La réincarnation de Peter Proud

Recurrent dreams of your murder that may signify your reincarnation! Others who've noted the superior cinematography and soundtrack are correct in identifying the elements that glue one to Peter Proud's predicament. I was an usher when this first showed up in'75--we always got 'gasps' from the audience at the preposterous climax! An opening screenshot saying "L.A. 1975" would make the film appear undated and retrospective. Otherwise exciting and a must-see especially for film students and aficionados.

In the 1960's and 1970's, a wave of interest in the occult and the supernatural swept popular culture in the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe. Many books appeared on subjects such as telepathy, mysticism, pantheism, possession and exorcism, and reincarnation. Even rock bands such as Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult rode the waves and even created their own sub-cultures, forging highways of exploration into unknown and mystical territories. Such wide-spread appeal on these taboo subjects would have been nearly unthinkable only a couple of decades earlier. Eventually films began to appear which mirrored the tastes of younger audiences interested in these subjects, such as Rosemary's Baby, the Exorcist, and the present film, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud.

Peter Proud (Michael Sarrazin in a very convincing performance), a young professor of about 30 years old living in California, isn't having dreams. He's having vivid image-visions of miscellaneous episodes instead of dreams while he sleeps. He sees vivid images of bridges, monuments, buildings, churches, and houses in color of places he's never been. And he sees people he's never met. Most people dream in surreal settings where houses are distorted and even the laws of nature can be thwarted, but most often occupied by people from their lives, such as family, friends and lovers with the occasional supporting character. However, Proud's dreams are for the most part more like visions of another life than surreal dreams. For example, he sees a child running down the stairs of a house to school while his mother plays the piano. Of all these vision-dreams, one in particular is the most disturbing. He witnesses the murder of a young man in a lake at the hands of a lover of some sort he has spurned. And when this vision-dream occurs while he's asleep, he speaks with the voice of the man being murdered, which freaks out his girlfriend.

Because he's not really dreaming but having visions, he's become irritable and seeks psychiatric help. The psychiatrists use him as a kind of lab rat in their experiments on sleeping and dreaming, they and determine he's not dreaming as normal. Although, Proud insists his visions are real. Then by chance he sees a documentary about small New England towns, and he notices a couple of buildings which appear strikingly similar to the ones in his dreams. He decides to investigate. He drags his live-in girlfriend to Massachusetts where they wander around the state looking for the town. He finally finds it, but his girlfriend returns to the West Coast.

Proud then begins to do more investigating, and he finds the house which appears the same as the one in which there was a little boy and his mother. He then explores newspaper records and finds a man was drowned in the 1940's just after the war in a lake near the town. The record says it was an accident but the vision implies the man was in fact murdered. He discovers the name and begins asking older locals about who this man was. He meets the deceased's daughter at a local tennis club and eventually meets the man's widow played by Margot Kidder in an equally compelling performance. The man's widow appears like an older version of the woman in the vision. Could this be the man who Peter Proud was in a previous life? His psychiatrist friend from California wants to document Proud's findings, but Proud is reluctant to reveal his discoveries.

Certainly not for all tastes, but this is a very compelling mystery-thriller with quasi-supernatural elements. There is very little action, save the recurring vision of the murder, and the climactic ending. Much of the film is about Proud's investigations and his eventual relationship with the murdered man's daughter. Spooky electronic music, similar in style to music in other films of the period, such as "Escape to Witch Mountain", are often used when Proud sees a building and there's a flash to his dream-visions.

Two larger questions are asked by the film. Did we live in previous lives? And, if we did, the more frightening question posed: is it in our best interests to discover who we may have been or leave well enough alone, as the old saying goes? Reincarnation and other questions about life after death are still popular, but the present film fed into an audience which was very hungry for this kind of material during the 1970's.

In California, the college professor Dr. Peter Proud (Michael Sarrazin) is haunted by a recurring nightmare where he is a man swimming naked in a lake that is hit by a row and murdered by a woman called Marcia. He also feels a pain on the hips. He seeks medical treatment with his colleague psychologist Dr. Samuel Goodman (Paul Hecht) in a laboratory but there is no positive result for the treatment. When Peter sees a town in Massachusetts in a TV show, he decides to travel with his girlfriend Nora Hayes (Cornelia Sharpe) to seek the location. After a couple of days, Nora decides to leave him but Peter continues his search. He arrives at Springfield where he eventually meets the gorgeous Ann Curtis (Jennifer O'Neill) in a club. Soon Peter discovers she is the daughter of the woman of his nightmares Marcia Curtis (Margot Kidder). Further, he might be the reincarnation of Marcia's husband Jeff Curtis (Tony Stephano), who died in the 40's in Lake Dream. But Marcia notes that Peter Proud is the reincarnation of her husband while he falls in love with Ann. What will happen to the trio?

"The Reincarnation of Peter Proud" is a mysterious film with an original and intriguing story of reincarnation. The first point that impress is the cast, with Michael Sarrazin, Margot Kidder, the Brazilian Jennifer O'Neill and Cornelia Sharpe. The plot is creepy but the film deserved a better conclusion. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Reencarnação de Peter Proud" ("The Reincarnation of Peter Proud")

Popular for about 6 months on first release in 1975 and never seen or heard of again, this sort of creepy thriller was effective enough for 19 year olds who thought they might need a warm up for AUDERY ROSE or a re-zap after THE EXORCIST. Michael Sarrazin was an interesting 30 something actor who looked as though he was about to be a big star. THE'RE'S ONE BORN EVERY MINUTE (check US title) with George.C Scott, THEY SHOOT HORSES with Jane Fonda, then FOR PETE'S SAKE with Streisand(!), this thing and then a slide into B movie oblivion. He acted with some of the biggest and most durable stars of the 60s and 70s. Nobody knows him today in current filmdom and I would be keen to see how he has fared. Like the co stars here: Jennifer O'Neill the gorgeous woman from THE SUMMER OF 42 (also a forgotten film, huge in 1972, as were her three young co stars) and the derailed Margo Kidder whose SISTERS to SUPERMAN rocket to fame was only matched by her plummet to earth. Maybe PETER PROUD cursed them all and nobody's career was reincarnated either. Sad for all concerned. Each were interesting actors and all their films worth seeing. Even this one.

If I were rating this film on the usual criteria of script, acting, direction, editing and soundtrack, it would get a 5 or 6 tops. It suffers from many of the same faults as most '70s B movies. The cinematography had some good moments, but it was the originality of the plot line that piqued my interest. I've viewed many films over the years, and do not recall one with a storyline as unique as this one. Reincarnation themes usually deal with lives in the distant past. The novel concept of exploring a life reincarnated from a generation still living was interesting, to say the least, and allowed the screenwriter to weave in some intriguing detective work, as well as the hero's personal reinvolvement with the past life. Bravo, Mr Ehrlich... it kept my rapt attention throughout.