The Passenger
1963
Directed by Andrzej Munk
First of all, 401! Some might say that is an even milestonier milestone than 400 since now we only have a solid 600 to go. Very exciting stuff happening here.
Anyway, the task of watching this film was problematic, bordering on a complete disaster. For one thing, this film is extremely hard to find, let alone find with English subtitles. I ended up failing on the second part. Additionally, my headphones haven't been working lately and only play dialogue if they are twisted in a very specific way. It almost never plays lyrics on my phone when I bring up a song so it is kind of like having my own karaoke machine. Now, I guess it didn't matter too much because I couldn't understand what they were saying anyway, but it still would have been nice to have sound. So yeah, I ended up watching a silent film that was actual incomplete because the director died halfway through filming. It was a good time.
Luckily, there were a few sites on the internet that allowed me to at least have a basic idea of what was going on. This is the story of an SS officer who befriends and attempts to help a woman at Auschwitz.
This film is only an hour long and even with my unique…situation I still didn't get too bored. I don't think I want to try to find it with subtitles (the filmmaking didn't blow me away) but not a complete waste of time.
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
Munk died in a car accident on his way back from filming one day.
I just want to say congrats on 401! I so admire how you are staying with this book, all of the films and your goals!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should have watched it without titles and sound as well. Those just managed to confuse the whole thing into an incoherent mish-mash. The best actually being the visuals.
ReplyDeleteSo when the director died, no one had any idea how it was supposed to continue and therefore they had to leave it incomplete? There was no script? He hadn't discussed the details of what would happen next with anyone from one day to the next? I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised - three series of Deadwood got made on that basis which turned out pretty well.
ReplyDeleteOverall, it feels like what it is; some interesting and well-made component pieces of a greater whole which we will never get to see. It's all about the relationship between the two of them, the painting of which lacks a little realism due to its gaps. The study is a slow-burner that would have benefited from some extended time to breathe.