This startling movie shows how an abrasive character can be created by simply not using the words please or thank you.
Geraldine Chaplin as Emily interacts with nearly every other character in the story like metal striking flint, she creates sparks by just entering the scene.
It takes a while to understand why she is intruding into the lives of married couple Neil and Barbara Curry (Anthony Perkins and Berry Berenson). But the story eventually comes to light and we realise Emily had an agenda all along.
The casting is against type. Just look at the films Tony Perkins made before and after "Remember My Name", where nearly all the characters he played could trace their roots back to Norman Bates. Here it's Geraldine Chaplin's Emily who is the character on the edge. She is the one with a touch of the Norman B's. Even though there is little violence, this film keeps the tension ramped up, much of it because of our expectations.
The film is discussed in a good biography by Ronald Bergan, "Anthony Perkins: A Haunted Star". He tells how Berry Berenson, Perkins real life wife, got the part of his wife in the movie when she inadvertently arrived with their children in producer Robert Altman's office. Altman asked her to play the part impressed with her natural qualities although she had never acted in a film.
Bergan's biography, which covers the conflicts in Perkins life, also tells how happy he and Berenson were before illness overwhelmed him. The book was published in 1995, before Berry lost her life in one of the planes on 9/11. At least Anthony Perkins was spared that knowledge.
"Remember My Name" is unique, with a soundtrack of songs by Alberta Hunter that acts like a strolling minstrel following the protagonists with tracks such as "You Reap Just What You Sow".
If you haven't seen it, "Remember My Name" makes for a brilliant discovery.
