I remember being intrigued by this film in writings about it especially of the name Maxim, and read the original novel - I still recall the gasp at the big twist that Rebecca was murdered.
That's been changed here, a little - Maxim still admits to punching her and then she conks her head. Ah.... isn't that manslaughter? Anyway.
I was struck by how much time this spent on character. The opening 30 pages is devoted to the romance between Maxim and "I" (little odd to read that in the character header) so their relationship has a firm footing. It's not a very healthy relationship - Maxim is snappy and rude, and emotionally abusive. He doesn't hit her and is handsome and rich - and she's dutiful and doesn't have anyone and is a moron. You do utterly believe it would happen - she doesn't know any better and he needs an easy ride.
The rest of it is subtle and well done - this would never fly as an original script, I reckon they'd think it was too dull, but it had a best seller behind it. They go to Manderlay, she meets his sister (who clocks her as a nice ninny), she clashes with the superb villain Mrs Danvers (some wonderfully subtle writing, with Danvers talking about clothes and hairbrushes and suggesting "I" kill herself). The big set piece is the masqueraade ball.
The secret comes out with half an hour to go and the rest has the characters as passive - it's the inquest, with Maxim and "I" being swept along. The most active thing Maxim does is refuse to be blackmailed. He's saved by a deux ex machina of Rebecca's cancer diagnosis. I thought maybe at the end of the film they might give "I" a moment against Mrs Danvers as the house burns down but "I" is pretty much shunted off.
The film still has freshness because of its depiction of power, twisted relationships, sex, and repression.
No comments:
Post a Comment