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Reviews
Roman Holiday (1953)
Deeply moving
The emotional pull in this movie is achieved in the final scene: it is a testament to the brilliance of the screenplay and the art of the two leads that no words are spoken. There is no need for them. I have seen this film many times and never failed to be deeply moved by the looks that they exchange. There are probably only one or two other films that achieve anything near the same effect: one of them is Shadowlands, the other the Remains of the Day: Hopkins is lead in both, but they also share an era, the 40s and the 50s, a time when one buried emotion and placed duty above personal desire. In this film, the lovers are truly ennobled by their personal sacrifice, and the effect is profound and, as I have said, deeply moving.
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965)
A masterpiece
Burton was never better than in this role as the doomed, disillusioned pawn, Lemas. The plot constricts like a vice around him and Nan (Bloom), and Lemas finds there is just enough love left in his tortured, bitter soul to prefer death to one last grim betrayal. Burton elevates the art of acting to something truly noble in this film: Lemas, the shabby Cold War spy becomes someone more truly alive than anyone you have ever known.
Lemas uses every fibre of his tradecraft to lure Mundt towards the endgame, only to realise that he had never been told the real objective of his mission, or that it might only be achieved through the destruction of an innocent.
The film itself is spare, taut, moody and, frankly, magnificent. Pure, unadulterated class from start to finish.
Endless Night (1972)
A flawed classic
I love this film and have watched it many times. The idea at the heart of the film is very haunting: it is encapsulated in the words of the Swedish architect who says, at one point, "You should have went the other way". I think there are some genuine chills in this film, particularly the scene where Michael returns to Gypsey's Acre, which always has the hairs standing up on my neck. It is a film that you cannot discuss in terms of the plot, as it has a sudden twist at the end (or really, a series of twists), which tend to alter your perception of everything that you've seen before. I think it stands up there with most of the films in this genre, and is a good deal better than many others. Everyone has a "good bad movie", and this is mine. In the hands of Hitchcock, it would have been a masterpiece: its makers manage to achieve something less elevated, but nevertheless lasting in its effects.