No.331158[Reply]
Just saw Scaramouche (1952). An 18th century revenge tale about a man who plays a clown in a theater troupe by day as he plots to kill a heartless aristocrat by night to avenge the death of his best friend and foster brother.
The film feels very ahead of its time both visually and in terms of writing. This is probably because it blends elements of several different genres, which seems to have confused the critics of its day. It's essentially a swashbuckler but with a lot of time dedicated to political drama and comedy. It's also very risque for its time. As incongruent as this sounds, it actually balances these aspects rather well. The biggest weakness in the story is the ending, which feels somewhat underwhelming after everything building up to it and the final plot twist is more than a little hard to swallow. That being said, I don't think it detracts from the film too much.
The characters, even the side ones, are fairly strong and memorable and the acting is quite good as well. A few of the actors even act more like French actors than American ones. The villain is especially great. The only one of the main cast who feels like a typical Hollywood actor from the 50's is Janet Leigh but she's still adequate in her role.
The visuals, like I said, are ahead of their time. Only by a about a decade or so though; it certainly doesn't look modern. The most famous thing about this movie is the 5-minute long swordfight at the end. Despite its length, that fight scene is able to maintain a high level of excitement and tension throughout which is quite a feat since you know the hero is going to win in the end. There are many other swordfights in the movie too and they're all used pretty intelligently to serve the plot. What's nice about the fight scenes is that there's very little music in them and the silence helps tremendously.
Overall, I give Scaramouche an 8/10.
31 posts and 18 image replies omitted. Click reply to view. No.333962
>>333950>My nitpick with it would be that all the racially homogenous groups are the villains, whereas the heroes are the diverse group.Some of the villains are mixed as well, like the guys dressed like rednecks or the lesbians.
>Also the comic book frame transitions in the director's cut version are unnecessary.I heard about these. Thankfully, I watched the original cut. It sounds like a dumb idea.
No.333966
>>333950>Also the comic book frame transitions in the director's cut version are unnecessary.They look completely retarded and clash with the rest of the movie.
>>333950>Jean Simmons is hot asfWhat do you think of Paul Stanley? :^)
No.334055
>>334053Heat real big
Sleep real big
Combo real big
Let me tell you how it is