j-m-d-b

It's just a blast. There is so much to unpack here.

There are action scenes with many many extras; epic stuff. At other times, it focusses on the struggle of the individuals; just climbing to the top of a hill can be a challenge.

Depth can be found in all characters, even the minor ones; this is the hallmark of great film. There is emotion as well, the princess singing the song from the festival really hit home for me. The whole festival sequence was so life-affirming and exhilarating.

Above all, everyone grew in this story, even our two misfits learned all about trust.

I never read Stephen King's story but I am guessing that if I did, and then saw this film, I'd be pretty disappointed. Literature allows you to form fantastic images before your mind's eye, film adaptations risk becoming mundane derivates and I think that's probably what happened here.

The acting was not bad, a little pedestrian though. Some of the visual ideas were alright but they did not add to the story or even felt that related to it, so I can't give credit for that. The sound design may have been technically fine, but again felt unrelated.

There are some philosophical ideas being pandered that may resonate if you never thought too deeply about your existence but they are actually pretty shallow. There is tons of loose ends and completely absurd plot holes, which may be excused as magic realism but I've seen that done much, much better in other films.

Meh out of 10 I'm afraid.

This is a movie about people wanting to have sex in a prudish society, that's what it boils down to. It reminded me of Le narcisse noir (1947).

Everybody in the story is forced into their role, and where we look further into the characters, we see they all want to escape that role. Millie is the sensible one, but she secretly smokes and wants to be fun and attractive just like Madge. Madge is the pretty one who desperately wants to be seen as more than a beautiful girl. Flo has sacrificed her life for her daughters and is not happy. Hal is a misfit who wants to better himself, and in that sense he is one of the most commendable characters in the story.

The casting of William Holden was a huge mistake though, a younger actor would have created a much better dynamic. It was difficult to focus on the story without getting to creeped out about this old dude seducing some teenagers.

Not a bad story and fairly interesting characters; still the film seems off. Besides the bad casting, there is some wooden acting going on at times, some of the visual gags are over-used, and the depiction of Americana must have been outdated already at the time of release. I seriously considered leaving the theatre, something I very rarely do.

It must be said the cinematography is pretty good, in step with the era of its release; Technicolor and Cinemascope. All shots are adequate, if somewhat pedestrian in composition. Technically it's well executed but it's just not very creative. Sound is good as well.