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Burt Lancaster is the most impressing character here, although both Tony Curtis and Gina Lollobrigida are almost equal to him and many of the other actors as well. The circus world is admirably caught on screen with all its chaotic ingredients of loose ends and relationships, cynical direction bordering on cruelty, elephants and horses, lions breaking loose and of course no limits to intrigue, as there are constant threats of artists quitting. But this is actually a film about the problems of relationships in matters of artistic perfection - they just can't mix. Burt and Tony find each other, but then there is Gina, and Burt, with his greater experience, immediately sees Gina as a mortal threat to the artistry, and so she is, no matter how clever and endearing she appears as she enforces her ambitions at the cost of others. The end is arguable - what actually happens? Will they be able to continue, or will they not? The end is typically abstruse and ambiguous for Carol Reed - he ended a number of his films in the same way with a remaining unanswerable question mark.
Above all, the film is a feast to the eyes, after his first colour film "A Kid for Two Farthings" the year before he has considerably developed his artistry for utilizing colours and cinemascope to the full - the film is from beginning to end sparkling with colourful life and actually fathoms the whole circus life completely in all human, animal and artistic aspects. There are some scenes that hit the roof in excellence and unsurpassable top ratings, all the trapeze scenes above all, but also minor scenes, like when Burt and Tony walk on their hands on the street together out of the scene. It's probably the best circus film ever made.
score 10/10
clanciai 6 July 2018
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4228471/ |
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2-12-2019 20:14:39