Word: plot
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...WEAKNESS in this movie is that irony runs quite a bit thicker than plot and suspense. Once the machinery of the "Special Section" goes into motion--and this is fairly early on--the rest of the film is straightforward exposition. In an atmosphere heavy with injustice and guilt, six petty criminals predictably receive death sentences. Even some of the hard-boiled fascist sympathizers have moments of recrimination. But developments are few. Once the injustice of the justice system is clear, the movies hobbles along on sheer irony. There are some momentary setbacks in the judicial process when some...
Without any new additions to the plot, the pace of the movie slows down to a lugubrious, ponderous crawl. Here, Costa-Gavras has unwisely strayed from his style. His specialty is the fast-paced, linear form, where events are linked together in some exciting sequence and the movie moves forward by inertia. In Z, first the lingering fate of the seriously injured central figure, then the unexpected slant taken by the prosecutor kept the excitement up. Here, the tension dies long before the prisoners do. And the irony, predictably, becomes heavy-handed. The Latin motto "Justitia", inscribed in mosaic...
...attributed the problems to aging equipment that has been poorly maintained. "People think it's a plot from Steven S.J. Hall's office...
...bourgeois couple of this film is played by Glenda Jackson and Michael Caine. Their performances are good, given the built-in limitations of the roles--this is not an actor's film. The plot is not the strongest point either: Jackson, bored with her perfect husband, adorable son, and luxurious suburban house, takes a little vacation at a continental spa, perhaps in search of some discreet adultery. There she encounters a young man (Helmut Berger) who claims to be a poet. Actually, he is a sort of well-tailored adventurer with a talent for playing the gigolo, and a lesser...
...sensitive, slow-paced direction of Joseph Losey is well suited to a film that operates more on the level of fear and fantasy than of realistic plot development. The Romantic Englishwoman is extremely well-edited, revealing aspects of the story almost impossible to capture in another medium. In Baden, for example, the gigolo follows the wife from a casino to her hotel. As she reaches the lobby, the telephone is ringing--it is her husband, calling to check up on her for the nth time. She is annoyed, and short with him: "The lift is here. Good-bye." She gets...