Written and directed by Samuel Fuller, Verboten! is the story of an American soldier stationed in post-war Germany as he falls for a German woman despite the rules about Americans and Germans falling in love with each other. The film is set mostly in the aftermath of World War II where an American falls in love with a German woman while dealing with an uprising of neo-Nazis trying to start a new war with the Americans. Starring James Best, Sarah Cummings, Tom Pittman, and Harold Daye. Verboten! is a powerful war drama from Samuel Fuller.
The word “verboten” is a German translation meaning forbidden as the film is about this forbidden love affair between an American soldier and a German woman who saved him while he was wounded in battle. After the war, Sgt. David Brent (James Best) decides to stay in Germany to marry Helga Schiller (Sarah Cummings) unaware that she has her own motives to marry him so she can get food and a chance to go to America after the Nuremberg trials are over. Yet, things become complicated when Helga learns that a friend in Bruno (Tom Pittman) got a job working for the Americans when he is secretly organizing a neo-Nazi group to get Germany to reclaim its dignity as her brother Franz (Harold Daye) has become part of the group. After some encounters with angry and hungry Germans, Sgt. Brent deals with the decisions he’s made while trying to figure out the plans of this new neo-Nazi group that is trying to scare the Americans.
Samuel Fuller’s screenplay doesn’t just explore the postwar tension between American and Germans as the latter has no clue on what the Americans will do for them as there’s this other group of Germans who refuse to accept their countries defeat and the atrocities they committed. While Sgt. Brent is aware that falling in love and marrying Helga is forbidden from both sides, he decides to break the rules to ensure a happy life for himself and Helga. Yet, he is unaware of Bruno’s activities as the new neo-Nazi leader whose ideas would eventually cause worry for Helga who not only falls for David but also realize that her brother is getting way into deep. While some of the drama gets a little overboard, Fuller does showcase the conflict that Germans have about trusting the Americans as well as deal with the atrocities that their leader Adolf Hitler had committed.
Fuller’s direction is a bit uneven where he is making a war film in one aspect of the film but also a melodrama in another aspect. Despite that unevenness, Fuller does manage to make things engaging not just in the battle scenes early on as it features many of his visual trademarks. There’s also some moments in the drama where Fuller injects a lot of substance into the way Sgt. Brent and Helga interact as they start to fall in love amidst the chaos that is happening in postwar Germany. There’s also some very dark moments in the way Bruno conducts his meetings as it would feature some chilling montages over the activities his neo-Nazis would create but also in how it would mirror the same ideals of Adolf Hitler as it would play into Franz’s conscience in the film’s third act.
Especially as what Franz learned what Bruno is doing would prompt him to turn to Sgt. Brent for help in what would create this re-forging of the bond between the Americans and the Germans as Fuller would use a lot of stylish compositions for the drama and action. One notable scene that Fuller does that amps up the drama is this mesmerizing montage scene set in the Nuremberg trial with this mixture of footage from the trial to what Franz and Helga are seeing as it would force Franz to see what Hitler and his men had done. Overall, Fuller crafts a very compelling film about an American soldier who embarks into a forbidden love affair with a German woman in postwar Germany.
Cinematographer Joseph Biroc does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to create some unique lighting schemes for some of the scenes set at night while keeping things simple for the daytime interior and exterior scenes. Editor Philip Cahn does amazing work with the editing in creating not just some rhythmic cuts for the suspense and action but also in the montage that features a lot of dissolves and archival footage that meshed so well with the real action. Art director John B. Mansbridge and set decorator Glen Daniels do fantastic work with the set pieces from the look of the bombed out buildings in the German village to the office where Sgt. Brent would work after the war.
Costume designer Bernice Pontrelli does nice work with the period costumes from the dresses that Helga wears to the uniforms the men wear. Sound editor Bert Schoenfeld does terrific work with the sound to play into the chaos of the war as well as some of the riots that go in the village over lack of food. The film’s music by Harry Sukman is superb for its suspenseful-driven orchestral score with some somber, melodramatic themes as well as an opening theme song sung by Paul Anka.
The film’s cast includes some notable small roles from Joe Turkel as an infantryman, Anna Hope as a neighbor of Helga, and Paul Dubov as Sgt. Brent’s superior in the office building during the postwar period. Harold Daye is terrific as Helga’s younger brother Franz who immediately dislikes Sgt. Brent because he’s an American as he comes to term with what his country has done and what Bruno wants to do. Tom Pittman is fantastic as Bruno as this German soldier who returns home wanting to revive the Nazi party and hope to give Germany some of its pride back only to do things that forces Franz to question things. Sarah Cummings is excellent as Helga as this German woman who meets Sgt. Brent as she would marry him in the hopes to survive only to fall for him as she tries to deal with her brother’s allegiance for the Nazis. Finally, there’s James Best in a superb performance as Sgt. David Brent as this American soldier who falls for a German woman as he tries to defy the rules while doing whatever he can to help the Germans get back on their feet.
Verboten! is a stellar film from Samuel Fuller. It’s a war drama that explores the world of postwar Germany and the struggle between Americans and Germany to re-forge their bond while exploring the tension that was emerging. Especially as it’s a film that has a lot of qualities that Fuller is known for with his war films while also showcasing what he can do with melodrama despite the fact that it‘s a bit uneven. In the end, Verboten! is an excellent film from Samuel Fuller.
Samuel Fuller Films: I Shot Jesse James - The Baron of Arizona - The Steel Helmet - Fixed Bayonets! - Park Row - Pickup on South Street - (Hell and High Water) - House of Bamboo - (China Gate) - Run of the Arrow - Forty Guns - The Crimson Kimono - Underworld U.S.A. - Merrill's Marauders - Shock Corridor - The Naked Kiss - (Shark!) - (Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street) - The Big Red One - White Dog - (Thieves After Dark) - (Street of No Return) - (The Madonna and the Dragon)
© thevoid99 2014
Based on the novel by Stephen King, The Shining is the story of a writer who is asked to become a caretaker for an isolated hotel as he brings his family along where things go wrong as he starts to become insane and terrorize his family. Directed by Stanley Kubrick and screenplay by Kubrick and Diane Johnson, the film is an exploration into madness as well as the world of the supernatural in a strange hotel. Starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, and Danny Lloyd. The Shining is a terrifying yet visually-entrancing film from Stanley Kubrick.
After taking a job to be a caretaker for the Overlook Hotel in the middle of Colorado, writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) brings his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and their son Danny (Danny Lloyd) to the place where they’ll stay for five months during the winter time where the hotel is closed for the time being. Jack hopes to use the time to write a novel as he and Wendy meet up with the people running the hotel as it includes a chef named Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers). Dick notices that Danny as telepathic powers that communicate with other people with their minds as they briefly talk as Dick asks Danny not to go to the mysterious room 237. A month goes by as Jack’s novel is going nowhere while Wendy and Danny spend most of their time looking around the hotel and its many sites including a maze outside of the hotel.
When winter arrives with a terrible snowstorm, things start to get strange after Danny runs into a couple of twins (Lisa and Louise Burns) while noticing that someone left room 237 open. After Jack wakes up from a nightmare and Wendy notices bruises on Danny’s neck believing that Jack did it, Jack goes into the Gold Room where he talks to its ghostly bartender Lloyd (Joe Turkel) where Jack gets to vent. When Wendy talks to Jack claiming it was a woman at room 237 who attacked Danny, Jack goes to room 237 where he encounters some strange moments as he decides to stay at the hotel to live up to work. After attending a party at the Gold Room where he meets a waiter whose name is Grady (Philip Stone), Jack realizes he was the previous caretaker who had rumored to have killed his wife and two daughters. Yet, Grady says that Jack had always been the caretaker and what he did to his family was correct them.
After getting a psychic connection with Danny who has been seeing things that are becoming true, Dick decides to fly from Florida to Colorado to see what is going on at the hotel. Wendy meanwhile, notices that Jack’s behavior has gone out of control after she suggests that she should take Danny away from the hotel as Jack starts to go insane. After knocking Jack out and locking him inside the pantry, Wendy realizes that she and Danny could not escape as the snowstorm is getting worse. When Jack manages to get out of the pantry, all hell breaks loose as he goes after his wife and child in an insane quest to get rid of them.
What happens when a man decides to be a caretaker at a hotel in middle of nowhere as he starts to go insane in this mysterious hotel? That is simply the premise of the film as it is an exploration into the supernatural and madness. Yet, it’s a film that shows a man completely losing touch with reality as he starts to see things around him where he starts to vent his frustrations on his wife for disrupting his work. Notably as his wife is becoming concerned about their son who has these strange visions along with an imaginary friend called Tony. When the boy starts to realizes that the images he saw prior to going to the hotel are coming true, he goes into a trance as Tony starts to take over leaving the boy’s mother to finally worry as she starts to realize what is going on.
The film’s screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson is quite eerie in the way it explores a man’s descent into insanity. Yet, it is a script that takes its time to let the mystery unravel though there’s a lot that is revealed early in the film that Jack Torrance seems to ignore such as the fact that the previous caretaker killed his family and later himself in a strange incident similar to what Jack went through. Another noted fact is that the hotel was built on an old Indian burial ground which definitely explains a lot of supernatural elements that occurs in the story. Then there’s Jack Torrance himself as he’s a man with a dark past as he once an alcoholic who had accidentally broken his son’s arm as he’s unaware that he’s a danger to himself and everyone. For his wife Wendy, she becomes more unsure about Jack just as she was starting to regain his trust as it leads to all sorts of trouble.
Danny is another key element to the film as he’s this boy with telepathic powers where he communicate people with their minds as he meets this very kind chef named Dick Hallorann who also has telepathic powers. Dick realizes that Danny has these visions as he gives Danny a warning about not entering this very strange room yet thing suddenly go wrong when the room’s door opens. It becomes a major plot point that leads to all sorts of moments where Jack starts to descend further into madness after meeting a ghost as they would tell Jack to deal with the situation about his family. This leads to a third act where it becomes this very chilling-suspense thriller as Jack goes insane and terrorizes his family.
Kubrick’s direction is very entrancing for the way he presents the film such as the opening sequence of Jack’s car driving around the Rocky Mountains in Colorado through these sprawling wide shots from a helicopter. Kubrick’s direction is also very stylized such as the way he shoots wide shots of conversations where the camera is far away from the actors. It’s part of the style that Kubrick wants to convey where it’s not just him capturing the conversation but the locations themselves as it establishes the world that Jack and his family are about to enter. Immediately, the audience will think that this nice hotel is a nice place to stay but once it’s just Jack, Wendy, and Danny all alone in this hotel. That’s where things start to go wrong. It’s not just the sense of isolation that eventually starts to take a toll on Jack but also his writer’s block.
Once the Torrance family stays in the hotel for a month where Kubrick utilizes these stylish steadicam shots to capture Danny’s movements on the big wheel tricycle along with the scenes in the maze. It shows that Danny and Wendy are having fun but Jack is troubled as it features that famous Kubrick stare of Jack who is slowly descending. This definitely leads to an element of suspense that Kubrick builds in a very slow, meticulous to have things unravel bit by bit. Through these montages that includes a pool of blood coming out of an elevator and all of these strange images, it is to reveal what is to come. Along with some amazing tracking shots and camera movements to maintain that air of suspense, Kubrick plays up the stakes that Wendy and Danny had to go through.
It’s not just Jack and the supernatural they have to face but also nature itself as they do whatever they can to survive Jack’s terror. This would eventually play out to the horror that occurs as Kubrick maintains this very unsettling atmosphere that occurs not just in the hotel but outside. Even as Kubrick would intensify the camera movements and scenery to play up the horror up to the fullest. Overall, Kubrick creates a mesmerizing yet unsettling horror film that does more than its premise offers.
Cinematographer John Alcott does fantastic work with the film‘s evocative photography from the lush look of the film‘s daytime exterior scenes including the gorgeous ones during the snow to the more stylized yet entrancing look of the scenes at night in the interior scenes as well as the exteriors during the maze sequence at night as Alcott‘s work is a major highlight. Editor Ray Lovejoy does brilliant work with the editing to create some unique rhythmic cuts to play out the film‘s structure and suspense along with some stylized jump-cuts and dissolves for the transitions including some very eerie montages for Danny‘s visions. Production designer Roy Walker and art director Leslie Tomkins do amazing work with many of the film’s interiors for the scenes in the hotel from the carpets that Danny plays at to the Gold Room and its stylish bathroom along with the other hotel rooms the characters encounter.
Costume designer Milena Canonero does wonderful work with the costumes from the dresses that Wendy wears to costumes worn by the ghosts at the Gold Room party. The makeup work of Barbara Daly and Tom Smith, along with the hair by Leonard, is terrific for the scenes at the Gold Room party that plays up to the period that Jack is entranced by. Sound editor Dino Di Campo, Jack T. Knight, and Winston Ryder do excellent work on the sound from the way the Big Wheel sounds on the floors to the atmosphere it creates in some of the film‘s most chilling moments as the sound work is another major highlight of the film. The film’s superb music soundtrack consists of a variety of pieces from the opening electronic score by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind to set a dark mood to the film to an array of eerie orchestral pieces from Gyorgi Ligeti, Bela Bartok, and Krzysztof Penderecki as well as old standard pop music from Henry Hall, Ray Noble, Al Bowlly, Jimmy Campbell, Reginald Connelly, and Harry Woods.
The casting by James Liggat is great for the ensemble that is created as it features notable small roles from Lisa and Louise Burns as the Grady twins, Anne Jackson as a doctor who visits Danny early in the film, Tony Burton as Dick’s friend Larry, Barry Nelson as the hotel manager Stuart Ullman, Joe Turkel as the friendly ghost bartender Lloyd, and Philip Stone as the brooding waiter Delbert Grady. Scatman Crothers is excellent as Dick Hallorann who shares his telepathic gift with Danny while noticing something is wrong as he tries to see what is going on. Danny Lloyd is brilliant as Danny as he displays a performance of a kid troubled by these premonitions while making strange voices whenever he acts as Tony as it’s a truly incredible performance for the young kid.
Shelley Duvall is amazing as Wendy as she starts out as this very kind and fun woman excited about staying in a hotel for months only to deal with the terror of her husband as Duvall displays an eerie intensity to her role in the way she deals with everything. Finally, there’s Jack Nicholson in one of his most iconic performance as Jack Torrance. Nicholson’s performance is riveting for the way he explores a man’s descent into madness as Nicholson brings a lot of dark humor to the role as well as a determination to man hell-bent on maintaining his job as caretaker where it’s a performance that has Nicholson go all out and more making it one of the great performances in film.
The Shining is a harrowing yet intriguing horror film from Stanley Kubrick that features outstanding performances from Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. The film is definitely an interesting yet thrilling take on madness and isolation as it also explores horror at its most extreme. It’s also a film that strays from the conventions of typical horror films in order to have the audience be engaged by the visuals and the events that occur. In the end, The Shining is a magnificent film from Stanley Kubrick.
Stanley Kubrick Films: Fear & Desire - Killer's Kiss - The Killing - Paths of Glory - Spartacus - Lolita - Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - 2001: A Space Odyssey - A Clockwork Orange - Barry Lyndon - Full Metal Jacket - Eyes Wide Shut
Related: Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures - The Auteurs #18: Stanley Kubrick
© thevoid99 2012
