Movie #32: Released in 1955, directed by Charles Laughton, 93 minutes. New to me!

LetterBoxd score: 5 stars

Sometimes when I’m watching movies on this list, I have the (basic and cheesy, yeah I know) thought “this one is on another level.” That’s what I felt about this one.

I went in expecting it to be a compact thriller that took place over the course of one night, primarily noted for a great and creepy performance by Robert Mitchum. But the movie is, in fact, much more ambitious than that.

Visually, it’s a callback to the kind of heightened emotional reality of movies like Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. You’ve got Mitchum silhouetted against the sky, riding his horse and singing his hymn. You’ve got the scene when he kills his wife. And most memorably of all, at least to me, you’ve got the scene where his wife’s dead body sways in the river current alongside seaweed. Watching these movies chronologically, it felt unusually brutal.

The movie’s plot is unexpectedly rich too. This isn’t some kind of darker home alone. There is the mounting dread as Mitchum woos the children’s mother, becomes their stepfather, then murders their mother to become their sole taker. Those kids are so, so vulnerable by the end. Laced throughout is an unusually (for movies on this list) frank allusion to taboo bedroom topics. But then the movie takes a turn, and halfway through, the kids escape and what was once claustrophobic breaks sideways into a river journey. Eventually we meet someone new, another single parent, but this one is good.

By the end there’s a lot to chew on. The movie’s views of religion are perhaps clear enough; at the outset we’re warned about false prophets and told to judges the good (Rachel) from the bad (Mitchum) by their fruits – for an evil tree cannot put out good fruits.

Bust what do we make of everyone’s mistrust of legitimate authorities. The kids never think to call the police – maybe understandable, given what happened to their dad. But neither does their uncle. And Rachel does only very late in the game. There is no social services to call; not even family who promises to help (the uncle) is any help. The town at large seems eager to Lynch Mitchum by the end (not trusting to the formal justices system)? We’re living in a time when everyone has to look out for themselves.

Why would someone think it’s one of the ten greatest movies ever made?

Wonderful visuals, wonderful acting, and a rich story well, a setting somewhat strange and out of time, and all in 90 minutes.

Next: Pather Panchali