A classic film in terms of star power, and the flawless craft that went into it, but nowhere near as shocking, poetic or memorable as the earlier B&W Tennessee Williams adaptation A Streetcar Named Desire.
Essentially, this film is a glitzy, upmarket rewriting of that films central themes and tropes, except focusing on a genteel family of well-to-do Americans; their family headed by a plutocrat of sorts, diagnosed with cancer, with his family of dysfunctional, permanently arguing offspring and in-laws bitching at each other over who will get his house, land and business interests after death.
The film does achieve a kind of black comic tone during numerous scenes where Big Daddy essentially thinks his health is fine, but doesn't know the real diagnosis, and of course Elizabeth Taylor looks stunning, always lit and dressed perfectly, and occasionally shot with a soft focus lens that would look out of place nowadays, but isn't as disjunctive as the overcooked soft focus you'd see on, say, an early Star Trek episode.
This movie is OVERRATED. I don't mean that in a bad way, the writing is great, the characterization and catharsis among the troubled offspring verges on a type of pop-psychoanalysis. The movies main problem is that is makes very heavy going of 'taboo' subjects like sex, alcoholism and repressed familial hatreds, that supposedly decent people "just didn't talk about" in the 1950s. The actors often seem to be shouting their emotions at the audience, not at each other, and the sheer volume of endless arguing and accusations among the hateful, greedy family members feels like an endless fever pitch where the director wants a big emotional forte every five minutes, practically like clockwork.
As I mentioned above, the films essentially a recasting of Streetcar, but in a different setting, and numerous commentaries suggesting that Williams own dysfunctional, miserable family are projected in his writing work are quite obvious. Ultimately, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a good movie, but only if you haven't seen the earlier (and better) movie A Streetcar Named Desire.
Lastly, the tone and personal drama approach of the film seems to have hit a commercial formula for popular drama that gets re-written and replayed practically every year, showered with awards no doubt, as pretend family members shout, emote and deliver extensive monologues baring witness to their inner lives, in a very, very direct and obvious manner. Good entertainment, but a bit middlebrow, too.
Essentially, this film is a glitzy, upmarket rewriting of that films central themes and tropes, except focusing on a genteel family of well-to-do Americans; their family headed by a plutocrat of sorts, diagnosed with cancer, with his family of dysfunctional, permanently arguing offspring and in-laws bitching at each other over who will get his house, land and business interests after death.
The film does achieve a kind of black comic tone during numerous scenes where Big Daddy essentially thinks his health is fine, but doesn't know the real diagnosis, and of course Elizabeth Taylor looks stunning, always lit and dressed perfectly, and occasionally shot with a soft focus lens that would look out of place nowadays, but isn't as disjunctive as the overcooked soft focus you'd see on, say, an early Star Trek episode.
This movie is OVERRATED. I don't mean that in a bad way, the writing is great, the characterization and catharsis among the troubled offspring verges on a type of pop-psychoanalysis. The movies main problem is that is makes very heavy going of 'taboo' subjects like sex, alcoholism and repressed familial hatreds, that supposedly decent people "just didn't talk about" in the 1950s. The actors often seem to be shouting their emotions at the audience, not at each other, and the sheer volume of endless arguing and accusations among the hateful, greedy family members feels like an endless fever pitch where the director wants a big emotional forte every five minutes, practically like clockwork.
As I mentioned above, the films essentially a recasting of Streetcar, but in a different setting, and numerous commentaries suggesting that Williams own dysfunctional, miserable family are projected in his writing work are quite obvious. Ultimately, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a good movie, but only if you haven't seen the earlier (and better) movie A Streetcar Named Desire.
Lastly, the tone and personal drama approach of the film seems to have hit a commercial formula for popular drama that gets re-written and replayed practically every year, showered with awards no doubt, as pretend family members shout, emote and deliver extensive monologues baring witness to their inner lives, in a very, very direct and obvious manner. Good entertainment, but a bit middlebrow, too.