Members
Stats
Users Online Users: 0Guests: 16Total: 16 |
|
May 18, 2024, 03:42:15 PM | The Innocents *****
|
Deborah Kerr plays Miss Giddens, guardian of two angelic orphans. When ghostly disturbances make themselves felt she determines to protect her charges. Jack Clayton's superb adaptation of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw keeps us guessing until the end.
Fans of The Haunting will really like this one. And I mean the 1960s version, not the really crap remake! And The Others bears some comparison too, but this is far superior and doesn't rely on a twist. The story has a deeply creepy dark side and can be very disturbing, with echoes of The Shining.
Three comparisons in one paragraph! And normally I don't like the whole "if you like this, then you might like that, because it's like those" sort of review, but I'm trying to put The Innocents in context because no-one seems to have heard of it, which is criminal.
It's much more subversive than a typical horror. It even comes across as a very British period class drama complete with enthusiastic melodramatic dialogue, especially from Deborah Kerr. It would seem at home on cosy Sunday evening TV and you'd assume it was dated even in 1961, following as it did such revolutionary horror films as Psycho, Peeping Tom or Mario Bava's Black Sunday. But the flowery language and stilted politeness are a means to an end and create an almost satirical and cruel story that makes for an astonishingly powerful film. If anything, it is a finer piece of writing and more challenging than its more famous predecessors in horror cinema, but all go to prove that the early 1960s were one of the most fertile and important periods in the genre.
The story is based on The Turn of The Screw by Henry James, adapted by William Archibold and Truman Capote, who gave the story its twisted heart, subverting what you might have otherwise dismissed. And far from being the predictable old fashioned actress I may have insinuated she was earlier, Deborah Kerr, as the Governess Miss Giddens, is vital to selling this audacious plot. It is a captivating performance that traps the audience beautifully. Wherever your sympathies lie at the end will be because of her and in any case, don't expect an easy night's sleep after watching it!
The children, Flora and Miles, are played by Pamela Franklin and Martin Stephens. Essential to the story, the chemistry between them is wonderful, and so too their relationship to Miss Giddens and the housekeeper, memorably played by Meg Jenkins. Child actors are so often the weak spot, but these two will keep you guessing, especially Stephens. If The Omen had been filmed 15 years earlier, this kid would have been a shoe-in playing the little bastard!
For all the metaphors and subtext, The Innocents is first and foremost a visual ghost story. While it doesn't rely on jumps and gimmicks, Jack Clayton's clever direction, drawing together the brilliant performances and sumptuous sets, is complemented by Freddie Francis's gorgeous photography which will have you on the edge of your seat, peering into shadows. And while in the context of the story, the two ghosts may or may not exist, they will still make your blood run cold. A stunning moment on a rain-lashed lake is especially haunting, all the more for being in daylight. Clayton wrings every bit of potential from the frame without ever forcing the viewer's attention.
The result is possibly the finest ghost story ever filmed; a unique, memorable and important contribution from British cinema at its most confident. Big words, eh? Please give it a try.
Make sure you do on Blu-Ray too. The print is pristine and proves the real strength in high definition is not necessarily in CGI, but classic photography, where the depth of a well composed film comes to life. And in a sort of high class "Buy One Get One Free" offer, the BFI release also includes The Bespoke Overcoat (1955), a short film and another ghost story of a different tone to The Innocents. It is an absolute gem and, shush, but you might prefer it; it's that good.
(From "Fancy the pictures, me Duck?": The British Film Marathon on March 15th, 2011)
Member's Reviews
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, a review by addicted2dvd
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
My Thoughts:
This is one of the ones that a very good friend gave me not so long ago. To be completely honest this movie never sounded like a movie I thought I could get into... and went into it with some rather low expectations. To my surprise... I really enjoyed this movie. I found myself literally laughing out loud on a couple different parts... and really found myself getting hooked on the storyline. This is definitely one I can see myself watching again.
(From Sunday Mini-Marathon: Unwatched DVDs on February 3rd, 2008)
Member's TV Reviews
The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena
Chuck
What's the show about?
Charles "Chuck" Bartowski is a man who works is an electronic market in the "Nerd Herd". But he's also a spy - sort of. He carries all of the government's secrets in his head without having direct access to them. But from time to time he "flashes" on something and then he and he and his handlers Sarah and Casey go on a mission to save the country. But Chuck's main goal is it to get the Intersect data out of his head again.
"Pilot"
After 9/11 NSA and CIA have put their information together into a computer system called Intersect. It stores the data encrypted in a huge amount of images. One day the rogue CIA spy Bryce Larkin destroys the Intersect and sends this data to his former friend Chuck Bartowski who opens it and unintentionally loads all this knowledge into his brain. Both CIA (in the form of Agent Sarah Walker) and NSA (in the form of Major John Casey) try to get the data back but the computer gets destroyed and the only remaining Intersect copy is in Chuck's head. Additionally an east-european assassin wants to kill a high-ranking NATO general.
My Opinion
(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on September 8th, 2009)