A gardener sits for his portrait by a retired film director, who reveals more than expected about his ailing life.
Well balanced biopic of an interesting character. The story is elevated a few degrees by the lead performance, but weighed down a touch by the character of the gardener. Wikipedia hints at a more interesting end-of-life relationship with a foreign lover, but I guess that would have complicated the dynamic and so we end up with Fraser struggling in an awkward role. And a monstrous hair-cut.
The pace is surprisingly good for a dialogue driven story, with the first hour flying by, and the climax is well nailed. The theme is of companionship among outcasts, which is nicely illustrated with the war scene and the movie clip with the blind man. I could have done with more integration of the horror sensibility (replace the recumbent soldiers with rotting cadavers), and I'm not sure the monster metaphor worked.
If there were in-jokes and tricks involving Whale's innovative camera work or Universal Studios' horror music, I didn't notice them.
Overall: worth it for McKellen's close ups.
Well balanced biopic of an interesting character. The story is elevated a few degrees by the lead performance, but weighed down a touch by the character of the gardener. Wikipedia hints at a more interesting end-of-life relationship with a foreign lover, but I guess that would have complicated the dynamic and so we end up with Fraser struggling in an awkward role. And a monstrous hair-cut.
The pace is surprisingly good for a dialogue driven story, with the first hour flying by, and the climax is well nailed. The theme is of companionship among outcasts, which is nicely illustrated with the war scene and the movie clip with the blind man. I could have done with more integration of the horror sensibility (replace the recumbent soldiers with rotting cadavers), and I'm not sure the monster metaphor worked.
If there were in-jokes and tricks involving Whale's innovative camera work or Universal Studios' horror music, I didn't notice them.
Overall: worth it for McKellen's close ups.