It's hard to think that an established film director could have lost control of a film like this. It blends several genres with neither rhyme nor reason. Probably the nadir in the film is when, after an entire film where the Red Guard officer in charge engages in brutal behavior the film switches to sitcom mode with him holding his baby in his arms.
Nothing makes sense in this film. As an outlier on many aesthetic issues I was fully prepared to like this film despite the negative reviews I read about it.
Indeed, it begin interestingly enough. France Nuyen was absolutely lovable in the very first scene where she's all wide smiles at everything that William Holden, as the priest says.
But after that the film falls apart. Though Nuyen looked quite charming in the first scene, after that her character becomes silly. Talk about a one-trick pony. All she does throughout is show that silly smile.
William Holden is always competent in all the films he plays. And he acquits himself as well as possible considering the silly script, which can't make up its mind what kind of genre it belongs to: romance, political, drama, sitcom, comedy, religious, etc.
Similar to Henry Fonda's witticisms in *On Golden Pond," Clifton Webb's character has to come up with funny lines to add to the confusion of genres.
The "conversion" of the Red Guard at the end of the film, embracing the Christianity he had renounced is one of the worst examples of character development I know of in a movie. Not only is the conversation unrealistic, equally unrealistic is expecting the other characters in the film to embrace him without apparent qualms. It's as if Hitler had a change of heart in 1945 and decided to embrace Christianity or American democracy. We have just seen this guy torture people yet we are to imagine him as a happy father married to a woman he raped. The only reason I give the film eve 3 stars is due to the presence of William Holden.
The title song sung by Timi Yuro is also an asset, though the arrangement is terrible. As for the title itself, though the critics I have read seem to think it applies to the communists, in fact it at least equally applies to the France Nuyen character who embodies Satan throughout the film, often literally reflecting lyrics in the song, since she never sleeps even when Holden attempts to.
Actually in a focused film the premise might have been very interesting. A woman is deeply in love with a priest and stalks him. But the film would have had to be generically focused as drama without the absurd blend of genres we find in the film.
One minor linguistic note. When Nuyen sees Holden wearing an apron she says, "That apron doesn't become you, Father." I just can't believe that a second-language speaker would have been sophisticated enough to have used the word "becomes" in "becomes you." Clearly the script writer nodded when he wrote that line.
Nothing makes sense in this film. As an outlier on many aesthetic issues I was fully prepared to like this film despite the negative reviews I read about it.
Indeed, it begin interestingly enough. France Nuyen was absolutely lovable in the very first scene where she's all wide smiles at everything that William Holden, as the priest says.
But after that the film falls apart. Though Nuyen looked quite charming in the first scene, after that her character becomes silly. Talk about a one-trick pony. All she does throughout is show that silly smile.
William Holden is always competent in all the films he plays. And he acquits himself as well as possible considering the silly script, which can't make up its mind what kind of genre it belongs to: romance, political, drama, sitcom, comedy, religious, etc.
Similar to Henry Fonda's witticisms in *On Golden Pond," Clifton Webb's character has to come up with funny lines to add to the confusion of genres.
The "conversion" of the Red Guard at the end of the film, embracing the Christianity he had renounced is one of the worst examples of character development I know of in a movie. Not only is the conversation unrealistic, equally unrealistic is expecting the other characters in the film to embrace him without apparent qualms. It's as if Hitler had a change of heart in 1945 and decided to embrace Christianity or American democracy. We have just seen this guy torture people yet we are to imagine him as a happy father married to a woman he raped. The only reason I give the film eve 3 stars is due to the presence of William Holden.
The title song sung by Timi Yuro is also an asset, though the arrangement is terrible. As for the title itself, though the critics I have read seem to think it applies to the communists, in fact it at least equally applies to the France Nuyen character who embodies Satan throughout the film, often literally reflecting lyrics in the song, since she never sleeps even when Holden attempts to.
Actually in a focused film the premise might have been very interesting. A woman is deeply in love with a priest and stalks him. But the film would have had to be generically focused as drama without the absurd blend of genres we find in the film.
One minor linguistic note. When Nuyen sees Holden wearing an apron she says, "That apron doesn't become you, Father." I just can't believe that a second-language speaker would have been sophisticated enough to have used the word "becomes" in "becomes you." Clearly the script writer nodded when he wrote that line.