FERNANDO’s CORNER: Posted August 12th, 2015
I saw the long anticipated Charles Laughton film “The Night of the Hunter” (1955) and it was not at all what I expected.
It’s not an easy film to watch, because it is full of subtext and complexities in what it aims to convey. It is an artistic, allegorical film, and its mise-en-scène reminded me of German Expressionism. Good and Evil. Fanaticism. Motherly and brotherly Love. Ignorance. There are so many themes that this film tackles.
The two little kids are excellent in their roles, especially Billy Chapin as the untrusting son. Lillian Gish’s character is my favorite of the film; a sweet widow who takes care of poor children during the hardest day of the Depression. Goodness. Shelley Winters plays another “victim” ( as she did in “A Double Life”-1947 and “A Place in the Sun”-1951 ). Ignorance. Evelyn Varden is very good as meddling, cynical woman.
Robert Mitchum gives an impressive, showy performance as the lunatic, religious fanatic who pretends to be a preacher of God. Evil. It is a film I shall revisit and I’ll probably buy a future Criterion Release of it, because it’ll shed light on its many subjects. A superior movie.
( ROBERT MITCHUM, TCM Star of the Day – August 12th, 2015 )
( H O M E )
_______________________________________________________________________
CineMaven's ESSAYS from the COUCH 