December 26, 2024
indiana Jones raiders of the lost ark

Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

As mentioned previously, Valentines Day is not all mush and gush. It can be complicated. So, I decided to feature the dysfuntional side of relationships. The best part is it all works out in the end.

Archaeologist Indiana Jones is full of adventure. He goes on excursions to retrieve ancient artifacts for museums. He’s also a professor at a prestigious Marshall College, where he’s a professor of archaeology.

My goal is to cover the romantic relationship of Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood. Little is known, but I manage to piece their romance together. Jones met Marion when he studied under her father, Abner Ravenwood, at the University of Chicago. She fell madly in love with Jones, but she was too young to have a serious relationship so their affair was cut short. Marion’s father, Abner Ravenwood, didn’t approve. Marion’s actual age was never revealed when she had her affair with Jones. The impression is she was a teenager or barely legal. That part causes a slight cringe.

indiana Jones raiders of the lost ark
Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Several years have passed since Jones last saw Marion. His new assignment takes him back to where his mentor, Abner Ravenwood, was last seen because he holds a valuable artifact that would help Jones on his mission. Jones must find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis. Jones and the Nazis know that Abner Ravenwood is the leading expert on the ancient Egyptian city of Tanis and that he is in possession of the headpiece of the Staff of Ra. The headpiece is the key to locate the Well of Souls, which is a secret chamber that supposedly contains the Ark.

Jones is nervous about seeing Marion, again. He broke her heart. It was never clear how deep the relationship went. Again, it was expressed that they had a brief love affair. Whether that meant it was physical or not wasn’t made clear. That’s a good thing because Jones is older than Marion and its implied she was a teenager, while he was a college student.

Abner’s was last seen living in Nepal. When Jones arrives, he discovers that Abner is dead and Marion has the piece that he needs. Marion has led a challenging life. She’s stuck in Nepal without a way back to America. When she sees Jones walk through her bar’s door, a rush of conflicting emotions assaults her. She is angry. She is sad. She is relieved. Jones notices the myriad of emotions on her face and treads cautiously. One lousy gesture could mean he loses access to the artifact. Jones requests the headpiece from Marion, but she denies him. Jones apparently leaves defeated, but he knew the Nazis aren’t far behind. Soon they will find Marion and attempt to force her to give the artifact to them.

Raiders of the lost ark
Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Nazi commander Arnold Toht enters the bar with his goons and prepares to torture the defiant Marion. Jones comes to her rescue, and they zip off into the night with the artifact. Jones has a new partner because Marion bargained for a return trip to America and to find the Ark with him. Much to Jones’ dismay, he must agree, and that spark he once felt for Marion has ignited. The saying goes the heart wants what the heart wants. It’s difficult to deny the heart.

Jones and Marion travel to Cairo to meet with Jones’ long-time friend and expert digger, Sallah. A plan is underway, but the Nazis are relentless. They discover Jones’ affection for Marion and kidnap her. An accident occurs, and Marion appears to have perished in an exploding truck. Jones is distraught over the loss. There’s still a mission he must fulfill, so Sellah and Jones proceed with a discovery that the Nazi’s are digging in the wrong place. During this time Jones discovers that Marion is alive, but he can’t rescue her in fear of losing the Ark. It didn’t work out as planned because Sellah and Jones were found digging for the Ark. They throw Marion in the Well of Souls to join Jones. Sellah is held captive but was released. The audience was left to assume he was released because he appeared to be an ordinary digger. You have to love the plot holes!

Jones and Marion escape. They managed to retrieve the Ark and booked a ticket to London aboard a tramp steamer. A tramp steamer ferries cargo to different ports. Jones finally believes he can rest. He’s sore from his battle with the Nazis and Marion is feeling elegant in a gown she was forced to wear by Jone’s arch-nemesis, Ballog. Jones and Marion stopped fighting their feelings and were about to express it until Jones fell asleep. Marion is irritated.

indiana Jones raiders of the lost ark
Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Their happiness is short-lived because the Nazis commandeer the steamer. Marion is held captive along with the Ark. Jones appeared to have abandoned her, but he managed to stowaway on the Nazi’s U-boat to travel with them to the Aegean Sea. Bellog wants to test the Ark’s power before turning it over to Hitler. Jones knew this would have deadly consequences. Jones is caught and he and Marion are tied to makeshift poles, while the Nazis prepare to open the Ark. I keep waiting for Jones to say, “I got a bad feeling about this.” Ha! Anyway, Jones tells Marion to keep her eyes closed. The Ark is opened and kills everyone, except for Jones and Marion. When they realized they had survived the encounter they embrace and express their feelings.

They make it back to America with the Ark, which is weird because Jones was initially trying to take it to London, not America. At the end of the movie, Jones and Marion appeared to have rekindled their relationship. However, in the additional sequels, Marion wasn’t even mentioned until the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull movie. We discovered Jones abandons Marion before he knew she was pregnant with his son. Marion never tried to contact Jones to tell him he’s a father. Instead, she married an acquaintance of Jones who was killed in the war. It wasn’t clear why Jones abandoned Marion. The writers dropped the ball here.

In conclusion, relationships can be a challenge when bad feelings are unresolved. However, in the end, love has its way of working things out. There’s no denying the power of love. The moral to this love affair is although relationships can be a map to disaster, love always prevails and saves the day.

The Indiana Jones movies are available for rent via DVD Netflix. Add it to your queue today.

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz4crpFaW4M”]

Movie Rating: 5 stars.

Movie Rating Guide

1 Star = Unwatchable
2 Stars = Cannot Recommend
3 Stars = Great for the Fans
4 Stars = A Solid Movie
5 Stars = Must Own (DVD/Stream Download)

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