Yeah, I’ll be going a lifetime back in cinematic history. I started watching this movie before having to medicate out, but considering the year of its release, it really must have been making some virtuous point regarding feminism and just how oppressive men can/could be; when bound by simply by marriage but neither income, integrity, nor even mutual respect/attraction.
The storyline follows what I suppose is the comradery of a headmaster’s old mistress and newfound wife, the latter of which displays much more empathetic qualities than either of the elder pair.
Whilst this film orientates around their conspiracy to murder the headmaster to be free of his evidently abusive tendencies, the motive for their ruse is made all too evident and reminds me of I Spit on Your Grave, albeit not to the grotesque levels of the original or remake – it has more humanity to it.
Whilst I have no intentions of being an activist of any form in my ramblings, the historical tyranny imposed upon women is made clear from the very beginning of the film, and the victim of the two protagonists is all too deserving of such a fate. I’m going to continue watching the latter half of this flick now, I’ll get back to you.
Twenty minutes before completing this movie, I feel I must note upon the generational differences in how one is to regard women in an all-boys school; with the pupils themselves having more sensitivity than the headmaster did himself were the feelings of his wife/their teacher were concerned.
The way in which women were encroached upon physically, be it in the small things up to the point of rape is also quite startling in a movie this old. It’s resonant with the societal norms of the past and the imperfect progression of the present.
This was more than a simple whodunnit and considering the time of its release, the levels of manipulation employed by certain parties throughout justify the esteem in which both reviewers and audiences hold this film. It also doesn’t work to villainize all men of the older generation and concluded on a point much less depressing than I envisioned, thankfully.
Antiquated cinematography has a certain darkness to it, beyond that of the limitations of the past. This film really did a good job of portraying gaslighting of the utmost extremes and I have little more to say about it without sounding contrived, other than that I definitely haven’t seen enough horror movies.
Thanks for reading, as always – I’ve missed you…
Sedlo