Reflections in a Golden Eye

Rating:
Summary: One of Brando's Finer Roles
Review: Adapted from the novel of the same name by the Georgian writer Carson McCullers and directed by the great John Huston, REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE stars Marlon Brando, an army officer on a military post somewhere in the South, and Elizabeth Taylor as his bored wife. There is a lot going on here. Brando plays a latent homosexual who is being cuckolded right under his nose by another officer Brian Keith who is married to a fragile mental case, Julie Harris. Ms. Harris, who has just cut off her nipples with scissors when the movie begins, is cared by by an effeminate Asian houseboy. Add to this mixture a young soldier (Robert Forster) who has a propensity for riding horses bareback and with a bare backside.

I have seen this movie three or four times now and can never decide if it's me or the movie; but I never get all the parts fitted together. This film certainly is worth watching and has an erotic mystery about it. Elizabeth Taylor repeats a part she had done before of the beautiful Southern woman and does a credible job with her Southern accent. But by far the best thing about this movie is Marlon Brando. He of courses acts in every frame and is perfect as the army officer about ready to go to pot who struggles with his forbidden desires.

I do not remember what kind of reviews this movie received in 1967, but Brando gives one of his best performances here. The critics should have so stated.

Rating:
Summary: Huston, we have a problem.
Review: In theory having Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Tayler co-starring and John Huston directing is suppose to be a good thing. Three of the most talented people to ever put in their time in the industry, the picture would have to good right? No, not this time around at least. Theory becomes reality in a lackluster film called Reflections in a Golden Eye.

Brando and Taylor are a married couple named Weldon and Leonora Penderton. They are living together on a military base in the south where Brando is stationed. It is quickly established that there is no love left in this marriage. Leonora enjoys riding horses and meeting up with her lover, Lt. Colonel Langdon(Brian Keith). Langdon is their neighbor and is also in a failing marriage. His wife, Allison(Julie Harris), is a psychotic, or perhaps manic depressive, who is into self-mutilation and hanging out with her caretaker, Anacleto (Zorro David). Weldon spends his time tending to his duties with an apparent sense of doom. The only time Leonora and Weldon share is when Lt. Langdon comes over to play cards. Weldon is aware of the affair, but he does not care because it is strongly implyed that he is a homosexual. Futhermore he is obsessed with a young private he has seen walking naked through the woods near his home. At first he trys to fight his feelings toward this man and he goes through all the emotions, disgust, denial, fear, anger, and finally, lust and longing. Leonora is similarly unhappy but has different ways of surpressing her impending sadness. All this makes for a morbid film with an even more morbid ending.

In 1967 this film was probably consided pretty edgey and risque. By todays standards it is not. Brando does a good job of expressing Weldon's pent-up homosexual urges, but it gets to the point when the implications become annoying. Taylor, usually a fine performer, is hammy and does three films worth of over acting. The pacing of this film is dreadfully slow. And in the end all that is really said about these characters is that they were all miserable. I did not enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Southern Gothic Classic With Brando And Mrs. Burton
Review: John Huston's "Reflections In A Golden Eye" is one of his lesser-known works. This overlooked film is a riveting piece of Cinema. He brought together the unlikely combination of Carson McCuller's southern gothic novel along with the talents of Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, and Julie Harris to create a fascinating study of deceit, lies, and murder.
Julie Harris brings to the project her unique blend of neurosis and pathos. She inhabits the role as Allison the mentally fragile wife of Brian Keith fully, coloring her role with the nuance of madness.
Keith gives his best performance as the philandering husband of Harris and the bumbling lover of Taylor. It is his finest hour on the screen. His pathetic recollection of his lost wife is acted with subtlety and feeling and proves his metal as an actor.
Marlon Brando as Major Penderton rises to his role as a closeted homosexual. This is one of his masterworks as an actor and quite possibly one of his best in the 1960's. He is puffy, middle aged and completely without vanity. To watch him struggle to lift a barbell with one arm is delightfully disturbing.
As Leonora Penderton Elizabeth Taylor is at the top of her game, dumb, sexy and funny. It is one of her most deeply complex performances from a career full of great work. There is so much humor mixed into her character and she goes all the way to reveal the each nuance and layer of Leonora.
The music by Toshiro Mayuzumi is hauntingly beautiful and atmospheric. The opening theme carries a muted smoky jazz sound that sets the scene perfectly. The only false note in the film are Taylor's costumes by Dorothy Jenkins. Set in the late 1940's Miss Taylor is dressed in the current fashions of the late 1960's and she looks beautiful but out of time with the era along with her hair by Alexandre of Pairs.
Huston directs with calm assuredness, as he leads is excellent cast to the tragic inevitable end to the film. *****