Anne Bancroft's character is like a mirror here, reflecting the maddening truths about the times. She loves kids, saying "they don't do you any harm," and even though we see a large number of them tearing through the house now and then, they don't cause the stress in her life. The main source of that is her husband (Peter Finch), a scriptwriter who starts off accepting her kids from previous marriages, but gradually resents not having his wife's attention, and is a serial adulterer, something she suspects but doesn't fully realize until years have gone by.
In a more general sense, though, what keeps her from being happy is not having control over her life. Men are constantly telling what to do - assuring her that the final decision rests with her, mind you - but acting so forcefully and without taking her feelings into account that she goes along with them. Her father sends her two oldest boys off to boarding school over her meek objections, and the next we see them, there is incredible emotional distance and formality between them. Her husband has her see a psychologist, who questions whether she finds sex without the prospective of conception disgusting, and not listening to her denial. Her husband gets angry with her for getting pregnant again, as if she had gotten that way on her own, and then along with a doctor pressure into not only an abortion, but sterilization. Even her mother gets in on the act by chastising her for having so many kids, thinking more of her son-in-law's happiness than her daughter's.
Bancroft is as lovely as always and her character is sympathetic, but I have to say that I thought she lacked a certain spark, even though she does lash out occasionally at her husband. Maybe this was simply the character though, and how I wish she had responded to assert herself.
Aside from the window into the times and critique of the patriarchy, there are a couple of marvelous scenes. One of them is at the beauty salon, where the woman (Yootha Joyce) next to her strikes up a conversation that spirals into a very uncomfortable attack. Joyce is absolutely brilliant, and it's the best performance in the film. The other is when a friend (James Mason) tells her that he has evidence that her husband is cheating on her with his wife. He does so by first making a pass at her, and then by venting his rage by saying a string of foul things, all while director Jack Clayton puts a tight shot on his mouth.
Overall, the film is a little frustrating though. I thought it was too sympathetic to the husband, which culminated in an ending that I absolutely hated. I thought about knocking down my review score a bit because of it, but there's enough here to make it worthwhile.
In a more general sense, though, what keeps her from being happy is not having control over her life. Men are constantly telling what to do - assuring her that the final decision rests with her, mind you - but acting so forcefully and without taking her feelings into account that she goes along with them. Her father sends her two oldest boys off to boarding school over her meek objections, and the next we see them, there is incredible emotional distance and formality between them. Her husband has her see a psychologist, who questions whether she finds sex without the prospective of conception disgusting, and not listening to her denial. Her husband gets angry with her for getting pregnant again, as if she had gotten that way on her own, and then along with a doctor pressure into not only an abortion, but sterilization. Even her mother gets in on the act by chastising her for having so many kids, thinking more of her son-in-law's happiness than her daughter's.
Bancroft is as lovely as always and her character is sympathetic, but I have to say that I thought she lacked a certain spark, even though she does lash out occasionally at her husband. Maybe this was simply the character though, and how I wish she had responded to assert herself.
Aside from the window into the times and critique of the patriarchy, there are a couple of marvelous scenes. One of them is at the beauty salon, where the woman (Yootha Joyce) next to her strikes up a conversation that spirals into a very uncomfortable attack. Joyce is absolutely brilliant, and it's the best performance in the film. The other is when a friend (James Mason) tells her that he has evidence that her husband is cheating on her with his wife. He does so by first making a pass at her, and then by venting his rage by saying a string of foul things, all while director Jack Clayton puts a tight shot on his mouth.
Overall, the film is a little frustrating though. I thought it was too sympathetic to the husband, which culminated in an ending that I absolutely hated. I thought about knocking down my review score a bit because of it, but there's enough here to make it worthwhile.