tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post8856155089007462257..comments2024-03-26T05:01:57.793-07:00Comments on DREAMS ARE WHAT LE CINEMA IS FOR...: THE INNOCENTS 1961Ken Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-79699300816079472852017-12-23T00:54:49.925-08:002017-12-23T00:54:49.925-08:00Hi Ron
I'm glad to hear your first viewing of ...Hi Ron<br />I'm glad to hear your first viewing of THE INNOCENTS withstood all those years of spoilers and heightened expectations.<br />I think the film is unique (and it's a testament to the performances, visual style, and direction) that elements of "surprise" factor very little in what makes the film so chilling. It's a ghost story that gets under your skin.<br />And of course I agree, Kerr was an immensely talented, versatile actress. Thank you so much for reading this and sharing your thoughts on the film!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-27697715617998368962017-12-22T16:15:54.276-08:002017-12-22T16:15:54.276-08:00I saw this film for the first time just a few year...I saw this film for the first time just a few years ago (on TCM naturally). It was one of those films that I read about over and over again (even about the ending) but had never seen. So when I finally saw it, I felt some trepidation. It was just as good as I hoped with the kind of spooky ambiguity that I really enjoy. The scene with Deborah Kerr staring horrified at the eerily still figure of Miss Jessel across the pond sent shivers up my spine. (You have a capture from that scene). Deborah Kerr was just a great actress be it comedy, drama, or suspense. I agree that one of her best performances is here (I also liked her performance in Black Narcissus which you have reviewed.) Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02624356466416350251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-42556160312127472512017-08-17T03:10:22.879-07:002017-08-17T03:10:22.879-07:00You're so welcome! I'm so happy to have be...You're so welcome! I'm so happy to have been clued in to that song. The wartime film I vaguely remembered was "Vacation From Marriage," but I am now so curious about the one you described. I have another Kerr film to add to my list. It sounds wonderful.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-89791670751000659582017-08-16T16:49:27.720-07:002017-08-16T16:49:27.720-07:00Hi Michael
Thank you, and I’m pleased you enjoyed...Hi Michael <br />Thank you, and I’m pleased you enjoyed the essay!<br />Very interesting points you make (and with a rather brilliant use of examples) about how the degree of control a film exercises in its making - from performances to the myriad small details contributing to telling a story, impacts its overall effectiveness.<br />THE INNOCENTS does strike me as a film made with a sure eye to what they are trying to achieve, and every detail works toward that end. Few filmmakers seem to get that it is often the inattention to the small stuff that can derail a film.<br /><br />A good many horror films die on the screen for me because they simply DO too much. They try to wring a response out of you. THE INNOCENTS, like ROSEMARY’S BABY does precisely what you describe; unsettles you by the subtle use of shadows, angles, sound, and subjective camerawork. Knowing what not to show is much more important than showing everything.<br />I like the “Distant ghosts are the best ghosts,” quote. I feel the same. <br />Maybe coe Halloween my partner and I will make a double feature evening of it and watch THE INNOCENTS and THE HAUNTING…I just hope it’s a damp and misty night.<br />Thanks for your very thoughtful, thought-provoking comments!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-8773066577014143592017-08-16T00:09:11.046-07:002017-08-16T00:09:11.046-07:00Ken,
Another great piece. You have it so right: g...Ken,<br /><br />Another great piece. You have it so right: ghost stories work best when they haunt you, not when they gross you out or shock you. The possible something glimpsed out of the corner of your eye can be far more effective than a jump scare. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes spooky movies work for me and, oddly enough, I found my answer in silent movie farce and 1950s epics. The three genres have a reputation for being over the top, both emotionally and physically, but they work best when they are tightly controlled and the more florid elements are held in check. <br /><br />I was watching the Ten Commandments a few weeks ago and I was struck how in the crowd scenes it seemed that each extra was given a definite action to do and no one was ad libbing. In the Golden Calf bit, there were a dozen little vignettes going on, from debauchery to condemnation of the sins. Everything was controlled and choreographed. In Land of the Pharaohs, the crowd scenes consisted of masses of people standing around or walking or waving their arms in the air to no real purpose. And don’t even get me started on the extras in Steve Reeves movies.<br /><br />I saw the same thing with farce. Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin are precise and controlled in their actions where things like the Mack Sennett comedies or some of the lesser clowns are just antic to little effect. After a while, for me anyway, each thrown pie gets less funny as the fight goes on. I found that The Innocents achieved so much spookiness with a flickering candle, a half obscured face in the window, or, and this is a truly haunting image, the governess standing in the lake’s reeds. I saw a tweet a few days that used that image and said “Distant ghosts are the best ghosts,” and, boy, I do agree! <br /><br />Everything in this movie is controlled and precise which just increases the impact of the unnerving, unsettling emotions. As you, and your commenters have pointed out, the acting is excellent throughout, and it is so well served by the production design and the sound design. The music box, the slightly muffled noises in the house, the snatches of distorted electronic music all add to the eerie experience. This is a truly haunting movie in every sense. Oh, and Max Frost, your first poster is right, The Innocents is best seen on a damp and misty night. Harsh rules but fair.<br /><br />Michael<br />Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-58352819956175467152017-08-15T23:15:44.458-07:002017-08-15T23:15:44.458-07:00You know what other movie has a great cast? The Ph...You know what other movie has a great cast? The Phynx.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-43516188082788736032017-08-12T02:28:07.657-07:002017-08-12T02:28:07.657-07:00Thank you for the Vimeo link! What a chilling effe...Thank you for the Vimeo link! What a chilling effect, to have the two pieces combined like that! I think it works marvelously. <br /><br />Your memory of Kerr in a wartime film instantly brings to mind The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, which I think was the first time she worked with Powell & Pressburger (of later Black Narcissus cooperation). She plays three different women in three different ages, and her timeless quality really works wonders in it. In the last section of the film she is a military woman in WWII, and the image of her in a uniform with her blazing red hair is quite striking. Could be another movie you're thinking about, but your description immediately conjured up Colonel Blimp for me.callie wantonhttp://dorothy-michaels.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-13656857597489403112017-08-10T02:51:54.869-07:002017-08-10T02:51:54.869-07:00Thank you, Joe. For helping to bring this extraord...Thank you, Joe. For helping to bring this extraordinary film to my attention. I haven't seen "The Sundowners" but I have already put it on my"must see" list. What a cast!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-86559355416330853712017-08-09T08:51:26.586-07:002017-08-09T08:51:26.586-07:00Wonderful analysis Ken.
Have you ever seen "...Wonderful analysis Ken. <br />Have you ever seen "The Sundowners"? <br />It's another one of my favorite Deborah Kerr performances, but in a movie that too few people have seen. Robert Mitchum is very good in it too.Joe Meyershttp://blog.ctnews.com/meyersnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-2739132173156467932017-08-09T07:49:55.414-07:002017-08-09T07:49:55.414-07:00Hello, Ivar
Your words are very kind and really ma...Hello, Ivar<br />Your words are very kind and really make my day! I'm happy you have found the site, and happier still to know you've taken a chance on a film or two due to something you've read here. A first time "Midnight Lace" viewer, yet!<br /><br />Yes, The kids in this movie are truly a cut above. Aren't they? The scene you mention is one of my favorites. The little boy commands it like a seasoned veteran. And that look he gives her! I especially like how Miss Giddens and Mrs Grose are having totally opposite experiences at the exact same time. Mrs Grose hears nothing untoward in that creepy recitation, but Miss Giddens is aghast. It is indeed a sequence of pure cinema.<br />And you too are another who took a while to warm to Deborah Kerr. She's so good in this, devotion to hysteria is a good description of her character arc.<br />I haven't seen "Tea & Sympathy" in many years. I fact, I'm wondering now if I've ever seen it all the way through since the last time was way back before my Kerr conversion. Your writing about it makes me want to see it again.<br />Much appreciate your choosing this film for your first comment, Ivar. Do feel free to share with us any other thoughts on films covered on this site. I often gain so many new insights myself from what I read in these comments. Had it not been for the input of readers, I never would have discovered this gem!<br />Cheers, Ivar!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-8448711684531094182017-08-09T05:42:19.944-07:002017-08-09T05:42:19.944-07:00Great analysis of the movie. I love especially Ke...Great analysis of the movie. I love especially Kerr's ability in going from devotion to near hysteria. The children were also incredible, I mean that scene where Miles recites a poem about a ghost rising from its grave while looking at his governess, that was just pure cinema. <br /><br />I think I was a bit like you, I never really gave Kerr to much credit, I liked her in Black Narcissus but to me the evil nun really stole her all the scenes. I really changed my mind with "Tea and sympathy" with all the gay subtext and Kerr's subtle portraying for a professor's wife, she really carried the movie on her shoulder. <br /><br />It's the first time I post a comment but just to say a big thank you for all your articles which made me discover a lot of great movies I had never heard of (Midnight lace for instance.) <br />IvarIvarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04431348090870414552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-87878461379357246582017-08-08T22:02:12.224-07:002017-08-08T22:02:12.224-07:00Hi Mike
You make an excellent point (in a number o...Hi Mike<br />You make an excellent point (in a number of ways) in simply labeling that quality Deborah Kerr possesses as "strength," for that is what it is, plain and simple.<br />And perhaps this is why (at least for a time) Hollywood didn't know what to do with her when they weren't casting her as governesses (The King and I, The Chalk Garden) and flinty British types. <br />For this reason I think you have something there in noting that perhaps there is something about her (her being full-grown woman, not a waif or girl) that it takes a certain level of maturity to appreciate. She's beautiful but not ornamental, and she has both vulnerability and strength. I certainly didn't appreciate her dimensionality, and any movie that would hide so much sheer talent under cookie-cutter "wife" roles (those films I first encountered) couldn't appreciate her either.<br />Thanks for your kind words, Mike. Your own insights have contributed significantly to what so many tell me is an invaluably insightful supplement to my essays- the reader commentary. Much appreciated!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-32222263274609941302017-08-08T19:55:02.048-07:002017-08-08T19:55:02.048-07:00Another winner, Ken, in fact one of the best analy...Another winner, Ken, in fact one of the best analyses I've read of this underappreciated classic. So many of your observations resound with me, and I've come to the conclusion that we must wait for a bit of maturity to fully appreciate an actress like Deborah Kerr. What you've written here and the comments of Max and Callie above (especially the discernment of the rarity of her "hard edge" - in men of the era it was just called "strength"!) express thoughts I've had about this Scottish treasure, but haven't articulated as well. That's one of the great joys of reading you and your commentators!<br /><br />Thanks, MikeTheMst7883https://www.blogger.com/profile/03250389465561469697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-58593372611006635312017-08-06T19:26:23.081-07:002017-08-06T19:26:23.081-07:00Hello, Callie
I wanted to take a listen to "T...Hello, Callie<br />I wanted to take a listen to "The Infant Kiss" before I responded,and...WOW! I can't thank you enough for bringing it to my attention. I have friends who are Kate Bush fans but I'm largely unfamiliar with her work. But this song is wonderful; very unusual and as strange as the scene it references. Had I known of it, Infant Kiss would have been the caption to the screencap I used. The song was so evocative I couldn't believe someone hadn't made an accompanying video, and so I came across a fan made one that apparently Bush approved of, for it features the sequence that inspired the song. (It's less a video that the entire scene played to the accompanying track) https://vimeo.com/72108674<br /><br />I like you assessment of Kerr's acting style, and you express very well what particular qualities stand out for you. I agree there is something very strong about her, yet it doesn't come off as starchy as Greer Garson or Irene Dunne (not personally fond of either) and she's not saccharine or pliable. her intelligence comes through.<br />I saw her in some wartime film whose name I can't recall. She played a woman in the military, and there was just something so contemporary about her. She's everything I like about actors...very internal.<br /><br />And we're in accord when it comes to Jack Clayton. I always think of "Gatsby" first, and overlook some of his more interesting films "Our Mother's House" is a particular favorite. He does deserve better memory-credit than that one high profile fizzle.<br />Thanks again for calling our attention to the Kate Bush song. I love that an artist was so inspired by this film to create something so eerily apt.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-18510694219272729612017-08-06T16:17:25.165-07:002017-08-06T16:17:25.165-07:00Hi Max,
Yes, you cite all the things that captured...Hi Max,<br />Yes, you cite all the things that captured my imagination from the start. The titles are indeed very memorable and in my experience, I certainly haven't ever seen a film that allows almost a minute to transpire with only the soundtrack playing before the production logo shows up. It's positively eerie, and sets the audience up beautifully.<br />And what you say about Kerr's performance is precisely what I keep coming back to: scene after scene you can train your eyes on her alone, and she is SO present. She listens and reacts in such small ways, conveying a great deal of inner reserve trying to hold on for dear life.<br />I am in awe of what actors do. It seems like magic somehow. But when I see a performance like this, it REALLY gets me to thinking how incredible film is at picking up thought, and why so many stage actors say that is one of the biggest lessons they have to learn when making a film. Clayton keeps the camera on Kerr's face a great deal of the time. She's in full command of where the film is going. Just an outstanding performance.<br />I think you are totally right in waiting for just the right time and atmosphere to share this movie with your boyfriend. Films like this don't come along every day. Why not go for the optimum experience? This is a film that deserves it.<br />Thanks, Max!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-83921236352164675532017-08-06T05:26:33.900-07:002017-08-06T05:26:33.900-07:00I had the distinct impression that you had already...I had the distinct impression that you had already written about The Innocents, since I recall seeking it out after reading about it on here, but it must've been mentioned praisingly in the comments section for another entry on a Deborah Kerr film. The movie had been in my vicinity, so to say, ever since I got into Kate Bush as a teenager and heard her 1980 song The Infant Kiss, which is based on this movie (Bush’s work tends to be ’love it’ or ’hate it’ for people – I'd definitely recommend listening to the song if you're not familiar with it yet), but I only saw it for the first time within the last couple of years. I should definitely rewatch it, as I was really tired upon first viewing, and the biggest impression it left was an overwhelming sense of unease. I guess I wasn't ready for the way the heavy themes were handled – once again you've examined it all so very eloquently. <br /><br />A word for Kerr in general. My introduction to her was as a teenager in From Here to Eternity, and I guess the quality I most admire about her acting is that hard edge she has, a most rare feature for an actress of her era, and somehow a very modern characteristic. I guess its part of why her work still holds up so well (notwithstanding what you call the "late career head scratchers", her Casino Royale role being the worst offender in my eyes). It would be overly simplistic to believe it is simply a facet of a Brit's "stiff-upper-lipness", but it does make her distinctive among the Hollywood crowd of her time. Hollywood knew how to best utilize that underlying coldness, and she turned in many a great performance during her career.<br /><br />Jack Clayton surely was an interesting director. The Great Gatsby always comes to mind first (and a quiet frustration with it) when I hear his name, but looking at his filmography he really tackled quite a bit of ambiguous and/or challenging material during his long career. I shouldn't give him such a bad rap in my head.callie wantonhttp://calliewanton.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-1882419004529849882017-08-05T04:56:50.423-07:002017-08-05T04:56:50.423-07:00I completely agree, Ken. In a career of great perf...I completely agree, Ken. In a career of great performances this is Kerr’s best, and one of the great performances ever. Even when she’s sitting completely still she conveys so much with only a dart of the eyes or a tilt of the head.<br /><br />I also love how it gets the chill on right away with “O Willow Waly” sung in darkness for a full minute and then replacing the usual Fox fanfare. Had this ever been done before? Or at least up until then? I can’t think of anything else off the top of the head. <br /><br />My boyfriend, who has an appreciation for good horror movies, has never seen this and wants to. I told him we have wait until the fall, when it gets darker soon and the leaves are dying. And it has to be raining out—or preferably just damp and misty. Sorry, but those are the rules.<br />max frostnoreply@blogger.com