Patrick Duffy Reviews

Rosy-Fingered Dawn: a Film on Terrence Malick (2002)

The Films Of Terrence Malick

[7/10 · 2 May 2004]

I caught this film on Swedish television the other day, and as a Terrence Malick-fanatic, I had extremely high hopes for this documentary. I was a bit disappointed to find out that the documentary focused more or less only on his films, without even touching on subjects such as Malicks 20 year absence from making films, the scripts he wrote before he started directing, and the mystery of this reclusive genius. Terrence Malick is, not surprisingly, absent from this documentary. We do not even see a picture of him. But once I accepted the fact that it focused on his films, I have to admit that the documentary was a very good one.

The first half of the documentary focuses on his debut, "Badlands", and we are taken to various locations were the film was shot. The second half deals with his other two films: "Days Of Heaven" (arguably the weakest), and "The Thin Red Line". The interviews, from Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Jack Fisk, Elias Koteas, Sean Penn, John Savage, Jim Caviezel, Arthur Penn, and others, are extremely interesting. Everybody has such beautiful things to say about Malick and his films, some of it is actually very moving. When people do talk about Malick himself, they talk about how he works and his extreme shyness, and it does help the viewer to create an image of the man, and how he might be to work with.

It is also worth noting that the documentary only lasted for 60 minutes, although it is listed as a 90 minute documentary on this site. Perhaps some of the things I was missing is in the complete documentary? Or perhaps the running time listed on this site is incorrect.

I would recommend every fan of Terrence Malick and his films to see this documentary. It is not indispensable work, but still highly recommended. It did make me re-watch his films.

A Time for Killing (1967)

A Time For Killing

[28 December 2003]

Growing up, Harrison Ford was the greatest, and "A Time For Killing" was the only film I couldn't get hold of a copy of. Now, years later, I finally managed to track it down. Was it worth the wait? Not really. A mildly interesting premise, has been turned in to an extremely uninteresting film. Director Phil Karlson (with help from Roger Corman) is not exactly John Ford, but the locations are nice, and the cinematography is above average. But the script is terrible, all members of the cast looks like they are there for their paycheck and nothing more. This is still worth taking a look at, mostly because of all the great names involved: Karlson, Corman, Glenn Ford, Inger Stevens, George Hamilton, Harry Dean Stanton, Dick Miller, plus the already mentioned Harrison Ford. Forget the fact that this is the most forgettable most of them have ever done, and try to enjoy. It isn't a complete bore, it's just not particularly good.

Django, Prepare a Coffin (1968)

Viva Django!

[6/10 · 28 December 2003]

Of all the unofficial "Django"-sequels(40+), this is the one that sticks closest to the original. This time around, Django is portrayed by a pre-Trinity Terrence Hill. Hill does his best to copy the original performance by Franco Nero, and succeeds. Director Ferdinando Baldi co-wrote this with Franco Rossetti (who also co-wrote the Corbucci film), and the result is an extremely entertaining film, with plenty of action, and enjoyable performances. This is nowhere the really great spaghetti westerns such as "Keoma", "Bullet For The General", and the works of Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci, but fans of the genre will be more than pleased. The ending is the best bit, and was actually copied in the only official "Django"-sequel, "Django Strikes Again". Extremely hard to find, but well worth the search.