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Rating:  - Brilliant.
It simply is. Brilliant. Dame Wendy has it all. She's extraordinary, and so's the movie.
Rating:  - I Know Where I'm Going!
When I first set out to watch "I Know Where I'm Going!," I didn't really enjoy it for some reason. I was determined to give it another chance, and this second time, I thought I would just concentrate on Wendy Hiller's performance as Joan Webster. She's so fascinating to watch in the beginning, so resolute, so seemingly sure of herself, throwing a "darling" here, a "darling" there when talking to her banker Daddy. Approaching the film that way, I was able to get into the entire story of this gal with moxie determined to reach Killoran, a Scottish isle. There she is to marry a wealthy British industrialist and be set for life. Inclement weather delays her trip to the isle and she holes up in a village in which she meets Torquil MacNeil. She is soon to find out that Torquil (or Killoran, as he is referred to by the townspeople) is the laird of that isle, her stuffy industrialist fiance merely renting it out.
The colorful locals, her fiance's voice over the telephone, suddenly strange and unfamiliar, and, most especially, Torquil's charm cause her to question her resolve. She prays for the gales to subside to take her away from this unexpected temptation. With a climactic scene at the end in which lives are placed in danger, there is perhaps no doubt in the seasoned movie-goer's mind where exactly this film will ultimately go. But it's the journey that I enjoyed in this movie - the characters, the beautifully-filmed setting - ultimately leading up to which Killoran Joan chooses: Torquil or the isle where her older fiance waits. Watch Wendy Hiller's face throughout, as her Joan transforms from a rather self-obsessed, materialistic daddy's girl to something altogether different. It's a terrific performance and a joy to behold.
Rating: - Powell and Pressburger's Unique Tale of a Strong-Willed Woman's Journey of Self-Discovery
The legendary British filmmaking duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger created a series of sparkling films in the 1940's and 50's, and they worked in such synchronicity that their seamless collaboration has not been replicated until the Coen brothers came along. Their most famous works are probably 1947's Black Narcissus and 1948's The Red Shoes, both dominated by Jack Cardiff's luscious color cinematography. Far lesser known and filmed in a vivid palette of just black and white and shades in between, this lush 1945 romance carries the fresh visual inventiveness (thanks mainly to Erwin Hillier's expert camerawork) and rich dramatic texture of their later works. Written by Pressburger in less than a week, the rather slight story centers on headstrong Joan Webster, a middle-class Englishwoman with a clear-eyed ambition to marry Sir Robert Bellinger, a much older, wealthy industrialist, on the fictional Isle of Kiloran in the Scottish Inner Hebrides.
The film's title refers to her singular determination to get to the remote island, but a gale prevents her taking a boat to Kiloran. Forced to stay put on the Isle of Mull, Joan gets to know a small community whose inhabitants hold values that are quite foreign to her. There she meets Torquil MacNeil, a strapping naval officer trying to go home for some shore leave. It turns out that he is the laird of Kiloran who has leased his island to Bellinger. Gradually, Joan gets immersed into the local populace, especially feeling drawn to MacNeil, but her innate restlessness leads to a hazardous act. It seems a shame that Wendy Hiller (Pygmalion, Separate Tables) made so few films before turning forty as she possessed a youthful Hepburnesque vigor that could have accommodated a number of roles. Her multi-faceted turn as Joan is a strong reminder of her talent. Roger Livesey is a solid match for Hiller as MacNeil, and you can't tell that all his scenes were filmed in London since he was appearing in a West End play at the time. Pamela Brown makes a vivid impression as dog-loving Catriona Potts, a free spirit who owns the lodge in which Joan stays.
The 2001 Criterion Collection DVD is a classy packaging of this old chestnut. It begins with a thoughtful commentary track by film historian Ian Christie. The centerpiece is a 1994 retrospective documentary, "I Know Where I'm Going! Revisited", which follows New York writer Nancy Franklin's journey to visit the actual locations of the film a half-century later. Surviving locals are interviewed, as is 1960's pop songstress Petula Clark, who played a precocious, twelve-year-old girl in one scene. This disc also houses some of Michael Powell's home movies, which were taken during his treks through Scotland and here, Powell's widow Thelma Schoonmaker, Martin Scorsese's favorite film editor, narrates over the visuals. A final extra is an excerpt from Powell's early documentary, "The Edge of the World", about the inhabitants of a similar island faced with the prospect of being relocated away from their home roots.
Rating: - Just like the good old movies because it is!
My father originally saw this and loved it. He watched it again with each of his 3 daughters and actually several more times so we bought it and gave it to him. He has watched it several more times since then and will many mores times, I am sure. It is one of his favorite movies and I agree, it is really nicely done. So I recommend this movie. It is worth owning.
Rating: - Fabulously Entertaining
I'm an old guy and I've seen a lot of movies in my time, including most of the always-interesting Powell/Pressburger releases. But it wasn't until last night that I got a chance to view this one. It's a perplexing puzzle, wrapped in an enigma and shrouded in mystery, as to why this wonderful movie is not (1) better known, and (2) recognized as a certified work of genius. Where have I been all these years? I'm crazy about Scotland--I've bicycled through the highlands and isles--I have Scottish blood in my veins, yet I hadn't really heard much about this film.
I won't attempt to give a plot summary--others have done that admirably here--but I will heartily and enthusiastically recommend this magnificent work of cinematic art. First and foremost it's a romance, and so that might dissuade all you "macho men" from venturing in. But do your wives and girlfriends a favor and take the time to catch this one. There are so many rewarding things about it: visually, you have the absolutely stunning beauty of the wild and windy Western Isles, the craggy peaks and ruined castles, the savage seas, the barren and windswept shores, the mists that creep in off the water.
The b/w cinematography--please don't let that dissuade you from seeing it, just because it's not in color--is simply incredible; it must have taken some real guts and determination to go out and film in those conditions. The always artificial-looking technique of back projection is briefly used during an ill-advised attempt to cross a rough stretch of the sea to the isle of Killairn, but that is a forgiveable sin, since it would have been impossible in those days to even keep a small boat like that afloat during such rough weather, let alone do filming with a circa-1940's camera.
I mustn't forget the delightful and beautiful Wendy Hiller, with those wonderful cheekbones and that insouciant manner; she is as zesty and as mercurial as the Scottish weather itself.
The soundtrack is a treasure. There is a ceilidh (pronounced "kay-lee") scene where there is dancing and music from three Scots pipers, as well as beautiful singing. Don't miss the bewitching title song which we hear when the young girl is on the train to Scotland.
Martin Scorsese appears on the extras, saying basically the same thing as me: he saw the movie years after it had been out and couldn't believe he'd missed it.
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