The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Having seen the "definitive" stage version of this, featuring Colleen Dewhurst and Michael Dunn, I wasn't hopeful for this film holding a candle to it. I came away feeling that this particular piece does not translate to film. Vanessa Redgrave is a wonderful actress and seeing her beautiful, expressive face with no makeup and her hair cut short is quite startling, but effective. I found myself focusing on her big blue eyes most of the time, as they told the mood of her character throughout. I doubt they could've found anyone better for the role. It's simply that the entire production didn't quite gel. It truly works better in the theatre. I'm still not entirely decided on whether I completely disliked it.

Simon Callow is a great director and a visionary and should set his sights on directing again. Edward Albee's story is touching and funny, a true classic and Callow does a solid and witty job of bringing it to life. The acting by Carradine is questionable but Vanessa Redgrave makes up for that. Also Rod Steiger is always a sure thing. Callow should do more directing.

This film demonstrates an excellent use of both dialog and cinematography to evoke a mysterious, yet stark atmosphere. Redgrave is especially excellent in her portrayal of a character that defies easy description or explanation. The score, too, works to create a specific place, but never falls to the easy trap of using simple folk-music styles in order to provide a sonic backdrop.

Overall, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe is a haunting and beautiful exploration of human emotions and inhuman behaviors. I would highly recommend this film to everyone interested in an eerie combination of the real and surreal.

Vanessa Redgrave is incredible, and memorable, in the role of Miss Amelia, the androgynous ruler of a small Depression-era Southern hamlet. She tends to citizens' medical needs, and manufactures hooch for them as well. Then, her life is shaken up, first by the arrival of hunchbacked little person Lymon (Cork Hubbert), who claims to be her cousin, and then the reappearance of her husband Marvin (Keith Carradine), whom she kicked to the curb rather than go to bed with him on their wedding night. Could be, he's out for revenge.....

Directed by British stage & screen actor & director Simon Callow, this is a Southern Gothic melodrama with a difference. It can be rather strange and offbeat, but overall it's too interesting to dismiss outright. An adaptation of a novel (by Carson McCullers), and subsequent play (by Edward Albee), it has a very convincing look & feel, with top of the line production design & cinematography.

The eclectic supporting cast also includes Rod Steiger, Austin Pendleton, Lanny Flaherty, Earl Hindman, and Anne Pitoniak. While it's true that Carradine has done better work, and while I found the character of Lymon rather annoying at times, a severely de-glamorized Redgrave is a perfect anchor for this ultimately sordid tale. She completely disappears inside her role.

In the end, this serves as a reckoning for a character who misses one chance at love, but is able to love and enjoy life for a time before fate steps in.

Six out of 10.

This film adaptation of Carson McCullers' novella is the best of all the screen versions of her works. Cinematography is excellent. Vanessa Redgrave turns in a great performance as the stoic Miss Amelia, unlucky in love but yearning to fulfill her thwarted desire to love and be loved. With the arrival of a dwarf claiming to be a relation, Miss Amelia finds herself able to live and love again. But with the arrival of Marvin Macy, her absentee husband, things take a change for the worse.

The other performances are good, and the scenery and costumes accurately reflect a Depression-era southern backwater. A near-literal transcription from book to screen, without annoying time changes, character elimination, or overacting to distract from it. Good.