I have no idea why death has been on my mind but, it has been and what better way to celebrate this disturbing thought than in film. One can take death in many variations but, I thought, it’s fun to showcase films where death is actual entity that roams with us. So here are my 3 films I chose that represent Death in a unique way.
1. DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY-1934
It might feel a bit stagey, but, I love this film! It has an ethereal film and seems to capture an otherworldly feel thanks to, not just Death, but to Evelyn Venable. She is the actress playing the daughter of a count who seems to float through the film who belongs to another time and place. Death comes in the form of the dashing Frederic March who revels who he is to her dad and wishes to take the form of a human so can feel what humans feel. While on a holiday, no one dies and Death is enjoying himself but, when he meets Evelyn, he falls deep in love and can not bear the idea of being without her. It’s a very different film that had a great feel for the other world this film inspires to be. I need to see this again.
2. THE SEVENTH SEAL-1957
Talk about parody! Many of you may not have seen this great Swedish classic but the image of Death play8ng chess for the soul of the knight has been parodied in many movies and TV shows. Bengt Ekert plays Death to perfection who is after the soul of the Crusader, played by the great Max Von Sydow, who refuses to go with Death. Along the way we meet various people from a young couple who are actors to a court jester. It is set during the Middle Ages when the bubonic plague was everywhere. It is a philosophical film which brings up the meaning of life, religion, death and more. I find it one of the most intelligent films I’ve ever seen.
3. THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN-1988
Hi, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteI hope 2025 is treating you and your fur babies well, dear friend. All three of these films are unfamiliar, but interesting to me for their characterizations of The Grim Reaper. Your reviews were instructive, and I can't wait to read what friend Joel has to say about them. The first and by far oldest film, Death Takes A Holiday, reminds us what little it took at the time to shock or enthrall audiences. It does indeed seem like light sitcom material by today's standards, not a story to be taken seriously. The bold graphics at the end of the trailer that read: "See your newspaper for complete schedule of performances of this amazing picture!" remind us how much changed in the 90 years that followed. To young people today, a "picture" is a selfie you text (or sext) to your friends or post on your social media account.
More compelling and anxiety producing was the clip from the 1957 film The Seventh Seal. It was great to see Max von Sydow in one of his earlier roles before he became famous worldwide playing the priest in The Exorcist. I read that von Sydow spent his life as an agnostic or an atheist, but came to believe in the afterlife shortly before The Reaper came for him in 2020, a month before he would have turned 91.
I was only able to tolerate zany Robin Williams in small doses and much preferred his sensitive dramatic roles. The trailer for Baron M seals the deal as a movie that would probably wear on my nerves rather than entertain me. At the moment, I can't think of any other films that have death as a character.
It was fun spending time with you-- "At The Movies." I'm back with a new post tomorrow and invite you to join me at Shady's Place. Have a safe and happy weekend, dear friend BB!