Islands in the Stream
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Movie Reviews of Islands in the Stream
Movie Review: A role George C. Scott was born to play
Summary: 4 Stars
It's difficult to critique the 1977 film "Islands in the Stream." On one hand, it has moments of stark brilliancy, breathtaking in tone and unforgettable. There are enormous talents at work here, performing with great earnest and intensity. It's a beautiful locale, the sun-drenched waters and beaches of the Bahamas' island of Bimini (though it was filmed in Hawaii). We gaze at these vistas while listening to the haunting strains of Jerry Goldsmith's angelic musical score Islands In The Stream: Original Motion Picture Score, easily one of the finest of the composer's career.
George C. Scott, in a role he was born to play, is the lonely Thomas Hudson, an expatriate artist who spends his days walking the beaches, sipping rum and gritting his teeth at the madness of an unforgiving world. The film is based on Ernest Hemingway's Islands in the Stream : A Novel, published posthumously in 1970. Though I have not read the book, it's obvious Hudson is a spicy version of Hemingway himself, and Scott is the perfect presence to take on such a lofty symbol.
Scott's Hudson, a distant man with a history of bad temper and alcohol abuse, is on emotional edge as he prepares for the arrival of his three sons for the summer. The film intimately portrays his heartbreaking attempts at making peace with his boys and forming a bond of deep love with them. These struggles represent the high point of this ambitious film, and scenes on the boat when his most rebellious son fights for hours to reel in a huge fish, is the stuff of engrossing and magic drama. The story takes place in 1940, on the eve of the outbreak of World War II, and rumbles of sea battles can be heard on the horizon, further enhancing the urgency of the drama. The gulf between father and son has rarely been portrayed so well.
"Islands in the Stream" would have been better served to focus on these universal conflicts during its complete running time. Instead, the film breaks up into roughly three chapters, with the opening third dealing with Hudson's sons. The following two thirds, not without their merits, seesaws between the tragic and the hysterical, creating an intensely uneven film.
Through it all, Scott stands firm, giving an amazingly complex performance and arguably one of the greatest of his career. He's given strong support by David Hemmings as Eddy, his tragic alcoholic assistant. Claire Bloom has a memorable cameo as Hudson's ex-wife and while she does good work, her appearance is about the moment the film unravels.
And so, what to make of "Islands in the Stream," a film that navigates insanely between the sublime and ridiculous? Filmmakers made a poor strategic choice in separating the dramatic thrust into three chapters, and even more so because the opening chapter is the strongest. I suppose we could blame the source material, which was an incomplete book of Hemingway's culled together after his death. I choose to say "Islands in the Stream" is a great, unpolished gem. I marvel at the sublime cinematography of Fred J. Koenekamp (which was nominated for an Academy Award). I'll close my eyes and listen to the graceful chords of Goldsmith's brilliant score and then gaze at the incomparable presence of Scott as he strolls the beaches portraying a man very close to him in spirit.
I return to this film often like a warm memory. The opening third is so good, that I forgive the overall imperfection, loving it without reservation.
Movie Review: Nearly perfect film of Hemingway novel
Summary: 4 Stars
Set against the backdrop of the second World War, "Islands in the Stream" tells the story of painter Thomas Hudson (George C. Scott in a terrific performance) who has escaped to the Bahamas in hopes of isolating himself from the world. The world still finds him in the form of the storm clouds of war and the visit of his sons from his two marriages. Hudson tries to reconnect with his young sons in particularly his middle boy who habors anger towards being adandoned by his father. The late David Hemmings gives a terrific supporting turn as Eddy a British ex-patriot who works for Hudson and is his closest friend. The veteran and young cast do a terrific job with the economical screenplay by Denne Bart Petitclerc (creator of the old TV show "Then Came Bronson")based on Ernest Hemingway's posthumously published novel.
Director Franklin J. Schaffner ("Patton", "Papillion", "Planet of the Apes" and "The War Lord")was made to direct this material. His lyrical direction helps the cast give transcendant and powerful performances. Scott as usual puts his all into his portrayal of Hudson. The print used here looks exceptionally good.
Paramount has done a exceptionally nice job in transferring this classic film to DVD. While not a perfect transfer, the bright vivid colors and crisp, sharp clear images perfectly capture the lazy ambience of the Bahamas. Although the source material isn't the best novel Hemingway ever wrote it was, perhaps, his most honest. One can detect more than a whiff of autobiography in Hemingway's Hudson and that element is strengthened by Scott's performance.
The film comes sans extras which is a pity (I wish that Paramount would look at the terrific job Warner Home Video has done with some of their smaller cult classics and follow suit)but it does feature a beautiful widescreen transfer of the film. Highly recommended.
Movie Review: "It is all true"
Summary: 4 Stars
Islands in the Stream, Hemingway's posthumously published exercise in romanticised self-loathing about an ageing artist in self-imposed exile in the Bahamas in WW2 coming to terms with his failure as a husband and father and trying to make amends, reunited many of the key talents from Patton - director Franklin J. Schaffner, composer Jerry Goldsmith, cinematographer Fred Koenekamp and star George C. Scott - to almost universal audience indifference, but it's a surprisingly solid and engrossing film that gradually works its way under your skin. The kind of personal project that somehow usually heralds the end of a director's major works and the beginning of his descent into lucrative journeyman work when it fails to find an audience, it does build up a surprising degree of emotional power in the last third. Scott reins it in to good effect here: the scene where he realises the true reason for his ex-wife's visit overcomes the atrocious writing to deliver real suppressed emotional power, while his scene on the beach with Julius Harris where he knows he needs to move on but cannot bring himself to do it is genuinely touching. Aided by a well-cast David Hemmings as his rummy mate and a superb score by Jerry Goldsmith (the composer's favorite) that builds on the sea theme from Papillon and works much better on screen than on CD, it's well worth checking out, although be warned that in the marlin fishing sequence there is one bit of back projection so staggeringly bad you cannot understand why it was allowed to remain in the picture!
Paramount's DVD offers a good 2.35:1 widescreen transfer but no extras.
Movie Review: Understated, warm and sad; just like real life
Summary: 4 Stars
Why this film is almost forgotten is beyond me. Maybe it's because it is so very different. This isn't so much a story as it is a series of vignettes that define and enlighten the reclusive, introverted Thomas Hudson (the semi-autobiographical Hemingway counterpart). When the film begins, Hudson (George C. Scott) is living alone in the Bahamas in 1940; he has given up on two marriages and his three sons to indulge his artistic work and his passion for the sea. Through the vignettes, he begins to realize that his life of quiet self-indulgence isn't worth the things he gave up to get it. His awkward reconnection with his sons (and his awkward and tentative attempts at parenting) develops beautifully into some of the most human, warm moments I've ever seen on film. Watch the fishing trip scene, and if your eyes don't mist up -- well, I can't guess what planet you're from. Hudson also learns that he must finally give some long overdue tough love to his troubled, alcoholic friend, Eddie (David Hemmings); he understands that his interactions with others are what it's all about.
Scott is exceptional is this role. Hemmings and Bloom are also solid, as is Julius Ferguson as Joseph.
There are a couple of weak moments in the dialogue and the fishing scene is spoiled for a moment by a flawed effect when the characters and the marlin are in the same shot. Overall, though, these are small quibbles. You will want to watch this every few years and introduce this to others who likely have never heard of it.
Movie Review: Better than the novel
Summary: 4 Stars
It is fashionable in some circles to fault this work because it was not finished by Papa before his death. That seems to me a fair criticism of the novel, which shows clear style breaks and long passages that lack his usual wordsmithery.
The movie, on the other hand, is quite watchable, though by no means a cinematic masterpiece. As is often the case, it is probably best to consider the film as a thing-in-itself, avoiding constant comparisons with the written word. George C. Scott is masterful in exactly this kind of role--the tortured, driven soul with a crusty shell and a soft heart. He brings to a less than fully developed story line sufficient skill to realize the essence of the character he portrays. David Hemmings is great in the type of role idealized by Peter Lorre a generation before. The comparison is almost unavoidable.
Islands in the Stream is well worth watching as an exploration of disordered relationships and their tearing impact on the human soul. It has a sentimental three-hankie conclusion just saved from schmaltziness by the skill of the actors.