The Film Junkie

This film is based on Lillian Hellman’s Broadway play about rumours of lesbianism between two teachers at an all-girl’s school. 

Though this film, and the play, were decades ahead of their time, it still ends in the way most lesbian pulp fiction of the era had to end: with death.  Homosexuality was always forced to be seen as a curse or malady that would be cured by death.

Shirley Maclaine is outstanding as Martha, the teacher who has an ‘unnatural’ obsession with her best friend, Karen (Audrey Hepburn).  Karen intends her marry her long-time boyfriend, which causes severe jealousy from Martha.  One troublemaking student (Karen Balkin) accuses the teacher when she becomes frustrated by no one giving her enough attention.  However though Karen is adamant that the idea is entirely false, Martha feels as though her subconscious thoughts are finally being revealed.

This may not be a revolutionary film, but it is refreshing to see a 1960’s film that does not centre around women in bikinis or women frozen in scenes like a perpetual Ziegfield Follies.  These women are smart and capable, they run their own school and they stay loyal to one another no matter what the accusations or realizations about them may be.

Refreshing, if not revolutionary.

Grade: B+

At first I didn’t know what to think about this film.  It seems to want to be a romantic comedy, but then has strong dramatic implications and deeply flawed characters who never really redeem themselves.  What I know for certain is that this film was an unexpected treat that kept me interested right until the end.

Ingrid Bergman plays Paula, a 40 year old woman who is in a relationship of convienience with Roger (Yves Montand) wherein she does not take advantage of the freedom she is supposedly allowed.  Roger, on the other hand, has his cake and eats it too and prefers to lie to Paula to keep the charade alive.

Soon enough Paula meets Philip (dashing young Anthony Perkins), the 25 year old son of one of her clients.  Philip falls hard for Paula and tempts her away from the disappointments of her life with Roger.

The bond between Bergman and Montand is clear and the chemistry resonantes through the film.  Bergman was always a master of letting her eyes do the talking, and we can see her heart break as she realizes she cannot continue to be anything less than everything to Roger.

What really impressed me in this film is the work by Perkins.  In ‘Psycho’ he proved he is a formidable actor, however here he is simply adorable.  We fall more and more in love with him as he sacrifices everything for the very confused Paula.  Perkins is full of energy and his performance keeps the film from becoming a melodrama.

This film is a delicious treat as it romanticizes the middle aged woman unlike most films of the era.  It is feminist in the portrayal of Paula as well as the fraility of the men in her life.  This is truly a film about equality and the sacrifices our society demands of us.

Grade: A- 

This film based on a play is the story of three generations of an African-American family living together in a tiny two bedroom apartment in Chicago.  The film deals with civil rights, the role of women of colour in modern society and the pride of many black people in a changing society.

Sidney Poitier stars as Walter, a married man living with his wife, son, sister and mother in this small space who is trying to make a name for himself despite the controlling women in his world.  His mother is played magnificently by Claudia McNeil.  She gets all the great speeches of the film, and she represents a generation that was happy not being slaves in a world where black people wanted to be more than ‘free’, they wanted to be ‘equal’.  Walter’s wife, Ruth, is played by the lovely Ruby Dee.  Ruth is coping with an unhappy marriage and an unwanted pregnancy and in her we deal with abortion rights and a woman who is struggling to keep everyone together.  Finally, Diana Sands plays Walter’s sister, Beneatha.  She is studying to be a doctor and thus brings in the new idea that a black woman in America could be whatever she wanted, supposedly.  She meets a man from Nigeria and becomes enthralled by wanting to be African and not an “assimilationist”.  In Beneatha, we see the roots of the African-American people and the quest to embrace that history without forgetting the reality that they have been Americans for several generations.

This is a complex emotional drama that takes place mainly in their one small apartment.  It is filled with strong female characters that are constantly breaking away from the boundaries of cinema at that time.  The script by Lorraine Hansberry, adapted from her play, is a remarkable feat that allows all sides to have their say without taking anyone’s side.  Walter is a strange and wonderful creation of a man, emasculated and grasping for control while completely in over his head.  But this is a film owned by one woman and Claudia McNeil is a powerful image on that screen.  You cannot take your eyes off of her and it is only right she is given the final image of the film.

A classic.

Grade: A