Rapture (1965)

Agnes, a lonely teenage girl, and her father befriend an escaped convict, named Joseph, who arrives at their farm in Brittany, France. When Joseph develops an attraction to Agnes, her father threatens to break up the union.

Director:

John Guillermin

Writers:

Phyllis Hastings (novel), Stanley Mann (screenplay)

Stars:

Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Gozzi, Dean Stockwell

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Melvyn Douglas	...	Frederick Larbaud
Patricia Gozzi	...	Agnes Larbaud
Dean Stockwell	...	Joseph
Gunnel Lindblom	...	Karen
Murray Evans	...	Young Gendarme
Sylvia Kay	...	Genevieve
Ellen Pollock	...	Landlady
Peter Sallis	...	Armand
Christopher Sandford	...	Albert - Young man at wedding
Leslie Sands	...	First Gendarme

Storyline

Agnes, a lonely teenage girl, and her father befriend an escaped convict, named Joseph, who arrives at their farm in Brittany, France. When Joseph develops an attraction to Agnes, her father threatens to break up the union.

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Plot Keywords:

brittany | seaside | retired judge | manor | teenager | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English French

Release Date:

7 May 1966 (France)

Also Known As:

Nace una mujer

Filming Locations:

Brittany, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Panoramic Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 100 min (FMC Library Print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Frederick Larbaud: Why are you lying on the ground?
Agnes Larbaud: I'm being a scarecrow.
Frederick Larbaud: You will make yourself filthy.
Agnes Larbaud: But they eat all the seeds. It would keep them from the vegetables.
Frederick Larbaud: What would?
Agnes Larbaud: The scarecrow.
Frederick Larbaud: I don't know what you're talking about.
Agnes Larbaud: I'm going to make a scarecrow.
Frederick Larbaud: With what?
Agnes Larbaud: Your black suit. Your old one. The one in the attic.
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Patricia Gozzi: Sundays and Cybèle Interview (2014)

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Soundtracks

Making The Scarecrow
Written and Performed by Georges Delerue Et Son Orchestre

User Reviews

Real, beautiful, and tragic

I first saw this movie on AMC years ago and have never forgotten it. The cinematography and acting swept me right up into the melodramatic story. Yes, the plot is melodramatic, but life sometimes is melodramatic. And if that's not enough for you, the performances of Gozzi,Stockwell, and Douglas just won't allow me to question its plausibility. They realize their characters so fully that there's no question whether there are three people could actually exist they way they do, where they do, and behave exactly as they do in this film.

The characters of Agnes and her father have such a touching pathos as they blindly find their way to healing through horrible tragedy, mutual loss, and self-discovery, for which Stockwell serves as catalyst. There is such an delicate realism to Gozzi's performance as an emotionally troubled and deluded adolescent that makes the film actually seem far ahead of its time. Trust me--this kid could have been right at home next to Brando in "On the Waterfront" and never been upstaged by him for one second.

Most reviewers seem to believe that it's these three sensitive performances that carry the weight of the plot, but how they stumble into learning about themselves and each other is never contrived. There isn't a single scene, as there is in most Hollywood films, with an overwrought catharsis that changes their world overnight. Rather, these are three people trying to act as their hearts and consciences dictate, sometimes blundering selfishly, other times meeting one another tenderly halfway. A visually beautiful and realistically romantic film.