Rating of
4/4
Perceptively Brilliant
Pervenia - wrote on 01/15/09
The late Oscar-winning film director, Delbert “Marty” Mann produced a long list of television series’ and films. Among them, “I Married a Savage” (1949), “Anatomy of Fear” (1955), “The First Woman President” (1974), “Night Crossing” (1981), “Lily in Winter” (1994) and many others.
My personal favorite: a film about the personal lives of long-term guests who “stay at a seaside hotel in Bournemouth which features dining at—“Separate Tables” (1958).
To create this masterful, yet unpopular film, writer John Gay teamed up with Terence Rattigan, transforming Rattigan’s play into an extraordinarily unforgettable adaptation of one of the best films ever captured on the silver screen.
While “Separate Tables” has no special effects, the twist is Delbert Mann’s perceptively brilliant and clever cinematography. By the end of the film, the focus shifts from the ever-intriguing quirks and foibles of the characters to its audience, subtly projecting an uncomfortable spotlight onto viewers; leaving us to study our own indiscretions.
The tension that culminates by the end of the film is absolutely maddening.
