Gareth's Movie Reviews Past and Present IV
If any of us have HALF the strength of mind and will that is displayed by Papillon, then we're lucky, because when you watch this movie, you will wonder just how a human being could stay sane and keep his strength of character in the face of years of unjust imprisonment and solitary confinement.
Steve McQueen plays Papillon, a petty thief who is framed and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a pimp. He is sent to prison in French Guyana where you will suffer hard labour. Extreme cases are sent to Devil's Island, a rocky island more than 20 miles offshore, from where there is no escape. Papillon has no choice but to endure the labour, but all the time he is planning his escape. This goal forms the basis for the whole movie as he makes more than one escape attempt. He is aided by Dega (Dustin Hoffman), a con artist on the outside who has placed rather too much faith in his wife and the notion that he can easily buy his way to freedom. Unfortunately neither of them can account for people who would exploit them. So they have to endure double-crosses and Papillon has to endure years of solitary confinement for his "sins" and he they eventually find themselves on Devil's Island.
The main thing to strike me about this movie is the strength of character displayed by Papillon. Despite the apparent hopelessness of his predicament, he never loses sight of his goal - freedom. Constant double-crosses and years of solitary confinement, with conditions that would send a lesser man quite mad, never break him. He may appear weaker to the eye but they never break him and his unfaltering determination and iron will keep him strong, giving him a reason to be. There is maybe a lesson for us all here. McQueen has never been better, showing us the many facets of the man and taking us with him so that by the end we are cheering for him to succeed. Hoffman provides good support as the faithful friend, clearly in awe of Papillon's undying determination. The film is two and a half hours long but it flies by, which is more than can be said for Papillon's sentence. Be swept along by the ultimately uplifting story, McQueen's excellent performance, and of course, a man whom most of us can only aspire to be anything like.
This 1949 film is a brilliant tale of a man searching for the truth behind the death of his friend in post-World War 2 Vienna. At least, that is the story on the surface...Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) travels to Vienna to meet with his friend, Harry Lime. On arrival he discovers Harry was killed in a road accident a week earlier. Cue the funeral. Holly soon suspects that something is afoot and that the death was no accident. As he delves deeper, he uncovers dark secrets about his friend.
The film follows Holly, an alcoholic pulp Western author, as he digs deeper into Harry's past and discovers disturbing facts about his "accident" and the people associated with him. Holly falls in love with Harry's girl, Anna, a complex woman, harbouring her own, never revealed, secrets. She seems to know much more than she lets on, indeed, Holly is frustrated that this seems to be the case with everyone! Various shady characters who knew Harry provide more questions than answers.
Maybe the best section of the film follows the point where the shock discovery that Harry is in fact alive and kicking. Cue Orson Welles in a fantastic entrance involving superb use of lighting and camera, oh, and a cat. So it comes to light that Harry is not the goody goody Holly thought he was. He is forced to decide between friendship and justice, with the added complication that he is in love with Anna, who is utterly loyal to Harry. We also have the classic sequence where Holly finally meets with Harry on a very nervous ferris wheel ride, a scene including a superb speech from Harry about the how good always comes from bad events!
The film has much to offer - great characters, excellent acting, a splendid script (penned by Graham Greene), clever photography (many scenes shot with the camera slightly tilted), real setting (it was actually shot in Vienna), effective lighting, a superb score (Anton Karas' famous zither), a great entrance from Orson Welles and a terrific climax in the Vienna sewer system. So we have Holly with his simple ideals, reflected in his pulpy Westerns, about good people and bad people, the British officer Calloway (Trevor Howard) who is suspicious of everyone, Anna Schmidt, war-hardened (she's been there and seen it), and Harry Lime, maybe the most realistic of the bunch, very intelligent, justifying his questionable actions with clever words.
There are many reasons to watch this movie, if I haven't yet convinced you then just consider that it is regarded by many as being among the best thrillers ever made. Now go and see why! I was gripped and the infectious score is a perfect accompaniment to the dark deeds being revealed on-screen. The BFI recently voted this the best British film ever. 10/10
This 1965 film is set during the American Civil War and centres around the family of stubborn farmer Charlie Anderson (James Stewart). Left to raise the family by himself when his wife died during the birth of their youngest child, Charlie finds the peace of his Virginia farmstead threatened by the ever-nearing fighting of the Civil War.
The main talking point of the movie is raised almost immediately. It is clear early on that Charlie does not care for the war. As far as he is concerned, his family does not support slavery and therefore should not be fighting with their fellow Virginians for a cause they do not believe in. The other side of the coin is that of loyalty to their neighbours. Their state is at war and therefore the war IS their concern. The views of Charlie's six sons are sounded but ultimately not listened to. Charlie is very strong willed and no way is a son of his going to fight in a war that doesn't concern them.
The inevitable happens - the youngest son gets captured and taken away by Unionist troops, who mistake him for a Confederate. Consequently, Charlie decides the war now concerns them and sets off with all but one of the remaining sons, on a mission to retrieve the boy who, in the meantime, has been caught up in the fighting and experiences first-hand, the gruesome reality of the war.
War costs lives, of that there is no doubt, and despite Charlie's determination to keep his clan out of the fighting, the ensuing tragedies tear him apart. However the denouement brings a certain upturn in events following the earlier grief. James Stewart makes the film, as he did so many of his pictures. His performance is first rate, as he was so often. His portrayal of Charlie Anderson is completely convincing, especially in perhaps the film's most poignant scene when he is informed of the deaths of two family members, the expression on his face - you just know that his heart breaking. Stewart is the icing on the cake but there is more to watch the film for...impressive acting from some of the supporting cast, beautiful scenery, a comical fist fight and the battle scene. I liked this and even shed a tear towards the end.