The doomed solitariness of James'protagonists is what these films get so absolutely right. A comparison with Hamlet in this regard is not too far fetched: we stand by, as the porters and 'Dr Blacks' and other Dons and hotel staff do, witnesses to another's horror - the horror visited on the solitary intellectual (here, an amateur) who enquires too much. All the BBC2 GSFCs by LGC are far and away the best adaptations of the often arid James texts. Is the emptiness of convivial people to do with budget, or is it the director's conception? Either way it's brilliant. All credit to the sound and music too - the sound just hangs on in here. Rewatching them again convinces me that Nic Roeg must have spent Christmas 1971 imbibing these small masterpieces before he went on to make Don't Look Now (Or maybe it was vice versa?) Not just the black cloak, but also the lack of salvation offered by the Church - compare the disillusioned vicar here with the scene (in Don't Look Now) in which the Dean of the Venetian church turns away, covering his crucifix, as if to say: 'no redemption on offer mate - you're on your own - sorry'. 16mm film is here consummated in long shots where overexposed figures bleach out into Jamesian formless beings. Had it not been made for TV there would be more of this I'm sure. By the way, I suspect the key location isn't the Norfolk Broads, but Holkham Beach. Go there - you'll lose yourself in the pines like the camera does - and, like the camera, you'll be looking over your shoulder to see where the rustling comes from. Final note - don't confuse these gems with the more famous but to my mind inferior Jonathan Miller adaptation of Whistle and I'll Come to You.
Review of A Warning to the Curious
A Warning to the Curious
(1972 TV Movie)
Sorry Mr James - there is a God, and he works on a low budget
23 January 2008