02-27-2021, 11:21 AM
Criterion is featuring a collection of films written by Pinter. I've been sampling a few.
I'll encapsulate them roughly best to worst, though this is ongoing, so some of the best may crop up later.
The Comfort of Strangers (1990) by Paul Schrader
A married couple (Rupert Everet and Natasha Richardson) vacation in Venice, hoping to resolve their strained relationship. They get lost one night looking for a restaurant, and a stranger is kind enough to treat them to a meal at his favorite restaurant. But he's an odd duck, and it's never clear what his intentions are as he keeps running into them and drawing them into his world.
The stranger, by the way, is played by Christopher Walken, who is absolutely riveting in his monologs. I wonder if Pinter wrote the part with Walken in mind. Whatever, the movie is worth seeing just for Walken doing his thing.
Accident (1967) by Joseph Losey
Stephen (Dirk Bogarde) is a middle-aged professor frustrated by his academic failures as well as his loveless marriage who becomes enamored with Anna, a student, who is engaged to fellow student William (an aristocratic athlete played by Michael York). So there's something of a love triangle going on here, but not reciprocal in all ways, and it's complicated by another professor, Charley (played by Stanley Baker), who is Stephen's better in all ways, and who makes a play for Anna as well.
All of this may or may not be true, and there may be other things going on. Who knows who's sleeping with who as things proceed. The movie uses dialog sparingly and lets the actors reveal things, or suggest such revelations, through subtle looks and actions and arrangements in off-kilter scenes -- unfolding, of course, out of order just to add to the enigma. Is there more going on than meets the eye? Or is it all far simpler? A fascinating study in psychological games.
The actors are all solid, but Stanley Baker surprised me with his second-tier role, defining a subtle and memorable character. He has always been my favorite Doctor Who, despite LCF claiming that he never was, and that I'm confusing him with two other Bakers. But I think I've reached an age where I'm entitled to create my own reality.
Anyway, highly recommended for its economy of dialog and non-verbal mind games.
The Servant (1963) by Joseph Losey
A British aristocrat in need of a man-servant hires Hugo (Dirke Bogarde), little knowing the man's nature or ambitions. This seems to be the inspiration for Bong Joon-ho's Parasite, though it would be fairer to say that both were loosely inspired by a 1948 novella by Robin Maugham. Before long Hugo is bringing his sister Vera aboard to do the cooking and other housework -- except she's not really his sister but his lover. Sarah Miles plays Vera, giving a quirky performance that encompasses seductress. Anyway, this movie is far from subtle in the late goings and, to my mind, jumps the shark. Still, it's got some fine performances, with Sarah Miles the big surprise.
I'll encapsulate them roughly best to worst, though this is ongoing, so some of the best may crop up later.
The Comfort of Strangers (1990) by Paul Schrader
A married couple (Rupert Everet and Natasha Richardson) vacation in Venice, hoping to resolve their strained relationship. They get lost one night looking for a restaurant, and a stranger is kind enough to treat them to a meal at his favorite restaurant. But he's an odd duck, and it's never clear what his intentions are as he keeps running into them and drawing them into his world.
The stranger, by the way, is played by Christopher Walken, who is absolutely riveting in his monologs. I wonder if Pinter wrote the part with Walken in mind. Whatever, the movie is worth seeing just for Walken doing his thing.
Accident (1967) by Joseph Losey
Stephen (Dirk Bogarde) is a middle-aged professor frustrated by his academic failures as well as his loveless marriage who becomes enamored with Anna, a student, who is engaged to fellow student William (an aristocratic athlete played by Michael York). So there's something of a love triangle going on here, but not reciprocal in all ways, and it's complicated by another professor, Charley (played by Stanley Baker), who is Stephen's better in all ways, and who makes a play for Anna as well.
All of this may or may not be true, and there may be other things going on. Who knows who's sleeping with who as things proceed. The movie uses dialog sparingly and lets the actors reveal things, or suggest such revelations, through subtle looks and actions and arrangements in off-kilter scenes -- unfolding, of course, out of order just to add to the enigma. Is there more going on than meets the eye? Or is it all far simpler? A fascinating study in psychological games.
The actors are all solid, but Stanley Baker surprised me with his second-tier role, defining a subtle and memorable character. He has always been my favorite Doctor Who, despite LCF claiming that he never was, and that I'm confusing him with two other Bakers. But I think I've reached an age where I'm entitled to create my own reality.
Anyway, highly recommended for its economy of dialog and non-verbal mind games.
The Servant (1963) by Joseph Losey
A British aristocrat in need of a man-servant hires Hugo (Dirke Bogarde), little knowing the man's nature or ambitions. This seems to be the inspiration for Bong Joon-ho's Parasite, though it would be fairer to say that both were loosely inspired by a 1948 novella by Robin Maugham. Before long Hugo is bringing his sister Vera aboard to do the cooking and other housework -- except she's not really his sister but his lover. Sarah Miles plays Vera, giving a quirky performance that encompasses seductress. Anyway, this movie is far from subtle in the late goings and, to my mind, jumps the shark. Still, it's got some fine performances, with Sarah Miles the big surprise.