Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by tinear (A) on February 26, 2021 at 10:15:10

loosely based on the titular work, but set in the time of its filming--- the immediacy of the war is palpable.

An American sergeant (a wonderful amateur who actually was an American sergeant) is visiting a town close to Canterbury when a crime occurs against a young woman he has just met. He soon learns that this is but one in a series of six similar attacks.

That sounds dry, but the film is anything but: it shows small town English life, how children coped with the war (a brilliant scene recalls quite vividly, "Lord of the Flies"), and the impact of the war on those at home--- and much more!

The female lead is brilliant, a very young Sheila Sim (soon to marry Richard Attenborough--- and remain so married until her death, almost seventy years later) who is so natural you'd expect to meet her in any small English town.

Pressburger and Powell made many exceptional films, but this one was never excelled. It is a film within a film, done with so much cleverness you don't realize it until the very end (I won't spoil it).

The cinematography bridges beautiful old school and emerging techniques: brilliantly.