A Fúria do Destino

"The Sound and the Fury" from 1959 is based on the novel by William Faulkner, and from what I understand, it's pretty loosely based.

I can't speak for the book, but the film is certainly derivative, reminiscent in some of its themes of "A Streetcar Named Desire," and even "Gone with the Wind," as it deals with the idea of the old, gentile south versus the new south.

Yul Brynner is Jason Compson, head of the Compson family, and guardian of Quentin (Joanne Woodward), whose mother Caddy (Margaret Leighton) took off years earlier. As a result, Quentin is a troubled young woman, looking for love in all the wrong places and trying to break from her family. The rest of the family is your typical southern dysfunctional - Ben, the slow brother who doesn't talk, and Howard (John Beal), the alcoholic brother. I had a little trouble putting the family together - Ben, Howard, and Caddy are all siblings, and Quentin is Caddy's daughter; I guess Jason is a half-brother or stepbrother, evidently from Russia. Anyway, Jason is the brains of the outfit, determined to drag the family kicking and screaming into the 20th century and providing for them.

Caddy returns to the house with Jason's permission, and Quentin, who has needed a mother and waited her entire life for her mother to return, finds she's not much use. Caddy as played by prominent Broadway actress Leighton is Blanche Dubois, dragging herself home to Belle Reve. She is either a nymphomaniac or just promiscuous; my money's on the former.

The story seems to have been reduced to stereotypes and follows along with several films made at that time, including "The Long Hot Summer" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Except for his accent, Yul Brynner gives a solid performance - mysterious, magnetic, and a dominant presence, and Woodward is excellent as Quentin, a young woman trying to find herself. Ethel Waters gives a wonderful performance as the housekeeper, Dilsy, who has seen all the children grow up and is smarter than all of them.

Just okay.

A great source novel, a fine director, a terrific cast and two very good writers so what could possibly have gone wrong? Something obviously did for at best Martin Ritt's film of William Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" never rises above camp which is fine by me just so long as you don't expect anything more than a trashy piece of Southern Gothic.

This was a Jerry Wald production and was aimed at an adult audience or maybe just an adult American audience who took these shenanigans for granted, (its Deep South setting has always been a source of fascination). It's a family saga, (naturally), and set on some kind of plantation, (naturally), though perhaps the most interesting aspect is that the black servants are much more forward thinking than their white employers.

A miscast Yul Brynner, (with wig), is the head of the household; Joanne Woodward, (too old for the part she is playing), is the rebelious young girl whose mother, (Margaret Leighton), abandoned her as a baby but who has now returned to the fold; Ethel Waters is the 'Mammy' character, Jack Warden is the 'idiot' uncle, Francoise Rosay is Brynner's mother and Stuart Whitman, the carny with an eye on Woodward. With such a disparate cast you could say they are a very strange family. On the plus side it certainly looks good; Charles G Clarke shot it in Cinemascope and it is certainly lush. It might have been better if it had been even trashier; as it is it's somewhat po-faced. If you must have Faulkner go with "The Tarnished Angels" or even "The Long Hot Summer".

Watching this adaption of William Faulkner's The Sound And The Fury I can only wonder he must have thought of this abortion of his work. This film seems to have been influenced by Harold Robbins more than Faulkner.

For one thing the novel is a far better subject for a mini-series as it takes place over a couple of generations and is written from several points of view, not the straight linear narrative we get here. Secondly the novel was updated to present day meaning 1959 Mississippi. The civil rights era was on in Mississippi in 1959 and the attitudes expressed here would have been lost in 1959. The novel came out in the late Twenties and some of the action went back a generation earlier.

These Compsons are one dissolute bunch and the only one of the family holding them together is Yul Brynner as Jason because heaven forfend he realizes they're not rich any more and that big mansion has gas and electric bills that need paying. He actually works for a living. The hope of the family may be Joanne Woodward as Quentin who is the illegitimate daughter of the most dissolute of all the Compsons Margaret Leighton.

Leighton has been living away from the family and the genteel Mississippi folks she's been brought up with because of her disgrace with Woodward's birth. But she comes back and that sets off a whole chain of events that causes everyone to reevaluate how things are going for the Compsons.

Ethel Waters did her last role in The Sound And The Fury as the family maid. Her family even in the servile position that blacks had in Mississippi in those days is still stronger than the Compsons even Yul Brynner. Too bad no musical number got worked into the script for her.

The cast is a superbly talented one and they do their best with a hard to recognize Faulkner work, but the film as a whole comes up way short.

I would also like to find out why over the years this movie has not been available for purchase on DVD or even VHS. I saw it on TV many years ago and really enjoyed it especially with a cast that included Yul Brynner and Joanne Woodward. Anyone out there have any clues? I realize this film did not really reflect the book by William Faulkner but I think it stood up on its own as a simpler version that most people could enjoy. Hopefully at some point it will be available again. Yul Brynner plays his character with some force and pomposity but is very appealing nevertheless. Joanne Woodward is a sweet gamin of a tom boy who acts the part to perfection. It has been along time since I have seen this film but it made enough of an impression that I still surf the internet in the hopes that I will find it available to buy and play at home.

Why is it that all stories regarding the South have to have at least one character who is mentally challenged? Oh well, at least Jack Warden was convincing.

Predictably dreary directing by Martin Ritt (Hud; Hombre).

Brynner was definitely out of place as the lead, but Georgia native Woodward was right on target.

British actress Margaret Leigton was terrific. She's another reminder that even in the 50's, some of Hollywood's best were skinny, chain-smoking women from across the pond. Some things never change, I guess.

The print I saw on INHD was in excellent shape. I wonder why this hasn't been released on DVD.