Revered in some circles, displeased by others, this movie based on Ray Bradbury, will probably divide the audience. I have to admit I found the whole thing rather a chore because the character of Carl is immediately an asshole, a miser with "skin illustrations", from neck to toes, and if they are called tattoos he gets very angry. I envisioned Steiger was often on the verge of turning into the Incredible Hulk at any moment, the guy's Carl is so bursting at the seams with rage and seething with anger. He has a goal and that is to kill Claire Bloom's skin illustrator. Why you might ask Carl would wish to harm her? While looking to get laid, she desires of him to sit for her and receive the illustrations. What Carl doesn't realize before it is too late is that each illustration becomes alive to those who stare at them long enough. Three tales are brought to life, future events concerning characters played by the three principles, Rod Steiger, Claire Bloom, and Robert Drivas (who, for the most part, looks like a decent, well-tempered, effeminate young man undeserved of Carl's volcanic outbursts). Drivas plays Willie, a man traveling from New York City to California for a possible job in what looks like Depression Era America, in a midwestern type backwoods area with a lake. Drivas is "greeted" (if that is what you call it, more like rudely interrupted) by Carl who seems to be looking for coffee or food
maybe, just companionship, although he has a funny way of treating a fellow hitcher.
While talking, Willie begins to envision future tales, one where a married couple, in a muted white home with all the comforts technology could provide, in an equally bland marriage, trying to cope with a rebellious son and daughter who may be planning their demise (their nursery has a holographic mechanism that allows the children to go to fictional places like Africa or the Middle Ages, with an authenticity all too real), the second about a small space crew whose ship has crashed in a place where it always rains and dead tree limbs sprout in all directions as they try to find a functioning "sun dome" that can offer shelter, comfort, and warmth (but Steiger's Colonel is such a brute, commanding them to move forward despite the difficulties harassing their every step, that it leads to perilous, dire consequences), and the third concerns a vision by the Earth's remaining 2000 people, that nothingness would occur after one more day, that they have decided to "put to sleep" their children in order to keep them from experiencing the horror that might result from this (trusting a dream about his nothingness, Steiger agrees with the consensus while Bloom questions such a horrible decision to kill the children despite a dream envisioned by all in attendance).
The movie goes back and forth to Carl and Willie with the two addressing the power of Bloom's flesh artistry and what transpires as a result of one blank area of the tortured, tattooed illustrated man's back which can allow those who look a peek into the future proposing a possible fate. I found this movie experience wholly unpleasant, frustrating (the stories and characters just left me cold), and rather ultimately unsatisfying, because Carl (and the characters he portrays) is such a blistering cipher, with a mood and attitude so foul he's impossible to sympathize with, even though his reason for being so angry comes from Bloom's art on his body. That said, the film is photographed well and has bright spots from a technical standpoint. Certain to be a fan favorite for tattooists and those with an interest in body artistry.
While talking, Willie begins to envision future tales, one where a married couple, in a muted white home with all the comforts technology could provide, in an equally bland marriage, trying to cope with a rebellious son and daughter who may be planning their demise (their nursery has a holographic mechanism that allows the children to go to fictional places like Africa or the Middle Ages, with an authenticity all too real), the second about a small space crew whose ship has crashed in a place where it always rains and dead tree limbs sprout in all directions as they try to find a functioning "sun dome" that can offer shelter, comfort, and warmth (but Steiger's Colonel is such a brute, commanding them to move forward despite the difficulties harassing their every step, that it leads to perilous, dire consequences), and the third concerns a vision by the Earth's remaining 2000 people, that nothingness would occur after one more day, that they have decided to "put to sleep" their children in order to keep them from experiencing the horror that might result from this (trusting a dream about his nothingness, Steiger agrees with the consensus while Bloom questions such a horrible decision to kill the children despite a dream envisioned by all in attendance).
The movie goes back and forth to Carl and Willie with the two addressing the power of Bloom's flesh artistry and what transpires as a result of one blank area of the tortured, tattooed illustrated man's back which can allow those who look a peek into the future proposing a possible fate. I found this movie experience wholly unpleasant, frustrating (the stories and characters just left me cold), and rather ultimately unsatisfying, because Carl (and the characters he portrays) is such a blistering cipher, with a mood and attitude so foul he's impossible to sympathize with, even though his reason for being so angry comes from Bloom's art on his body. That said, the film is photographed well and has bright spots from a technical standpoint. Certain to be a fan favorite for tattooists and those with an interest in body artistry.