Richard's Things (1980)
Country: GB
Technical: col 104m
Director: Anthony Harvey
Cast: Liv Ullmann, Amanda Redman, Tim Pigott-Smith
Synopsis:
A woman adjusts to the death of her husband from a heart attack by stalking and then falling for his former mistress.
Review:
Contorted psychological drama that begins at what used to be Ipswich Hospital and gets progressively less interesting from then on. Is Kate getting even with Richard by sleeping with Jo Jo? Or is she trying to get closer to him the only way she can? In any event, as she divests herself of his 'things', she grows more reckless and independent until ultimately finding herself alone. The title has another sense of course, as denoting the two women, which is in accord with other jaundiced pronouncements on love during the course of the film. Interestingly the lovers never actually kiss, whether for contractual or dramaturgical reasons it is impossible to say. An oddly sterile experience, then, if not without moments of affect, it fits the end-of-the-decade vibe perfectly. Ullmann does a truly professional job, Redman's is just out of drama school; but the downright peculiar burglary scene and 23 year-old Michael Maloney's turn as the teenaged son (in high waistband to disguise the fact) must count against it.
Country: GB
Technical: col 104m
Director: Anthony Harvey
Cast: Liv Ullmann, Amanda Redman, Tim Pigott-Smith
Synopsis:
A woman adjusts to the death of her husband from a heart attack by stalking and then falling for his former mistress.
Review:
Contorted psychological drama that begins at what used to be Ipswich Hospital and gets progressively less interesting from then on. Is Kate getting even with Richard by sleeping with Jo Jo? Or is she trying to get closer to him the only way she can? In any event, as she divests herself of his 'things', she grows more reckless and independent until ultimately finding herself alone. The title has another sense of course, as denoting the two women, which is in accord with other jaundiced pronouncements on love during the course of the film. Interestingly the lovers never actually kiss, whether for contractual or dramaturgical reasons it is impossible to say. An oddly sterile experience, then, if not without moments of affect, it fits the end-of-the-decade vibe perfectly. Ullmann does a truly professional job, Redman's is just out of drama school; but the downright peculiar burglary scene and 23 year-old Michael Maloney's turn as the teenaged son (in high waistband to disguise the fact) must count against it.
Country: GB
Technical: col 104m
Director: Anthony Harvey
Cast: Liv Ullmann, Amanda Redman, Tim Pigott-Smith
Synopsis:
A woman adjusts to the death of her husband from a heart attack by stalking and then falling for his former mistress.
Review:
Contorted psychological drama that begins at what used to be Ipswich Hospital and gets progressively less interesting from then on. Is Kate getting even with Richard by sleeping with Jo Jo? Or is she trying to get closer to him the only way she can? In any event, as she divests herself of his 'things', she grows more reckless and independent until ultimately finding herself alone. The title has another sense of course, as denoting the two women, which is in accord with other jaundiced pronouncements on love during the course of the film. Interestingly the lovers never actually kiss, whether for contractual or dramaturgical reasons it is impossible to say. An oddly sterile experience, then, if not without moments of affect, it fits the end-of-the-decade vibe perfectly. Ullmann does a truly professional job, Redman's is just out of drama school; but the downright peculiar burglary scene and 23 year-old Michael Maloney's turn as the teenaged son (in high waistband to disguise the fact) must count against it.