There's obviously no easy answer, but this obscure British drama starring Rod Steiger, Claire Bloom and Judy Geeson does ask a lot of important questions and give some answers, even though not every affair ends up in the divorce court or with a fatal attraction. Steiger and Bloom have marital issues due to her reluctance to adopt a child and his putting all the responsibility on her.
He picks up 19 year old hitchhiker Geeson, and she has no qualms about letting him make love to her, although I was never quite sure if it was because of her obvious belief in free love or a desire to control him. She can be quite immature one moment, then quite understanding when they meet up again. I wanted him to dump her without regret when she threatened a public scene, then changed my opinion when she showed another side when they hung out another time, after Steiger and Bloom had a nasty argument.
But when Geeson shows up and manipulates an invitation to stay from Bloom, it's clear that his world is going to explode. And of course, the inevitable happens, or so she makes him think. If it wasn't for the three dimensional characterization of the three leads (with Geeson not a complete monster), I'd rate this lower. You can't hate Steiger either for cheating, and it's obvious that he regrets the fling quite quickly. I found it odd that he blamed himself for a "rape" when it was very clear what she was up to from the start, being an older "Lolita". Veteran actress Peggy Ashcroft has a small role as Bloom's aging mother, a touch of class I wish had more scenes of.
Perhaps as a warning to mature men to be wary of lusty legal aged young girls it's fine, but it's also a warning to young women to avoid becoming a cloying nymph that Geeson turns into, feigning vulnerability yet hiding the sting of the scorpion who can't help but take others down with her. The permissiveness of the altered code from a few years before this allowed for films like this to get approved, and while this isn't a bad film, it certainly was a dark comment on the dangerous desires of a not yet completely matured mind that is capable of great destruction without the intention to be.
He picks up 19 year old hitchhiker Geeson, and she has no qualms about letting him make love to her, although I was never quite sure if it was because of her obvious belief in free love or a desire to control him. She can be quite immature one moment, then quite understanding when they meet up again. I wanted him to dump her without regret when she threatened a public scene, then changed my opinion when she showed another side when they hung out another time, after Steiger and Bloom had a nasty argument.
But when Geeson shows up and manipulates an invitation to stay from Bloom, it's clear that his world is going to explode. And of course, the inevitable happens, or so she makes him think. If it wasn't for the three dimensional characterization of the three leads (with Geeson not a complete monster), I'd rate this lower. You can't hate Steiger either for cheating, and it's obvious that he regrets the fling quite quickly. I found it odd that he blamed himself for a "rape" when it was very clear what she was up to from the start, being an older "Lolita". Veteran actress Peggy Ashcroft has a small role as Bloom's aging mother, a touch of class I wish had more scenes of.
Perhaps as a warning to mature men to be wary of lusty legal aged young girls it's fine, but it's also a warning to young women to avoid becoming a cloying nymph that Geeson turns into, feigning vulnerability yet hiding the sting of the scorpion who can't help but take others down with her. The permissiveness of the altered code from a few years before this allowed for films like this to get approved, and while this isn't a bad film, it certainly was a dark comment on the dangerous desires of a not yet completely matured mind that is capable of great destruction without the intention to be.