Am Rande des Abgrunds

The good points - beautiful scenery, and some viewers might appreciate the insight into mountain climbing in the 1930's.

Bad points - the flashbacks are tedious, the ending obvious (to this viewer anyway)and - apart from Connery, who plays himself, as always - the acting uninvolving. And personally I don't care much about mountaineering in the 1930's, and this film didn't do anything to quicken my interest.

There are some surprises, but I feel the movie really lacks from characters whom one can care about: in particular Betsy Brantley, who plays Kate, seems desperately out of her depth here.

I found it to be pretentious and glacially slow. I'd rather have that ninety minutes of my life back.

I'm one of those who think this film is a neglected gem.

It has a number of twists but it is the interaction between the three leads that makes it so compelling. Without giving too much away, the story, which is set in 1932, is about a couple, Douglas Meredith (Sean Connery) and the much younger Kate Meredith (Betsy Brantley) who arrive at a Swiss chalet during the summer for some hiking and a little mountain climbing.

As the story unfolds we realise that although they introduce themselves as husband and wife, there is something difficult about the relationship. The whole thing comes to a head and decisions are forced when Kate attracts the attention of a young climbing guide played by Lambert Wilson.

This was Fred Zinneman's last film, but it has a different mood and pace than many of his films. It unfolds at not so much a leisured pace but a measured one, and there is plenty of tension throughout the story. It seems very much like a Merchant Ivory production. If you have seen films such as "Heat and Dust", "Howard's End" or "Remains of the Day", you'll know what I mean - although it was made a few years before any of those.

Apparently the film bombed when it was first released and the critics were less than impressed. Possibly that was partly because it was an unexpected entry from the man who had helmed films such as "From Here to Eternity", "High Noon" and "The Day of the Jackal", but I think they may also have been put off by the revelation about the Meredith's relationship.

Sean Connery plays a man with much on his mind with no small amount of guilt thrown in. He handles it with the same understatement that underpins the film. Surprisingly, Connery's natural power comes through more noticeably here than in many of his action roles.

With her rather unflattering 1930's fashions and bobbed hairstyle, Betsy Brantley at first seems unprepossessing as Kate but her openness and freshness soon makes believable the attention she receives from the males in the movie.

If you're tastes run to "Fast and Furious 4" then this probably isn't your movie, but if you are looking for a beautifully acted and photographed story with a touch of intrigue told in an unhurried manner, "Five Days in Summer" is worth seeking out.

Five Days One Summer (1982)

Plot In A Paragraph: A middle aged Scottish doctor (Connery) and a younger woman (Betsy Brantley) go on a climbing holiday in the Swiss alps, when their Swiss tour guide takes a liking to the woman.

Director Fred Zinnemann's movie deserves to be much better known than it is. It is beautifully shot, has great locations and is well acted. I think I know why audiences stayed away like they did.

It seemed at first that the couple were father and daughter, then it seemed as if they were on their honeymoon (as the doctor was introducing the young woman as his wife) finally, it was revealed they wear in fact uncle and niece, and they were having an incestuous affair. Not your usual love story. And it plays like a big television drama, lots of unnecessary flashbacks and a very melodramatic ending, and there isn't really a lot of dialogue either!! Long periods of time go by without a line of dialogue being spoken.

Another Connery movie I paid a lot of money to buy on DVD, however this one is worth watching (unlike a few of the others I purchased without seeing) a perfectly fine lazy Sunday afternoon movie.

Budgeted at $15 million, Five Days One Summer grossed under $200,000 at the domestic box office. Zimmerman was so upset by the movies failure and the awful reviews, that he never directed another movie again.

This movie is dated and overly dramatic, but it also has its charms. The best part about it is the accurate portrayal of Swiss culture (yeah it does kind of exist, mostly mountain climbing and rigid traditions, but the occasional alphorn and yodle). Really, it is frighteningly accurate. Beautiful mountain scenery and discovering how old-school climbing gear worked are two of the other benefits of this surprisingly sweet movie.

In general this last film of the director Fred Zinnemann has not met with much approval, and it is not difficult to see why. The plot is extremely simple, whatever tension is established towards the end is soon dissipated; and the emotional tensions between the leads are not fully resolved. The scenery is nice; the climbing scenes interesting or scary according to one's inclinations; but overall it is not surprising that some people have ended a viewing by saying 'Is that it?'

I still find it worth watching again after many years in the reissued Warner archive version, and not only for Betsy Brantley's big blue eyes - for example, there is a chance for Sean Connery to show more emotional range than usual in his roles, and the period detail has a good authentic feel of the 1930s.