Otra vez adiós

Good Bye Again (1961)

Wow, such a beautiful and poignant look at fidelity and sacrifice in a relationship, just as the world is teetering from mid-20th Century stability to the 1960s and the free-for-all that meant for many. And the movie itself is one of the last, like "The Apartment" on this side of the Atlantic, to be made in the old Hollywood style, with invisible editing, gorgeous black and white photography, tight story construction, and a full, rounded sensibility that might, without being derogatory, be called "classic." I could watch it again today just for its perfect blending of acting, writing, filming, and tragic themes, which struck me hard.

It's hard to believe this kind of movie didn't fly at the time, and hasn't made an impression since. Anthony Perkins is at his charming, disarming best here (he had just finished filming "Psycho"), and in some ways steals the show from the much bigger headliner, an amazing (as always) Ingrid Bergman. They make an unlikely screen couple, but a great one. The tensions between them are not only reasonable, their inevitable, or so the writing has made it seem. Which is perfect. The third star is a paradigm of old school suave European manliness, Yves Montand, quite wonderfully appealing and disgusting at the same time. Everyone is dressed great, thanks to costume design by Christian Dior. (There's even a comment by a rich older woman who says she's going shopping "to Dior's.")

This is a very European feeling film, though it is of course an "American" movie in that it's in English, but it was officially made by the small production company, Argus, which otherwise made only French films. This was the era of the declining and disappearing studios, and one way a movie got made was exactly like this, patching together talents and money and location shooting. Making it a European film had the advantage of pushing some adult issues, which is what helps the film have relevance today. The director, Anatole Litvak, though an immigrant to the U.S., was thoroughly a Hollywood director, and overall this has the feel of the best of the great Golden Age movies, though updated of course by the realities of 1960s Paris. Along those lines, there is a great appearance of club jazz singer Diahann Carroll.

For a really nice detailing of the film see the TCM article here: http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/88170%7C0/Goodbye-Again.html or just google the title and TCM.

High class soap opera with Ingrid, stylishly dressed and becomingly coiffured, looking wonderful. She of course gives the best performance with Anthony Perkins a close second. The main problem is that her longing for Yves Montand, a stolid lout, is puzzling. In a sign of how the times have changed the enchanting beautiful Ingrid, who states that she is forty, considers herself old and seems desperately afraid of being alone and is willing to settle for crumbs from a man whom she is clearly to good for. Still as these sort of pictures go this is a fine diversion, competently directed with handsome black and white photography. Jessie Royce Landis is fun in a small part as Tony's mother.

Francoise Sagan apparently wrote about people and personalities with whom she was familiar and had a talent for depicting them very well. It always seemed to be about upper class, shallow, and confused types, revolving on a no-win merry-go-round.

There are certainly are such people, and their relationships are as much worthy of consideration, empathy and sympathy as anyone's. The main trio in "Goodbye Again" are very much these prototypes: confused, bored and trapped. Is it any wonder they just can't seem to get their lives together?

For me, this is a sad film, given superlative treatment in all departments. Brahms' rich melodies are embroidered by George Auric's sensitive original score. Armond Thirard's black and white photography is beautifully atmospheric. Samuel Taylor's screenplay is true to Sagan's original novel, and Anatol Litvak's direction wraps everything up neatly.

The cast can't be bettered: the combined star-power trio of Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Perkins and Yves Montand is perfect, and these three bring great pathos to the proceedings. The level of significance of these characters may be rather inconsequential in the long run--but the emotions they themselves feel are genuine. This fine acting trio embodies these roles and the result is a most engrossing two hours.

Wow! what a film! I cannot believe I never saw this movie until this evening.

Great performances by all. The script is perfect in my opinion. The cinematography by Armand Thirard is simply beautiful; giving a real Parisian early 60's Be-Bop nuance. Auric's film score is great. Ingrid is in excellent acting form & stunning. Yves plays his character very close to the vest which is exactly how this kind of personality needs to be played. Diahann Carroll is so beautiful & cool as the nightclub singer. Jessie Royce Landis is wonderful as Perkins' mother. I've only seen Anthony Perkins in 3 other films & he in my opinion is always excellent. He was obviously a very intuitive actor & so very gorgeous & I think his incredible looks may have hampered others from seeing his incredible acting talents.

What else can I say without giving away this magnificent story? A must see for all young girls. The ending scene is so moving I couldn't even cry although I understand why so many other viewers wrote that this is a movie where you need to have plenty of tissues handy. It was a shocking film for me to watch on so many levels because it offered exactly what you expected & then it didn't - too true to life in a most poignant way. Heart wrenching - a definite must see.

This film has alot of good qualities, but the length and the miscasting of Anthony Perkins really drag the film down from a great rating. I think the film would've been much more effective at about 100 minutes. So much of the second half of the film should've been edited out, because of redundancy and because the scenes don't add much to the story. And about Anthony Perkins, he's just so unbelievable as Ingrid's lover. He's too skinny and just doesn't have the magnitism required to realistically draw her away from Montand, no matter how disenchanted Ingrid is. One wonderful surprise is Miss Carroll's performance. She simply shines in her one scene as a nightclub singer. What a great voice! Bergman is still so gorgeous, and Yves is perfectly cast as the straying boyfriend. 6 out of 10.