Tuesday, April 08, 2008
LONG VOYAGE
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Stanley Kramer's adaptation of the Katherine Ann Porter novel
This is one of those anthology films like the ones that take place in an airport or a hotel. It has a few big stories, a group of medium stories and some little teeny weeny stories and it is constantly shifting from one to the other.
There is not much interweaving which, in a way, is OK but it is distracting to keep jumping around. Mini-climaxes.
The best actor in this is Simone Signoret. There are other 'world' actors like Oskar Werner and Vivian Leigh with some Hollywood filler.
The idea is that all these people are deluding themselves. Since, in the film, it is 1933 we have the advantage of hindsight and so the 'lesson' is lost in our knowledge of what they are going to face in the future.
But then I suppose the message that we are also deluded is inescapable.
Sometimes it seems a little too preachy or obvious but there are also some nice little gems in it.
I will give it a 2 out of Netflix5 because I enjoyed it a bit less than average.
I think that it has hit its time warp. I didn't see it when it came out. Perhaps I should have. I might have enjoyed it more.
Labels: best films
