The Drift is really quite hypnotic and riveting. It's hard not to see the whole thing in one sitting but once your caught in that web of decorated decadence it's impossible to budge the buttocks toward more saccharine seating. Much as VINYL appears to be closer to the novel on which it is based than does the Hollywood version of, so THE DRIFT strikes is as more to the point of Tennessee Williams' novel THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE than does the Tinseltown version. And the latter is no mean competition for as you may remember it stars Vivein Leigh, a very young Warrne Beautty, and the redoubtable Lotte Lenya. But what that book is really about or what it really is is not something Hollywood can put its finger on easily. For it is not about the depravity of its own viewpoint and vision. This Aes-Nihil captures admirably. And with a fraction of the effort that went into the commercial venture. What is most elusive about THE DRIFT and perhaps it is the secret to what makes it work is that we are never certain of Aes-Nihil's conscious intentions. But then again neither are we ever really certain of Mae West's. What we can be sure of is their success. From the moment that we gaze down the 'spanish Steps' at young Paolo, gaze down through the lectherous eyes of our transvestite matron the not-to-be broken concentration of her eyes we know we are in sure hands. They they understood what this truly sordid tale is all about. And just who is sordid in the whole undertaking. What I,m saying is that Tennessee Williams was never more roundly denounced than he is by THE DRIFT and that that denunciation may be coming from a fan. And that is the work's secret. And where in the world could one have come up wit a better Countessa than we have in Goddess Bunny? Especically if you felt you had to outdo and out perform Lotte? We are talking depravity that takes the luncheon lobster right out of Lotte's yawning maw. THE DRIFT understands the significance of all the stars in this work and what it comes up is breathtaking. Every setting as it relates both the book and commercial flick is hilarious. And Michael Kleats as Paulo is making a statement on Paulos the world over that needs no elaboration. Above all the films keeps its sense of good humor about it. The actors appear to be enjoying themselves and since they are so are we. The pay off comes when one of them gets truly picked off for we get to witness something rarely captured captured on the screen: A queen's true fury. And all the while we are watching Mr. Williams' yarn.
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