Tropic of Cancer (1970)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Joseph Strick

Writers:

Betty Botley (writer)
Henry Miller (novel)

Release Date:

27 February 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

The film depicts the adventures of expatriate American writer Henry Miller and his friends, as they pursue art, money, food, and sex in Paris. |

Plot Keywords:

Nudity | Female Nudity | 1930s | American Abroad | Based On Novel

Cast

Rip Torn	...	Henry Miller
James T. Callahan	...	Fillmore
Ellen Burstyn	...	Mona Miller (as Ellen McRae)
David Baur	...	Carl
Laurence Lignères	...	Ginette
Phil Brown	...	Van Norden
Dominique Delpierre	...	Cheeri
Stuart De Silva	...	Ranji
Raymond Gérôme	...	M. Le Censeur
Gisèle Grimm	...	Germaine
Ginette Leclerc	...	Madame Hamilton
Françoise Lugagne	...	Iréne
Magali Noël	...	Princess
Sheila Steafel	...	Tania
Elliott Sullivan	...	Peckover

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:R | USA:NC-17 (re-rating) (1992) | USA:X

Company:

Tropic Productions

Trivia:

According to Robert Evans's biography, "The Kid Stays in the Picture", this film was made as the result of a bet between Evans and Henry Miller in which Miller won.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in American Sexual Revolution (1971)

Soundtrack:

Frölicher Landmann (The Happy Farmer)

Interesting, but unfocused

In order to appreciate Henry Miller's style, it is essential to get a feel for the juxtaposition of his elegant, often heartfelt prose, and the profane nature of his subject matter. He is the modern Catullus, the poet not of "lovemaking" but of the joys of flat-out *****ing.

The movie had difficulty synthesizing this sense of sacred and profane in harmony. It tried now with a Rip Torn overvoice reading from Miller's work, then with some poetic shots of the beauty of Paris. It never really seemed to succeed.

The movie could never find anything to focus on. It represents a string of vignettes, and they don't seem to lead to any common goal. Many scenes seem to concentrate on the minor characters for much too long, and without apparent purpose. Such picaresque efforts rely on the charm of characterization for impact, and this film has some of that, but not enough. It's structured as if somebody said "let's make a film of Tropic of Cancer" without actually feeling any passion for why they wanted to do that.

It was certainly interesting to see Rip Torn so young and so good-looking, and to see Ellen Burstyn in such a flagrant display of nudity. Some of the locales are accurately evocative, and Torn is reasonably credible in the lead. It is fairly explicit in the sexual scenes, and extremely explicit in its use of language.

You could watch it and not feel you've wasted your time, but be advised that you won't feel much rewarded, either.