Jules Verne: Das Licht am Ende der Welt

3 stars for the cinematography by Henri Decaë--a beautiful, windswept, remote, rocky coastline in Spain, standing in for the story's location. This is an odd kind of adventure film, with sudden and numerous violent deaths of innocent victims. Those scenes create a downbeat, even depressing atmosphere that never leaves the mind. Acting powerhouses Kirk Douglas and Yul Brynner are not really used to advantage. They're just there to keep the plot going with a relentless, mutual antagonism. Some special effects are impressive, others not so much. An oddly romantic score by Piero Piccioni seems meant for a different movie. See it for the locations.

One of my favorite films of all-time. Unusual because the pirates depicted in this movie are all too real. None of the romanticizing Errol Flynn or Jack Sparrow stuff. These pirates were shockingly ruthless and a real sense of danger permeates the film. Yul Brynner and Kirk Douglas bring intensity to their roles. Brynner as the egotistic sociopath who is the leader of the cutthroats and Douglas as a man who must deal with a desperate situation in a fight for survival. Samantha Eggar as a woman with flawed instincts for her own preservation evokes frustration and pity. From the brutal opening scenes, the message is clear that these pirates don't play. A sense of urgency then takes over until the final outcome. A great movie!

After seeing "The Light at the Edge of the World," over 40 years after its release, I understand why it was a dismal flop in 1971. I remember the billboard advertising highlighting Kirk Douglas and Jules Verne, with small pictures of Yul Brynner and Samantha Eggar. I am certain many a parent dragged her kids screaming from a "Jules Verne/Kirk Douglas pirate movie" featuring mutilations, gang rape and the skinning of one especially beloved character. Those few adult couples likely attracted to the movie were likely put off by the weak pacing, inept direction and abysmal music.

However those of us who can look beyond the cheap jack trappings will be rewarded with strong lead performances by Kirk Douglas and, especially, Yul Brynner. Samantha Eggar, who has much less screen time, also impresses, even though most of her scenes are undercut by the weak direction.

At 2 hours and 7 minutes, "The Light at the Edge of the World" is at least 20 minutes too long. The flashback exposition regarding Douglas' character is not only unnecessary, it undercuts what little suspense the ineffectual direction could muster. One of these days, I would love to have video editing software to deconstruct and reconstruct this movie, removing unnecessary scenes, tightening camera fields and replacing the awful music. Barring that, "The Light at the Edge of the Word" is worth seeing, if only for Yul Brynner's chilling performance.

I give "The Light at the Edge of the World" a "6".

Or maybe this film could be seen as a kind of DIE HARD ancestor, just a little bit, but with some ingredients that have nothing to do with the John McTiernan's movie. Though Yul Brynner's character, splendid mixup between cruelty and refinement, made me think of Alan Rickman's character as Hans Gruber in DIE HARD. An exquisite villian as I love in a film. Yes this movie is a very curious but terrific piece of work, awesome, gruesome on many scenes too, a feature which is very difficult to describe. A scheme that also made me think of Gordon Douglas' BARQUERO, the lead character facing a bunch of villains lead by the main character's Nemesis, here Yul Brynner instead of Warren Oates. Yul Brynner outstanding in the heavy leader. A movie that astonished me the first time I saw it, a wrecker scheme, as in Charles Brabant's LES NAUFRAGEURS. This film is adapted from a Jules Verne's book, I am so surprised. Kirk Douglas in a scene with Renato Salvatori, which is the same as Steve McQueen with Mako in the SAND PEEBLES. A shooting from a distance scene.

An interesting adventure film based on a Jules Verne story filmed in 1970 and financed by Kirk Douglas' Bryna Productions and banks and backers from Spain, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. I first saw it when it was aired by the Beeb in the summer of 1995 and was most impressed. Off the bleak location of Cape Horn around 1865, three lighthouse keepers: a jaded ex-miner Will Denton (Kirk Douglas), Captain Moritz (Fernando Rey) and young Felipe (Massimo Ranieri) are confronted by wreckers led by pirate captain, Jonathan Kongre (Yul Brynner). After his companions are brutally murdered, later including Felipe's cute capuchin monkey, Mario, Denton ekes out a passive existence in a cave till he resolves to fight back assisted by Montefiore (Renato Salvatore) a survivor from one of the ships lured to the rocks by the pirates. The desperate situation is complicated by another survivor, a young English woman, Arabella (Samantha Egger), who is used by Kongre to mimic Denton's former love, Emily Jane. Douglas and Brynner act with flair - Douglas gives another heroic sub-Nietzschean performance vis a vis 20.000 Leagues under the Sea (1954) and Ulisse (1954). In appearance he looks like a Nineteenth-Century hippie adventurer - bearded and with straight lightbrown hair and fiery blue-green eyes. Brynner is a flamboyant counterpoint. Despite some squeamish scenes and illogical phases the extraordinary Spanish settings - the white-topped rising arches and surreal psychedelic colours plus a soaring romantic light popular classical Italian score by Piero Piccioni give this film a metaphysical feel.