The_Invisible_Dog

After years of searching, when I finally got a copy I was almost nervous that I wouldn't like it, but I was not disappointed. OK - it's flawed: some scenes run on too long, there is a lack of overall refinement, Beethoven's 5th pops up in some odd places (why would you, when you have Frances Lai making the soundtrack?) but even these flaws somehow add to its overall unique, slightly odd flavour. The tone is of elegiac 1970s Westerns but it's more of a historical romantic drama than that. Westerns-wise, it feels somewhere between Heartland and Heaven's Gate with a touch of The Grey Fox (there is even a small but pleasing turn from Richard Farnsworth). However, you can tell it is European - and not American - made. It's not quite as artistic as some people make it out to be, it's more naturalistic, casual even, with some scenes and dialogue occurring in the unvarnished manner of Mike Leigh films. I loved seeing the American west from the French perspective and how the movie showed the immigrant experience. Respect is given to working class struggles in a way that you'd expect from such European cinema. I loved too how the story built, watching their two lives in separate countries (and cultures) gradually circle inwards towards their inevitable meeting. Through all the hardships of that era and in life in general, love blooms in a relatable way. And just when you'd decided this was a romance drama after all, it finally reminds you that 'this IS a Western' with an ending scene that satisfies as much as any decent revenge Western. In all - a quiet epic.

It's a good idea/set-up but this movie is really not handled well. Direction and pace are stodgy. Alec G is on oddball mode, grinning and emotionally remote with a clip-on German accent. Redford and Connors are very typical GI types who don't even look dirty, let alone age, despite years held in captivity. There is no further character development, but neither is there enough tension or decent humour to keep it all going, I was looking at my watch throughout. I baffled constantly at the lack of clear motive as to why the captive situation continued to exist. Equally as frustrating was how the two, fit young GI's made practically no attempt to out-fox or overpower their elderly captor. It's all very shallow, passive and careless. Even more annoying was the lack of satisfying pay-off at the end. We were not shown any scenes of the two captive's reactions upon realising the truth, which at least could have redeemed something of the movie. Instead we get a bizarre final scene that left me scratching my head, spluttering as to why and how THIS was happening now! Lots of classic Alec G movies out there, but this aint one.

Towards the end, I realised there was too much Maurice and not enough Jeanette, something I hadn't noticed earlier thanks to the amount of style and fun being had here. It's a treat from the start: some great photography as Paris chugs into life, the mosaic of sounds of the locals waking up and working, their combined rhythms resembling that of a steam engine or factory. The camera glides like Murnau or Max Ophuls' movies, the sets mix life with artifice reminding me of Wes Anderson, the comic tone resembles Lubitsch. Mix all that with a feel of early Disney classics (watch and imagine it animated!): the bustling townsfolk, the rhythm of song and speech, the sound of her singing and the overarching sense of a fairy tale (the princess and her 3 godmothers/witches seem surely an influence on the 1959 Sleeping Beauty). Songs by Rogers and Hart, though aside from 'Isn't it Romantic' they are not the best (MC's 'I'm an Apache' being the low-light of the film). There is not enough build-up to the inevitable coming together of our two stars, so romantic depth is a little lacking but the movie is so inventive (speeding up and slowing down film, audio overlays etc etc) and with laced with such infectious gaiety it is hard not to enjoy. Pretty amazing (and underrated) for 1932. Oh and a great cast too.