In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a new hero arrived in American cinema: the anti-authority hero. Cool Hand Luke was one of the first films to portray this new type of hero, as portrayed by Paul Newman in one of his greatest screen roles.
Newman plays Lucas Jackson. We see right as the film begins how "Luke" represents anti-authority. He's drunk and cutting the tops off parking meters. We can't tell if he's doing it for the money or because he's angry, just that he's doing it because he can.
Luke is shipped off to a Southern prison camp, which is one of the film's major highlights. In the camp, a world of its own, secluded from society or real world existence (or just from any David Lynch film), prisoners must conform to the rules of the strict captain (played by Strother Martin). One of the many things that have come into pop culture from this film is the chain gang working o the roadside asking the prison guards' permission for trivial tasks like "wiping the forehead, boss" or "taking the shirt off, boss."
When Luke first enters, you can already tell he can't conform to this way of life. It isn't him. It's against everything he stands for. At first Luke is mistreated by the other prisoners, led by their somewhat leader Dragline (George Kennedy in an Oscar-winning role). But the thing is Luke doesn't mind. He keeps on living how he lives, and he eventually wins them over. (He gets the nickname "Cool Hand Luke" after winning a huge poker hand with absolutely nothing.)
But Luke also becomes an inspiration to the others on the chain gang. In one particular scene, Luke rallies his fellow prisoners to quickly finish a tar road in order to have a break. It's this sort of power, to rally others into defiance, which establishes Luke as this anti-authoritarian hero.
Yet Luke doesn't just get everyone to go along with him and have a happy ending. The captain and the bosses can't let their power be undermined. The guards realize that if the prisoners aren't suffering, they no longer have power over them. But the one who Luke runs into trouble with is boss Godfrey. Godfrey, hidden in the shadows or wearing dark sunglasses, represents the silent power that has tried to destroy these anti-heroes.
The guards finally make sure to stop anything Luke might or might not do after the death of his mother. Luke is put in "the box" until after his mother's funeral. One of the guards argues with Luke: "Just doin' my job. You gotta appreciate that." Luke's response -- "Aw, callin' it your job don't make it right, boss." -- underscores one of the film's themes, that law and authority does not always mean the same thing as justice. For a country still coping with the aftermath of watching mounted police attack civil rights marchers in 1965 (and just three years away from the horrifying killing of four Kent State students by the Ohio National Guard), Cool Hand Luke captures the human side of a very disturbing direction in national politics.
But the film is not a one-sided polemic. We feel bad that Luke is being punished for something he hasn't done. Yet we can sympathize with the guard who has no choice but to follow orders. Even the film's most famous line, "What we got here is ... a failure to communicate" (inspiring generations of bad Strother Martin impersonations), speaks to a larger social, generational, and political concern the United States found itself facing.
Cool Hand Luke remains one of the greatest films ever made about non-conformity. It's supremely acted, brilliantly written, includes plenty of wit and humor, and remains one of the first films of the time to create this memorable character type.
Peter Labuza
Film Club
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