Petulia

Petulia opens with a shot of a middle-aged woman in a wheelchair, then cuts to a sixties' rock club featuring a very young-looking Janis Joplin. The sixties counterculture definitely torpedoed middle-aged women. Their husbands, like Archie, the middle-aged doctor played by George G. Scott, have the luxury of deciding they're "tired" of being married and jumping into affairs with younger women. This is a cause of continuing sadness to his ex-wife Polo, wonderfully played by Shirley Knight. Archie becomes involved with Petulia (Julie Christie), a clichéd "kooky" young woman of a type that often appeared in films of this period. Petulia is married to an abusive, wealthy husband, David, played with suitable evil by Richard Chamerlain. Christie is such a good actress that she gives some dimension to the role, although she's far outshone by Knight as Polo, the wounded wife. In its technique and attitude it really is a European or British film shot in San Francisco with American actors. There are interesting cultural references to the sixties, that may have seemed daring at the time, but now seem more innocent than anything else. The film is really about Archie and men of his generation and their bewilderment at the changing cultural mores represented by Petulia. On one hand they're delighted to feel that they can have sex with no responsibilities, but Petulia, for all her charm brings nothing but chaos into Archie's life. Was it really worth for him to be involved with her? And he ends up stuck with a high maintenance greenhouse in his apartment.

Critically-lauded drama from fashionable filmmaker Richard Lester is certainly handsome enough, although it doesn't initially appear to leave its audience with much but a sour aftertaste. A divorced, frustrated doctor--who has taken up with an exasperating, unhappily married young woman named Petulia--quickly realizes this new direction is adding no particular meaning to his life. Choppy, infuriating picture seems to be leading somewhere but never does; admirers of the film say this is precisely Lester's point, that his tying the story in loose, inconsistent knots is his idea of symbolism. George C. Scott has some amazing moments, Julie Christie is smartly-attired and attractive, Shirley Knight and Richard Chamberlain try hard in underwritten roles, but the movie is pretentiously off-kilter. Lester underlines his scenes with a modern sort of cynicism--American cattiness--that comes off as unfunny and rude rather than satirical. However, the design and conception of the film is startling, and memories of it may sneak up on you days after seeing it. **1/2 from ****

Bold and innovative in its use of flashbacks, ellipses, and, most uniquely, flash-forwards - probably the first use of that technique in mainstream narrative film - Petulia (1968) tells the powerful story of two disintegrating marriages and the flowering of a love affair set against the backdrop of the Viet Nam war (waged on television screens), a potent counterpoint to the emotional chaos and violence in the characters' lives. This Richard Lester masterwork is an amazing and continuously fascinating fracturing of narrative structure that simultaneously succeeds in maintaining a clear and forward momentum to culminate in an emotionally and intellectually satisfying catharsis. A film way ahead of its time with exceptional performances by all the cast, especially Shirley Knight in a heartbreaking turn as George C. Scott's devastated wife and Richard Chamberlain in the unlikely role of Julie Christie's abusive husband. A vastly underrated, overlooked film, in my opinion.

I stumbled across "Petulia" late one night somewhere on cable and quickly became entranced by the mixed up, alarming and sensitive story. Julie Christie and George C. Scott are amazing in this tale of bad marriages and mistakes. Richard Chamberlain, who is chilling to look at no matter what the role, plays the slightly-insane prison-warden husband of Petulia so well it makes your hair stand-on-end with disturbance. Lester's cinematography is amazing - manipulating the scenic San Francisco landscape to its diabolical best - even better than Hitchcock in "Vertigo". It especially captures the essence of the city in its heyday of hippie-drugged-ness, adding another layer to the film's drama. The quick cross-cutting by Lester adds to the disturbing stream-of-consciousness and rich visual chemistry of the film. The 1960's drug culture poignantly juxtaposes the upright middle-class marriages of the main characters, adding color and quirkiness to the already-strange montage. I especially enjoyed George C. Scott in sport coat & tie on the floor of the Fillmore dancing to the Grateful Dead. Petulia is the cross-over character: a free spirit with a tuba in white maribou, being shut up in a stuffy mansion in Marin County, with an abusive, plastic husband. "Petulia" is a wonderful, alarming, disturbing gem of a film that has soaring hope and chilling visuals. Not a film to be missed.

I could not give a wide range recommendation for this film. If you don't like abrupt flashback edits and a story that unfolds slowly, then this is not for you. However, if you can hang with the film you will be rewarded for your effort with some truly bizarre moments. There are images from the film that really stuck with me. The absurdity of situations seemed to come back to me days after having watched it. I remembered the gift of the Tuba, the hospital staff trying to explain the 'dummy teevee' procurement procedure, and of course, George C. Scott making his way into not only a 'Big Brother and the Holding Company' concert, but also a 'Grateful Dead' show. Huh?

Added to that you have Richard Chamberlain in all his dandy elfin fabulousness, Joeseph Cotten collecting a paycheck and a very young Howard Hesseman(Dr. Johnny Fever) in a cameo that really served no purpose that I could fathom.

A lot of cat and mouse love affair nonsense between the beautiful Julie Christie and the 'throat lozenged' George C. Scott....what?......it could happen. A lot of obsession and a bit of denial make up the bulk of the movie.

It is interesting to see Scotts' character change throughout the film.

Richard Lester has made many, many great films. And although this film doesn't carry the Richard Lester stamp, it is still one of his best films. I loved it. 9/10.

But really, George C. Scott at a 'Dead' show? Trouble ahead, trouble behind indeed.

Clark Richards