Interlúdio de Amor

One of Clint Eastwood's early yet still obscure directorial efforts, `Breezy' gently and charmingly explores the nature of wisdom, which can be present in the most unusual of people and the real meaning of happiness, which is usually found in the oddest and least-expected of places, usually when one is not looking for it.

Amid the smoldering cultural wreckage of the recently-ended 1960s with its nagging remnants of the shrill `don't trust anyone over 30' crowd and the seemingly still-unbridgeable `generation gap,' the odd and quirky relationship between the youthful, Ophelia-like Edith Alice `Breezy' Breezerman (Lenz) and the middle-aged Frank Harmon (Holden) successfully and simultaneously reveals several very simple but still frequently-ignored truths; that shrewdness and insight are not necessarily the sole province of the `aged' and that a carefree, happy spontaneity isn't and shouldn't be automatically restricted to the `young.' And, more subtly, we also are quietly reminded that neither wisdom nor happiness can realistically exist isolated from one another and that the bitter memories of our own respective pasts can often tragically prevent us from getting what we truly need the most.

Like the Italian neo-realist director Sergio Leone under which Eastwood successfully toiled in the 1960s, the personalities of the film's characters are deliberately and slowly intensified but not over-presented or stereotyped, which adds to the power, insight and poignancy of this understated and well-produced film.

When William Holden took the part of Frank Harmon in Breezy it was a dress rehearsal for the same kind of role in Network where he was the older man who had fallen out of love with his wife and looking for something new and different. Of course his taste in women is a whole lot different. In Network Holden falls for the chic Network news executive Faye Dunaway and in Breezy he's entranced by the free spirited young hippie chick in the title role which Kay Lenz got her breakout role. These two women are about as different as they come.

One thing that the story and director Clint Eastwood failed to do is give us all that much information about Breezy and how her character developed as it did. She's a type that was quite common in 1973 and it's assumed by the audience that the Vietnam War and the counterculture of free love makes her typical of young people. So when she drops into Holden's life by kind of forcing him to give her a lift in his car after a night of sex with Dennis Olivieri who picked her up.

Holden's gone through a bitter and nasty divorce and we also are not quite sure about the whys and wherefores there. But Eastwood kind of takes care of it from his end when Holden and Lenz at a fancy restaurant encounter his ex-wife Joan Hotchkiss who's there with a date. Her one scene with Holden and Lenz is Breezy's most unforgettable point. This is one bitter and drunken women and while we don't really know what went wrong, it's clear why Holden wanted out of the marriage and why he's soured on the female of the species.

There was a 33 year age difference between Holden and Lenz and most wouldn't give odds for this lasting, but you never know.

Both Holden and Lenz give a good account of themselves making up for some plot deficiencies in Breezy.

I can't believe this movie was only graded 5.6/10 (as of today) !! Even though this will obviously remind you of Kubrick's "Lolita" (1962), Clint Eastwood makes an incredibly promising debut as a director. His style is already intact. The development is simple and yet subtle, the acting is great and the lead cast is absolutely adequate. I was really pleasantly surprised and I deeply regret not taping it given its unavailability for sale. Unfortunately, this is yet another gem lost in a sea of mediocrity.

I saw "Breezy" last night on the Universal HD channel. I hadn't seen it since the '70s when I saw the TV version. One would expect to enjoy a film such as "Star Wars" in HD-you wouldn't immediately think that a film like "Breezy" would benefit from this treatment. However, the crystal-clarity of the presentation brings back the look of Southern California of the early Seventies in all of its glory that can only really be appreciated by those who lived here back then. Seeing the locations in Topanga Canyon, Malibu, and the Valley; the hippies, the straights in their suits and ties, and the way the Generation Gap (back in the day when there REALLY was one) is treated is definitely a trip down memory lane.

Anyone who has ever had a love that has dissolved into sadness with the passing of time (most of us) can fully relate to this film. This is a story about a young woman who has so much to share: her exuberance, her unique way of looking at the world, her evolving femininity, her inner and outer beauty. It's also about a powerful and successful man who is at the crossroads in his life. It is a film is about two people that, for a brief moment, are able to look beyond the constraints of societal disapproval and just simply appreciate what the other has to give.

When I first saw this film, I was the same age as Breezy. Now thirty three years later, I'm getting close to Frank's age. Nobody prepares you for the passing of time. They don't teach you how to handle it in school, there's no handbook that you can refer to as the years slip away. No, the greatest challenge in life is something you can't prepare for, you can only live through it, and each person's journey is different from the rest. In that aspect, this film is a wise and knowing look at real life. Sure, there's some stilted dialogue, and some of the scenes are a bit too predictable. but if you scratch the surface, you'll find a diamond underneath.

I am fortunate to be able to say that I see Kay Lenz frequently. I'd like everyone to know that she still has a unique beauty that is greatly unaffected by the passing of the years. Sure, she's not twenty anymore, but who is? She has an easy, graceful way about her that is a pleasure to experience, and just hearing her angelic voice, which has changed only slightly through the years, brings me back to that world of beach walks, undeveloped L.A. canyons, and six bedroom houses in the Valley that cost $88,000 (!!). For you non-actors out there, remember, Kay was playing a role. Breezy was a character, not a real person. However, if you were smitten with that character, you would not be disappointed to see the real Kay today. If anything, she is even more endearing in 2006 than she was in 1973.

Let's face it folks, growing old stinks. Falling out of love is even worse. This film handles both of these issues with a grace and acceptance that is missing from most of the films made about these themes. I truly believe that there is something in this film for all who care to look for it.

Another fine 70s adult character drama with typically rich details, compelling characterization and seemingly aimless pacing representative of that great and celebrated era in American movies.

Directed with inspired understatement by Clint Eastwood early in his film-making career and with a well crafted script it's an excellent spin on the older man/young girl conflict set in photogenic LA.

Kay Lenz so winning and charming as the free spirited idealistic temptress. With his fabulously craggy face and usual smoky boozy sincere caustic growl William Holden created another memorable portrait of aging dispirited masculinity.

If I had seen it last year I would have certainly been shrieking it's virtues during my rant against Lost in Translation.