mcdooley
Joined Dec 2002
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Reviews16
mcdooley's rating
This is a typical A. Edward Sutherland film -- as usual he is committed to darkness without any let up, the film is "difficult" and this is all framed with a quietly grandiose, spiritual cinematography. The beach, the ocean, the wind in the palms suddenly seem like the setting for a transcendent, ancient myth of human perseverance. The movie seems like it centers on the denial of pleasure but Sutherland shows so much discipline, integrity and seriousness, that "Burmuda" actually comes across as celebration. The story is too beautiful to be thought of as just an ordeal, but it is intense enough and never quits on its main theme so that when it's over, you feel something like awe but also relief. That probably sounds like a reason to avoid the movie, but really it's the opposite. It's more like there's only so much truth about the human condition that humans can take. Especially noteworthy is the quiet, watchful portrayal by Zena Marshall of a woman who is central to the drama unfolding around her and yet is also somehow outside and removed from it in the larger scheme of her life.
Of course it's a ten, probably the only ten I'll ever give. It's the Wiszard of Oz, for God's sake. I like the reviews that contain spoiler alerts, you know, in case you've never seen the movie and don't want anybody telling you the ending. To the Wizard of Oz.
But, it's a big world. I did the filter thing for "Hated It" and sure enough, plenty of entries. I checked out some of the other reviews from folks listed under "Hated It" and I notice the same reviewers also hated motherhood and curing cancer.
I guess I should give a hint of the plot, for the thousands of folks reading these reviews trying to decide if they should rent the Wizard of Oz because, uh, they've never seen it and don't know anything about this obscure, little-known film. Once in a blue moon it does show up on television, maybe every twenty years or so, late at night on backwater UHF channels with numbers in the 50s or 60s. Someday--we can only dream--it might come out on DVD.
But, it's a big world. I did the filter thing for "Hated It" and sure enough, plenty of entries. I checked out some of the other reviews from folks listed under "Hated It" and I notice the same reviewers also hated motherhood and curing cancer.
I guess I should give a hint of the plot, for the thousands of folks reading these reviews trying to decide if they should rent the Wizard of Oz because, uh, they've never seen it and don't know anything about this obscure, little-known film. Once in a blue moon it does show up on television, maybe every twenty years or so, late at night on backwater UHF channels with numbers in the 50s or 60s. Someday--we can only dream--it might come out on DVD.