Rapture

Those who remember kid actress Patricia Gozzi's stirring performance in Sundays & Cybele (1962) will be equally amazed at the remarkable range she displays in this outing. As Agnes (or "Aun-yez", as the French pronounce it) she easily steals the film from headliners Dean Stockwell & Melvyn Douglas. Not a bad feat for a 15-year-old with limited previous film experience -- and none in English language films! Her completely believable performance as the sheltered & confused daughter of an embittered retired judge (Douglas) is nothing less than riveting.

The movies' premise in a nutshell revolves around Agnes' conviction that a scarecrow she has made has come alive after fugitive Stockwell dons its clothes while on the run, and the ensuing relationship that develops between the two. Stockwell, whose fine performances have graced so many films, doesn't have much to do this time around. Film veteran Douglas, on the other hand, gets in some memorable scenes. Georges Delerue provides the gorgeous music he was noted for -- perfect for the film.

Whether this particular movie grabs you or not, at its conclusion you'll no doubt find yourself wondering why Gozzi -- whose career seemed to come to a grinding halt shortly after this -- didn't continue acting into her adult years and become a major star. It's one of those perplexing mysteries of filmdom!

This is a film that I've seen twice, the last time in 1972, that has stuck with me all these years. Patricia Gozzi was so alluring and the score so haunting and beautiful...I remember waiting for the credits to role to see the name of this unknown actress and the composer. It's the first I'd heard of Georges Delarue and the first of many times I'd heard a mesmerizing score and later seen Delarue's name. I'd love to see this movie again.

This film has been showing up lately on Fox Movie Channel. Catch it if you can or have a friend tape it for you. You'll never see another film like it. Delerue's music is probably the one element that makes the film unforgettable, but there's also the screenplay which could almost be a modern day greek tragedy about the torments of adolescence before and after sexual awakening; the central performances by 15 year old Patricia Gozzi, Hollywood veteran Melvyn Douglas, former child actor Dean Stockwell and Swedish Bergman star Gunnel Lindblom that keep the whole thing believable in spite of the overheated plot; the incredible cinematography whose fluidity and composition enhance every word and emotion; the sound design which, although almost entirely post synchronized, is done brilliantly and never feels canned or artificial.

There is so much that's puzzling about the movie, one wonders if we'll ever know how it came to be made. The original treatment that it's based on is by Ennio Flaiano, Fellini's most frequent writing collaborator, but it's written by an Englishman, Stanley Mann. The director never made anything before or after that indicated he had the imagination or sensitivity to create something like it (yes this is the same John Guillerman that made Shaft in Africa and The Towering Inferno). It's shot on location and yet has the look of an A-list film shot on a sound stage. The cast includes two Americans, a Frenchwoman and a Swede, so it was probably dubbed into many languages for international distribution. Produced by 20th Century Fox, it couldn't be less American.

Most puzzling of all: why has it never received the recognition it deserves?

If anyone reading this has background information about its production, please contact me.

Plot: "Set against the rugged beauty of the Brittany seacoast, it tells the story of a young girl whose lonely isolation under the watchful eye of her stern and bitter father is abruptly shattered by the arrival of a seductive fugitive from the law."

'Rapture' is a coming-of-age tale, a dark Gothic fantasy, a romance, a bit of a melodrama, and maybe a few other things. Its ability to stay clear from clichés despite the familiar dramatic framework alone is astonishing, which makes the film ultimately pretty uncategorizable, not to say anything about how sensible and dare I say perfect everything else is about this relatively layered production that feels grounded in realism while often being quite magical thanks partly due to the script, and partly due to its beautiful dreamy score and arresting as well as intelligent compositions of its CinemaScope black and white cinematography.

Its nationality isn't easily identifiable either. The spoken language is English, the writer of the source novel is British, as is the director, but he was born to French parents, the film (unlike the novel) is set in France and most of the crew is French, as is the main actress. Its overall feel is predominantly French but it definitely also has British and American touches and there's something Bergmanesque about it as well as it often plays like a chamber psychodrama and with Bergman regular Gunnel Lindblom in the cast providing a direct link to the Swedish auteur. Speaking of actors, although without big stars the main players are all recognizable faces who fit their roles excellently and all of which give very good performances with the memorable standout being French actress Patricia Gozzi as the young girl, she bowed out of acting only a few years later but if you happen to have seen 'Sundays and Cybele' you certainly will remember her from that movie.

There are many films I could compare it to, but no comparison would be exhaustive. The enigmatic stranger who enters a family with each person projecting their own desires onto him and them essentially creating their own image of the man is an important element in the film that recalls Pasolini's 'Teorema'. Then there's an impressive section later in the film in which the girl finds herself in Paris for the first time and she is completely overwhelmed by her surroundings and the situation in general, which has something of the same year's 'Repulsion'. In fact I think I saw Catherine Deneuve rubbing her nose in the background in one of the shots...OK, I didn't. Anyway, those comparisons are just scratching the surface.

I'm not really sure to whom I would recommend 'Rapture', but if my genre description made it sound like your kind of thing you may want to look into it. Especially if you loved Chan-wook Park's 'Stoker', I think there are a few similarities between them with a general oddness that is not only captivating with its complex web of character relationships but also feels perfectly natural to the material, in particular thanks to its mentally troubled young protagonist on the brink of sexual awakening who is like a warmer but also more visibly unhinged version of India Stoker with the actress very much having the same strange appeal as Mia Wasikowska as well as the acting chops to go with it.

Although understandably not the kind of film with a huge mainstream appeal 'Rapture' apparently never even saw all that much of a release back in the 60's. The handful of reviews that I found (all written within the past few years) amazingly enough are unanimously very positive, which strengthens me in my belief that this is a gem still waiting to be discovered by a much wider audience. It's only now that the film sees its first wide home video release by the UK label Eureka, so maybe now its time has finally come.

Anyone can make a coming of age love story so why bother? When a subject is handled with such superior abilities and skill I don't really care what the subject matter is. From the first to the last each scene is given the care and deliberation deserving of such a well picked cast and crew. This film has NOT been given its due and I don't know quite what to say about that. Like the Chalk Garden perhaps, the subject is almost taboo and just fierce enough to shock the main stream movie goer. Whatever the case I hope those of you curious enough to read these notes will with the same zeal find and devour this bittersweet morsel.