La Rancune

In the small town named Guellen, the Mayor, Council and residents are preparing to welcome the wealthy and powerful Karla Zachanassian (Ingrid Bergman) that left the hometown when she was seventeen years old and now is returning. Guellen and the inhabitants are completely broken since the mines and factory are closed and they hope Karla, who is one of the wealthiest persons in the world, would invest in the town. The owner of a small shop, Serge Miller (Anthony Quinn), who might be the next mayor, is invited to receive Karla since they had been sweethearts. When Karla arrives, the Mayor offers a dinner to her. In his speech, he recalls beautiful moments of Karla while living in Guellen. When he finishes, she tells that his speech is a lie and makes corrections. She tells that her school teacher was abusive with her; her father was an alcoholic and lazy worker; she lost her virginity with Serge and got pregnant; Serge paid two friends to defame her and she lost her daughter that died one year later; because of her record, she moved to Trieste to work in a whorehouse, where she met her husband. Now she offers a fortune (one million) to Guellen and another million to be shared by the residents provide they execute Serge. What will the population do?

"The Visit" is an unknown (only 990 votes in IMDb) masterpiece of revenge, with one of the most acid, ironical and cynical stories ever shown in a film. Ingrid Bergman performing an evil resented woman is a role totally unusual for this beautiful actress. The screenplay is excellent with an unexpected plot point with the revelation of the true intention of Karla. She explores the weak moral of a needy and greedy population. The conclusion is impressive. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Visita" ("The Visit")

I'm ashamed I've never seen this film till now. I've always known "of" it, as I've always known "of" the play, and "of" Friedrich Dürrenmatt's controversial take on "epic theater." So its allegorical aspects don't put me off at all. It's amazing to see how realistically and cinematically this play is filmed and acted.

Co-Produced by Anthony Quinn and Ingrid Bergman, who co-star, this entire enterprise is a work of love and art: not commercial entertainment.

And what a payoff! The suspense, the emotional builds, are incredible. Yes, you can see the act breaks that were in the play. No matter. The film surges along seamlessly to the unexpected and shattering climax.

And the acting, from the entire cast, but especially Quinn and Bergman, is something to behold.

The conclusion cuts like a knife.

Watch it again and again for the layers in Bergman's performance. The transitions in her close-ups alone are astonishing.

a play. great performances. nuances of acting as fireworks. bitter and clear and ambiguous atmosphere. two great actors in a fight about revenge, power and the force of past. a seductive story about a return who change life of community and defines options. Ingrid Bergman seems be the perfect choice for Clara. Anthony Quinn, far to give something real new, has a beautiful mixture of pride and humility, vulnerability as answer to profound cold fierce. a film who reminds moral laws and the lost of innocence behind the truth. a film who reminds the Old Testament episodes and who reminds the idea of justice in a special angle. a Durrenmatt - a lot of questions and the need of honesty for yourself. a special couple. and a beautiful film.

My recent acquisitions of Casablanca and Tivo have me watching a lot of old Ingrid Bergman movies, not to mention Bogie, and I just ran across one that should've been a classic yet I'd never heard of. It did get a minor Oscar nomination, but I thought both the story and Ingrid were superb.

The Visit came out in 1964, late for a black and white film and perhaps that helped limit its success. I can see why that might've been done for artistic rather than economic reasons, though. It is a character study of two main characters (Ingrid's and an old flame played by Anthony Quinn, who also co-produced) and many lesser ones, and all of their lights and darks are perhaps magnified by watching in black and white.

And it has my favorite of all plot devices, which it uses very well. I'd tell you what, but that might ruin it.

I do recommend this one - and if you have Fox Movie Channel, it's on again next week (today being 7/9/05). Twice.

As I watched the moral at the heart of "The Visit" revealed, I couldn't help thinking it was like a lavish version of an episode of "The Twilight Zone".

The blurb on the movie's poster could almost serve as Rod Serling's introduction:

"A woman... once framed and betrayed, then alone on the streets... now wealthy and worldly. Corrupting a town to buy the death of the man she loved. The man... once lover and betrayer... now haunted and hunted. The price on his life is high. And there are many bidders".

Well, sort of.

Mega-rich Karla Zachanassian (Ingrid Bergman), returns to the impoverished town of Guellen, which she left years earlier. She wants revenge on Serge Miller (Anthony Quinn) who forced her to leave pregnant, unwed and disgraced, She offers the townspeople a deal. She will take care of their financial woes in exchange for the execution of Serge. As the story proceeds, the inhabitants at first reluctant, find more and more reasons to go along with her request.

Like other reviewers, I was a little wary about the film at first. The town of Guellen is set in a fictional Eastern European country, and I find movies set in "Ruritania" dead boring. They usually have an overload of eccentric characters all working their accents overtime.

But "The Visit" got me in with Ingrid Bergman rasping out advice and commands as though she was channelling Bette Davis, while Anthony Quinn as Serge acquires insights into human nature through the moral corruption of his friends, fellow citizens and even Mathilda his wife. Nobody could do suffering and haunted like Anthony, see "Barabbas" and "The 25th Hour" for confirmation. Apparently William Holden wanted the role, but William Holden doing an accent? Quinn probably saved him from embarrassment.

The cast is a mix of international stars including Irina Demick, stunning as usual in her relatively short, 10-year movie career.

The movie feels felini-esque or even Bergman-esque, Ingmar that is. Nothing quite beats the marriage of light and shade in a well-made B/W film.

"The Visit" is a metaphor for the way even whole countries have been seduced into going against their better natures. "The Visit" has more than a little in common with Orwell's "Animal Farm". It's too interesting a film not to be seen at least once.