Though critically acclaimed for a reason, exiled director Joseph Losey is for myself a "hit and miss" filmmaker, whose output varies considerably in quality. He has made films that I really admire ("The Servant"), films I loathed ("The Romantic English Woman"), films I found underrated ("The Assassination of Trotsky") and films I found overrated ("Secret Ceremony"). In an ideal case this would mean, that at least he is never dull. But it is exactly dullness that plagues his poorer films, their introvert structure and motionless characters. His best works capture emotional turmoil even when the surface is tranquil, but his weaker entries are often mysterious in their meanings, or why somebody has decided to make said picture.
"Accident" is a film that divides the popular opinion. It won the Grand Prix at Cannes, and has been subsequently either hailed as a masterwork, or one of the director's lesser collaborations with his oft-used actors Bogarde and Baker. It is Losey's second collaboration with Nobel prize winning screenwriter Harold Pinter, after "The Servant" (1963). It is also based on a book by Nicholas Mosley, who later penned "The Assassination of Trotsky". It is an ambitious work, which I find to be visually interesting, even stimulating, but utterly mediocre as a narrative, or watching experience.
The film is told in flashback-form, possibly to reassure the public, that this artistic experiment actually does have an accident in it. Of course the title carries several meanings. Bogarde plays a university professor, who supervises two students: William (Michael York in his screen debut) and the exotic European beauty Anna (Jacqueline Sassard). Bogarde is rather chummy with both of them, and gradually forms a yearning for the girl, who is going to marry William. Baker plays Bogarde's friend, who also starts chasing after the girl.
The film is told largely from Bogarde's point of view. His character is going through a mid-life crisis, which Losey doesn't frame to subtly. Anna is something of a mysterious femme fatale, but the film really isn't going for a traditional narrative about the professor straying from the good path. Instead, it's a mood piece, an atmospheric work that tries to flesh out the psychology of the main character, his banal and dull existence, and his need for something more.
It's ambitious, but the execution does not work for me. All of the characters are kept at a distance, even when we are unnervingly close to them. Baker and York were not the least interesting, and the young woman is represented in a sexual, but one-sided way. Maybe the actress wasn't really right for the part either. Bogarde's performance is that of inner turmoil, but the screenplay isn't strong enough to give him enough to work with. Losey also directs the dialogue strangely, with long pauses, and makes the film feel stale.
Visually, there is merit to the film. I liked the opening shot, and especially the boat sequence, which really managed to build the tensions. Yet as a whole, this film is neither among Losey's best or worst for me.
