El salvaje y la voluntad

I am prompted to offer this review of The Wild and the Willing by what I think is its undeserved user rating on this site. While the film has its shortcomings it does offer some good entertainment for those who enjoy the atmosphere of the play hard-work little milieu of young 1960's university students. The banter and dialogue of especially the first half is good as well as the characters and motivations of many of the leads - the bright angry working class boy who fits right in but is forever feeling guilty about it; the good looking girls seeking that superior male meal ticket while being abruptly dismissive of lesser types wanting their company; the emotionally unsatisfied wife of a cold academic looking for comfort in younger male students and many others. And this is probably where it runs off the rails a bit in the second half with the relationship between the wife and the working class student being rushed and not quite plausible in its sudden intensity given he has been happily dating a young Samantha Eggar. The dramatic finale of the prank is also a little overblown. Overall this site's user rating of 6 is too low for a film that has many enjoyable attributes not least the acting of Ian McShane, Virginia Maskell, Samantha Eggar and others. I would clearly list it in the upper 7's.

I saw some of this film being shot around Lincoln Cathedral, an area not condusive to great film making. The film is important because of the debut of three future stars. Firstly the brigadier's daughter Samantha Eggar (older half sister of the also beautiful Toni) who went onto fame in The Collector and, for U.S. audiences, Dr Dolittle. Faded from view pretty quickly. Secondly Ian McShane who has had a long career, more in the U.K., but has been in some U.S blockbuster miniseries. He is also known to A&E audiences for his portrayal of a lovable, rascally antique dealer in the hilarious "LoveJoy'series. Last but certainly the best known is John Hurt who has proven himself in the International cinema as a highly respected actor and star. Don't watch the film watch the people.

Ian McShane's debut film has him playing a scholarship university student, Harry Brown, who has a high opinion of himself and comes unstuck by taking too many risks.

As a plot, The Wild and the Willing is dated and a bit forced, but the interest these days is in the cast - top billed are Paul Rogers and the ill-fated Virginia Maskell, but we also have McShane (best known these days for Lovejoy and Deadwood), John Hurt (here not really displaying the qualities he would in The English Civil Servant, The Elephant Man, and 1984), Johnny Briggs (Coronation Street's Mike Baldwin), and Jeremy Brett (probably the screen's best Sherlock Holmes).

So the film is watchable and has interest because of its cast, but it isn't really a classic. If you like the usual story of shenanigans at university with a macabre twist, then you'll probably like this. If not, just enjoy some youthful performances from actors you'll know much better from their later work.

This film is well worth a look despite it having some weaknesses that stop it from truly being a memorable film. Strangely, the greatest weakness this film has is its central plotline, that being the affair with Harry Brown and the professor's wife. This comes across as melodramatic and somewhat forced while the rest of the film is realistic and absorbing.

This is the sort of movie that should be so bad it is good. It is just bad, period. Notable only for being the debuts of some good actors who do the best they can with unintentionally parodic material. But the pacing is so slow and the characters so uninteresting my only reaction was to sit watching, stupefied, as it just went on and on.

This 'angry young man' film was brilliantly parodied by Harry Enfield in NORBERT SMITH: A LIFE which I dearly wish I had watched instead.