About two years ago I got into the movies of Mario Bava. I had first seen Beyond the Door 2 and really liked the filming in it. The fact that the story ended up having resonance was impressive as well. I later found out that Mario Bava was one of the best Cinematographers to have come from Italy. Being a training Cinematographer and loving visual movies I decided to check out the rest of his films (not easy in Australia). I saw Hatchet for the Honeymoon, Baron Blood, Blood and Black Lace (On SBS), Five Dolls for an August Moon (I liked it!!) and Lisa and the Devil.
They were all terrific (especially Lisa and The Devil and Hatchet For the Honeymoon). So when I came upon the widescreen, uncut version of The Whip and The Body, I thought I was in luck. Supposedly his best film.
Well its not. Finally in The Whip and The Body, Bava does what he always threatened to do. Make a film of images and nothing else. The music seems disconnected from the rest of the movie. The lighting doesnt motivate the movie as it did in his other films, It just made for great colour and shadow design. The camerawork was exceptional and none of the character or situations were engaging. In all the other films I've seen of his, the music always seemed to be against the grain of the movies premise to being with, but after a few minutes seemed integral to every point of the film. The images carried the film in a surreal way and the story always ended up coming together. Not in Whip and the Body.
The good things to say are that the Cinematography is fantastic and the camerawork and compositions are great. But none of this seems to be at the service of the story, it seems to be battling the story for thematic importance and audience attention. Christopher Lee (where's the voice) looks AMAZING. His screen Presense in this movie is so magnetic that he is the only hope for you getting into it in any way.
The Bad things are the rest of the other actors are totally without conviction. The aforementioned clash of the visuals with the story and performances (direction is to blame for this somewhere). The music is so irrelevant to what is going on that it becomes a completely shallow device (you can see what Bava was trying to do with this, but he just didnt pull it off this time and it is a thin line between success and failure). The themes are not pulled off or delved into. Everything about the movie is so on the surface that its no wonder that everyone marvels about the cinematography.
I think the only way people could enjoy this is if they invested their interests in its ideas. Reguardless of how well these ideas were pulled off. Finally, this is the first Mario Bava film I have seen without any of his tragic romantic feeling. In this you never buy the romance as being anything other than a plot device. This is the first film of his I've seen that feels like it was directed by a cinematographer and not a director.
I wish I had liked this as much as all his other fans seemed to. But its just not as good as its billed. Its no wonder that Bava hid under another name. I think that it wasnt until later in his career as a director that he really got hold of how to direct a film. Rather then just visually presenting it, as he does here.
3/10 for me
Not Impressed.
They were all terrific (especially Lisa and The Devil and Hatchet For the Honeymoon). So when I came upon the widescreen, uncut version of The Whip and The Body, I thought I was in luck. Supposedly his best film.
Well its not. Finally in The Whip and The Body, Bava does what he always threatened to do. Make a film of images and nothing else. The music seems disconnected from the rest of the movie. The lighting doesnt motivate the movie as it did in his other films, It just made for great colour and shadow design. The camerawork was exceptional and none of the character or situations were engaging. In all the other films I've seen of his, the music always seemed to be against the grain of the movies premise to being with, but after a few minutes seemed integral to every point of the film. The images carried the film in a surreal way and the story always ended up coming together. Not in Whip and the Body.
The good things to say are that the Cinematography is fantastic and the camerawork and compositions are great. But none of this seems to be at the service of the story, it seems to be battling the story for thematic importance and audience attention. Christopher Lee (where's the voice) looks AMAZING. His screen Presense in this movie is so magnetic that he is the only hope for you getting into it in any way.
The Bad things are the rest of the other actors are totally without conviction. The aforementioned clash of the visuals with the story and performances (direction is to blame for this somewhere). The music is so irrelevant to what is going on that it becomes a completely shallow device (you can see what Bava was trying to do with this, but he just didnt pull it off this time and it is a thin line between success and failure). The themes are not pulled off or delved into. Everything about the movie is so on the surface that its no wonder that everyone marvels about the cinematography.
I think the only way people could enjoy this is if they invested their interests in its ideas. Reguardless of how well these ideas were pulled off. Finally, this is the first Mario Bava film I have seen without any of his tragic romantic feeling. In this you never buy the romance as being anything other than a plot device. This is the first film of his I've seen that feels like it was directed by a cinematographer and not a director.
I wish I had liked this as much as all his other fans seemed to. But its just not as good as its billed. Its no wonder that Bava hid under another name. I think that it wasnt until later in his career as a director that he really got hold of how to direct a film. Rather then just visually presenting it, as he does here.
3/10 for me
Not Impressed.