THE INNOCENTS rises or falls on Deborah Kerr's performance. Her role requires earnestness, thoughtfulness, conviction, courage, and perhaps a touch of madness. If she can pull it off, the movie is a winner. Unfortunately, she can't.
Kerr harrumphs, goggles, and screams her way through the picture. She so distanced me from the action that my greatest fear was that she'd tire of chewing the scenery, chew her way through my screen, and go for my throat. The movie looks great; its children are perfect; it sounds wonderful; and it has a snappy script. If only they'd hired a better actress, they could've had a classic on their hands.
4 comments:
An interpretation of "Turn of the Screw" that can never be matched. It successfully puts to film all of the ambiguity of the original work and keeps the viewer looking and listening for clues that similarly escape the reader.
The film and performance both true classics. A disturbing book, a disturbing movie. Somtimes I want to be entertained, sometimes I want to be made to think.
I know where you're coming from, Qua. Sometimes, I think I'm the only guy on Earth who doesn't see what everyone else seems to.
But I just can't get past Kerr's performance.
I go there a lot. Moulin Rouge was the most boring piece of fluff I ever watched (walked into the kitchen regularly to get food) and Titus (with A. Hopkins) one of the most fascinating. Everyone disagreed. Get GalaxyQuest for you and the kid - best fun since Young Frankinsten. We watch it annually.
I'm with you there. I respected MOULIN ROUGE's audacity, but I think Luhrmann said everything he needed to say with STRICTLY BALLROOM. Further, I think TITUS is wonderful. I've always considered it one of Shakespeare's weaker efforts, but this production brings it to life.
GALAXY QUEST is in my TiVo, and it killed me when I saw it some years back, but I don't know if my spawn will go for it - he doesn't find science fiction remotely interesting. Then again, he's only six, so that's subject to rapid change. :-)
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