Secret Ceremony (1968)

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writers:

Marco Denevi (short story "Ceremonia secreta")
George Tabori (writer)

Release Date:

23 October 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

No one admitted the last 12 minutes.

Plot:

A woman and the girl she insists is her long-lost daughter are caught in a web of insanity and deception in this powerful psychological thriller.

Plot Keywords:

Daughter | Stepfather | Prostitute | Psycho Thriller | Sleeping Pill

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Elizabeth Taylor	...	Leonora
Mia Farrow	...	Cenci
Robert Mitchum	...	Albert
Peggy Ashcroft	...	Hannah
Pamela Brown	...	Hilda

Runtime:

Germany:105 min | USA:109 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (DVD rating) | UK:X (original rating) (1968-2006) | USA:R | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:18 | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Associated British Elstree Studios, Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Universal Pictures

Quotes:

Leonora: There were two mice fell in a bucket of milk, one yelled for help and drowned, the other kept pedaling around until, in the morning, he found himself on top of butter.

This IS entertaining, more amusing than You'd think

This movie was to me surprisingly good. I have read the Ralph Benner review and many other user comments, which have been very negative. Given that Maltin has given very positive reviews, I realise that this film is an acquired taste of a movie. You have to be a certain type of person to really like it. As a Liz Taylor fan I do it by default, however, I was not prepared for how good Mia Farrow was here, neither for how effective Mithcum was, and how wonderfully the all interact with other. In all its dark tragic topic, it has a certain absurd humor that completely took me. Some scenes are comically genius, Monty Python couldn't have topped the absurdity of the restaurant scene where Mia Farrow's Cenci enters in an unexpected state with Liz's Leonora swiftly adjusting to Cencis madness.

The DVD-copy of the film I recently purchased, has excellent colour and image quality, which gave justice to Loseys very detailed work with the environment and sceneries. The claustrophobic but yet shielding Victorian house is a secret hideaway for the women who have been deeply hit by tragic events. In their recluse they can revive and live out the relationship they have been deprived of in reality. I don't find their relationship necessarily lesbian, although it is hinted that there are tendencies of sexual role playing of the two (escepically when the "man" arrives in the form of a poignantly seedy and sexually beastly Mitchum). Mia Farrows Cenci is a seductive tease in spite of her absurd black long hair and pale white face. Liz Taylors Leonora is a washed-up prostitute, and I agree with some reviewers that it is a shock to see Liz so plump and bloated, she is actually fatter than in Who's Afraid of Virgina Wolf. But I disagree with for instance Ralph Benner that Liz doesn't convey the role of Leonara convincingly, actually she does a good job in spite of her diffuse accents (Liz penchant for using different accents is a long story probably stemming from the fact that she's been raised in England until eight years old, and often sways from British to American accents in an unpredictable fashion). and when the interaction with Mia Farrow starts, they are both heavenly to watch.

And let's not forget the two kleptomaniac sister-in-laws, vultures of the worst sort and a direct menace to the secret ceremonies of Leonara and Cenci. Pamela Brown and Peggy Ashcroft are deliver two scary old spinsters with no shame.

What is the story all about then; we cope with our tragedies and losses differently, some even drown in the process, some survive but as the other mouse left in the milk bowl, standing on a pile of butter - lonely.

To sum up, a true Gothic feast, mystic, beautiful photography, Hollywood legends and British professionals giving very good performances, haunting scores, and beneath the surface a dark absurd humor.