I didn't think such violent things could happen to ordinary people.
Sometimes only the film that will leave you a sodden mess at the end will do...
The greatest British film ever made? For me, yes...
Noel Coward's adaptation of his one-act play STILL LIFE also went through Lean's collaborators Anthony Havelock-Allen and Ronald Neame.
Lean's direction is perfection - you can keep LAWRENCE or KWAI, here he shows his genius.
Gloriously shot by Robert Krasker, his images live on in the mind in tandem with Rachmaninoff's music.
Both married with children, a chance encounter between Laura Jesson and Alec Harvey leads to them falling in love, possessed by feelings that neither knew they were capable of or that they can fully acknowledge.
Victims of time, class and circumstance they snatch brief moments of happiness but it's doomed to failure by their own decency.
Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard (in his first starring role) give two of cinema's great performances.
Shelf or charity shop? Are you INSANE? Johnson and Howard have a wonderful supporting cast - Stanley Holloway as Albert Godby the ticket inspector and Joyce Carey as Myrtle Bagot the 'refained' tea-room manageress are delightful as the counterpoint couple to Laura and Alec - where as they have to hide in corners, Albert and Myrtle can be as flirtatious as they like. There are memorable performances from Everley Gregg, as Laura's garrulous acquaintance Dolly who crashes into Alec and Laura's last moments together, denying them any resolution to their sadness, and Cyril Raymond as Laura's husband Fred who, speaking the last line of the film, destroys me every time and makes me blub uncontrollably. Anyone who thinks Coward glib need only read Laura's internal monologue to see how wrong they are...
"This can't last. This misery can't last. I must remember that and try to control myself. Nothing lasts really. Neither happiness nor despair. Not even life lasts very long. There'll come a time in the future when I shan't mind about this anymore, when I can look back and say quite peacefully and cheerfully how silly I was. No, no, I don't want that time to come ever. I want to remember every minute, always, always to the end of my days."
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