The Dance of Death (1969)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

David Giles

Writers:

C.D. Locock (translation)
August Strindberg (play)

Release Date:

August 1969 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An egocentric artillery captain and his venomous wife engage in savage unremitting battles in their...

Plot Keywords:

Marriage | Island | Husband Wife Relationship | Marriage As Hell | Sea Captain

Cast

Laurence Olivier	...	Edgar
Geraldine McEwan	...	Alice
Robert Lang	...	Kurt
Janina Faye	...	Judith
Malcolm Reynolds	...	Allan
Jeanne Watts	...	Old Woman
Peter Penry-Jones	...	Lieutenant
Maggie Riley	...	Karen
Carolyn Jones	...	Jenny
Frederick Pyne	...	Sentry
Barry James	...	Sentry
David Ryall	...	Sentry

Runtime:

149 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:G (original rating) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1979)

Company:

BHE Films

Quotes:

Edgar: She's mad at me for not dying yesterday.
Alice: For not dying twenty-five years ago! For not dying before I was born!

Movie Connections:

Version of Dödsdansen (1980) (TV)

Sir Olivier and Ms. McEwan - A Match Made In Heaven

Olivier awards the viewer with one of his most impressive, fiery performances ever, and playing the type of character that suited him best - a seedy, vulgar, egotistical elderly man (once a mediocre sea captain that was never able to hold the title of major) who takes enormous pleasure in destroying the lives of everyone that surrounds him, including his wife (once an also mediocre lady performer), to whom he has shared 25 five years of sheer hate and disgust. The latest victim of his fiendish intrigues is a distant cousin of hers, assigned to become head of the local Quarentene office, on the Island, somewhere in Eastern Europe, where they live, and to whom Alice - the shrewish wife - shared ( and shares ) a rather strange relationship. August Strindberg's play is captured beautifully on screen by the National Theater , with the help of strong, fiercely intense performances, by both leading lady and gentleman. The only misfire of this sadly underrated motion picture is the editing, that could be better, even though the beautiful images of the Island that are intertwined with the gloomy, dreary atmosphere of Olivier and McEwan's residence, are absolutely fascinating. Thoroughly a classic, thought-provoking, character study of both emotional and mental bankruptcy. Post - Scryptum - If you would like to see Sir Olivier do an equally repelling part, do see 'The Entertainer' as well.