Tomorrow

Rating:
Summary: This is a small gem of great drama. Don't miss it!
Review: This 1972 film, starring Robert Duvall before he became famous, is a real find. Based on a short story by William Faulkner, the play as well as the screenplay were written by Horton Foote, of "To Kill a Mocking Bird" fame. Naturally, it's set in Mississippi in the days when mules and buggies were used for transportation, and old men still remembered fighting in the Civil War.

Robert Duvall is cast in the role of Jackson Fentry, a simple cotton farmer who takes on a job of caretaker at a sawmill during the winter months. It's a lonely place, and he lives in a shack, but there's a water pump outside and a wood stove to cook on, and he's used to a hard life. He hears a low moan outside one day, and discovers Sarah Eubanks, played by Olga Bellin, who is weak and pregnant and needing care. She's been abandoned by her husband and has no place to go. Both of them are quite shy and their meeting, in which he invites her in to his shack, is a small masterpiece of nuance. She has large expressive eyes and they both talk very slowly, but I never felt bored and easily adjusted to the pace.

During the next few months their life together becomes idyllic but there is always an underlying tragic feel to their happiness. "Marry me Sarah," he says. But alas, she can't; she's already married. As the story moves on, it gets sadder and sadder and, when, twenty years later, he's called to be a juror in a murder trial, we all understand why his vote causes a mistrial. It's a fitting conclusion, although not a happy one.

This is perhaps one of Robert Duvall's greatest roles; one that he has said in interviews is still his favorite. It required excellent acting ability and he certainly demonstrated it. Throughout, we identify completely with the simple farmer with his deep regional southern accent. Olga Bellin is also excellent, but, with the exception of two minor roles on television, this was her only film. The screenplay is perfect also, using language that was natural to the characters. And the simple black and white cinematography sets the mood just perfectly. All together, this is a small gem and not to be missed by those who love good drama. Just be forewarned about the sadness. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: One of Duvall's Finest
Review: This film introduced the world to one of America's greatest actors. Duvall's performance is simple but cuts right through. You'll never be the same after this one.

Rating:
Summary: The great unknown film
Review: This film is difficult and great. Impatient friends and family members will all drop out..one by one... distilling the viewers to the few quiet ones. Once the pace is set, like a slow slow walk it moves into you like a deep breath. I saw it first in 1984 on accident. A matinee revival in some town. My friend fell asleep.I have since not seen something so slow and powerful.My friend doesn't even know it exists. Regardless he plods through his sad life unaware that men have been there before. Countless times... If you like heaviness and are moved by the struggle to care about love you should see this film.

Rating:
Summary: Strange, haunting, unforgettable film...
Review: This is an extremely strange and sensitive film, one whose unusual tone and texture stay with you long after you've seen it. It is very simple yet weirdly profound and thought-provoking, depicting humanity at its rawest and barest. There is very little dialogue throughout, yet it manages to convey a really elegant story and an emotionally disquieting experience. It manages to capture SO FAITHFULLY Faulkner's strangely primitive and perverse tones. If you want flashiness, action, popular themes, and high-budget effects, this is not the film to see--it is intellectually and emotionally too absorbing, but you have to work at it to get full value from the viewing experience. It's probably so weird and troubling because it requires the viewer to put himself (his own imagination) into the movie, so that ultimately what you come away with is, in part, your own shadow.