esrosedotblog

DAISY

Today we had Peter Bogdanovich's take on Henry James' Daisy Miller (1974). It is one of the NYTimes Best1176 Films and should be.

In ninety concise minutes (a miracle for anything by James) we get a jewel-like rendition of another James character who cannot express his love and loses.

The film has all the polish of the Merchant-Ivory efforts without the wretched excess. Some scenes are breathtaking. The lighting is incredibly good especially in the apparently genuine scenes in Vevé and Rome.

The acting is down the middle but spouting the long Jamesian sentences is a challenge. Bogdanovich directs the dialogue at top speed and some of it is hard to hear. But we get the drift.

Cybill Shepard is type cast as the willful yet superficial Daisy; an all American girl in the middle of a continental tour with a bunch of tight asses. Cloris Leachman is the overwrought mother.

A sad footnote that the 'hero' Barry Brown committed suicide 4 or 5 years after making this film.

Another saddish one is that Bogdanovich was very hot and then he was not; relegated to directing B films or teevee stuff. Another early bloomer wilting on the vine.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.