Watching The Visit I couldn't help but think of The Merry Widow which also has as its protagonist one of the wealthiest women in the world, citizen of a small Ruritanian eastern European principality where it is hoped that she will literally underwrite the country. But there will be no waltzes and romances in The Visit.
The town of Gullen has hit some bad times and it looks a whole lot like one of the USA's rust belt cities. But the town is hoping that Ingrid Bergman who is a widow with Onassis like wealth will be the savior of the place. So she promises to be if they will do but one thing. Kill the man who abandoned her as a pregnant teen to marry up and is now a prosperous merchant, Anthony Quinn.
For those who think of Bergman as a film saint like Joan Of Arc or Sister Mary Benedict you are in for a big surprise. Ingrid will knock your socks off with this vengeful woman who has the means to buy just about anything and uses said means to settle a score.
Tony Quinn is also a revelation too. He's a victim in a Kafkaesque like drama where everything and everyone has turned on him. He doesn't usually play frightened, but he does here in The Visit and does it well. Check the scene at the railroad station.
The original play by Swiss author Friedrich Duerrenmatt had a 189 performance run and was done on Broadway by Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne. I'm informed that the ending in the play is different but I think this ending is pretty powerful stuff in any event. Bergman makes it so.
The Visit got an Oscar nomination for Costume Design in a black and white picture. But it's a lot more than costumes, it's powerful stuff, maybe the most powerful role Ingrid Bergman ever undertook.
The town of Gullen has hit some bad times and it looks a whole lot like one of the USA's rust belt cities. But the town is hoping that Ingrid Bergman who is a widow with Onassis like wealth will be the savior of the place. So she promises to be if they will do but one thing. Kill the man who abandoned her as a pregnant teen to marry up and is now a prosperous merchant, Anthony Quinn.
For those who think of Bergman as a film saint like Joan Of Arc or Sister Mary Benedict you are in for a big surprise. Ingrid will knock your socks off with this vengeful woman who has the means to buy just about anything and uses said means to settle a score.
Tony Quinn is also a revelation too. He's a victim in a Kafkaesque like drama where everything and everyone has turned on him. He doesn't usually play frightened, but he does here in The Visit and does it well. Check the scene at the railroad station.
The original play by Swiss author Friedrich Duerrenmatt had a 189 performance run and was done on Broadway by Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne. I'm informed that the ending in the play is different but I think this ending is pretty powerful stuff in any event. Bergman makes it so.
The Visit got an Oscar nomination for Costume Design in a black and white picture. But it's a lot more than costumes, it's powerful stuff, maybe the most powerful role Ingrid Bergman ever undertook.