directed by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
written by: Anthony Shaffer (+play)
starring: Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Alec Cawthorne (muhahah)
seen: 2nd January, 2010
This is the favourite movie of my favourite actor. Gosh, I am glad to find out Toby Stephens has great taste. ♥ It's not hard to understand that an acomplished stage actor adores this movie. I reckon these roles are to murder for (pun intended). Both Laurence and Michael are charming as hell and bewitching as sin in their parts. The toys they play with are equally adorable and terrifying. A pretty little game happens in front of our eyes and the ending is satisfyingly fatal and wicked.
And there is of course the possibility of watching it in a tandem with the 2007 remake by Kenneth Branagh, with Michael Caine starring as the husband and Jude Law shining as the lover. Both movies are quite different (and I dare say that Kenneth counts on the audience being already familiar with the original source, either the play or the film) and the context has completely shifted. And maybe that's why it's highly interesting to compare them side by side. This is what I wrote about the remake in relation to the original: "Kenneth provides a cheeky reflection for those already familiar with the subject, but his film cannot really stand on its own feet. He is trying really hard to be modern (or contemporary) but his creation seems to be much more rigid and stationary than the 1972 piece. It lacks the feeling of real space and fails to convey that a true mischief is on its way. It seems that nothing can top Michael Caine carrying a ladder across a lawn dressed as a clown, not even Michael Caine with his film wife's jewellery on, crying."
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