He also creates a complex character who, at first, appears sympathetic toward his young wife to someone who is quickly losing patience with her. The ending allows her the tremendous payoff that we've been waiting for ever since the film began, and we revel in her ultimate triumph along with her character.Ĭharles Boyer is fantastic as the sinister Anton. She has to make the viewer begin to question things as well, and she does. This sounds like an easy job for an actress, but it isn't.
She takes Paula from a sweet and happy young woman to someone who doesn't trust her own mental faculties anymore. Ingrid Bergman (perhaps one of the greatest actresses in film history) took home her first Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in this film. But is Anton's true agenda and how is it linked with events of the past? I won't divulge any details about that here for those who have not seen the film. The film then jumps some ten years into the future with Paula living in Italy where she meets her future husband, Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer). The film immediately starts off with aftermath of a murder in London, in which Paula (Ingrid Bergman) is being sent away after the tragic events that end with the death of her aunt. This is a far more effective style of film-making. Don't believe me? Check out "Psycho" again and see how much is not shown on the screen, but allowing the viewer to fill in the blanks with his/her own imagination. Hitchcock was a master of this, and Cukor shows the same restraint here. I have found that films are more suspenseful when they don't show you everything. Unfortunately, many of today's films rest in the violence and gore. What makes this film work so well (and something that very few of today's directors understand) is the subtlety in which Charles Boyer (Anton) makes his wife feel that she is losing her mind. This film is done so well, that one would immediately guess that Alfred Hitchcock directed it. George Cukor takes "Gaslight" from the stage to the screen.
0 kommentar(er)
