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Visitors Review

steven-222 2012-05-24 16:47:17

Losey's Sweet Swan Song

I'm a big fan of director Joseph Losey, and over the last year I'vemanaged to watch all his movies. But I came to this one, his last, withvery low expectations. He was in his eighties, after all, and ratingsfor Steaming are low.But...what a delight this movie turned out to be! I found myself slowlybut surely drawn into the special world of camaraderie that developsbetween the characters, and deeply caring about the outcome of thestory. (Can the baths, the special place where they all come together,be saved from demolition?)This is essentially a filmed stage play, yes, but Losey came from atheatrical background (he worked with Brecht way back when), and thismovie never feels stage-bound or claustrophobic. Indeed, toward the endof the film, when an important action takes place "off-stage," thelogic of never leaving the baths becomes manifest; this is a story thatneeds to take place over time but in a single location.Vanessa Redgrave is great as always, and Sarah Miles naked is arevelation, but it's an actress named Patti Love who steals the moviein a dynamite role which she also played in the West End. (She seems tobe the only hold-over from the original stage production.) You will notsoon forget her.Special kudos to the simple but exhilarating electronic music score,which has aged almost as nicely as the women in this movie.

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat 2012-05-24 09:22:56

Has much to say about the hopes, fears, failings and small triumphs of women.