I saw the film in '77 and fell asleep. Nothing has changed in the 44 years since then. Let's talk about the good things - 1) the costumes - impeccably tailored and fit the period precisely. 2) Diana Rigg - a very good performance. 3- Hermoine Gingold - a treasure to watch regardless what she appeared in. Now the downside. Sondheim is a complex lyricist - while the music is melodious, the words do not make for singable songs - the one exception of course, is SEND IN THE CLOWNS. Sondheim works well on the theatre stage, but unless you know the story, you don't want to listen to his songs. (WEST SIDE STORY vs. COMPANY) (GYPSY vs. SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE).
The movie plays as a play within a movie and at the opening you know what you're in for: half of the cast in dubbed singing voices or a bad dvd transfer or both. Actually it seems like they used several voices for Elizabeth Taylor because the voice at the beginning sure doesn't sound like the same that sings SEND IN THE CLOWNS.
Then we go into the bad parts of the film: first off - the cinematography which really seems like someone painted this and just splashed color on the screen. It actually distracts from what should be happening rather than contributing. A better idea would have been to shoot in B&W as an homage to the source material Ingmar Bergmann. Next the screenplay - not done with the camera in mind. Then the editing - never realized that a picture could jump so seamlessly. The director - Harold Prince - should have stuck to the theatre - his only other film outing SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE should have been an indication this wouldn't work. Finally and I hate to say it because I'm one of her biggest fans -- Elizabeth Taylor. While she is the correct age, that's about the only thing good about her in this role: her make-up is horrible; the dubbed voice doesn't even sound like her; there was no discipline in the role and the director didn't do anything to keep her on target.
I would love to see this re-filmed but do this right and learn from the mistakes made here. This is uppity trash and not very good trash at that.
I would love to see this re-filmed but do this right and learn from the mistakes made here. This is uppity trash and not very good trash at that.