Film Reviews on the African Queen, Pride and Prejudice and the Grand Illusion
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The African Queen (1951)
The African Queen is considered a classic by many film forums. Forums like The American Film Institute and Four Star Movies: 101 Greatest Films of All Time has this film listed as one of the greatest. Where the film really draws the attention is the acting by Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, two unlikely actors to come together with enough chemistry to form a sweet love story. The film was the first color film for both actors and the film was Hepburns official transition into much more mature roles. With the films two main characters, Charlie and Rose, having the quintessential love – hate relationship in a complicated world, The African Queen creates the classic Hollywood theme of a love story. With the story written during and for a time of war it includes the realistic tone that every film should have. The African Queen is considered a classic, but some of its elements may suggest that it may be given too much credit.
I have always liked Humphrey Bogart in every film hes done. From The Maltese Falcon to my absolute favorite of Casablanca, I was excited to discover another Bogart film that I predicted would be another great movie of his I could love. I was also excited to see Katherine Hepburn, who Ive grown to really like and admire, in another film after watching Guess Whos Coming to Dinner and On Golden Pond. But this film disappointed me. Maybe I had overestimated it and expected too much, or this film may be given too much credit. The scripts dialogue is fun and at times inspiring to hear, but sometimes a little too juvenile and predictable. My favorite dialogue of the film had to be Katherine Hepburns line, “Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are put into this world to rise above,” which can still be considered an inspiring and thoughtful concept today in a peaceful world and a world of war. My least favorite line is when Rose asks Mr. Allnut what his first name is and after he tells her, she repeats it like a schoolgirl with the name of her crush, “Charlie. Charlie. Charlie.” It was a tad juvenile of a scene for Hepburn to me. The development of Hepburns character is a little forced and too quickly morphed. With a woman of her age, she would be set in her ways and morals. She acts like a girl of 12 after her first kiss with Charlie and wavers quickly on her standards with him while on the river which makers her metamorphosis a little unbelievable. The conflict between the two characters, which would be their own personalities butting heads, was left early in the film and the rest of the time we are left watching two people just take a ride down the river and later on bomb a boat, which by the way seems a tad unbelievable at the end. But in the case of the characters, Hepburns character seems more unbelievable than Bogarts character Charlie. Bogart does a good job portraying Charlie and does a believable job in falling for Rose. But Rose seems to fall too quickly and wavers fast on her long-standing choice of life as a missionary.
Bogarts acting was well done and well deserved of an Oscar nomination, but the win could be debatable. With Marlon Brandos A Streetcar Named Desire, this viewer just has to say that the Oscar that year should have gone to Brando. But I understand that the character was different than what Bogart is usually seen doing and that was probably the reasoning for the win. Hepburns acting was mesmerizing, but at times she seemed to be somewhat unbelievable and especially prissy in the beginning. She was starting to become admiring and likable when she “let her hair down” so to speak and really got dirty traveling down the river. Putting these two actors together was hard to imagine, but they did pull off their chemistry nicely and slipped easily into the characters.
The cinematography for the film was especially tasteful considering its time frame and its transition to color. Though the green screen was noticeable during Charlie and Roses trip down the river while “talking” to the animals, the nature of the jungle and color photography counteracted with the nature of the story. The scenery showed beauty and life and while the story consisted of war and fighting, and the nature surrounding the love story was as beautiful and real as the love the two characters shared. This film also was made during a time at which the classic Hollywood style was quickly becoming a thing of the past. This may be a reason as to why it may be difficult to really feel for the characters or really understand their quick connection with each other. Classic Hollywood films with this style were widely popular early on and considered great films. But with new styles being created and much deeper conflicts influencing the stories, audiences were beginning to see and feel a taste of the realism of how films could be and how connected an audience can become to the films characters. The film consists of the basic three part style with the first part ending when Roses brother dies and she gets on the boat with Charlie. The second part consists of Charlie and Roses connection and their development together as a couple and ends with the climax when the German boat Louisa becomes visible and Charlie and Rose must get the boat ready to attack, but instead are lost to each other by the storm. Therefore, The African Queen consists of the three part acts and is a classic Hollywood film.
Though the film is considered a classic and the acting is constantly praised upon, the film was personally somewhat lacking in the same department. Though I dont blame Hepburn or Bogart, I do blame John Huston who wrote and directed the film. I dont think he fully developed the characters enough to grow a connection between them and the audience. Plus, the love story between Charlie and Rose was at times unbelievable and developed a tad too quickly, especially for a woman like Rose who spent a great deal of her life being a missionary and being set in her ways. Though it is still entertaining to watch for its basic entertainment value and its at time inspiring dialogue, the film cant really be considered that much of a classic as a picture, but rather as a classic for Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart.
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Many of Jane Austens most popular books have been adapted into a movie, for instance Emma (1996) and Sense and Sensibility (1995), and of course Pride and Prejudice which has been made as a TV series in 1958, then adapted into a film in 1940, a mini film in 1952, 1980, and 1995, and has also been adapted with a modern theme in 2003 and 2004. But no film that adapts Pride and Prejudice the book has been done so well and so very close