2016 Blind Spot Series: Marnie
What I knew going in: I had seen the film, The Girl, and that this film is pretty split between whether people like it or hate it.
Marnie (Tippi Hedren) is a thief who changes her identity frequently. She gets good jobs, robs the safes, then leaves and moves on to the next thing. She soon comes to work for a man named Mark (Sean Connery) who catches her after she steals from him. He forces her to marry him, then when she doesn't respond in the way he likes, he starts to look into her past, trying to figure out what causes the psychological episodes she has.
This was a peculiar movie. I found it very interesting and paced well, but I had trouble with Mark. He rapes Marnie, yet he's also supposed to be her savior, getting to the bottom of her troubles. I felt like the film was trying to say we were supposed to excuse that. I really enjoyed the story, but I couldn't get around the fact that Mark is a rapist.
Performance wise, Hedren is good until the final 20 minutes when she ends up being a bit over the top, but not enough to the point where it distracts from the rest. On the outside, the film hasn't aged well, but the score is very whimsical and sets an interesting tone.
Recommended: Yes
Grade: B
Memorable Quote: "Goodbye, Sugar Plum - Bernice (Louise Latham)
The score...that is all...everything else was so..."who cares?" LOL
ReplyDeleteI couldn't with Mark. That's the thing I found most distracting, but I liked the rest.
DeleteGod I love your writing.
ReplyDeleteI have such troubles with titles that I started this post out already lost but you found me!
Aww, thank you. I'm a shit writer, so reading that made me happy. :)
DeleteYou are not a shit writer. You would have made millions by now if you were the 50 Shades of Crap author:) This is an excellent review in my book. I found him quite the brute and not a likable character at all. Since Hitchcock had a weird obsession with Tippi and loved and abused her, I almost wonder if this is very personal, into the mind of Hitch shall we say. Tippi did go overboard at the end...I wanted to slap her:)
ReplyDeletelmao you're right! I should try my hand in smut. That's a really good point about Hitch, his relationship with Tippi was weird. I don't even think we know the half of it either, and that's worse.
DeleteStill need to see this one myself. I'm really interested to see how far the film goes to excuse Mark rapey-ness.
ReplyDeletelol. They pretend like it didn't happen or that it was totally normal. Despite the fact she tries to throw herself off a ship afterwards.
DeleteI do like this film as I think it is one Hitchcock's quintessential films as I think Tippi Hedren is great in this.
ReplyDeleteNow I need to watch her in The Birds. I've only seen part of that.
DeleteI really like the first act of Marnie (the scene where she steals the money from the safe is a MASTER CLASS in suspense), but the rest is kinda dull. Tippi does pretty well with an impossible part, and Connery is good too, but yeah his character is contemptible.
ReplyDeleteI give Tippi a lot of credit because I'm not sure if anyone could've made that final scene of hers work. lol
DeleteTotally agree - The film isn't bad but Mark and Marnie's relationship is f-ed up. The rape scene is something very difficult to get around, and makes the rest of the movie difficult to watch :/
ReplyDeleteNice review here. I still can't believe this movie got made, and that it isn't discussed more, as it remains so hugely controversial. A major movie star (Connery was already Bond at this point!), playing a character who rapes an American sweetheart actress? Crazy shit.
ReplyDeleteRight? I can't believe I didn't know about that BEFORE I watched it. It caught me by surprise.
DeleteI really need to see this one. I have a Hitchcock coming (Notorious) for me this month. I was looking at what you have left this year, and I am so stoked for you. Two of my all-time favorites.
ReplyDeleteI watched my November one (Guess Who's Coming To Dinner) already and loved it. I hope I love Chinatown just as much.
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