communicator-1

Hemingway reportedly hated this film adaption of his famous work. After watching it from beginning to end, I can see why. The Dialogue is awful, and Coop sounds silly repeating most of it. Helen Hayes is excellent, and is the only actor in the film that escapes looking ridiculous. The less said about Adolphe Menjou's performance, the better. I have watched many films older than this one that are far less dated.

I am a big fan of most of the Silent Comedians, and most of the comedians of the talkie era. I love Comedy. I thought that Tati was supposed to be a comedian. However, all I see is a guy walking around observing others, while not doing anything remotely funny. Another reviewer compared him to Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean). The only difference between the two, is that Mr. Bean is funny.

First, let me state that I am a big fan of Foreign and Silent Films. I count Ingmar Bergman and Sergei Eisenstein among my favorites. Because this film has such a favorable reputation I looked forward to viewing it. I sat through the entire film, because I thought I must be missing something. I wasn't. How can this boring and silly film be considered a masterpiece? The acting (acting?) conveys either boredom or ridiculous hysteria, with nothing in between. Story is nonexistent with a complete lack of editing. The camera dwells on objects for interminable lengths of time, to the point that you wonder if it was intentional. I suppose that art lies in the eyes of the beholder, but this film provided me with the longest 73 minutes of my life.