Anna Lenke (Vanessa Redgrave) is something of a holocaust survivor who has organised a clinic for victims of torture and is doing well with profound human psychology in helping torture victims back to something of a human existence. Among her patients is a Latin American girl who refuses to speak, a Greek veteran with horrible traumas from the temporary Greek dictatorship of the generals, and Helen McNulty (Laura Dern), a journalist, who lost her lover, photographer and colleague in a most traumatic incident in Latin America also. We never learn the geographical places of these torture scenes or the clinic, but we do learn that Tomas Ramirez (Raul Julia) comes from an affluent family in Argentine and that he is chased and therefore ends up in safety at the clinic. The relationship between Julia and Dern makes them both forget the horrors of their past, which nevertheless inevitably will constantly return to haunt them, leading to most unexpected developments of the intrigue. Vanessa Redgrave tries by all means to keep control and successfully, it seems, but even she is ultimately shocked and shaken by what turns up, like the audience will be. It is a slow peaceful drama only gradually developing into shocking turbulence, which will be the more forceful for the long preparations. Raul Julia in this his last film makes the most unforgettable appearance, Vanessa Redgrave seconds him admirably, while Laura Dern is not quite up to the job, although she makes the most of her great scene and almost overdoes it. It is a great film in a small chamber drama format which inevitably must turn on consequences of afterthought.
Review of Down Came a Blackbird
