The Innocents
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Movie Reviews of The Innocents
Movie Review: One of the truly great cinematic ghost stories.
Summary: 5 Stars
Jack Clayton's "The Innocents," an adaptation of Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw," must be ranked as one of the greatest cinematic ghost stories of all time. There are two essential keys to its greatness. One is that Clayton and his screenwriters, Truman Capote and William Archibald, understood totally that in telling a ghost story, less is more--that is, a truly horrifying story is created not in gore, but in the audience's minds. The second, and more important, key is that Clayton, Capote and Archibald maintain James' delicate, uneasy balance, so that the audience is never sure whether the ghosts are appearing in truth, or solely in the imagination of Miss Giddins (Deborah Kerr). From the beginning, as the wealthy, self-centered uncle played by Michael Redgrave interviews Miss Giddins for the post of governess, you notice the breathless, ever-so-slightly neurotic replies she gives to his questions, particularly when she stresses her love of children, and wonder precisely what kind of woman she is. In the same vein, the behavior of the children Miles (Martin Stephens) and Flora (Pamela Franklin) can be taken as innocent or all-too-knowing. Meanwhile, the apparitions of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel occur just often enough, and just unexpectedly enough, to keep our hearts pounding at top speed. Every aspect of "The Innocents" can fairly be described as perfect, from Kerr's delicately calibrated performance, to the cinematography of the great Freddie Francis, to the haunting music of Georges Auric, intimate of Satie and Poulenc. The extras on the DVD are almost nil, but the film itself is more than worth the price. "The Innocents" is one of those chilling, mesmerizing cinematic masterpieces you can watch again and again.Movie Review: Genuine creepiness in glorious black & white.
Summary: 5 Stars
Director Jack Clayton's brilliant ghost entry The Innocents boasts superb acting from all involved, a literate script from writers William Archibald and Truman Capote and classy production values. The Innocents makes the most of the story's ambiguous plot. What happens to Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) can be interpreted in many different ways, which makes this film an extremely effective psychological ghost story. A brilliant and chilling movie! This film gives me the creeps every time I see it. It has some amazing camera work courtesy of Freddie Francis, and an excellent complicated performance from Deborah Kerr which adds up to one of the best thrillers of the 60's. In fact, I like it better than The Haunting (not that The Haunting was a bad film, it's one of my favorites). The actors who play the kids are also very good, they're precocious and cold... and somewhat unsympathetic. Martin Stephens in particular stands out as the wise, clever little boy who may or may not be possessed. His acting here is on par with his great performance in the original Village of the Damned and he is truly believable. The images of Quint outside of the window and Mrs. Jessel across the lake are really hard to forget and adds to the creepy atmosphere along with the sound effects, which were similar to the ones in The Haunting. The images are hauntingly photographed in this film. As in The Uninvited and Dead of Night, the English countryside mansion here is a perfect setting for such a masterful retelling of James' The Turn of the Screw. You want to be respectfully spooked, in the best tradition? Then watch this brilliant British classic late at night with all the lights off...Movie Review: Brilliant Ghost Story
Summary: 5 Stars
Jack Clayton's masterful film "The Innocents" is a superb and chilling adaptation of Henry James' "Turn of the Screw." What makes this version so much better than any others is the film's ability to maintain a true sense of ambiguity as to whether the ghosts are real or figments of the governess' vivid (if not borderline hysterical) imagination.
Deborah Kerr gives what is, I think, her best screen performance ever in very difficult role. Also remarkable are the two child actors who play Miles and Flora: Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin. Stephens - who had appeared as the leader of the alien children in "Village of the Damned" a year earlier - is particularly impressive, his line readings worthy of an actor much older and more experienced. It's pity that Mr. Stephens gave up acting not long afterwards and later became a lawyer. Director Clayton proves his mastery of directing children both here and in his later film "Our Mother's House" (which also starred Miss Franklin).
It helps that the actors are served by co-scripwriters Truman Capote and William Archibald, who base the script on James' original story and Archibald's stage adaptation.
Also worthy of note is the cinematography of Freddie Francis, who creates some of the most haunting (and widely imitated) images of ghosts I've ever seen on film. His overall work, on films like "Sons and Lovers," "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning," and more recently in "The Elephant Man" has been criminally overlooked.
By all means, buy this one for your collection.
Movie Review: Scary, ahead of it's time.
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Innocents" stars Deborah Kerr as a governess to a wealthy Londoner's mysterious young niece and nephew in a country manor. Their uncle leaves everything in her hands and refuses to be bothered with anything. She soon sees apparitions, and suspects the spirits of the former governess and valet are haunting the mansion with the foul intent of possessing the children. The children and the maid can't see the ghosts, clearly visible to the audience through Kerr's eyes, so it's ambiguous, through much of the film, whether the spirits are real or the governess is cracking up.
At the end I wasn't 100% clear on whether the horror was real or imagined, so I read the short novel it was based on, "The Turn Of The Screw," by Henry James, and found that the movie was very faithful to the book, as book-to-film adaptations go. The book also maintains some ambiguity until the end, but the end is much clearer.
At any rate the stark appearance of ghosts is effective and seems to me, in this 1961 film, a forerunner of the technique that made several modern horror films effective, such as "The Ring." I also liked the way they never say "ghosts" or "spirits," but always refer to them as "horrors," or "abominations," or some other indirect reference like "the others." This is also consistent with the book, and the latter phrase, among other things, aroused suspicion that "The Innocents" indirectly inspired "The Others," and perhaps a few others.
Movie Review: The best ghost story ever - please release on 5 Stars
This is one of my favorite films. This movie excels at what I think makes a movie haunt you for life, and that elusive thing is called atmosphere. The black and whiteness is crucial in acheiving that, as is the minimal use of a music score. Add to that a humdinger of a plot, the torturous urgency of Deborah Kerr's smashing performance (one of the best ever on film)--and the subtle eerieness created by the magnificent child actors--and you have a perfect piece of cinema. Usually ghost stories provide skimpy or cliched reasons for all of the hooplah (like revenge). This is an exception. The Freudian subject matter behind the hauntings is fascinating, not to mention pretty daring for its day. And the title says a lot about that. This woman believes in the innocence of children, but she also realizes that innocence gets lost and the truth must be faced at any cost. And the movie explores this without making it a "message". The final sequence is one of the most haunting finales ever. The way she screams out "Miles!"--gives me chills just thinking about it. And then that great fadeout to "The End", showing her hands in prayer. There are many brilliant touches and flourishes that make this outstanding cinema.Truly a brilliant film in every single sense of the word. I can't comfortably say that about many movies. But I do so about "The Innocents" without hesitation. I can only hope a DVD is released of it very soon!