Victim
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Movie Reviews of Victim
Movie Review: Great movie and a not-so-great transfer
Summary: 4 Stars
Here is a little-seen and underappreciated British gem, the story of a gay man and his very sympathetic wife, and of a law which apparently made being gay illegal at the time in England, around 1960 or so.
Dirk Bogarde investigates a series of blackmail plots involving other gay men who must pay money to a couple or else be revealed for who they truly are. "They're everywhere!" the female half of the couple says in disgust, unable to deal with the fact of gay people in the world. Sound familiar? Things haven't changed that much over the decades. It's to the filmmakers' credit that Bogarde is treated so sympathetically, as he too becomes a victim of the witch hunt. That he tried to become hetero by marrying a woman just goes to show how futile it is to deny one's true nature.
I took off one star just for the poor quality of the transfer. The use of shadows and lighting almost, but not quite, make up for this.
Movie Review: Fascinating Time Capsule of 1960s Perception of Homosexuality
Summary: 4 Stars
Daringly forthright, this suspenseful story of blackmail (expertly performed by a great cast led by Dirk Bogarde) is a valuable time capsule of the pervasive homophobia that dominated all reaches of 1960s society. There are great, timeless moments that remind the audience of simultaneously how far and how little we have progressed since then.
A 30 minute television interview from 1961 with Bogarde is also quite interesting, particularly for American audiences who may only be peripherally aware of his wonderful work on the stage, in film and as an author.
Movie Review: Fascinating piece of social history
Summary: 4 Stars
What sets "Victim" apart from your average run-of-the-mill thriller is it's depiction of the plight of homosexuals. This was decidedly daring in 1961. One senses that the actors put their careers on the line to make this film. Dirk Bogarde in the lead role of a barrister is excellent. A truly fascinating and entertaining piece of film history.Movie Review: **** Movie and Extras; ** Quality of Transfer
Summary: 3 Stars
A groundbreaking film in its day because of its sympathetic treatment of homosexual themes, "Victim" may have lost some of its provocative edge, but it nonetheless remains a sophisticated and engrossing mystery. Both its plot and its political bent are neatly encapsulated in a line of dialogue near the end of the movie when one of the characters sagely notes that the British laws criminalizing consenting homosexual behavior provide a breeding ground for blackmailers. The story concerns a closeted and married barrister (Dirk Bogarde in a powerful and richly nuanced performance) who determines to bring the extortionists who were indirectly responsible for a former lover's suicide to justice, despite the attendant risks to his own career, social position, and marriage. His search through an underground London populated by blackmailers, their accomplices (both willing and unwitting), their victims, and the police is paralleled by his own emotional journey toward personal truth and self-understanding.
The Home Vision Entertainment release of this minor classic is far from perfect. Mastered from a print in the Janus Films collection, there are two major and very distracting breaks in the video that might easily have been repaired with minimum effort. And although the aspect ratio is indeed 1.66:1 as advertised, the film is not letterboxed; therefore, unless you own a widescreen television set, you will be viewing a print that appears to be full-frame but is in fact compressed from side-to-side, making the actors and sets appear unnaturally tall and narrow. Finally, the soundtrack is sometimes muddy and/or marked by background hiss that makes small stretches of dialogue incomprehensible. On the plus side, the DVD does include the Original Theatrical Trailer; brilliant and thoughtful liner notes by film historian David Thomson; and (best of all) a 1961 televison interview with Bogarde in which the actor offers insights into his career to date, as well as his thoughts on the pending theatrical release of "Victim". Recommended for the film itself and the extras ... but not for the overall quality of the DVD itself.
Movie Review: Daring crime thriller
Summary: 3 Stars
Victim stands firmly in the crime thriller category, but the conventions of the genre are merely the occasion for a political plea to legalize homosexuality. It is a plea passionately and effectively delivered, albeit grounded in contemporary misguided assumptions, ie. that homosexuality is a perversion that is nevertheless incurable and ought to be tolerated as a compassionate concession to a tragic inevitability.As a thriller it is interesting enough, though the characters are shallow, since their development is clearly subordinated to the socio-political message the film is trying to get across. This is compensated for by excellent production values, the style of which clearly belongs to the new wave of British realism in the mid-50s to '60s. Bogarde and Price also deliver fine performances.