| WRITTEN ON THE WIND (1956) : D.Sirk : 8/10 |
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 Ironic that a film whose title so poetically invokes impermanence should, fifty years on, be so firmly established as an enduring minor-masterpiece of melodrama. It's one of Sirk's trademark, deliriously lurid soap-operas (crucially, for the most part played pretty straight), in this instance dealing with a fabulous rich, deeply dysfunctional family and two poorish-but-decent folk who spin into their eccentric orbit. Kyle Hadley (Robert Stack) is the alcoholic, playboy heir to the Hadley millions - a dissolute ne'er-do-well with an inferiority complex inspired by his no-nonsense best friend Mitch Wayne (Rock Hudson). Hadley falls for employee Lucy (Lauren Bacall); Hadley's trampy sister Marylee (Dorothy Malone) has been besotted with Mitch since their childhood; Mitch, however, doesn't reciprocate - instead, he falls in love with Lucy, just as she's being romanced by Kyle all the way to the altar. Given Kyle's congenital weakness(es) and Marylee's scheming spite, it's a recipe for cataclysm - which the picture fully delivers in a high-intensity final act. Fundamentally silly stuff, perhaps, but invested with disarming seriousness thanks to Sirk's flair for mise-en-scene (colours, costumes, decors, set-design, camerawork) and the way he elicits such contrasting, complementary performance from his four leads (Oscar-winning Malone is notably and enjoyably outrageous.) Sirk choreographs the unusual, painful dynamics between the characters with such skill that such labels as "soap opera" and "melodrama" effectively cease to apply: when Stack slumps in Hudson's arms, thunderously groaning "what are we doing here?" (in unflinching close-up) Written on the Wind takes on a momentary but shattering air of the deepest tragedy. Neil Young 3/4.Apr.08 -------------------------------------------------------------------- USA 101m (timed) director : Douglas Sirk (All That Heaven Allows, Imitation of Life, Magnificent Obsession, etc) editor : Russell F Schoengarth (Midnight Lace, The Glenn Miller Story, Bend of the River, etc) seen 30.Mar.08 Newcastle (Star and Shadow : £4.00) |
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