John Schlesinger's Darling is a film fascinated with surfaces: windows, mirrors, billboards, photographs blown up to cover walls. Its characters are seduced by these surfaces and the illusion of happiness that they promise. But in the end they are destroyed by the realities that lurk beneath them. Perhaps this is best illustrated during a party scene where Diana Scott (Julie Christie) impersonates her friend Miles Brand (Laurence Harvey), an advertising executive, in front of a blank, flickering movie projection as part of a game. It might be in good fun, but it is one of the first and clearest indicators that their relationship is about to go sour. Darling addresses some interesting themes and Christie's performance is incredible. But the film is too bloated. It drifts from one failed set of circumstances to the next. Diana never learns from her mistakes. She just repeats them over and over. She's almost a non-character.
6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment