Betrayal

An ingeniously constructed movie, adapted from his play, by celebrated writer Harold Pinter, directed by Sam Spiegel, "Betrayal" shows in reverse order, the end and beginning of an extra-marital affair between a gallery-owner and her publisher husband's best friend. In a reversal of convention, we see the ravelling as opposed to the unravelling of a relationship going wrong with the backtracking device keeping the viewer watching right to the last "genesis" moment.

The characterisation does betray a little chauvinism, you do lose a little sympathy for the cuckolded Ben Kingsley character after he admits to serial philandering of his own, but for me the film succeeds by not judging the characters at all, more they're put under the microscope like lab rats for the voyeuristic viewer to examine their behaviour and come to one's own moral judgement.

To stand up to this scrutiny without deadening proceedings requires good acting and that's unquestionably the case here with Jeremy Irons and Patricia Hodge as the stars-uncrossed lovers and Kingsley as the jilted husband. The acting is restrained and avoids for the most part ostentation although occasionally you can see the twitches and tics of Irons and Kingsley kick in a la the Dustin Hoffman method-acting manual. You get the impression sometimes of scenes requiring several takes as the actors strive for naturalism, at which points it's better to enjoy Pinter's way with rhythmic dialogue and dramatic pauses - as ever he's especially good at picking up on the mundaneness of everyday conversation, even if the world of galleries and authors is probably somewhat rarefied to the rest of us. The film seeks to avoid its theatrical beginning with occasional outdoor shots as well as often employing background noises as the world outside the three's own isolated but entwined worlds come apart. Otherwise the direction is smooth but never intrusive and avoids overtly sexual scenes which I might otherwise have anticipated from the plot.

Although not perfect, this was an engrossing and entertaining examination of human emotions when love goes wrong, right and finally wrong again.

The great master of Theatre, Harold Pinter, brings us the seduction of one of his (in my opinion) best plays. With stunningly clued performances by Irons, Kingsley and Hodge, the play seduces as it unfolds, and every scene is charged with a sexual tension. A daring step for film and writing, the plot is shown backwards and both the end and beginning are so beautifully touching because you know what will happen, as well as what has already. A triumph of the cinema.

I watched this movie because I heard that the screen-writer had used a unique structure--the story is told backwards in time. Every succeeding scene occurs chronologically before the previous one. I wanted to see if the screen-writer was just using a gimmick, or if the structure actually added to the telling of the story. I was overjoyed to find out it was the latter! The magic of this movie is that Pinter makes the time sequence seem natural. By the end of the movie, the viewer is convinced this is the only way the story could have been told effectively. I highly recommend this movie to all who love cinema.

This movie is brilliant. All the actors, especially Ben Kingsley, were superb. When Ben Kingsley is in the scene, you are riveted to his every expression. Especially when you watch it for the 2nd time, and know what they know at every given point. Also, thinking about the actual betrayals. I loved the dialogue, references from scene to scene, relationships between the characters, and the backward progress of it all. Pinter's work is incredible. Because of what you know at various points in the plot, you can see what's going on inside the characters. Patricia Hodge and Jeremy Irons give truly amazing performances - and Mr. Kingsley is just mind-blowing.

I sure hope it comes out on DVD one day - my VHS copy is running down.

This is a really fine movie with excellent characterizations. I've never seen Patricia Hodge in anything else but in this movie she's the equal of Irons and Kingsley. It's interesting how the movie starts with the very emotional end works it's way back to the innocuous beginnings.