From 1975, this bizarre and unpleasant drama features three strong actors (Cliff Robertson, Vanessa Redgrave, and Susan George) is an implausible ménage-à-trois.
Robertson's character, an American lothario, returns to Great Britain twenty years after he ended a romantic relationship with Redgrave's character. He discovers her as the proprietor of the same picturesque seaside resort, but now with a grown daughter.
The principal action of the film is the attempt of the adults to renew their love relationship with interference from the young daughter, playing the role of seductress.
The film leaves open the possibility that the older man engages in an incestuous relationship with his presumed daughter. Moreover, the premise may be that he knowingly commits the incest, depending on one's interpretation of the final scene.
It may be instructive to observe that playwright-director Harold Pinter was briefly involved in this film project. Indeed, the screenplay has the feeling of one of Pinter's plays, with its unsavory characters, sexual innuendo, and family secrets.
Despite the idyllic location by the sea, the film primarily exploits the claustrophobic environment of the small seaside hotel with the three characters trapped in the hell that they have created for themselves. One of the characters escapes. The major question is which one of the three characters made it out of the nightmare.
Robertson's character, an American lothario, returns to Great Britain twenty years after he ended a romantic relationship with Redgrave's character. He discovers her as the proprietor of the same picturesque seaside resort, but now with a grown daughter.
The principal action of the film is the attempt of the adults to renew their love relationship with interference from the young daughter, playing the role of seductress.
The film leaves open the possibility that the older man engages in an incestuous relationship with his presumed daughter. Moreover, the premise may be that he knowingly commits the incest, depending on one's interpretation of the final scene.
It may be instructive to observe that playwright-director Harold Pinter was briefly involved in this film project. Indeed, the screenplay has the feeling of one of Pinter's plays, with its unsavory characters, sexual innuendo, and family secrets.
Despite the idyllic location by the sea, the film primarily exploits the claustrophobic environment of the small seaside hotel with the three characters trapped in the hell that they have created for themselves. One of the characters escapes. The major question is which one of the three characters made it out of the nightmare.