Lilith

Rating:
Summary: A Faithful Adaptation; Beatty Stiff As A Board
Review: Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Salamanca's novel of the same name, I had very little hope that the film would catch the unsettling nature of the novel. I was wrong.

Rossen captures Lilith's spirit even in the opening credits, as an abstract drawing reveals what appears to be a spider breaking away from its web. Is this symbolic of Lilith leaving the mental home? Or of Vince, the main character, leaving his ideals of himself? Whatever it might mean, the "dreamy" music and the stark black and white film convey the mood of the book quite well, and borders on what one might perceive as a "horror" film. And viewed in this light, the grounds of the mental home (where most of the story takes place) are both comforting and disturbing.

Lilith, played with absolute conviction by the wonderful and beautiful (sans god-awful wig) Jean Seberg, really made the film enjoyable for me. Just witnessing Seberg's performance was inspiring. Hackman has a small character role (in what was his first) as a "hack" husband to Vincent's teen-romance girlfriend. And Peter Fonda is here too, in an almost unrecognizable role as an overly sensitive man at the hospital, competing with Vincent for Lilith's love.

Let's say all is good, almost great, with this film, excepting Beatty's cardboard performance. I can't imagine why Beatty, given a very defined and complex character like Vincent to portray, couldn't be less stiff than he is here! He didn't ruin the picture for me, but his inability to convey ANY emotion, and just stare numbly out into nothing in most of his scenes, simply frustrates. His performance makes you want to kick him in the pants and say, "C'mon, man! Get it together!" through most of what is otherwise, as I've cited earlier, a successful film.

Kudos to Rossen for not shying away from the somewhat controversial subject matter found in the book, and for capturing the elusive quality of Salamanca's story. Congratulations to Seberg for an amazing performance, and a visibly furrowed brow to Beatty for his sleepwalking.

Rating:
Summary: crime and passion
Review: This is a slow, delicate film. There are no car crashes, and no muscle bound hero to save the earth from some impending doom. What you will see is a brilliant study in how the weakness of one man, Warren Beatty, can cause so much harm. His misdirected passion causes the mental collapse of one, Jean Seberg, and the death of another, Peter Fonda. All cast members give excellent performances. This is a haunting film that has stayed in my memory for many, many years.

Rating:
Summary: Very risque of its time!
Review: Warren Beatty's first flick is a disturbing little bugger! Beatty begins working for an "mental asylum" but falls for the wrong girl patient (Seberg). Scary & devilish! You can see where "Pretty Poison" came from! A must for the collector!