The Innocents (1961) .

-

#TBT so how about a #Throwback Movie? 😁

#TheInnocents (1961)

🤭

Quite simply: one of *the* greatest (horror)films of all time, and one of *the* most *terrifying* experiences of my life!

basu! - when will you learn, man, when will you bl**dy learn?! Why?! Why?!!!!!!!!

The only way I could get through this was to watch it in the brightest, broadest daylight with *all* the windows *wide* open, and the sounds of unlicensed socially un-distant revelry all around...

... until you realise that the point of the whole brooding, gothic, *stunningly*-photographed #blackandwhite *wide*screen #CinemaScope affair is that even in this warm bright broad daylight you're not safe😱!

This has to be one of the the most impeccably-crafted movies I've ever seen - the aforementioned cinematography (each methodically-framed shot is worthy of, uh, framing), the spare, unnerving sound design(incredible!), the production design(stunning!), the costumes(fabulous!), it boggles the mind that there were no #Oscars noms for any of them, zero, zilch, nothing…🙄 (thankfully, the French, as always, had better taste, the film was nominated for the #PalmeDOr at #Cannes…pretty cool for a "mere" horror film, no?).

And that literate, mind/soul-churning screenplay (with Capote, yes, as in PSH's TC) combined with slow, deliberative, perfectly-calibrated direction by Clayton, expertly, ahem, turning the screw on the viewer, so you're gritting your teeth through the whole thing, no respite from the chill (literally) going up and down your entire body…yeesh!

And the cast, my dear, the cast! Jenkins as the see-no-everything housekeeper, a welcome, ob-durate/stinate earthly counterpoint, those children, Stephens and Franklin, such skill at such a young age, such…🥶, well, you'll have to see for yourself.

And, of course, the great Kerr…we grew up with her in those larger-than-life Hollywood stone-cold classics: TK&I, FHTE, AATR, TPOZ (Baba's favourite), HKMA (my fave) etc., but she is revelatory…I daresay she was never better than her wide-eyed, warm-hearted, brittle, chilling, descent-into-chaos, performance here. But I dare…I dare…

Soooo, yeah, the whole thing is an allegory for…ya know, it's an allegory for *some*thing, *every*thing, but I don't wanna think too hard about it, because the *whole* thing got completely and irretrievably under my skin, and just thinking about it is giving me the heebie-jeebies, and I simply cannot afford another trip to the ER, especially now😲!

TL;DR: one of the greatest movies ever made, horror or otherwise…but if you value your sanity, *don't* watch it!

- - -

#JackClayton #FreddieFrancis #TrumanCapote #WilfredShingleton #Motley #HenryJames
#DeborahKerr #MartinStephens #PamelaFranklin #MegsJenkins #MichaelRedgrave
@20thcenturystudios @20thcenturyhomeent
@criterioncollection

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Voyagers .

-
Image
#Voyagers Good, clean #LordOfTheFlies YA poli-sci-fi fun. Expert craftsmanship, especially when you consider the budget for indie-sci-fi's. Beautiful work by the DP(well-lit scenes so you don't have to squint, imagine that?, and those richly saturated colours!), composer(not resorting to easy sci-fi tropes), and esp the drool-worthy production design(that, too, on a budget!). And, to top it all off, expert sound design by Hsu, the hardest-working (sound)man in the indie film biz👏! And the kids?, well, they're certainly all right, highlighted by a terrific villain in Whitehead, kid's a keeper. - - - #NeilBurger #PaulHsu #ScottChambliss #EnriqueChediak #TrevorGureckis #FionnWhitehead #TyeSheridan #LilyRoseDepp(#VanessaParadis's kid!, boy time moves fast😳!) #ChanteAdams #ViveikKalra(#BlindedByTheLight!) #IsaacHempsteadWright(#GoT!) #ColinFarrell(yes, that CF, be still TBH's beating heart!) @voyagersfilm @lionsgate @neil.burger
Read more

The Dog (2014) .

-
Image
#TBT so how about a #Throwback Movie? 😁 #TheDog (2014) One of those headspinning truth-is-stranger-than-fiction-way-stranger stories that the good documentaries, uh, spin so very well. If "The Dog" weren't a real person, you'd have to make him up! You always hear that tagline, right?, the [blank] was only the beginning…that was never truer here. I mean, yeah, we've all seen #DogDayAfternoon, but there's so much more that happened before..and after😲. Wojtowicz himself is a terrific character, and kudos to the documentarians for digging beneath that charismatic, seemingly-fun surface to hint at the darkness beneath. And, kudos, also, for giving a showcase to his mom, a star in her own right! And how about all that early gay rights activism footage…real eye-opening stuff. An informative, absorbing, entertaining documentary about a quintessential New York character. - - - #AllisonBerg #FrankKeraudren #JohnWojtowicz #TheresaWojtowicz #Sidn
Read more

WolfWalkers .

-
Image
#WolfWalkers Wonderful, just bl**dy wonderful! The kind of intelligent, layered, nervewrack/heartwarm/thoughtprovok-ing, non-1000-gags-per-minute-headache inducing kid's film you don't see too often these days. Let's start with that eye-watering, beautiful, lyrical, artwork (I'm not an art major, but looks like they do lotsa interesting stuff with perspectives🤔?). Every frame is one of those, uh, frame-worthy efforts, inspired by those awesome woodcut-type stuff I used to see at my Aunt's place, contrasting with the magical, mythical forests(like I said, I'm not an art major…TL;DR: it's *beautiful*!). There's a lesson in there for all of us: never let budget, or lack thereof, stand in your way! Speaking of lessons, dude, this film has *all* the allegory(?metaphor? unlike Kornheiser, I wasn't an English major😁) you can handle, especially for a kid's film(actually, all the good ones have some layer of subtext, right?). "Into your
Read more