Acclaimed and approachable, this big award-winner for Alain Resnais hasn’t aged well. David Mercer’s merciless/near-funny script has John Gielgud’s dying author (think Somerset Maugham dressed like Cecil Beaton) easing his pain by drinking his way thru a long night while free-associating a new novel with characters suggested by his children & late wife. And what a wildly unpleasant burgoo of courtroom theatrics, wartime situations & domestic haggling he’s come up with: son Dirk Bogarde prosecuting half-brother David Warner on werewolf euthanasia charges; circular veranda chats with late wife Elaine Stritch; kitchen battles between daughter-in-law Ellen Burstyn (forcing a smile) and Bogarde. A poverty of imagination the sole takeaway from these sub-literary reveries, and Gielgud’s bitchiness the only show in town. Then, everything goes topsy-turvy in a last act that shifts from dark interiors to verdant outdoor sunshine on a grand estate as his three grown children make a visit to celebrate Dad’s 78th. Presents, good wine, luncheon on the terrace, and not a trace of his fictitious counterparts to be seen in these agreeable adults. Where did the ghastly specters of Gielgud’s novelistic dreamworld come from? No doubt the real misanthrope is screenwriter David Mercer.* Unearned dramatics, and pretty hard to take. But worth a look just for Gielgud’s energetic malevolence and for a late romantic score from Miklós Rózsa, often in juxtaposition to the chilly precision of Resnais in the modern sections.
DOUBLE-BILL: *Also aging poorly, scripter David Mercer’s best known film, MORGAN!/’66, again with David Warner.
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