The wonder of Laurence Olivier was his flexibility. From Shakespeare to the light & fluffy he was not too proud and that he enjoyed his profession so is shown in all his last works. This film is one of the latter and it may delight you with its humour and insight. A story set in Paris(sigh) of two adolescents from very different backgrounds and their budding romance in this the city of love. Which raises a good question mr director, why go to Venice when you could have done it all here the most romantic place in the world. But I digress. Lauren(Diane Lane) & Daniel(Thelonius Bernard) are the leads. Two youngsters with very high IQ's, they both read Heidegger & Nitsche for kicks, and who are surrounded by incompetent adults led by Daniel's dad, a parisien taxi driver with questionable ethics and Laurens mum Kay( Sally Kellerman playing a snobbish ex-patriot socialite) who balks at the thought of returning to the states-"goddam Houston".There is also a fine supporting cast of David Dukes playing George, a very avant-garde film director(so he says) and to Kay a potential husband number three, and Arthur Hill playing the kindly stepfather Richard. Broderick Crawford also makes a cameo appearance as himself, sadly one of his last. Olivier makes his entrance as the comical old gentleman with a mysterious past who used to live at the Browning's Villa in Venice and who befriends the two youngsters regaling them with a romantic tale of eternal love which can only be sealed with a kiss in a gondola under the bridge of sighs in Venice.Enough said.
Director Hill directs against type here but imbues his story with some wonderful vignettes. When Daniel's friend Londet sneaks them in to watch a blue movie Laurens reaction is a typically adolescent, morbid curiousity followed by revulsion and then a pert clinical summary.As if to say this aint that kind of a movie folks. Interestingly the two teenage leads found the eventual physical contact an embarrasing experience for all and had to be firmly encouraged by the director.There is a hint of their discomfort on screen but only for a moment. Love conquers all(sigh). Oliviers humourous performance transfixes when he almost gags on his croissant when seeing his criminal identikit photo in the newspaper. Hill also finds time to place excerpts from previous movies into his latest film,but aptly so. Albeit all in a foreign language. I also loved the photography and the landscape, I dont remember Italy being this lovely. The performances by all are very affecting although Lane did go on to bigger though not always better things. Bernard with his gallic good looks and despite passable reviews was never heard from again. Olivier sadly has passed on and will be missed by all for a long time to come.The ending was predictable but touching all the same.It never won any awards but twenty years later it remains one of my firm favourites for love story of the decade.
Director Hill directs against type here but imbues his story with some wonderful vignettes. When Daniel's friend Londet sneaks them in to watch a blue movie Laurens reaction is a typically adolescent, morbid curiousity followed by revulsion and then a pert clinical summary.As if to say this aint that kind of a movie folks. Interestingly the two teenage leads found the eventual physical contact an embarrasing experience for all and had to be firmly encouraged by the director.There is a hint of their discomfort on screen but only for a moment. Love conquers all(sigh). Oliviers humourous performance transfixes when he almost gags on his croissant when seeing his criminal identikit photo in the newspaper. Hill also finds time to place excerpts from previous movies into his latest film,but aptly so. Albeit all in a foreign language. I also loved the photography and the landscape, I dont remember Italy being this lovely. The performances by all are very affecting although Lane did go on to bigger though not always better things. Bernard with his gallic good looks and despite passable reviews was never heard from again. Olivier sadly has passed on and will be missed by all for a long time to come.The ending was predictable but touching all the same.It never won any awards but twenty years later it remains one of my firm favourites for love story of the decade.