In a cinematic climate
that is overloaded with remakes, heavy CGI, superheroes, and the occasional
adaptation of a bestseller, it’s refreshing to take a trip back in time and
enjoy a film that is solely driven by its immaculate performances, use of stage
space, and haunting story. Such a film is Suddenly,
Last Summer.
Based on the play by Tennessee Williams, this black and white
gem tells the story of a talented neurosurgeon (Montgomery Clift) working in a
budget asylum. Fortune knocks when a wealthy widow, Violet Venable (Katherine
Hepburn) offers to donate a large sum to the asylum if Dr. Cukrowicz will
lobotomise her niece as a means to end her horrifying delusions and
hallucinations about her cousin’s death last summer. However, when Cukrowicz
meets Catherine (Elizabeth Taylor) he suspects that the horrors she sees aren’t
delusions at all, but repressed memories, and he endeavours to discover the
truth behind Sebastian Venable’s mysterious death last summer.
Who needs Norma
Bates when we have Violet Venable? And who needs zombies when such a thing as
cannibalism exists? Suddenly, Last Summer
is a delightful mixed breed of horror, psychological thriller, and black drama,
all shot in a way reminiscent of a stage play. Attention to mise-en-scene and a
wonderful use of space with few changing camera angles gives the film this
wonderful flowing and consistent pace, like the forward and backward motions of
a tide. Nothing in this movie feels jagged in the way that it’s put together
and, with the exception of some gauzed split-screen action during the climax,
it feels as though you are in the room with the characters, witnessing all.
Without a doubt though, the performances are what drives this film. Hepburn and
Taylor are absolutely sensational; both were nominated for the Academy Award
for Best Actress! Hepburn as the rich widow, more disturbed by her son’s death
than we realise at first, is captivating from the moment she appears coming
down into her living room in an elevator. Whilst there is something about her
that is eerily reminiscent of Swanson’s Norma Desmond (Sunset Boulevard, 1950), her glamour, insane power with which she
delivers her monologues, and ultimate madness make Violet a mother worthy of
the company of Norma Bates (Psycho,
1960) and Margaret White (Carrie,
1975). Hepburn, with the stately way she carries herself and the eloquent way
she delivers dialogue is gorgeous in anything she does and this movie is no
exception.
On the other end of the spectrum we have Elizabeth Taylor, the young
and beautiful niece indirectly tormenting Violet. If Hepburn is the cool and
collected ‘crone’ than Taylor is the vibrant and erratic ‘maiden’ who spends a
fair portion of the film violently shaking, having fits, and screeching to the
far side of the universe. Taylor’s performance is dramatic of course, but her
sense of timing between erratic bursts is to be commended and the power with
which she delivers her more dramatic scenes, particularly the big reveal at the
end, is a vice-like grip that holds you in your seat until Hepburn comes along
to make you squirm uncomfortably.
The film is definitely about the women, with
Clift being a mild-mannered mediator between the two.
A deep and complex broth
of unsettling themes and alluring performances, Suddenly, Last Summer is an eerie and insanely mesmerising movie
filled with mystery, strange familial relationships, drama, and lavish glamour.
If you adore movies such as Sunset
Boulevard and A Streetcar NamedDesire or even thrillers like TheSnake Pit, then I would highly recommend Suddenly, Last Summer.
Starring Katherine Hepburn, Montgomery
Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Albert Dekker, Mercedes McCambridge, Gary Raymond,
Maria Britneva, Mavis Villiers, and Joan Young.
Rating: M
No comments:
Post a Comment