Suddenly, Last Summer
by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
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DVD details
Actor: Albert Dekker, Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Mercedes McCambridge, Montgomery CliftDirector: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Brand: Sony
Cinematographer: Jack Hildyard
Editor: Thomas Stanford
Editor: William Hornbeck
Producer: Sam Spiegel
Writer: Gore Vidal
Writer: Tennessee Williams
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); Georgian (Subtitled); Chinese (Subtitled); Thai (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 114 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-08-15
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Suddenly, Last Summer
DVD Review: Suddenly, it hits you like a ton of bricks...
Summary: 4 Stars
I've recently become a huge fan of Elizabeth Taylor. It all happened while I was investing my time into Paul Newman's filmography. Once I saw her steal scene after scene in `Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' I knew that I had to know this woman more intimately. So next I watched her 1963 epic `Cleopatra' (review to come, I promise) and I knew that this woman was special. So I jumped at this one, since it was adapted from a Tennessee Williams play (and I had just rewatched `A Streetcar Named Desire', and had adored the aforementioned `Cat on a Hot Tin Roof', so you do the math).
`Suddenly Last Summer' is a very unique, very disturbing look at the lengths we will go to in order to protect the ones we love. Shame and rage calculate into this deeply revolutionary tale of a woman desperate to protect her sons honor following his mysterious death.
The film opens with famed Dr. Cukowicz being summoned to the home of Mrs. Violet Venable; an older distinguished woman who is prepared to ask a very odd request of the young doctor. Violet has recently lost her son Sebastian and the only witness to his death was his cousin Catherine. What she witnessed was so extreme and frightening that she has gone insane. Violet wishes to have this girl lobotomized, supposedly to end her pain but it is apparent that Violet's reasons are much more complicated than that. The Dr. is hesitant, especially after he meets Catherine and realizes that there is more to this story than meets the eye.
The film really boils down to its shocking and tragic finale, which is delivered with violent fervor by Elizabeth Taylor as she recounts the truth behind Sebastian's death. Without this vital piece of information the film may have fallen apart, and what's so nice about this conclusion and the way that it is handled is that it is ambiguous enough to almost remain a mystery. Due to censorship back in the early years of cinema certain subjects were untouchable to-to-speak and so the real reasons behind Sebastian's death are somewhat guarded; but the way that Vidal adapted Williams' play and the way that Mankiewicz directs the flashbacks helps paint the true story for those willing to read between the lines. It's expertly done; thinly veiled and completely effective.
In a word; shocking.
Both Elizabeth Taylor and Katherine Hepburn received Oscar nominations for their performances here, and both of them are very effective. When portraying a character that was written for the stage on the screen an actor can fall easily into overacting, but at times that overacting becomes almost neccisary in order to really portray that character correctly. Elizabeth Taylor is always endearing and intriguing, and her ending monologue is ferocious to say the least, but I must say that I found myself constantly drawn to Katherine Hepburn, and that is not something I expected. I've always found this particular Hepburn to be vastly overrated, but here she is beyond stunning. She has the villionas role of the overprotective mother down to a T and she crisply and sublimely allows herself to filter through the very real and very sharp emotions of this woman. Even during Taylor's staggering recounting of the tragedy that befell Sebastian I found myself glued to Hepburn's every facial glitch.
She was mesmerizing.
I must say that I was a little put-off by the supporting cast, and even by Montgomery Clift. He just seemed very out of it throughout the film. Mercedes McCambridge and Gary Raymond came off like clichéd caricatures, but it's not enough to really gripe about. Had Clift at the very least performed a richer performance than this could have been a brilliant, A+ film. Instead it gets knocked down a peg, resting at an easy B+. The real heat here comes from the blisteringly realized script and the dueling of two very accomplished and very courageous actresses who buried deep into these roles ands into themselves to deliver something that will render us speechless.
Description of Suddenly, Last Summer
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