SPOILERS HERE
Reading the comments on this page, and the reviews I've come across over the years, I get the impression that the film I've finally seen is a different one from everyone else.
Yes, the cast is magnificent (but we already knew what great actors these were), and yes the photography is top notch. And the story starts off great. The quiet menace of Bogarde's servile but scheming servant builds up slowly but strongly. You know he's gonna ruin this useless rich kid's life, you just want to find out how. And when Vera shows up, you go "Right... now they're gonna blackmail the prick about the affair, and take over". (Fantastic tap scene, by the way. The best bit).
But that's not exactly the way it goes, is it. From that point on, the movie starts turning weirder and weirder until it makes no sense at all, at least to me. Tony simply relinquishes his authority, and apparently his sanity, as if he had no other option, which I just can't understand. I'm not saying I like my films predictable, but some consistency would be nice, thank you. If at least it could be explained from the point of view of a sexual relationship between the two, which would eliminate barriers and justify Tony's submission to Barrett's domineering personality... But that angle is played too subtly to hold the radical turn of events.
I don't know, in the end I haven't got a clue of what the film is trying to say. I suppose some will say I'm too dumb to get it or whatever, but I don't think coherence is too much to ask for.
Reading the comments on this page, and the reviews I've come across over the years, I get the impression that the film I've finally seen is a different one from everyone else.
Yes, the cast is magnificent (but we already knew what great actors these were), and yes the photography is top notch. And the story starts off great. The quiet menace of Bogarde's servile but scheming servant builds up slowly but strongly. You know he's gonna ruin this useless rich kid's life, you just want to find out how. And when Vera shows up, you go "Right... now they're gonna blackmail the prick about the affair, and take over". (Fantastic tap scene, by the way. The best bit).
But that's not exactly the way it goes, is it. From that point on, the movie starts turning weirder and weirder until it makes no sense at all, at least to me. Tony simply relinquishes his authority, and apparently his sanity, as if he had no other option, which I just can't understand. I'm not saying I like my films predictable, but some consistency would be nice, thank you. If at least it could be explained from the point of view of a sexual relationship between the two, which would eliminate barriers and justify Tony's submission to Barrett's domineering personality... But that angle is played too subtly to hold the radical turn of events.
I don't know, in the end I haven't got a clue of what the film is trying to say. I suppose some will say I'm too dumb to get it or whatever, but I don't think coherence is too much to ask for.