Ash Wednesday (1973)

Regisseur:

Larry Peerce

Drehbuchautor:

Jean-Claude Tramont (writer)

Premierendatum:

1. November 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Werbezeile:

Barbara Sawyer and her beauticians.

Plot:

Barbara gets secret plastic surgery in Switzerland in an attempt to save her marriage to Mark, but he doesn't seem interested in meeting her...

Plot Keywords:

Plastic Surgery | Clinic | Facelift | Surgery

Filmpreise:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Nutzerkommentare:

Like "Shirley Valentine" but dramatic...and pretty good.

Besetzung

Elizabeth Taylor	...	Barbara Sawyer
Henry Fonda	...	Mark Sawyer
Helmut Berger	...	Erich
Keith Baxter	...	David
Maurice Teynac	...	Doctor Lambert
Margaret Blye	...	Kate
Monique van Vooren	...	German Woman
Henning Schlüter	...	Bridge Player
Dino Mele	...	Mario
Kathy Van Lypps	...	Mandy
Dina Sassoli	...	Nurse Ilse
Carlo Puri	...	Paolo
Andrea Esterhazy	...	Comte d'Arnoud
Jill Pratt	...	Simone
Irina Wassilchikoff	...	Silvano del Campo

Alternativ:

Rivalin, Die (Österreich) (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

99 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe (Technicolor)

Tonverfahren:

Mono

Altersfreigabe:

Iceland:L | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Drehorte:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Firma:

Sagittarius Productions

Dies und das:

Contains footage from actual facelift operations, which repulsed many viewers when it was originally released.

Soundtrack:

Samba de Orfeu

Like "Shirley Valentine" but dramatic...and pretty good.

Obviously, this sight recommends "Breast Men" as a suitable companion piece to this because of the cosmetic surgery angle. (I don't watch similar films together anyway.) To me, it is much more akin in spirit to "Shirley Valentine." Woman estranged from her husband in foreign country amidst beautiful scenery, a change of life, etc. For once, a woman having a co-star old enough to be her father actually works with the script! Taylor's acting here is more subtle than it had been in the previous decade, and it works. I could not relate to a woman who goes to such lengths for her husbands affection, but she is playing a woman of a bygone era, and almost twenty years older than she was at the time (the woman playing her daughter could easily have played her sister in another film). This is a very slowly paced film, but by golly you can't help but root for Taylor to find some solace, just like Shirley V. All of this leads up to an inevitable confrontation with her husband, and the movie keeps you guessing to the end what will happen between them. Was it worth it? I won't tell. Knowing what we now know about the kind of father and husband Henry Fonda was in real life can't help but taint the viewing of him in this role. But hey, they could've gotten Bing Crosby. All in all, I saw this movie on video about nine years ago, and as you can see it has stayed with me. So check it out, it beats the heck out of anything on Lifetime.