There's a full-page ad for Keira Knightley's Anna Karenina in today's New York Times. I never cared for Tolstoy's story. I remember reading it years ago and thinking the title character was a foolish addle-brain who was married to a perfectly decent man, blamed everyone else for the muddle she made of her life, and took far too long to finally throw herself under the train. I somehow doubt that this version is going to change my mind.
But I saw a 1949 British film on television some time back that was a new and much more satisfying twist on the same story. I was so enchanted I bought it. The film is called The Passionate Friends and was released in the United States under the title One Woman's Story. It stars Claude Rains as the husband and Ann Todd as the silly wife, straddling the fence between a secure if predictable life and a marvelous romance (that exists largely in her head as it turns out) with a professor, played by Trevor Howard (who was such a rock-solid actor in so many films.)
The ending is wonderful. The fantasy romance becomes a public scandal (remember those?) Todd realizes the professor actually doesn't love her, he loves his wife, and she has now put his life in turmoil. Claude Rains tells her off, says he doesn't want her anymore, then recants, says she's wounded him to the core, and that he loves her dearly. But before he gets to that last point, she has slipped out of the room. In a daze and feeling rejected and ashamed (remember that?), she staggers down a darkened street and into an underground subway station. She is clearly going to throw herself under the train. She teeters, the toes of her shoes on the edge of the platform. There's a rush of wind as the train emerges from the tunnel, she closes her eyes and begins to fall forward....and Claude Rains catches her in his arms.
Hey! It's a chick flick!
I'm watching The Ides of March this evening and doing a bit of on-line research for the short film that I'm shooting next weekend. But after that I think I'll sit back and watch The Passionate Friends. I like romance....
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| a.k.a. One Woman's Story |
The ending is wonderful. The fantasy romance becomes a public scandal (remember those?) Todd realizes the professor actually doesn't love her, he loves his wife, and she has now put his life in turmoil. Claude Rains tells her off, says he doesn't want her anymore, then recants, says she's wounded him to the core, and that he loves her dearly. But before he gets to that last point, she has slipped out of the room. In a daze and feeling rejected and ashamed (remember that?), she staggers down a darkened street and into an underground subway station. She is clearly going to throw herself under the train. She teeters, the toes of her shoes on the edge of the platform. There's a rush of wind as the train emerges from the tunnel, she closes her eyes and begins to fall forward....and Claude Rains catches her in his arms.
Hey! It's a chick flick!
I'm watching The Ides of March this evening and doing a bit of on-line research for the short film that I'm shooting next weekend. But after that I think I'll sit back and watch The Passionate Friends. I like romance....
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