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Look Back in Anger
MGM // Unrated // December 11, 2001
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Richard Burton plays Jimmy Porter, a young man who is angry at everything: his life, his work, his wife, her friends, everything. Look Back in Anger was well-received in 1959 as the film version of the critically successful 1956 play. But from the perspective of more than forty years later, the film's energy seems to have run out, leaving behind a rather disagreeable bunch of people who spend nearly two hours shouting at each other for no good reason.
There's clearly plenty of dramatic tension in the film. Burton's character Jimmy is apparently well-educated, yet he's living the life of an unskilled worker, running a sweet stall in the marketplace. His wife Alison (Mary Ure) knows that Jimmy loves her... or says he does... but she must still endure his vicious verbal abuse, which has begun to escalate into physical abuse as well. Jimmy's brother (Gary Raymond) loves both Jimmy and Alison, but is unable to do more than observe their deteriorating relationship and try to buffer the worst of Jimmy's storms.
The acting quality, objectively speaking, is quite high: Burton, Ure, and Claire Bloom (as Alison's friend) convincingly portray unpleasant, unlikeable people. The key question is what makes it worthwhile to watch nearly two hours of unlikeable people being unpleasant to each other. The film could have explored why these characters are the way the are, or alternately it could have focused on developing a plot that was actually interesting. But in fact it goes nowhere on either the character or the plot front. How did Jimmy's anger at his parents' indifference lead to his current state of mind? Why did Alison leave her middle-class roots in favor of life with Jimmy, and why does she put up with his disgraceful behavior? How did a well-educated man like Jimmy end up as a sweet-seller with no prospects? The film never tells us, and frankly, by halfway through, I didn't care enough about any of the characters to be interested any more.
Video
If you do like the movie, chances are that you'll be very pleased with the quality of the transfer, even though it's not anamorphic. The black and white film is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The print is very clean, with almost no noise or print flaws to be seen, and the image overall is sharp and clear, with good contrast.
Audio
The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track is surprisingly good. A few scenes have a slightly muffled sound, but on the whole the sound is clear. The sound remains clear even when voices are raised, which is a good thing given the amount of shouting in the film.
Extras
Look Back in Anger includes only a trailer in its special features section.
Final thoughts
Well, I simply didn't like Look Back in Anger as a movie, and for that reason, my recommendation is to skip it: there are plenty of other older movies out there that have aged better. If you do like the film, however, don't hesitate to pick up the DVD, as the quality of the transfer is quite good.
There's clearly plenty of dramatic tension in the film. Burton's character Jimmy is apparently well-educated, yet he's living the life of an unskilled worker, running a sweet stall in the marketplace. His wife Alison (Mary Ure) knows that Jimmy loves her... or says he does... but she must still endure his vicious verbal abuse, which has begun to escalate into physical abuse as well. Jimmy's brother (Gary Raymond) loves both Jimmy and Alison, but is unable to do more than observe their deteriorating relationship and try to buffer the worst of Jimmy's storms.
The acting quality, objectively speaking, is quite high: Burton, Ure, and Claire Bloom (as Alison's friend) convincingly portray unpleasant, unlikeable people. The key question is what makes it worthwhile to watch nearly two hours of unlikeable people being unpleasant to each other. The film could have explored why these characters are the way the are, or alternately it could have focused on developing a plot that was actually interesting. But in fact it goes nowhere on either the character or the plot front. How did Jimmy's anger at his parents' indifference lead to his current state of mind? Why did Alison leave her middle-class roots in favor of life with Jimmy, and why does she put up with his disgraceful behavior? How did a well-educated man like Jimmy end up as a sweet-seller with no prospects? The film never tells us, and frankly, by halfway through, I didn't care enough about any of the characters to be interested any more.
Video
If you do like the movie, chances are that you'll be very pleased with the quality of the transfer, even though it's not anamorphic. The black and white film is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The print is very clean, with almost no noise or print flaws to be seen, and the image overall is sharp and clear, with good contrast.
Audio
The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track is surprisingly good. A few scenes have a slightly muffled sound, but on the whole the sound is clear. The sound remains clear even when voices are raised, which is a good thing given the amount of shouting in the film.
Extras
Look Back in Anger includes only a trailer in its special features section.
Final thoughts
Well, I simply didn't like Look Back in Anger as a movie, and for that reason, my recommendation is to skip it: there are plenty of other older movies out there that have aged better. If you do like the film, however, don't hesitate to pick up the DVD, as the quality of the transfer is quite good.
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