More than 30 years after the movie was made, "Ryan's Daughter" needs to be compared with his other important works--'Lawrence of Arabia', 'Dr Zhivago', 'Bridge on the River Kwai' and 'A Passage to India'.
Visually the three finest are "Ryan's Daughter," "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Dr Zhivago."
Aurally--music and sound--the finest two are "Ryan's Daughter" and "Dr Zhivago"
If performances make a movie, four of the movies were outstanding "Ryan's Daughter", "Dr Zhivago," "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Bridge on the River Kwai."
Yet why is "Ryan's Daughter" not considered the finest? There is no hero, there is no heroine--it is a film of anti-heroes. It is a film that focuses on the ugly side of human reality where everyone is a loser--husband, wife, lover, priest, soldier, revolutionary, and even the traitor. It provides a realism that we glimpsed in patches in 'Dr Zhivago' and 'A passage to India' -- a realism that almost eluded us in "Lawrence of Arabia"
The film's strengths lie in two aspects that were most criticized some thirty years ago--its music and its screenplay.
Hear Maurice Jarre's score today and you will realize the notes hark back to Lean's previous work (mostly Zhivago and little of Lawrence) with the comical allusions to the village fool's gait. Jarre's score in "Ryan's daughter" may not have the universal appeal of Lara's theme in Zhivago, but a close study of the score will unfold riches to the aural senses when compared to the simplistic Lara's theme.
Bolt's original screenplay is as rewarding to study as "Jude the Obscure" to a student of Thomas Hardy or "Titus Andronicus" to a Shakespeare student. Bolt (and Lean, of course) provides food for thought--who is good and who is bad, who is ugly and who is beautiful, who is crippled and who is whole...
It is easier to make lovely, heroic epics such as "Lawrence" or "Zhivago" than to make a film on losers and moral and physical cripples such as "Ryan's Daughter." I think this is Lean's and Bolt's finest work. It is also Robert Mitchum's finest work as it was in the case of Christopher Jones, Leo McKern and Trevor Howard. John Mills stood out among the fine performers because his character was spectacular.
I am a great admirer of most of Lean's films and having seen the film thrice, I rate it as his best and perhaps his most complex yet mature work.
Visually the three finest are "Ryan's Daughter," "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Dr Zhivago."
Aurally--music and sound--the finest two are "Ryan's Daughter" and "Dr Zhivago"
If performances make a movie, four of the movies were outstanding "Ryan's Daughter", "Dr Zhivago," "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Bridge on the River Kwai."
Yet why is "Ryan's Daughter" not considered the finest? There is no hero, there is no heroine--it is a film of anti-heroes. It is a film that focuses on the ugly side of human reality where everyone is a loser--husband, wife, lover, priest, soldier, revolutionary, and even the traitor. It provides a realism that we glimpsed in patches in 'Dr Zhivago' and 'A passage to India' -- a realism that almost eluded us in "Lawrence of Arabia"
The film's strengths lie in two aspects that were most criticized some thirty years ago--its music and its screenplay.
Hear Maurice Jarre's score today and you will realize the notes hark back to Lean's previous work (mostly Zhivago and little of Lawrence) with the comical allusions to the village fool's gait. Jarre's score in "Ryan's daughter" may not have the universal appeal of Lara's theme in Zhivago, but a close study of the score will unfold riches to the aural senses when compared to the simplistic Lara's theme.
Bolt's original screenplay is as rewarding to study as "Jude the Obscure" to a student of Thomas Hardy or "Titus Andronicus" to a Shakespeare student. Bolt (and Lean, of course) provides food for thought--who is good and who is bad, who is ugly and who is beautiful, who is crippled and who is whole...
It is easier to make lovely, heroic epics such as "Lawrence" or "Zhivago" than to make a film on losers and moral and physical cripples such as "Ryan's Daughter." I think this is Lean's and Bolt's finest work. It is also Robert Mitchum's finest work as it was in the case of Christopher Jones, Leo McKern and Trevor Howard. John Mills stood out among the fine performers because his character was spectacular.
I am a great admirer of most of Lean's films and having seen the film thrice, I rate it as his best and perhaps his most complex yet mature work.