FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Secret Ceremony [DVD] [1968]

Secret Ceremony [DVD] [1968]
enlarge	Director: Joseph Losey Actors: Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow, Robert Mitchum Studio: Universal Pictures UK Category: DVD List Price: ~~£9.99~~ Buy New: £2.68 as of 22/3/2010 14:31 GMT details You Save: £7.31 (73%) New (16) Used (1) from £2.68 Seller: selectcheaper Rating: 3 reviews Sales Rank: 22977 Format: PAL Languages: English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 110 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5050582355222 ASIN: B000ESST2O Theatrical Release Date: 1968 Release Date: May 15, 2006 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Customer Reviews: Disturbing... June 5, 2006 G. Mcnee (Dundee, UK) 12 out of 13 found this review helpful This late 60s psycho-thriller is miles ahead of it's modern competitors. It is the chilling tale of a bereaved mother (Taylor) and a younger woman (Farrow) in the same situation. They meet on a bus and each realise a strong resemblance to their deceased loved ones. However, it is not long before the girl's meddlesome aunts and perverted stepfather (Mitchum) start to interfere. This is the perfect film for those who enjoy tense thrillers but due to the controversial factor, may not suit everybody. SECRET CEREMONY--AND THE BEAUTIFUL--ELIZABETH TAYLOR October 8, 2009 Mr. W. J. Wright 1 out of 3 found this review helpful SECRET CEREMONY,1968,colour,stars screen legends-ELIZABETH TAYLOR-and-ROBERT MITCHUM-also starring is MIA FARROW.I got this film because i am a fan of the stunningly beautiful-ELIZABETH TAYLOR-. br /The film itself concerns an unbalanced young woman Cenci[Farrow]who becomes convinced that a prositute Leonora[Taylor]is her dead mother.Leonora is grieving the death of her own daughter and a friendship developes between the two women.Robert Mitchum plays Albert in a "cameo" role. br /Regards,Bill. br / br / Implausible, pretentious and far from thrilling January 8, 2010 Peter Scott-presland (London) 0 out of 1 found this review helpful Many people believe that Joseph Losey's career took a nosedive with international recognition after "The Servant"; as a darling of the arthouse circuit he tended to disappear up his own fundament in the search for significance, as glossy surface took over from substance. The truth is probably more complex - "Accident" and "Mr Klein" Mr. Klein [DVD] [1976] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] are both very fine films. However, "Secret Ceremony" could certainly be Exhibit A for the Prosecution. br / br /Set in London, the film's action, such as it is, mainly takes place in an enormous Kensington Mansion where Cenci (Mia Farrow) rattles around alone, obsessed with her dead mother. Leonora (Liz Taylor) is the ageing prostitute (Taylor being 36 at the time, and ineffably glamorous if a bit porky, the term "ageing" is relative) with a distinct resemblance to said mother. Liz has also lost a daughter, and so when Farrow starts stalking her, they slot fairly effortlessly into a mother/daughter relationship, with lesbian overtones (back-rubs, y'know...). This cosy fantasy is threatened first by two spinster aunts with an eye on the valuables (Peggy Ashcroft and Pamela Brown - a great double act), and then by step-father Albert (Robert Mitcham) determined to bring the situation back to reality, which he does with what may be real stories of incestuous abuse, or may be his own middle-aged chauvinist fantasies. br / br /The whole film takes place at a snail's pace, and despite the best efforts of Taylor and Mitchum, it is difficult to empathise or even understand these characters. (Farrow always looked weird, even when she was standing still doing nothing, and here gives a twitchy performance, mannered to the point of hysteria; you can't help feeling Sandy Dennis would have done it better.) There is a desperate air of unreality over the whole thing, from the sight of Liz Taylor getting on a 27 bus onwards. Losey demonstrates his usual baroque camerawork exploring the nooks of the mansion as metaphors for Cenci's state of mind. The first thing we see is Taylor looking in a mirror and removing a wig, and disguises, mirrors, reflected and fragmented identities, clearly are Losey's main concern: how two manufactured identities can chime in a dangerous game to create satisfaction for both parties, and reality can be unnecessarily cruel and destructive to fragile people. br / br /So far so good. But what lets it down with a thump is the banal, heavy-haNDED, cliché-ridden script by George Tabori, an ex-pat Hungarian drama professor who should have stayed teaching theatre of the Absurd rather than writing it. (His only other writing credits of note are a very minor Hitchcock, "I Confess", and Boorman's least likeable and most pretentious movie, "Leo the Last". Nuff said.) The heavy-handedness can be seen in the naming of the girl Cenci; who ever named a daughter Cenci, which is in any case a surname? But no, the author has to do this to nudge us in the ribs with a reference to a Renaissance story of incest and murder. Most of the dialogue ranges from the ponderous to the unsayable: "I make her feel like a woman. What do you make her feel like? A retarded zombie." Mitchum gets away with it because he follows the James Cagney definition of acting: "Stand on your mark, look the other fellow in the eye, and say the words." And by saying, "Bugger what it means, I'm just gonna do it," he almost gets away with it. Liz however is far too concerned with her own glamour and frocks to really invest Leonora with the kind of desperate longing she needs. br / br /Mitchum is particularly fine, in a role with clear echoes of Cody in "Cape Fear". If Losey had opted for the kind of lean thriller he did so well in the 1950s, he could have had a film which made its philosophical points in an integrated way, and with economy. As it is, it's words, words, words. Tosh. br /

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