This is a most fascinating piece of work that has not critically dimmed with age. I'd like to join the other reviewers here in lauding Peter O'Toole in particular for one of the finest performances of his distinguished career. Although I don't disagree with DeNiro winning best actor that year, it doesn't dim the quality of O'Toole's portrayal of Eli Cross.
As to the famously convoluted Chinese puzzle of a plot that enraptures some and seems to bore others to tears: I would suggest watching this more than once. Like "Chinatown", this is such a multidimensional experience that one viewing will likely not do justice (it certainly didn't for me....the first time I saw it I came away convinced that the film had no point to make....boy, was I wrong). Whatever you think the characters' motivations may be, the opposite could also be true....right up until the end. One of the best analyses of the artifice (and artificial power) of filmmaking ever committed to celluloid. If that sounds like a contradiction in terms, welcome to this movie's twisted little world.
Although I've seen nothing else by director Rush that I could even remotely call a good film, this one was quite obviously his labor of love. He worked on this film for nearly ten years and had to wait until two years after its completion (in 1978) to see it released. Do him a favor and show that the effort was (and is) appreciated.
As to the famously convoluted Chinese puzzle of a plot that enraptures some and seems to bore others to tears: I would suggest watching this more than once. Like "Chinatown", this is such a multidimensional experience that one viewing will likely not do justice (it certainly didn't for me....the first time I saw it I came away convinced that the film had no point to make....boy, was I wrong). Whatever you think the characters' motivations may be, the opposite could also be true....right up until the end. One of the best analyses of the artifice (and artificial power) of filmmaking ever committed to celluloid. If that sounds like a contradiction in terms, welcome to this movie's twisted little world.
Although I've seen nothing else by director Rush that I could even remotely call a good film, this one was quite obviously his labor of love. He worked on this film for nearly ten years and had to wait until two years after its completion (in 1978) to see it released. Do him a favor and show that the effort was (and is) appreciated.