I was intrigued to see this movie when I came across it on Amazon (sadly out of print) some years ago. When I recently acquired a DVD copy, I found it is even better than I imagined it would be.
My overriding assessment of a movie depends on the atmosphere it creates. Lolly Madonna has atmosphere in spades. All the ingredients - acting, script, sets, photography, music and direction - contribute to a movie that is greater than its parts. Other reviews refer to its Vietnam association. At this remove (50 years) from that time - which I well remember - that is no longer an issue. To the modern viewer, it is just a staggeringly good film that completely takes you into the lives of these people. It's great to see Steiger at his menacing best and Robert Ryan as the stoic hard man. Young Jeff Bridges almost upstages them. Every character in the movie is fleshed out - even the smallest role is given the spotlight at one time.
Given the story is an old one - family feuds (probably older than the Capulets and the Montagues) - the viewer could easily tire of such a one story movie. But the script has multiple layers as it exposes the characters and their motivations.
The finale is almost operatic in its almost total and mad destruction. The end credits are so imaginative - a perfect representation of the skill and inspiration that make this movie so powerful.
My overriding assessment of a movie depends on the atmosphere it creates. Lolly Madonna has atmosphere in spades. All the ingredients - acting, script, sets, photography, music and direction - contribute to a movie that is greater than its parts. Other reviews refer to its Vietnam association. At this remove (50 years) from that time - which I well remember - that is no longer an issue. To the modern viewer, it is just a staggeringly good film that completely takes you into the lives of these people. It's great to see Steiger at his menacing best and Robert Ryan as the stoic hard man. Young Jeff Bridges almost upstages them. Every character in the movie is fleshed out - even the smallest role is given the spotlight at one time.
Given the story is an old one - family feuds (probably older than the Capulets and the Montagues) - the viewer could easily tire of such a one story movie. But the script has multiple layers as it exposes the characters and their motivations.
The finale is almost operatic in its almost total and mad destruction. The end credits are so imaginative - a perfect representation of the skill and inspiration that make this movie so powerful.