This was the first Visconti film I’ve watched so I wasn’t sure what to expect. However, I can say that I enjoyed this film − it was a little different to what I thought would happen but I guess that made it interesting. Firstly, I have to say the character Natalia, played by Maria Schell really appealed to me. (She reminded me of Emma Watson (Hermoine Granger in Harry Potter) − she just looked so alike!) I think this lady is a great actress, full of energy and emotion − just like an innocent little child and I sort of felt I could relate to her. Actually the whole movie was really quite dramatic and expressive − I don’t know if that’s a feature of Italian films, seeing as though the language itself is full of and gestures but regardless this film was full of spirit.
On the topic of characters though, I admit I couldn’t sympathise or relate to Jean Marais, who played Natalia’s dream lover − he just seemed older and too mature for her and maybe even slightly suspicious or evil. As a result, I didn’t really want it to end with Natalia going back to him but I guess that was a twist in what I thought was an otherwise traditional narrative. I eventually sympathised for Mario (played by the amazing Marcello Mastroianni) who fell in love with her, however, it took a while at the beginning of the film to finally draw me in to his character. I just felt he kept changing from a rebellious almost womaniser-type of man to a sensitive lovesick individual. I thought at the end they would be together but it was kind of a sad ending. Even though I kept expecting to see Natalia’s dream lover walk into the scene at any moment, by the final scene I was almost convinced he wasn’t − until he came! So after expecting him to first come back for, then as a man who won’t keep his promise, I guess he did love her but it just doesn’t sit well with me. And all that we see Mario leave with is a dog, like the dog he met at the start of the film − I don’t know if that’s the company he wanted. Speaking of the beginning of the movie, I felt it took a while to bring some relevant action in and I don’t know if it was just my screen but the setting seemed really dark and maybe a little bland and repetitive. However, I’m not familiar with Italian towns so I wasn’t sure how to view it. It was a “misty, dreamlike” film and I particularly liked the flashback scenes. Also, good to see a little bit of comedy, mostly in part due to Natalia’s granny, whose amusing Italian utterances gave the film some light-hearted humour.
I’m now curious to read the Dostoevsky short story this is based on because it did seem a bit different from usual tales you see on the screen and something that I’d enjoy − also would be good to see how it was adapted for a film. A good introduction to Visconti films and I look forward to watching more of his works. Overall, pleased with this film about two dreamers, full of emotion, some poignancy and I guess the ending was more realistic showing that true love doesn’t just disappear easily whenever we want it to.
4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment