Random Variable

The more I think about it, the more the new film from Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright grows on me. What interests me is what the film surreptitiously says about country life. That hidden under the veneer of the quiet life, lies a hidden, obscene violence. In one scene, Pegg’s character, the hard-nosed super cop Nicholas Angel discovers a tomb full of the bodies of gypsies the village elders had slaughtered. Wright & co. Attempt to make the scene humorous with the presence of the dead body of a mime artist painted in gold, but does it not evoke the image of concentration camps, or Life is Beautiful when Guido stumbles upon a mass grave of Jewish concentration camp victims.

The film is also a great rebuttal of utilitarianism. When Pegg finally encounters the murderous cult, the members justify their actions with reference to the “greater good.” Technically, they may be correct. Killing off unwanted members of their village may increase the aggregate happiness of the other inhabitants, but cannot be justified on any sane moral or ethical ground.

But perhaps, I’m missing the point. With Hot Fuzz, Britain has finally found its answer to Stephen Chow.