry’s history, and when those snapshots come to live, the clown is the scariest, for it has to be assumed it commands almost God-like powers. The film’s best scene is when The Losers watch footage at Bill’s garage and Pennywise jumps out from the screen and into reality. Perfectly executed, the viewer is not only frightened by what is on screen but by the suggestion that Pennywise might cross from one reality into the next. This plays with almost childish fears horror films and fiction are supposed to remind us of. The Losers are vulnerable alone. As a group, though, they can prevail. Pennywise knows this and actively separates them when they try to confront It at the abandoned house in Neibolt Street. There’s plenty of rumors concerning the house and in its basement, there’s a well – the entrance to the Empire of Fear. Unfortunately, the film loses its appeal when it’s trying to pick up speed. Every single one out of the group is forced to face Pennywise on their own. Scary at first, the film relies heavily on jump scares. The more we see Pennywise, the less effective he becomes. In the TV-adaptation, whether intentionally or lucky, this issue was overcome by Tim Curry’s ingenious performance as Pennywise. By being ridiculous and ironic, he added an element of irrationality to It that is scary in its own regard because we can never fathom what purpose it serves, a quality Bill Skarsgård‘s performance lacks. It makes a bad mistake by playing with the kids to intensify their fear before feasting on them. When they’re reunited, if not unscathed, Beverly manages to severely injure the clown and force him to retreat to the sewer. Insistent on defeating Pennywise once and for all Bill and Beverly are pushing the group but they’re disbanding for now, fearing for their lives.
Without knowing it, Beverly emerged as the strongest member out of the group. Struggling with her abusive father, the extent of the abuse never quite clarified, yet certainly devastating, she has to develop a strong character to survive. Add to that, all of the boys have a crush on her that King in the book decidedly carried too far. Muschietti implies this a lot more subtle earlier in the film, when they all go for a swim. Symbolically, they can either swim together or sink and die on their own. Sexual attraction is skillfully turned into platonic admiration, which is, admittedly, a lot more suitable not only on screen. Beverly manages to overcome her anxieties and frees herself from her father by confronting and fighting him psychologically first, then physically. It almost breaks but doesn’t kill her and she comes out stronger and braver than before. In other words, she’s the biggest threat to Pennywise, offering the least reward in fear that can be extracted. It abducts her and takes her down into the sewers, prompting The Losers Club to assemble again.
I Go Home And All I See Is That Georgie Isn’t There….So Walking Into This House, For Me, Is Easier Than Walking Into My Own.
Bill Denbrough
Obviously scared by the courageous Losers, It recruits Henry Bowers, who’s susceptible to carrying out orders. First he kills his father, then he tries to stop the Losers from confronting It by accessing the sewers at Neibolt Street. Mike Hanlon manages to push Henry to his apparent death and It pulls all its tricks on the boys on their way to his lair to separate them. Fear is hard to overcome and they barely make it, shocked by what they discover. Pennywise lives on a junkyard of circus remnants and children’s toys, the bodies of missing children floating around it. Whatever this is can only be assumed but to imagine the children weren’t killed but forced to float for all eternity to produce fear for It to feast on is even more horrible than concluding they’re dead. Beverly is floating too, though close to the ground. Even though she’s catatonic, Pennywise can’t have her because she doesn’t fear him enough. Pulling another of his shows, the clown isn’t scary anymore, only ridiculous. Suddenly, Georgie appears and we understand Bill’s fear of failing him and being unable to live on is Pennywise’ grand prize. Bill acknowledges his brother’s death and is taken by Pennywise, who offers the others to spare their lives if they let him have Bill. Of course they refuse, understanding that Beverly is still alive simply because she wasn’t afraid of the clown. They fight Pennywise and force him to retreat to a sewer underneath the sewer, an underworld they can’t understand and that houses It during hibernation. Bill hopes It won’t survive without the power of their fear but we can tell The Losers are doubtful. This is confirmed by Beverly after they’re back on the surface. She confides a vision she had, seeing them fighting It again when they’re adults. The Losers swear to come back and defeat It if need be and this is the last time they’re assembled as a full group, already foreshadowing that It will rise again, stronger than before.
It: Chapter One is a skillfully made film that actively sets the framework for Chapter Two by telling the kids’ story first without jumping back and forth between childhood and adulthood. Even die-hard fans of the novel will have to acknowledge the film gets a lot right and only few things wrong. Cuts from the book are inevitable, but in essence, it’s all there, particularly the small town feel and nostalgia. And if it’s not shown, we’re informed about it, even about the explosion at Kitchener Ironworks, which is not as good as seeing Mike bike out there but close enough for a film adaptation. It’s sad to say that, while Bill Skarsgård‘s doing a splendid job, Pennywise is the film’s biggest asset and weakness alike. The more we see of the clown, the less we’re scared. But It is still a wonderful film, hopefully followed up by an equally good It:Chapter Two.
