Editing Zardoz (section)

==Production==
===Development===
Boorman was inspired to write ''Zardoz'' while preparing to adapt [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' for [[United Artists]], but when the studio became hesitant about the cost of producing film versions of Tolkien's books, Boorman continued to be interested in the idea of inventing a strange new world.<ref>{{cite news |last=Champlin |first=Charles |title=Visions of the Future |work=Los Angeles Times |date=11 January 1974 |at=Part IV, p. 1}}</ref> He wrote ''Zardoz'' with William (Bill) Stair, a long-time collaborator. Boorman said that he "wanted to make a film about the problems of us hurtling at such a rate into the future that our emotions are lagging behind."<ref name="sight">{{cite journal |last=Strick |first=Philip |url=https://archive.org/details/Sight_and_Sound_1974_04_BFI_GB/ |title=Zardoz and John Boorman |journal=[[Sight & Sound]] |volume=43 |issue=2 |date=Spring 1974 |page=[https://archive.org/details/Sight_and_Sound_1974_04_BFI_GB/page/n15/mode/2up 73] |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> The original draft was set five years in the future and was about a university lecturer who became obsessed with a young girl whose disappearance prompted him to seek her out in the communes where she had lived. Boorman visited some communes for research, but decided to set the story far in the future, when society had collapsed.<ref name="sight"/>

In the audio commentary, Boorman says he developed the emergent society, focusing on a central character "who penetrated it. He'd be mysteriously chosen and at the same time manipulated ⁠— ⁠and I wanted the story to be told in the form of a mystery, with clues and riddles which unfold, the truth slowly peeled away."<ref name="sight"/> The script was influenced by the writings of [[L. Frank Baum]], [[T.S. Eliot]] and Tolkien, and drew inspiration from medieval [[Arthurian]] quests.<ref name="forty"/> "It's about inner rather than outer space," said Boorman. "It's closer to the better science fiction literature which is more metaphysical. Most of the science fiction that gives the genre a bad name is adventure stories in space clothes."<ref name="forty">{{cite news |last=Blume |first=Mary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87148882/boorman-zardos-profile-1/ |title=Boorman at 40: Losing a Millstone at a Milestone |work=Los Angeles Times |date=7 April 1974 |at=Calendar, p. 24 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

"Nobody wanted to do it. Warners didn't want to do it, even though I'd made a shitload of money for them," Boorman said. His then-agent [[David Begelman]] knew the head of [[20th Century Fox]] wanted to make a film with the director, and offered the executive the script to read, but insisted on a decision within two hours. "It's either yes or no," Begelman told him. "You have no approvals, and it's a million dollars negative pick-up". Boorman said that the "Fox guy came to London, and I was very nervous, so we went for lunch whilst he read the script. When he finally came out of the office his hand was shaking, clearly with no idea of what to make of it. Begelman went straight up to him and said, 'Congratulations!' He never gave the poor guy a chance."<ref name="john" />

===Casting===
In April 1973, Boorman announced the film would star [[Burt Reynolds]] and [[Charlotte Rampling]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Weiler |first=A. H. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/04/22/archives/hair-turns-silver-screen-scharys-back-selected-shorts-more-news.html |title='Hair' Turns Silver (Screen) |work=The New York Times |date=22 April 1973 |page=107}}</ref> Reynolds had previously starred in Boorman's film ''[[Deliverance]]'' (1972). However, Reynolds had to pull out due to illness and was replaced by Sean Connery.<ref>{{cite news |last=Haber |first=Joyce |title=Laying to Rest Burt-Is-Dying Rumor |work=Los Angeles Times |date=21 May 1973 |at=Part VI, p. 10}}</ref> Boorman stated, "Connery had just stopped doing the Bond films and he wasn't getting any jobs, so he came along and did it."<ref name="john">{{cite web|url=https://lwlies.com/interviews/john-boorman-lost-lord-of-the-rings-script/|first=Matt|last=Thrift|title=John Boorman on Kubrick, Connery and the lost Lord of The Rings script|website=Little White Lies}}</ref> Connery's casting was announced in May 1973 the week before filming was to begin.<ref>{{cite news |last=Murphy |first=Mary |title=Movie Call Sheet: Kubrick Sets 'Barry Lyndon' |work=Los Angeles Times |date=18 May 1973 |at=Part VII, p. 16}}</ref> Rampling said she did the film because it is "poetry. It clearly states: ⁠love your body, love nature, and love what you come from".<ref>{{cite news |last=Kramer |first=Carol |title=Movies: Self-searching, on a rambling Rampling route |work=Chicago Tribune |date=17 March 1974 |at=Section 4, p. 16}}</ref> Boorman had a cameo, as did his three daughters, Daisy, Katrine, and Telsche.

Locals were hired to help with the production. A group of County Wicklow artisans were&nbsp;hired to create many of the film's futuristic&nbsp;costumes. The costumes were designed by Boorman's first wife, Christel Kruse (the credits say they were made by La Tabard Boutique in [[Dublin]]), and were creations based&nbsp;on "pure intuition". She decided that, because the Eternals' lives were purely metaphysical and colorless, this should be incorporated in their costumes too. As The Brutals were lower, more primitive beings, Christel decided that they would not care much about what they were wearing, only what was functional and comfortable.<ref name="Starlog Magazine Issue 056">{{Cite magazine |last=Maronie |first=Sam J. |url=http://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-056 |title=Return to the Vortex |date=March 1982 |magazine=[[Starlog]] |issue=56 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-056/page/n17/mode/2up 19], 48–49 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> As stated in the magazine ''Dark Worlds Quarterly'' "functional" and "comfortable" costumes ended up meaning that the costumes were extremely revealing, "It is the costumes for the Brutal Exterminators, and Zed in particular, that raise the eyebrows. [In] thigh-high leather boots, crossed bandoliers and ... shorts that can be described as 'skimpy', the Brutals, and Connery in particular, exude raw masculinity, particularly as they ride their steeds and fire their guns."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://darkworldsquarterly.gwthomas.org/the-barely-there-costumes-and-plot-of-zardoz/|title=The 'Barely-There' Costumes (and Plot) of Zardoz|last=Jackson|first=M. D.|date=2020-04-17|website=Dark Worlds Quarterly|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref>

===Filming===
The film was financed by [[20th Century Fox]] and produced by Boorman's own self-titled company, John Boorman Productions Ltd., which was based in Dublin,<ref>{{cite book |title=Trade and Industry, Volume 15, April to June 1974 |date=1974 |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |page=62 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u7ZRAQAAMAAJ |access-date=1 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=John Boorman Productions Limited |url=https://www.duedil.com/company/ie/31164/john-boorman-productions-limited |website=DueDil |access-date=1 October 2018}}</ref> [[principal photography]] for ''Zardoz'' took place from May to August 1973.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://archive.org/details/Sight_and_Sound_1973_10_BFI_GB/ |title=John Boorman's Zardoz |journal=Sight & Sound |volume=42 |issue=4 |date=Autumn 1973 |page=[https://archive.org/details/Sight_and_Sound_1973_10_BFI_GB/page/n35/mode/2up 210] |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> It was reported that [[Stanley Kubrick]] was an uncredited technical advisor on the film.<ref name="afi" />

The production was shot entirely on location in [[Republic of Ireland]] and was based out of [[Ardmore Studios]] in [[Bray, County Wicklow|Bray]], [[County Wicklow]] where the interior shots were completed. Connery lived in Bray while shooting.{{refn|group=Note|Connery's house went on the market in 2020, some months before his death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/life/home-garden/homes/its-007-on-the-double-with-two-former-homes-of-james-bond-star-sean-connery-being-offered-for-sale-in-ireland-and-france-39316036.html|title=It's 007 on the double with two former homes of James Bond star Sean Connery being offered for sale in Ireland and France|website=independent|date=26 June 2020 }}</ref>}} Locations at the [[Glencree Centre for Reconciliation]], Hollybrook Hall (now Brennanstown Riding School) in [[Kilmacanogue]], and [[Luggala]] mountain for the dramatic wasteland sequences.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/z/Zardoz.php |title=Filming Locations for John Boorman's Zardoz (1973), in the Republic of Ireland. |website=The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations}}</ref> Boorman used the locations in the area for several films, including ''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]'' (1981).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/z/Zardoz.php |title=Filming Locations for John Boorman's Zardoz (1973), in the Republic of Ireland. |website=The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://wicklownews.net/2020/11/sean-connery-did-you-know/ |title=Sean Connery-Did you know? |date=2 November 2020 |website=WicklowNews}}</ref><ref name="filmschoolrejects.com">{{Cite web |url=https://filmschoolrejects.com/35-things-we-learned-from-john-boormans-zardoz-commentary-64664cde1780/ |title=35 Things We Learned From John Boorman's Zardoz Commentary |date=18 May 2015 |website=Film School Rejects}}</ref>

In the audio commentary, Boorman related how political and cultural conditions in Ireland at the time affected the production, saying that it was "very difficult to get women to bare their breasts" as nudity was a prominent feature in several sequences. He added that a ban on importing rifles, which had been imposed because of the [[Irish Republican Army]], nearly prevented the movie from being made.<ref name="filmschoolrejects.com" />