The Visit

a play. great performances. nuances of acting as fireworks. bitter and clear and ambiguous atmosphere. two great actors in a fight about revenge, power and the force of past. a seductive story about a return who change life of community and defines options. Ingrid Bergman seems be the perfect choice for Clara. Anthony Quinn, far to give something real new, has a beautiful mixture of pride and humility, vulnerability as answer to profound cold fierce. a film who reminds moral laws and the lost of innocence behind the truth. a film who reminds the Old Testament episodes and who reminds the idea of justice in a special angle. a Durrenmatt - a lot of questions and the need of honesty for yourself. a special couple. and a beautiful film.

I cannot express how amazing this film was and I'm shocked it didn't grab any Oscars. Bergman is heart-wrenching as the psychologically tortured woman wronged as a teenager. Her performance is both realistic and touching as the bitter woman who's so desperate to find peace within herself she resorts to revenge, bribery, and murder. One of the most underrated films of all time, unfortunately, but it's up there in my top 5 list of the greatest films ever made. If you love Quinn or Bergman, a must-see. If you love an excellent flick, a must-see.

Too often, there are many films that are hidden away from the public even though they are really very well written and well acted movies. "The Visit" is one of these movies, unfortunately, not available on video or DVD. The story is of a poor young girl who leaves a mythical country in Europe (Bergman) only to return years later as the richest woman in the world! The way the movie opens is with a train going across the landscape which adds to the suspense because of the title of the film and the town in this mythical country is very anxious and glad that Karla is coming to visit them since they are poverty stricken. A rare gem, the story is solid and interesting--not like the critics said about it being choppy and hard to follow--and Ms. Bergman's costumes are an eyeful. Anthony Quinn is her leading man and together they both deliver more than fine performances, Ms. Bergman's being the strongest. If you ever see this film, you won't regret it. Put a tape in your VCR to record yourself a copy as "The Visit" is a haunting film with moral issues that are unusual for the time in which it is filmed. This is one you will want to see definitely more than once. You've never seen Ingrid Bergman like this before!!!

This is one of my all time favorite films. It us the ultimate revenge fantasy. Bergman and Quinn give Oscar worthy performances.

My recent acquisitions of Casablanca and Tivo have me watching a lot of old Ingrid Bergman movies, not to mention Bogie, and I just ran across one that should've been a classic yet I'd never heard of. It did get a minor Oscar nomination, but I thought both the story and Ingrid were superb.

The Visit came out in 1964, late for a black and white film and perhaps that helped limit its success. I can see why that might've been done for artistic rather than economic reasons, though. It is a character study of two main characters (Ingrid's and an old flame played by Anthony Quinn, who also co-produced) and many lesser ones, and all of their lights and darks are perhaps magnified by watching in black and white.

And it has my favorite of all plot devices, which it uses very well. I'd tell you what, but that might ruin it.

I do recommend this one - and if you have Fox Movie Channel, it's on again next week (today being 7/9/05). Twice.