David Lean's - "Ryan's Daughter"
Sept 10, 2019 4:23:51 GMT
Toasted Cheese, spiderwort, and 1 more like this
Post by bravomailer on Sept 10, 2019 4:23:51 GMT
I lifted this from my posts on Delon's thread on recent viewings:
Critics didn’t care for Lean’s follow-up to Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. I did. If there’s any flaw it’s the similarity with Zhivago and the soundtrack, which while enjoyable isn’t Jarre’s best work.
The film depicts village life better than any other except maybe The Last Picture Show. Beneath the incredibly beautiful setting and cinematography are themes of faithlessness, infirmity, treachery, powerlessness, and dashed hopes – Ireland under the British. Events take place during World War One. There’s a collision between partners in an unconsummated marriage (Mitchum and Miles), a British officer (Jones), and the villagers’ nationalist aspirations.
Lean’s famous transition shot in Lawrence of Arabia has a match going out, then the desert sun rising. He inverts this here. Jones’s character watches the sun go down as he holds a blasting cap near a case of explosives. The sun slips beneath the horizon, the camera shifts to Mitchum and Miles. Mitchum lights a lamp and an explosion sounds in the distance.
The village idiot I took to be the encapsulation of the village - mentally deficient, incapable of refinement. The film is quite harsh on village life. The mobs are quick to condemn and attack but never realize they're attacking the wrong person. It was just someone who'd violated their norms. As for their nationalist aspirations, they are incapable of meaningful opposition, in part because of their prejudices, in part because of the treachery of the pub owner, Ryan. Intelligent people, Mitchum and Miles, get out. Mitchum leaves his Victrola with Mills.
Two of the actors in the village later had roles in Barry Lyndon - one as Barry's mother, the other as the highwayman Captain Feeney.
The storm sequence is spectacular. I see that Lean waited a year for a suitable gale, and it was worth it. I also see that Jones was in a dark mood because his former girlfriend was murdered during filming – Sharon Tate. I thought he did well as the British officer haunted by his experiences in France.
Critics didn’t care for Lean’s follow-up to Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. I did. If there’s any flaw it’s the similarity with Zhivago and the soundtrack, which while enjoyable isn’t Jarre’s best work.
The film depicts village life better than any other except maybe The Last Picture Show. Beneath the incredibly beautiful setting and cinematography are themes of faithlessness, infirmity, treachery, powerlessness, and dashed hopes – Ireland under the British. Events take place during World War One. There’s a collision between partners in an unconsummated marriage (Mitchum and Miles), a British officer (Jones), and the villagers’ nationalist aspirations.
Lean’s famous transition shot in Lawrence of Arabia has a match going out, then the desert sun rising. He inverts this here. Jones’s character watches the sun go down as he holds a blasting cap near a case of explosives. The sun slips beneath the horizon, the camera shifts to Mitchum and Miles. Mitchum lights a lamp and an explosion sounds in the distance.
The village idiot I took to be the encapsulation of the village - mentally deficient, incapable of refinement. The film is quite harsh on village life. The mobs are quick to condemn and attack but never realize they're attacking the wrong person. It was just someone who'd violated their norms. As for their nationalist aspirations, they are incapable of meaningful opposition, in part because of their prejudices, in part because of the treachery of the pub owner, Ryan. Intelligent people, Mitchum and Miles, get out. Mitchum leaves his Victrola with Mills.
Two of the actors in the village later had roles in Barry Lyndon - one as Barry's mother, the other as the highwayman Captain Feeney.
The storm sequence is spectacular. I see that Lean waited a year for a suitable gale, and it was worth it. I also see that Jones was in a dark mood because his former girlfriend was murdered during filming – Sharon Tate. I thought he did well as the British officer haunted by his experiences in France.