Memorie di una sopravvissuta

'Memoirs of a Survivor' is a film that really can't be recommended. It's slow, obscure and poorly directed. One suspects that it would be a lot more interesting for people who've read the source novel but a film needs to exist on its own and the filmmaking isn't good enough to do it.

But despite it being largely tedious and dreary, in another way I found it mildly admirable. It makes no attempts to be a 'commercial' sci-fi film and wants to tell its odd story in its own way. While it isn't successful on that score, it maintains a sense of integrity.

I have similar feelings about Julie Christie and her performance. On one hand she plays such a passive, inert character that her significant talents are wasted. But in another way it's admirable that she decided to take such an unusual role in an ambitious film when she could've easily coasted along in Hollywood in bland big-budget blockbusters.

Overall, 'Memoirs of a Survivor' is a failure as a film, but its effort and ambition are to be admired.

Saw this dud in London when I was heading East in '82. It was the worst kind of cinematic torture. One of the most pretentious and boring things I've seen. The radiant Julie Christie looking as drab as your auntie Eyesore. She had just turned down a million bucks to star in "The Greek Tycoon". Then she comes up with this piece of aimless drivel. To my mind it marked the downward turn in her career. Instead of showing the film world she was still a player (post Beatty), she drops out and bombs doing it. Can't understand how this tripe has made it to DVD. There are a bunch of good Christie films that warrant the medium: "Darling", "Far From The Madding Crowd", "Petulia", "The Go-Between", "McCabe & Mrs. Miller", "Don't Look Now", or her personal triumph in "Afterglow". Want obscure? What about the underrated "Return of The Soldier", "Heat and Dust" or "The Railway Station Man". Talk about getting it wrong! I expect the next one out of her's will be "In Search of Gregory". At least Criterion is offering "Billy Liar". It's good - check it out. Avoid "Memoirs of a Survivor".

Not having read the book on which this was based, I found myself wondering quite a lot during the movie: a) I wonder what's going on b) I wonder what this has to do with the plot (if there is a plot) c) I wonder why I rented this

The soundtrack is very poor and there are moments in the movie when the dialog is unintelligible. Had there just been a little more connection or linkage between the "real" world and the fantasy world, I may have empathized with the character more. As it was, I felt that I was suffering more than "D" - but was grateful my agony would only last two hours.

Mobia and Jon F (above) describe this movie pretty well. It is a deeply 'philosophical' piece, which sounds an awfully elitist thing to say I know, but it is a movie that demands a reflection upon what it means to be human and the sorts of relationships that bind humans together. It may also be called 'psychological' in that it examines intra-psychic conflicts as well - particularly from the female perspective (which I am not) and that is powerful. It is based in an era of social decay and reminded me of Hobbes where life is "nasty, brutish and short", where humans have been reduced to animals, where the bonds of humanity have been stretched. Is this what we are to become? Is this what we really are? I loved it. It haunted me. I became a Doris Lessing fan after this and have just finished the book. No exploding cars for those that love that sort of thing.

I saw this film on TV in the early eighties. Looking back I remember very little of the detail but it was one of those rare films that made you feel cheated when it finished because you wanted it to continue. Strange yes, but still maintained a credibility throughout. I was totally engrossed.

This film was my introduction to Doris Lessing and shortly after seeing the film I bought the book. Now, having read all her books, Lessing is one of my favourite authors. Would like to see the film again - anyone know if it's likely to be re-released?