Vanessa-Redgrave Movie Reviews

I saw this movie years ago and many times since over the years...and, I loved it!

This is an all-star cast including such veterans as Vanessa Redgrave, Donald Sutherland, Richard Widmark, Lloyd Bridges, etc (The list goes on). This is one of the better and more enjoyable espionage and mystery movies I have seen over the years and I remember it well.

A weather research vessel en route in the North Atlantic receives a prematurely terminated radio wave transmission. The mystery deepens when the "transmission" (initiated by a 'known colleague' and scientist) is discovered to be hailing from a remote uninhabited island located in the sub-zero Antarctic waters of the North Sea.

The Plot thickens when the research ship feels compelled to investigate; knowing that the island has been deemed off-limits by the international NATO alliance. The character development is great, unfurling hidden secrets of the island and thereby exposing the different motives of each scientist for being where they aren't supposed to be.

A great movie and another I would love to see (and have requested to other retailers) to be marketed on DVD.

If you can get your hands on a VHS copy, I recommend it highly.

eb - Tyler, Tx

It is so long time since I saw the movie that I forgot about what the story is about. But never the less the movie was good.

THIS IS A STUNNING MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE. IT COULD NOT BE MORE DIFFERENT THAN SCHINDLER'S LIST, AND I FOUND IT MUCH MORE INVOLVING AND CONFRONTING. VANESSA REDGRAVE IS ABSOLUTELY RIVETING IN THE ROLE OF FANIA FENELONG, WHO BECOMES PART OF A BIZARRE ORCHESTRA AT AUSCHWITZ, ALONG WITH SEVERAL OTHER WOMEN. THIS ORCHESTRA IS OF COURSE AT THE MERCY OF THEIR CAPTORS, AND THEY ARE EXPECTED TO PLAY LIKE VIRTUOSOS (LUCKILY, MOST OF THEM ARE), DESPITING THE FACT THAT THAY ARE OFTEN HUNGRY AND SICK. THE WHOLE CAST IS AMAZING AND THERE ARE SEVERAL MOVING AND VERY HUMAN SCENES INVOLVING A FEW OF THE GERMAN CAPTOR'S, ESPECIALLY ONE WOMAN IN PARTICULAR. AS TIME GOES ON, DIVISIONS OCCUR BETWEEN THE (MOSTLY) JEWISH WOMEN MAKING UP THE ORCHESTRA, AND FANIA BECOMES EVERYONE'S MENTOR. (EVEN THOUGH SHE DOESN'T MEAN TO). THE WHOLE FILM IS DARKLY REALISTIC, COMPLETE WITH MOUTH-SORES, SHAVED HEADS, GRIMY FACES AND SUNKEN-LOOKING EYES. A HAUNTING, RIVETING YET (SOMEHOW) UPLIFTING FILM, IT IS STUNNINGLY SHOT, AND SEEMED SO REAL THAT I COULD ALMOST SMELL IT.

Very haunting.Has always stayed in my mind after seeing it over 10 yrs. ago. The horrible part is that actually happened! Who,s to say similar events could not happen again? God help us! Everyone should see this incredible,stirring and factual film.

In 1926 acclaimed English mystery writer Agatha Christie disappeared after her car was found in the countryside. She later reappeared at the Harrogate Spa claiming "amnesia" and unable to explain what had taken place. The screenplay by Kathleen Tynan and Arthur Hopcraft constructs a solution to Christie's real life mystery by suggesting that she followed her husband's mistress to Harrogate Spa. What is intriguing about this idea is the way the treatment has Christie use the skills she presumably used to create her novels, to investigate the potentially lethal electrical apparatus used at the Spa as slimming devices. However outweighing the thriller elements of the film is the romantic approach by director Michael Apted, represented by the casting of Vanessa Redgrave as Christie, Dustin Hoffman as an American journalist following her, the lighting by Vittorio Storaro and the production design by Shirley Russell. Redgrave encapsulates the shy genius Christie who hides in her clothes and her partnership with the dandy played by Hoffman is both the coming together of two oddballs, and the excitement of seeing two great actors complement each other. Hoffman is as aware that Redgrave is Christie though she uses a false name as much as Redgrave is as aware of his awareness. Apted uses this double act of voyeurism of Hoffman spying on Redgrave and Redgrave's Christie spying on her husband's mistress as a demonstration of the public's fascination with celebrity, even celebrity as unwilling as Christie is - at a launch of her book at the film's opening, Christie can barely speak to say thank you for the attention. Redgrave and Hoffman have a delicious moment when she stoops to kiss him in profile, and Redgrave's tear as she half sings They Didn't Believe Me is memorable. Also good are Timothy Dalton as Mr Christie - a role drenched in irony given Dalton's then real life relationship with Redgrave - and Australian actress Helen Morse, radiant as someone who befriends Redgrave at the Spa. As Pauline Kael points out in the review in her collection, When the Lights Go Down, there can be no substance to the mystery theory since it is known Christie was found and her days accounted for - therefore she cannot be seen to harm anyone and particularly not herself. The plot then is about a death scheme that is foiled. And though we know Christie will divorce the husband she returns to, giving him what he wanted all along, and we know that she will not rush to Hoffman because his role is fictional, we question Redgrave's final gift to Hoffman because there is no way it can be used other than as a personal rememberance. Perhaps, as Kael, suggested it would make more sense if Hoffman's role were more the yellow journalist or envious writer, but then that would be a different movie. As it is, it appears merely the parting gesture of people that we don't want to see part.

I watched this video after becoming interested in the actor, Kevin Anderson, a Steppenwolf ensemble member. You may know him as Julia Robert's gentle boyfriend, Ben, in "Sleeping with the Enemy". Well, WOW - he is HOT STUFF as Val in this adaptation. Truly exeptional acting from the *entire* cast. He also sings (gorgeous voice) and taught himself the guitar for this role. He starred in the London production of "Sunset Boulevard" with Patti LuPone.

The ending is truly gruesome and tragic - a REAL downer. The poetic language is beautiful. I was just left in awe of the skills of the actors to pull off such a challenging work.

This video features excerpts from the Met Ring cycle of 1990. Directed by Otto Schenk, with costumes by Guenther Schneider-Siemmson, the cast is quite good: Sigfried Jerusalem (Loge, Siegfried), Hildegard Behrens (a handsome, vocally capable Brunnhilde), and James Morris as Wotan. Jessye Norman is Sieglinde, which works better than one may first think. A special treat is the (now retired) Christa Ludwig as Fricka in Rheingold. (Her vocal gifts and stage mastery enhance this normally underemphasized role, as Kirsten Flagstad did on the Solti Ring for London.) James Levine conducts the Met's house orchestra. This Ring tape highlights Schenk's and Schneider-Siemmson's desire to get away from current staging fads associated with the work. Costumes,sets, and direction all point to the original mythology behind the action, and one thinks that Wagner himself would've signed off on the production. After a half-century of staging the Ring in all manner of ways which worked against the composer's ideas, this is refreshing.

The animation is fine, the voices (including narration by Vanessa Redgrave, Michael Palin as Ratty and Michael Gambon as Badger) are fine, but Rik Mayall's Toad is the reason to buy this hilarious video. It's a shame the first in this series (the 1996 "Wind in the Willows") is out of print, because it is equally wonderful. (Don't buy the 1999 re-issue -- it's edited into three "episodes" which are repetitive and sometimes make no sense.) One quibble: live video "framing" the animated movie, though lovely, seems pointless.

Hey. I'm Win Harrison, but my middle name is 'Towne', named after the Towne sisters of the Salem Witch Trials. My great (great great...) grandmother was Rebecca Towne Nurse. The oldest one of my 3 great great aunts the Towne Sisters. All 3 were accused, only one survived. The survivor, Sarah Towne's story - 'Three Sovereigns for Sarah' - tells the story with horrifying accuracy. Ignorance, jealousy, land ownership - every soul should see it to understand what hatred can do...

There are flaws in this Public Television film. Much of the soundtrack is over the top and more fitting to a Hammer Horror production (though I suppose the material is fitting). The print is so-so, with cheap set-design and cheap lighting duking it out the way only early '80s PBS work could. It is interesting that the '80s was absolutely the worst decade for child performers. This movie proves it - most of the kids in this movie are pretty awful (never as fine as the best moments in 'The Crucible'). But as shaky as the film starts, you can't help but be caught in the hysteria. Most dialogue is in historical record, and this is a worthy film. Highly recommended...

I just returned from a mini vacation to Salem Mass. While visiting the Rebecca Nurse Homestead (my great great..... grandmother) I picked up "Three Sovereigns for Sarah" in the gift shop. Much of the movie was filmed at the Nurse homestead, and I found the movie to be very informative and an excellent account of the Salem Witch Trials. The accuracy of this movie moves you to take pity on the accused and scorn their accusers as it tells the complete story of this tragic event in our history.

True Story: Three Sovereigns for Sarah is a great movie that keeps you intrigued and horrified about the Salem Witch Trials. It's told in a way that helps the viewer to understand what the accused went through. I am a teacher and show it to my high schoolers when we study the Salem Witch trials. They love it!!! They like it much better than The Crucible, which is good but not accurate.

Frederick the Great sums it up beautifully at the end of this magnificent movie when he comments that this "frail, young slip of a girl has won herself an empire, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Against all the odds, that is what she has done." I have always been fascinated by the bold outlines of the Catherine saga -- how she was shipped across a continent as a teenager to audition for marriage into a family renowned for its violence, how she was wed as a pawn of international politics to a strange youth who would emerge a mad sadist with autocratic power, how she survived and, although a woman and not of Russian stock, wrested a throne from the blood descendants of Peter the Great to become the dominant monarch of her age.

But how? And why? Until time travel is conquered, we'll probably never know all the answers. Meanwhile, though, this movie stands as the best "it could have happened this way" presentation of what might have lain behind the momentous historical facts. Even when there is a descent into bald speculation, such as with the non-Romanov paternity of Catherine's son, the speculation is based on a credible interpretation of known events and tracks what many court gossips suspected at the time and some historians have surmised since.

The icing on the cake of an intelligent script in the hands of talented actors is that these guessed-at events are filmed in the actual settings against which the real events played out. Sure, the palace was rebuilt after WWII more in its 19th-century garb than its 18th, and there are a few shots from Peterhof that are presented as being on the grounds of the Catherine Palace. But who cares? The sense of the grandeur of the age and the overwhelming luxury that still cannot squelch shabbiness of spirit remains intact. You'll find few, if any, historical dramas better done than this one.

I had ordered this movie used, it was in excellent condition & fast dilivery.

I was in high school when I first saw it and fell in love with the hunky Count Orlov! This is a passionate five star romance
that I would recommend to anyone. I am hoping that this will
come out on DVD soon! It has beautiful costumes, the actors
are very good and the soundtrack is gorgeous!

Great movie on a topic that is not covered in most history books or films--romantic relations between American soldiers and British women in WW2 England. It's historically accurate as well as poignant. 'Yanks' is probably my one and only favorite Richard Gere film and definitely my favorite Lisa Eichhorn film (had a crush on her after seeing this movie, though I was only a teenager at the time!). Could have probably done without the New Year's party riot sequence, but it still portrayed where Americans and British can have distinct differences of opinion.

To me, this ranks up there with 'Summer of '42' as a fine romantic war movie. Can't wait for the DVD!

The film covers the impact on a small yorkshire town of the arrival of american GIs from 1942 to 1944. The main thrust is that of a love story rather than a war film.

Although the writing is not going to set anyone on fire with excitement, the subject and the emotions of the characters are handled well. All the leads (Gere, DeVane, Eichorn, Redgrave) are at their best, although Eichorns performance does show some signs of the fact it is her debut.

The film works as entertainment rather than art, and is more an interesting study of the impact of loneliness than as a historical piece. In essence, the film could have been an hour long and acheived all that it does. Having said that, it can hold your attention for the full runnning time, and only one or two scenes are really unnecessary (such as the racist fight scenes at the dance).

Overall, I quite liked this film, and it was quite refreshing to have Yorkshire accented English people alongside Americans (although Eichorn's accent is terrible!) rather than the ubiquitous cockneys we usually get.

My main criticism is that it would work better on TV, by which I mean it is too fragmented. For instance the relationship between Redgrave and her son at school and the effect of an absent father figure, is touched on but not fully explored. The characters could have been much better exploited in this format, giving the audience more opportunity to care and become involved. Mini-series, people!

It was also a shock to see that the film was produced in 1979. Watch it, and wonder why a lot of american films of the same time are so shoddily produced.

Wow, I don't know where to begin. I always wondered where the days went, when a man would kiss a woman and she would lift her leg behind her. As a man who is married with two young kids, I found this movie to be beyond romantic. I pursued my wife in college with the same vigor as Matt (Richard Gere) pursued Jean (Lisa Eichhorn). In an odd kind of way my wife resembles Jean, a naive beautiful woman whom I decided that I could not live without. As a self-proclaimed romantic and one regularly read Frost, this movie captured my heart. I can't stop talking about the subtlness of the love between Matt and Jean. Also, I found Helen (Vanessa Redgrave) and John (William Devane) to be absoulety devine, their story touched my soul. Specifically, toward the end while she was in the church. The ending of this movie is a marvel, I can only hope that it is nominated or re-nominated for an Oscar... Thank you Matt, Jean, Helen, and John, thank you for allowing Love to be so Real.......

Frost once said, " Love is the irrestible desire of being irrestibly desired". I'm a life long fan...Thanks

I really loved this book because there was a lot of action. Mr. Grahame is wonderful in the way that he combines people and animals so flawlessly. All of the characters are extremely realistic.
Mr. Mole and Mr. Rat live by the river and are best friends. One of their other friends is Mr. Toad. Mr. Toad is what many people call vain but what I call stupid. He flits from fad to fad, never once doing something for more than a week at a time. Currently, he is absolutely obsesed with motor-cars. When Mr. Toad steals a motor-car and ends up in jail, the weasels take over his home. It takes all of the animals help to win back Toad Hall again.
Anyone who enjoys a a great fantasy story will love The Wind in the Willows. However, I strongly recommend this book to the lovers of the Redwall series and Tailchaser's Song.

This is a rare and beautiful book. I read it when I was a child, and the characters stayed in my heart, where they are to this day (even the irrascible rascal, Toad). The descriptions of their homes and surroundings are beautifully drawn, and the way Grahame described the picnics and their meals was vivid, appealing to the senses. I always wanted to be invited! There is an honesty and integrity in Mole, Rat and Badger, making them likeable, even with their quirks. The plot is delightful, not saccharine, and is fast moving enough to keep a child's interest up. The humour is there, too, in Toad dressing like a washerwoman and his antics in the motorcar. The lessons are subtle, not at all preachy. To this day, this remains one of my favorite books. Even thinking about it brings a smile. Do your child and yourself a huge favor, and read this charming treasure.

Maybe there is a certain nostalgia associated with this book for me because it was one of the first "full-length" books that was read to me as a child. Also, because I still have the battered-copy that used to be my father's (along with his notes in it). Actually in his hippie days he was in a band called Wind in the Willows and that's how he found the book.

However, nostalgia aside, this is in my opinion of the best children's books ever read. The underlying moral and religious themes are rather subtle and the reader can take what they want from this book. I can't describe what it has meant to me but the "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" chapter seems to capture better than any other piece of literature the awe and mystery of religious experience (and this is coming from a rather non-religious person). The whole book seems to capture the sense of wonder that is associated with childhood. Read it to your children -- they will stay interested because of the twisting plot and memorable characters. Or read it as an adult and you will perhaps appreciate the subtle and complex allegory of this masterpiece.