"Everything seems suddenly sharp and larger than life. The pattern on the playing cards. The bitten end of Brandon's pencil. Hil's flat, sensible shoes with iron studs on the soles. Is this because I am near death?"
Diana Dors is wonderful and this is a great vehicle for her, with high production value and a style to its black and white cinematography. The story just wasn't for me though. At the beginning we see her character murder another woman, and then while on death row, a series of flashbacks help us understand why she did it. Despite the film giving us her perspective, she's hard to like - cheating on her husband, committing the crime of course, and being very cold to her visitors in prison.
The film then transitions to a treatise against capital punishment, "legal murder" as it describes it, at a time when Britain's death penalty was being debated. Making the main character harder to empathize with was one of the points of the film, that even in these cases, putting someone to death is morally wrong. Whether you agree with that or not in all cases, I think tackling such a weighty topic for a film in this period is commendable. However, as the victim of the crime wasn't allowed the benefit of a full (or even partial) characterization, it created an imbalance of sympathies, undercutting the integrity of the film for me. I also wasn't a big fan of the Catholic moralism at the end.
I have to say, the backstory leading to the murder isn't all that enjoyable to watch either, despite Dors' considerable charms. We find out that she's bored stiff by her husband, and begins having an affair with another man (Michael Craig), who soon gets bored of her in turn, and favors another girlfriend instead. Everyone is treating the person who adores them badly, even (apparently) the other man's other girlfriend. Those kinds of stories aren't appealing to me, and here it's times three. There is never a compelling twist that might make it interesting, because the film was concerned about positioning its social message.
Meanwhile, in the prison, the story lags until the end, though I liked the humanity and fairness shown by the guards. The moment of truth brings about philosophical ponderings and Diana Dors really throws herself into the part, but it's notable that there no remorse or guilt expressed about ending the victim's life. Was it more realistic this way, or was the film just avoiding the hardest question in these cases, I wondered. There's a lot to be admired here, but it felt incomplete as a debate on the topic, and rather somber as entertainment.
Diana Dors is wonderful and this is a great vehicle for her, with high production value and a style to its black and white cinematography. The story just wasn't for me though. At the beginning we see her character murder another woman, and then while on death row, a series of flashbacks help us understand why she did it. Despite the film giving us her perspective, she's hard to like - cheating on her husband, committing the crime of course, and being very cold to her visitors in prison.
The film then transitions to a treatise against capital punishment, "legal murder" as it describes it, at a time when Britain's death penalty was being debated. Making the main character harder to empathize with was one of the points of the film, that even in these cases, putting someone to death is morally wrong. Whether you agree with that or not in all cases, I think tackling such a weighty topic for a film in this period is commendable. However, as the victim of the crime wasn't allowed the benefit of a full (or even partial) characterization, it created an imbalance of sympathies, undercutting the integrity of the film for me. I also wasn't a big fan of the Catholic moralism at the end.
I have to say, the backstory leading to the murder isn't all that enjoyable to watch either, despite Dors' considerable charms. We find out that she's bored stiff by her husband, and begins having an affair with another man (Michael Craig), who soon gets bored of her in turn, and favors another girlfriend instead. Everyone is treating the person who adores them badly, even (apparently) the other man's other girlfriend. Those kinds of stories aren't appealing to me, and here it's times three. There is never a compelling twist that might make it interesting, because the film was concerned about positioning its social message.
Meanwhile, in the prison, the story lags until the end, though I liked the humanity and fairness shown by the guards. The moment of truth brings about philosophical ponderings and Diana Dors really throws herself into the part, but it's notable that there no remorse or guilt expressed about ending the victim's life. Was it more realistic this way, or was the film just avoiding the hardest question in these cases, I wondered. There's a lot to be admired here, but it felt incomplete as a debate on the topic, and rather somber as entertainment.