YEAR: 1981
DIRECTOR: Jean-Jacques Beineix
PINBALL MODEL(S): Space Mission (Williams, 1976), Buck Rogers (Gottlieb, 1980), Genie (Gottlieb, 1979), Panthera (1980, Gottlieb), The Amazing Spider-Man (1980, Gottlieb), Counterforce (1980, Gottlieb)
GAME LOCATION: Bowling Alley
NOTES: Once again we find the youth/pinball connection in a film, but this time the recreation space is configured as a place of vulnerability and disconnection. The arcade in this underground bowling alley is saturated with audio-visual energy, imparting an almost psychedelic atmosphere to the scene; effectively mirroring the fading consciousness of the film's bullet-wounded hero (whose physical condition is mistaken for drunkenness by the arcade's patrons). When we consider pinball as a game of collisions between opposing forces, settings such as this provide an ideal metaphorical environment for violent human conflicts to unfold.
