The Blood Oranges

''My fiction,'' he goes on to say, ''is generally an evocation of the nightmare or terroristic universe in which human sexuality is destroyed by law, by dictum, by human perversity, by contraption, and it is this destruction I have attempted to portray and confront in order to be true to human fear and . . . Ruthlessness, but also in part to evoke its opposite, the moment of freedom from that constriction, from that restraint, and from death.''

The plot was weak, and the story a bit stupid, but I really liked this film. The mood and atmosphere appealed to me. It's set in an old village in a tropical setting, the characters were all a bit mysterious. There's a big psychodrama between all of the characters. You never find out what motivates any of them, but the tension and wondering kept my interest, so I give this an above average rating.

I thought this would be a sexy movie but it was not- it was just full of hot air and trite sentiments. I loved his other movie Angels and Insects but this movie was not up to that one at all. The acting was bad and the story was stupid. The only person who was somewhat believeable was Hugh's wife. A waste of time

I saw this movie just recently and liked it a lot. It's a different take on marriage and relationships and for that reason alone worth seeing. It's very different from the usual Hollywood version of romance and marriage. I once saw Hollywood described somewhere as a machine for making marriages, well this movie is an antidote. As a movie it's subtle and works through imagery and symbolism integrated into everyday reality and succeeds pretty much. John Dance does a great job and the supporting cast is just as good. The movie is perhaps summed up by the line utterance by John Dance's character Cyril: "Monogamy is the enemy of marriage". Many could be outraged at this movie, but it's just possible the movie has got it right.

Sheryl Lee gets to play a dull-witted strumpet--now isn't that creative! Her supposed love interest, Colin Lane, is no heart-throb, but does get to play a tight-arsed boor. Charles Dance is good and likable, but cannot save this turkey. The decayed, picturesque Latin American village is photographed gorgeously, but the movie is better with the sound off.