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Night Must Fall (1964)

Director: Karel Reisz

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2 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Mindful, perhaps, of the way a straightforward approach exposed the limitations of Emlyn Williams' play in 1937, this adaptation by Clive Exton and Reisz not only adds a good deal of flummery psychological detail, but abandons the narrative approach in favour of a choppy, static style, with jagged direct cuts between scenes and the emphasis often on close-ups of heads awkwardly (symbolically ?) poised at the edge of the screen. The idea, it seems, is to evoke the aura of the psychopath rather than the narrative excitements of his story. But with old-fashioned cross-cutting coming back with a vengeance to provide some suspense for the climax, nothing really hangs together. Finney brings off a few memorable moments (notably a hypnotically horrible little ritual with the hatbox), but the one unqualified success of the film is Freddie Francis' dreamy yet diamond-sharp camerawork.

Author: TM

Time Out Film Guide


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  • Free konlwedge like this said...
    Posted on Jan 24 2012 04:16 Free konlwedge like this doesn't just help, it promote democracy. Thank you.
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  • Mighty useful. Make no ms said...
    Posted on Jan 22 2012 00:41 Mighty useful. Make no msiakte, I appreciate it.
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