Watchable Bore by Cinema Greats
This was a flop on it's initial release despite the talent that contributed to it. After a few minutes of it's opening I got that unmistakable feeling of "Uh oh, this is going to be a long slog." Luckily it wasn't as long as I initially feared.The subject matter, that depressing B & W film look from the era - the heavy darkness and deep shadows that were considered appropriate for depressing and hopeless subjects is here. I saw this on a DVD and the entire film seemed like a 'Day for Night' shot - no matter the time of day. ( I assume that in theaters on a large screen the gradations of light would be more apparent.)
The actors of course do their best with what they have to work with and Omar Sharif stands out if only because his part has more than one dimension. The other actor who stands out is the boy playing Paco who gets the story going. (He stands toe to toe with Anthony Quinn and Gregory Peck just as he did in In 'It Started in Naples" with Clark Gable and Sophia Loren. Wow,.)
The problem with the film is that the story is not particularly interesting - an aging Spanish Civil War partisan wants to go back and visit his dying mother in Spain 20 years after the War ended, while an old enemy lays a trap for him. A much better film on similar subject matter came out he next year from France - "La Guerre est Finie" with Yves Montand. That one is recommended.
score 5/10
dcurrie623 24 December 2018
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4532090/34850
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