*****
Adroit adaptation of Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac's novel The Living and the Dead sees acrophobic James Stewart hired to keep an eye on suicidal Kim Novak and falling in love with her. A mystery-thriller with supernatural overtones: Novak believes she is the reincarnation of her great-grandmother, who killed herself years before. An adult thriller on every level, this fascinating and unpredictable movie gets better with each new twist. By no means universally acclaimed on its initial release (with Variety's "Stef." going so far as to give away the last minute of the film, before tossing the whole thing off as "only a psychological murder mystery"), it was widely praised on its 1983 reissue and is now seen as one of the best movies ever made. With terrific performances all around, unflinching dialogue, and several standout scenes, including a haunting (and humbling) sequence among California's aged redwoods.
Adroit adaptation of Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac's novel The Living and the Dead sees acrophobic James Stewart hired to keep an eye on suicidal Kim Novak and falling in love with her. A mystery-thriller with supernatural overtones: Novak believes she is the reincarnation of her great-grandmother, who killed herself years before. An adult thriller on every level, this fascinating and unpredictable movie gets better with each new twist. By no means universally acclaimed on its initial release (with Variety's "Stef." going so far as to give away the last minute of the film, before tossing the whole thing off as "only a psychological murder mystery"), it was widely praised on its 1983 reissue and is now seen as one of the best movies ever made. With terrific performances all around, unflinching dialogue, and several standout scenes, including a haunting (and humbling) sequence among California's aged redwoods.
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