LoginI wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seems to have a decent reputation (it is included in the ‘The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made’ list selected by the New York Times, among other things), I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though I really loved the title, to be honest, I really had a hard time to care about this movie. First of all, for some reason, I thought it would be a Western but, obviously, it turned out to be something completely different after all. At least, it was neat to see a vintage Hollywood movie dealing with the Spanish Civil War but it was rather unfortunate that, even though there was only one American character, everyone was speaking English and not Spanish. Even more hard to swallow was the idea of casting Ingrid Bergman, possibly the most famous Swedish actress that ever lived, to play a Spanish woman. And, yet, I have to admit that Bergman, who was so gorgeous and so charismatic back then, was probably the only thing I really enjoyed in this movie. On the other hand, even though Gary Cooper was praised for his performance and even though I have to admit that he was quite charismatic as well, in my opinion, his character was actually terribly bland and even rather boring. Eventually, the most interesting characters were Pilar and, above all, Pablo. Still, the movie was often pretty cheesy and, above all, so damned long. Seriously, maybe half of the duration was about this group of guerrilla fighters having some really tedious discussions and the other half was about Robert Jordan and Maria constantly declaring their love for each other which was hardly more exciting. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing turned out to be rather disappointing, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you really like the genre.
For Whom the Bell Tolls Reviews
An average movie
Posted : 11 months, 1 week ago on 1 June 2023 11:33
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For Whom the Bell Tolls
Posted : 10 years, 4 months ago on 12 January 2014 08:03
Uneven in tone, vague in political beliefs and overripe with romance, For Whom the Bell Tolls is an overly long super-production that at least has three fine performances to steer it towards a likeable direction. By no means a great example of adaptation, Bell Tolls at least has Gary Cooper leading the way. If any actor felt like a perfect foil for Hemingway’s conflicted and out-sized heroes it was the stoic Cooper.
Cooper plays an American with a talent for explosives, weary but yearning to be where the action is, he finds himself in the midst of the Spanish Civil War. Eventually he hooks up with a group of rebels and much of the film is spent weighing the pros and cons of a specific bridge’s destruction and its strategic values. Factor in plenty of romantic interludes between Cooper and Ingrid Bergman, never quite getting a handle on that accent but looking incandescent, a few battle scenes, and loads of debating between the guerilla fighters, and the film’s near three hours presents a challenge.
Editing is key, and a very fine art. Bell Tolls suffers from excessive padding and not knowing what to cut or shorten in an adaptation. It’s not that there’s too much plot to justify this length, but too little and much of it could have been shortened to provide some clarity or a point-of-view. I would have played up the politics and moral quagmires and played down the romance myself, but here they’re given semi-equal weight. The romance wins out in the end, and the politics become murky and indecisive. You see, the romantic leads aren’t as interesting as the heads of the guerilla fighters.
Katrina Paxinou and Akim Tamiroff give great performances as Pilar and Pablo. Paxinou in particular steals the film, creating a tough, wise and thoughtful woman fighting for what she believes is right. Scenes in which she details her life and history of political ideology to Bergman spark with a fully lived in and thought-out inner life for the character. It’s no wonder that Paxinou walked away with an Oscar for all of her trouble. Or that Tamiroff earned a nomination for his Pablo, a hard man who trusts no one but Pilar and questions why they’re taking in an adventure-seeking American. His Pablo is a scarred man, broken and content to hide away in their mountain refugee taking out smaller and easier tasks. His humiliation in being overrun by Pilar is some fine acting. They make a great duo and both turn in fine work, but it’s Paxinou’s prideful and hardened face that lingers the longest in your memory.
Cooper plays an American with a talent for explosives, weary but yearning to be where the action is, he finds himself in the midst of the Spanish Civil War. Eventually he hooks up with a group of rebels and much of the film is spent weighing the pros and cons of a specific bridge’s destruction and its strategic values. Factor in plenty of romantic interludes between Cooper and Ingrid Bergman, never quite getting a handle on that accent but looking incandescent, a few battle scenes, and loads of debating between the guerilla fighters, and the film’s near three hours presents a challenge.
Editing is key, and a very fine art. Bell Tolls suffers from excessive padding and not knowing what to cut or shorten in an adaptation. It’s not that there’s too much plot to justify this length, but too little and much of it could have been shortened to provide some clarity or a point-of-view. I would have played up the politics and moral quagmires and played down the romance myself, but here they’re given semi-equal weight. The romance wins out in the end, and the politics become murky and indecisive. You see, the romantic leads aren’t as interesting as the heads of the guerilla fighters.
Katrina Paxinou and Akim Tamiroff give great performances as Pilar and Pablo. Paxinou in particular steals the film, creating a tough, wise and thoughtful woman fighting for what she believes is right. Scenes in which she details her life and history of political ideology to Bergman spark with a fully lived in and thought-out inner life for the character. It’s no wonder that Paxinou walked away with an Oscar for all of her trouble. Or that Tamiroff earned a nomination for his Pablo, a hard man who trusts no one but Pilar and questions why they’re taking in an adventure-seeking American. His Pablo is a scarred man, broken and content to hide away in their mountain refugee taking out smaller and easier tasks. His humiliation in being overrun by Pilar is some fine acting. They make a great duo and both turn in fine work, but it’s Paxinou’s prideful and hardened face that lingers the longest in your memory.
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For Whom the Bell Tolls review
Posted : 10 years, 6 months ago on 24 October 2013 02:30
It has some power ans texts that surpass the Hemingwayana clichés about love, ant romantic death. Is tight, landscape ok, great supporters as Paxinou and Tamiroff. Agony, irony and some subtleties in a Hollywoodd star package.
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