Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0004294, Sun, 25 Jul 1999 14:56:54 -0700

Subject
Re: Skowlimowski's film and KING, QUEEN, KNAVE (fwd)
Date
Body
> I wonder if the person who wrote this actually saw the movie. It is an
> atrociously dated piece of cinematic barbarity that easily makes my top
ten of worst
> movies
> ever made.
>
While I rather tend to agree with Peter Kartsev, Skolimowski is not
untalented by any means. Certainly, though, this film is poor, if not
completely with merit: John Moulder Brown is at least properly cast (and
rather funny in a moronic way) as Franz (though Niven and Lollobrigida are
both absurdly wrong on a number of counts). And, frankly, it is as watchable
as Fassbinder's dreadful DESPAIR (which, I admit, may have a slight aesthetic
edge). One is prepared for LAUGHTER to be, of this series of three, the
worst, if only thanks to the presence of the almost always dreadful Nicol
Williamson. (I haven't seen it.) It is curious to think that each these three
directors -- none without major good films to his credit -- may have embarked
on his project and realized midway the utter hopelessness of translating
anything essential of the Master to the screen. The one thing they seem to
have in common is a certain desperate directorial listlessness.

Christopher Berg
Tentender@aol.com