 |
Year: 1941
Filming: Color
Length: 105 minutes
Genre: Drama/Noir/Suspense
Maturity: PG (for intense thematic elements)
Cast: Joan Crawford (Anna Holm), Melvyn Douglas
(Dr. Gustaf Segert), Conrad Veidt (Torsten Barring), Osa Massen (Vera Segert), Richard
Nicholas (Lars-Erik Barring), Connie Gilchrist (Christina Dalvik), Reginald Owen (Bernard Dalvik), Albert Bassermann (Consul
Magnus Barring), Marjorie Main (Emma Kristiansdotter),
Director: George Cukor
Personal Rating: 4 Stars
***
Certain movies come
to you by complete surprise, and are surprisingly well worth the viewing. In
the case of this film noir diamond-in-the-rough, it just so happened to be
among at the end of a VHS that was included in a bargain-bin at a yardsale.
When I first started watching it, just to see what it was, I was none too
impressed. The scenes were dreary, and the story-line seemed quite hard to
follow. But as I stuck with it, I became immersed in this edge-of-your-seat
thriller that feels near Hitchcockian in mood.
Set in 1940’s
Sweden, Joan Crawford stars as Anna Holm, a woman with a scarred face and a
scarred heart, running away from her torrid past at the same time as she lashes
back at the world for all her past sufferings. Operating a black-mail ring and using
a restaurant chain as a front, she is given a packet of clandestine love
letters stolen from the vain and frivolous Vera Segert, who frequents one of
the restaurants. Torsten Barring, the mysterious stranger who stole the
letters, wants to become partners with Anna, who he admires for her cunning
criminal mind in spite of her disfigured face.
Anna is
unaccustomed to the attentions paid to her by Barring, and soon falls head over
heels in love. Her low-life cohorts mock her out and threaten mutiny, but she
assures them that the letters from Vera will enable them to blackmail her and
make a profitable sum. But when she goes to the home of Mrs. Segert to extort
money from her in exchange for the letters, she accidently runs into her
husband, Dr. Gustaf Segert, a respected surgeon who sees Anna’s face and
believes he can restore it. Realizing this might be her only chance for
regaining her former beauty, she agrees to undergo the experimental procedure,
even though it is known to be dangerous.
Over the course
of multiple agonizing procedures, Segert is intrigued by Anna’s elusive
personality, and comes to admire her determination and strength in comparison
with his shallow, unfaithful wife. However, he still senses that there is something
about Anna that is dangerous, and even after the operation is a success and her
face is restored, he questions whether the beauty of her soul can be restored
so easily. Still, after she leaves, he has hope that no matter what her past
might have been, she will use her new-found beauty to make a fresh start for
herself in the world.
But still desperate
to secure the love of Torsten Barring, Anna becomes enmeshed in a plot to murder
his young nephew, Lars-Erik, so he will inherit his uncle’s vast estate in the
mountains. Although initially hesitant, she eventually agrees and applies for a
job as governess for Lars-Erik. But as she gets to know Torsten’s affable uncle,
Consul Magnus Barring, and the adorable little Lars-Erik, she begins to feel
like a human being again, and her own icy heart begins to thaw. Will she have
the courage to break with her dark past and forge a brighter future, or will
she be defined by the scars that once disfigured her face?
A Woman’s Face is one of those obscure,
unusual little movies that turns out having profound examinations of the human
condition. It stands out in the film noir genre as having a “method to its
madness”, so to speak, and cutting to heart of the true meaning of beauty and love.
Although the first scene opens in a courtroom where Anna is being tried for
murder, the rest of the story is told through flash-backs based on the testimony
of the witnesses. I initially found this technique rather confusing, but after
a while, I began to appreciate it, and even found it particularly gripping.
As fits the mood,
it was shot in black-and-white and emphasizes the play between light and shadow,
just like Anna’s own struggle between. We only catch several direct glimpses of
Anna’s scarred face, because she wears her hat low, and this adds to the
mystery as to whether or not she has been made “beautiful” when she is in the
court room. The first time we see it is when Barring approaches her with the
clandestine letters, and hides his shock by pretending he merely saw that she
had something in her eye. It is this gesture that makes Anna feel accepted by a
man at along last, and enables Torsten to manipulate her for his own ends.
The cast is superb,
and does an excellent job acting out the diverse roles. I have never been a
major fan of Joan Crawford, and yet she really does shine in this film and show
her talent for portraying a woman crossed between malicious intent and an
almost pathetic desire to return to innocence. Melvyn Douglas is a very steady,
very logical Dr. Gustav Segert, who comes to realize that for all his medical
expertise and ability to heal the scars on Anna’s face, he is woefully unable restore
the beauty of her soul. Still, he is there when she needs him, and stands up in
her defense at the trial. Conrad Veidt makes a deliciously elegant, chillingly
slithery Torsten Barring, who reveals the full extent of his evil nature a
little at a time.
As much as I feel
for Dr. Segert’s marital woes, as I Catholic, I don’t believe that necessarily
validates him having an extramarital romance. Now, I’ll grant that his wife is
cheating on him, and is totally self-consumed, so he might have grounds for
annulment there. But still, I don’t know if just jumping from woman to woman is
the right way to handle the situation! That having been said, he sees something
beautiful in Anna that enables her to break the dark bonds that have ensnared
her, and she is finally able to accept and receive true love. It’s interesting
to note that Anna made a study of famous love letters throughout history, from
the likes of John Keats, even in the darkest periods of her life.
I love the Swedish
setting! It’s so unusual, and dark, and almost mythic. I enjoyed seeing how the
Swedish court proceedings unfolded, and the unique customs such as taking an
oath before testifying “as a son/daughter of a Christian”. But one thing
strikes me as being rather strange: how is that this film is made (and
seemingly set) in 1941 Scandinavia, and yet there is no mention of the Second
World War? I mean, I know Sweden was neutral, but I’m sure it had to be
permeating the news! But then again, perhaps the heart of the movie really was
about the war after all, and Torsten Barring was just another form of Adolf
Hitler. His declaration that some people are entitled to be evil and to conquer
is the thing that finally shakes Anna out of her infatuation with him. At any
rate, drawing the parallel is certainly a valid one.
Lars-Erik is
actually the key character in the movie, whose innocence strikes a chord deep
within Anna that pulls her out of the darkness and into the light. Although she
has been accustomed to being treated as sub-human because of her scarred face,
and thought she had to be a she-wolf in order to survive, his unconditional
love for and trust in her awakens her stifled conscious and the realization
that she can be good. It is symbolic
that at a party she is dressed as a local Swedish saint who is patroness of
children. Barring mocks her for this, and she assures him she is not completely
on the side of the saints. And yet the chance for it has been opened, and she
can bear to turn her back on it completely.
The turning point
in the movie takes place on the ski lift in which Anna is riding with
Lars-Erik. According to Barring’s plan, she is supposed to unlock the gate and
let the lad fall to his death. Although she starts to do so (and the close-up
shots seem like something straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock production), she
realizes that she cannot, and pulls
him back to safety. When Torsten realizes she will not follow through with his
plan, he kidnaps young Lars-Erik and takes off with him on a sleigh. Anna
realizes his devious intent and alerts Dr. Segert, who also happens to be
visiting Consul Magnus. Then the two of them set off on a break-neck chase to
rescue the child…and the unexpected series of events that lead Anna to be
accused for murder before the court unfold.
A Woman’s Face is a suitably dark yet
beautifully deep film noir drama about the powerful reality that ever person
has the chance to be redeemed and start anew, no matter their checkered past. It
also shows that beauty is something that comes from within, and defines the
essence of the person, as opposed to mere physical traits. Couple this
meaningful moral with artfully rendered suspense, exquisite performances, and a
break-neck sleigh race in the Swedish mountains, and you’ve got a film not to
be missed!
No comments:
Post a Comment