Word: hyena
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...acting honors are easily captured by a herd of hippopotami plunging like dolphins in an African river, and by a Hollywood hyena whose night prowling about the camp has a superbly eerie quality. Among the Hollywood cast, Ava Gardner is surprisingly effective in the early scenes in Paris. Screen Writer Casey Robinson describes the script as "one-third Hemingway, one-third Zanuck and one-third myself"-a dilution of talent that probably accounts for the pat, happy ending, the atmosphere of whining self-pity, and the resolute backing away from any issues except sugar-coated love...
Brilliantly acted, Rashomon bulges with barbaric force. The bandit (Toshiro Mifune) is an unforgettable animal figure, grunting, sweating, swatting at flies that constantly light on his half-naked body, exploding in hyena-like laughter of scorn and triumph. But, more than a violent story, the film is a harsh study of universal drives stripped down to the core: lust, fear, selfishness, pride, hatred, vanity, cruelty. The woodcutter's version of the crime lays bare the meanness of man with Swiftian bitterness and contempt...