The Black Windmill

I just bought and watched the new blu ray of this,and greatly enjoyed it.

I have seen this film before but only on late at night on tv when I was half asleep and the commercials and the pan and scan ruined it for me.

When I concentrated on watching it on wide screen and with interruptions it seems a much better film than its weak reputation.

Perhaps viewers expected more action from the director of Dirty Harry.

The action in the film is fine but it is smarter than just an action film.

So if you are spy or Caine fan or just like good acting seek this film out.

The film has lots of good actors in small parts and the script is good.

But the viewer has to stay alert to enjoy the film.

Now somebody tell me why the same director's Telefon is not on blu ray.

Don Siegel acknowledges one big mistake in his autobiography: due to a writers strike he ended up rewriting the script while he was also preparing the shoot as a Producer-Director. He should never have rushed to make this movie under such conditions. Then he puts the blame on Universal who, in the beginning, suggested he managed all three jobs, then, decided to release it as The Black Windmill, a title which bears no relevance with what the movie is about.

Sure, the storyline is far from flowing and it's a pity since there are so many fine performances in it. Donald Pleasance, John Vernon, Delphine Seyrig, Catherine Schell to name a few. Roy Budd's score is wonderfully in line with the atmosphere too. With all these, Don Siegel should really have been able to blame himself for his trademark flaw: used to shoot low budgets with lots of energy he forces a minimalistic loner hero inside the story. In his previous movie, Charley Varrick, it worked much better since the plot was more simple (aftermath of a bank robbery) with only a couple of important characters. Charley Varrick already lacked character development, but with Michael Caine, a counter-espionage civil-servant stuck between his bosses, his wife and the villains, it really bogs down the whole narrative.

It's a real pity so many things just don't add up to a tense situation. There is nice interaction in some scenes involving female characters, but basically the plot is not streamlined. One final word, Don Siegel style: the ending, as in Charley Varrick, is quite unsatisfactory. Not that it should be changed to some other outcome, but all good directors know how to close an action movie shortly after the ending climax. I don't know why Don Siegel would add some "post-coïtum" shot, having you wondering about some final twist, but no, it was just some fancy shot demonstrating how much the screenplay wasn't polished enough.

For this work, scenes of "action", a Don Siegel specialty, are less significant than those that generate characterization and plot, functioning to release tension rather than keep it at bay, although the director's customary taut pacing and stoniness are here, within a twisty story largely faithful to its source, a Clive Egleton novel: "Seven Days to a Killing", strongly scripted by Leigh Vance to further define the character-focused film. A cleverly fresh storyline involves a kidnapping, the victim being son of MI-5 operative John Tarrant (Michael Caine), with a ransom demand for greater than one half million pounds worth of uncut diamonds that are resting within a Defence Ministry safe, as an unknown traitorous official has informed the abductors, with subsequent dual scenario devices of Tarrant's struggle to retrieve his son held by illicit arms syndicate villains, along with Ministry efforts to culpably link Tarrant with the conspiracy. The film benefits from attention to continuity, no loose ends rupturing one's concentration, with heed to detail perhaps its primary strength, yet telling contributions come from many, including players Caine, who adds a needed element of engagement to his Harry Palmer persona, Delphine Seyrig giving a splendidly nuanced performance as companion of the principal evildoer (played with effectual guile by John Vernon), and Donald Pleasence earning the acting laurels here as a dispassionate MI-5 security chief, along with Clive Revill, Joss Ackland, and ever intense Janet Suzman.

Siegel's hand is apparent in the spare deployment of music, with scoring and silence each appropriately employed; palette and filter for well-composed cinematography and montage (shooting is in London, Paris and the Sussex countryside); a symbolic use of clothing colours; and accomplished post-production efforts, all increasing the worth of a piece undervalued by some reviewers, indeed by Caine himself, unfortunate in the event as the film is one of Siegel's finest, his skill with improvisation mating well with capable workmanship.

An interesting spy thriller starring Michael Caine.

The film is interesting and well depicts the atmosphere and look of those years. The cinematography is excellent and here we have an authentic look from that time. The music is great and fits in perfectly with the atmosphere of the film.

The characters are interesting, and the story slowly builds and the atmosphere becomes more tense as the film progresses. The details are subtle and realistic and enhance the impression of the film.

Michael Caine is excellent in the role of a cold-blooded spy who tries to save his son.

An interesting film with a tense atmosphere.

I've read several comments that point out the clumbsiness of the action editing in "The Black Windmill." I think what is being overlooked is that what we have been seeing for the past thirty years on tv and video has been a pan-and-scan version of a Panavision film. The action was designed for a widescreen and we've only been seeing half of it, sloppily panned-and-scanned, making it seem jumbled. I believe that the widescreen dvd release will prove me right.

Admittedly, in terms of Siegel action-drama quality,this flick falls in the middle ground between the great "Dirty Harry" and the so-so "Telefon." But even the low-budget Telefon is much more exciting in its original wide aspect ratio than in "full" screen.