"The Innocents" is the Ultimate Ghost Story

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 71 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Innocents (1961) – B&W
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Jack Clayton
WRITERS: William Archibald and Truman Capote with John Mortimer (additional scenes and dialogue); based upon the novel The Turn of the Screw by Henry James)
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Freddie Francis
EDITOR: Jim Clark
COMPOSER: Georges Auric
BAFTA nominee

HORROR/MYSTERY

Starring: Deborah Kerr, Martin Stephens, Pamela Franklin, Megs Jenkins, Peter Wyngard, Michael Redgrave, Isla Cameron, and Clytie Jessop

The subject of this movie review is The Innocents, a 1961 British horror film produced and directed by Jack Clayton. Although it is based on Henry James’ novella, The Turn of the Screw, this black and white film takes its title from The Innocents, a 1950 Broadway stage adaptation of James’ novella by William Archibald.

Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr), a young governess, accepts a position supervising a young girl, Flora (Pamela Franklin) and her brother, Miles (Martin Stephens), (who is away at school when Miss Giddens first arrives), in a lonely old house on a large English country estate. Things are going well until Miles is expelled from school and returns home. Not only must Miss Giddens deal with Miles disruptive behavior, but she also begins to see shadowy figures and ghostly apparitions and to hear mysterious voices, strange noises, and unexplained music in the manor house and on its grounds. Miss Giddens comes to believe that the house, as well as the children, are haunted by former servants, but the estate’s clouded history is keeping her in the dark… and in danger.

The Innocents, a film adaptation of Henry James’ famed novella, The Turn of the Screw, is one of best English-language horror films ever made. It’s hard to imagine that this film isn’t among the top three to five best Western ghost stories on film. Like James’ novel, producer/director Jack Clayton’s film is coy about whether there are actually ghosts haunting the house or whether Miss Giddens the governess is mentally disturbed, though Clayton and his writers lean towards the former. Viewers may recognize one of Nicole Kidman’s films, 2001’s The Others, as a clever reworking of Henry James’ story via this film. The 2005 film The Skeleton Key also seems to have been launched from this concept.

However, regardless of how one interprets the film, it is a masterwork. Deborah Kerr is superb as the busybody Miss Giddens who is at once high-strung and then quite reserved. Pamela Franklin and Martin Stephens are mesmerizing as the sly, manipulative, and clever children. Rarely have young actors managed to look purely innocent and naïve while at the same time coming across and guilty and disingenuous. Megs Jenkins does a fine turn as the subtle messy housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, with her crafty touch of instantly feigning innocence. We can’t quite get a bead on the children, and Miss Giddens obviously has her problems, while Mrs. Grose knows more than she’ll ever let on – no matter how innocent she may act. And those ghosts: they are determined phantoms that the children must see because they seem like such obvious solid looking phantoms, but the director presents them in such a way that maybe only Miss Giddens is crazy enough to see them. And the great performances totally sell us into the confusion and doubt.

Not only do we get excellent acting, but also Clayton, cinematographer Freddie Francis, and composer Georges Auric deliver career-defining work. Auric’s music for The Innocents defines the term, “haunting score,” yet you wouldn’t really notice it unless you stopped specifically to hear it. Auric made the score quiet, yet forcefully effective. Oscar-winning cinematographer Freddie Francis (Sons and Lovers, Glory) gave the film a look that is as beautiful and it is frightening. Rarely does a ghost story seem so fascinating; his lighting crew certainly did stellar work. I wanted to live in Francis’ beautiful shot dream world no matter how many ghosts were there. Finally, producer/director Jack Clayton brought his talented cast and crew together and created a captivating film that is as distant as it is alluring – always calling the viewer, yet being standoffish.

The Innocents is a ghost story that seems itself to be a ghost – a haunting black and white dream that refuses to give up it secrets no matter how coy it is when giving up tidbits. Its shocking, disquieting ending is like an unsettled ghost that won’t let us leave but also pushes us away. This spectral ghost story is unforgettable.

10 of 10

NOTES:
1962 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Film from Any Source,” and “Best British Film”

1962 Cannes Film Festival: 1 nomination: “Palme d'Or” (Jack Clayton)

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Review: "Yojimbo" is One of the Great Crime Comedies

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 133 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Yojimbo (1961) – Black & White
Running time: 75 minutes-U.S.
DIRECTOR: Akira Kurosawa
WRITERS: Ryuzo Kikushima and Akira Kurosawa; from a story by Akira Kurosawa
EDITOR/PRODUCER: Akira Kurosawa
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Kazuo Miyagawa
Academy Award nominee

COMEDY/CRIME with elements of drama

Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katô, Seizaburô Kawazu, Takashi Shimura, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Yosuke Natsuki, and Eijirô Tono

Akira Kurosawa’s darkly comic film, Yojimbo, is without a doubt one of the great screen comedies. Despite it’s violent moments, the film is a hilarious tale wherein all the vices and all the things about man that we think of as wrong, are on display: wanton lust, naked greed, blatant envy, crude deception, consistent hypocrisy, murder, rage, and a whole lot more.

In the film, Sanjuro Kuwabatake, (Toshirô Mifune), a crafty ronin (masterless samurai) finds himself in a small village divided by two merchants, who more or less operate criminal gangs. Sanjuro decides that the only way to rid the town of the rivals is to get them to kill each other. Thus, he pretends to work for both sides, feigning indifference and interest in each side’s offer for his service, while they steadily kill each other. Two things complicate Sanjuro’s plan. The gun-slinging son (Tatsuya Nakadai) of one of the merchants arrives in town and, having the lone firearm in the village, easily begins to bump off rivals. The second thing is that Sanjuro frees an imprisoned wife and reunites her family which causes the gunslinger, Unosuke, to closely scrutinize Sanjuro’s role in the town.

Kurosawa’s film is one of the great contributions to cinema, one that so impressed American directors that Yojimbo was the template for many American hit films including the Clint Eastwood western, A Fistful of Dollars. The film is on the surface hilarious, but on a deeper level is a careful examination of motivation, selfishness, and desire or want. Kurosawa also composed the film with brilliant wide shots that encompass a feeling of openness. This method seems to give the story and actors room to breath and to stretch, and that allows the story’s ideas to fully develop.

If I had to point to one thing that stands out about the film (and there are actually many), it is the energetic performances of the cast. They demonstrate such timing and rhythm that the performances are almost like a dance routine. Through voice, facial expressions, and movement, they truly bring Yojimbo to life.

10 of 10

NOTES:
1962 Academy Awards: 1 nomination for “Best Costume Design, Black-and-White” (Yoshiro Muraki)

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Disney Cartoon Short "Aquamania" Has Goofy Dad

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 57 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Aquamania (1961)
Running time: 8 minutes
DIRECTOR: Wolfgang Reitherman
WRITERS: story by Vancy Gerry and Ralph Wright
PRODUCER: Walt Disney
LAYOUT ARTISTS: Dale Barnhart and Basil Davidovich
ANIMATORS: John Lounsbery, Dick Lucas, Dan MacManus, John Sibley, and Art Stevens
BACKGROUND ARTIST: Ralph Hulett
Academy Award nominee

SHORT/ANIMATION/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring: (voice) Pinto Colvig

Disney’s cartoon short, Aquamania, was a 1962 Oscar nominee in the category of “Best Short Subject, Cartoons” (with the nomination going to Walt Disney). Goofy is Mr. X (Pinto Colvig), a suburban husband and father who is also an “aquamaniac,” which as the narrator informs us is a boat aficionado. One weekend, Mr. X takes his son, Junior, to the beach for an afternoon of boating. However, Mr. X and son inadvertently end up in a water ski race, and an unlucky octopus gets dragged along on Mr. X’s wild ride.

Aquamania is a Chuck Jones-influenced short, but the animation isn’t nearly as pretty as Disney cartoon shorts that the company released less than a decade earlier. There is, however, outstanding animation in terms of physical comedy and also the animation of characters and objects in rapid and constant motion. The torturous obstacle course through which the filmmakers put Goofy is a wacky wonder.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, March 30, 2007