Namely, the cinematography is gorgeous, the acting either overblown or wooden, the dialog absurd, and the story - well, the writer should be patted on the head and sent back to school, with the script posted proudly on the refrigerator.
What I liked: as I said, the camera-work was marvelous, Delphine Seyrig does a marvelous job as the 'vampire' who wears her heart on her sleeve, and her secretary, played by Andrea Rau, is beautiful, with perhaps the best actual acting in the film. There's plenty of sensual nudity, tastefully done.
However, the story leaves many threads dangling, the dialog leaves us wondering why the characters are acting as they are, and the editing is typical for European art films. As my daughter said at one point, "Okay - the car is driving past the pillars - we get it already!" The pacing is slow. No, really - it's slow. For most of the movie, you can run out to the kitchen to grab a snack without missing anything of import - it'll give you something to do while you're waiting.
The story involves several red herrings - the protagonist's ambiguous relationship with his "mother", whom he's intending to spend his honeymoon with, looks to be one of those mysteries that we'll understand in the final reel, but after a very mysterious telephone conversation (in which we learn that "mother" is male), it's left to dangle. The concierge and the retired policeman clearly remember the Countess from her visit, 20 years earlier - but that's never fleshed out, either.
The newlywed husband snaps and beats his bride with a belt, but his motivation is never clear - is he a sadist, is he in need of anger management training (and what was he angry about?), or is he just desperate for something to happen? The wife leaves, but is stopped at train-side by the Countess. Apparently, by being remarkably pushy while trying to look vulnerable worked in 1971 - perhaps I should have tried that at the singles bars.
The ending sequence is awful - the Countess is being driven through a wooded road at night, urging the other survivor from the hotel to drive faster, faster - so they'll get to their destination before daylight, while distracting them with love chat and fondling. Suddenly, the sun is well overhead - amazing, how fast it rises in that part of the world. The crash is almost a relief. How the sole survivor actually survives this gives us one more mystery to contemplate.
However, this is an art film, not a Hollywood production - it's much more about mood than story or realistic people. In this light, it works. Were I more fond of "arty" films, I'd perhaps have rated this higher.
What I liked: as I said, the camera-work was marvelous, Delphine Seyrig does a marvelous job as the 'vampire' who wears her heart on her sleeve, and her secretary, played by Andrea Rau, is beautiful, with perhaps the best actual acting in the film. There's plenty of sensual nudity, tastefully done.
However, the story leaves many threads dangling, the dialog leaves us wondering why the characters are acting as they are, and the editing is typical for European art films. As my daughter said at one point, "Okay - the car is driving past the pillars - we get it already!" The pacing is slow. No, really - it's slow. For most of the movie, you can run out to the kitchen to grab a snack without missing anything of import - it'll give you something to do while you're waiting.
The story involves several red herrings - the protagonist's ambiguous relationship with his "mother", whom he's intending to spend his honeymoon with, looks to be one of those mysteries that we'll understand in the final reel, but after a very mysterious telephone conversation (in which we learn that "mother" is male), it's left to dangle. The concierge and the retired policeman clearly remember the Countess from her visit, 20 years earlier - but that's never fleshed out, either.
The newlywed husband snaps and beats his bride with a belt, but his motivation is never clear - is he a sadist, is he in need of anger management training (and what was he angry about?), or is he just desperate for something to happen? The wife leaves, but is stopped at train-side by the Countess. Apparently, by being remarkably pushy while trying to look vulnerable worked in 1971 - perhaps I should have tried that at the singles bars.
The ending sequence is awful - the Countess is being driven through a wooded road at night, urging the other survivor from the hotel to drive faster, faster - so they'll get to their destination before daylight, while distracting them with love chat and fondling. Suddenly, the sun is well overhead - amazing, how fast it rises in that part of the world. The crash is almost a relief. How the sole survivor actually survives this gives us one more mystery to contemplate.
However, this is an art film, not a Hollywood production - it's much more about mood than story or realistic people. In this light, it works. Were I more fond of "arty" films, I'd perhaps have rated this higher.