Suddenly, Last Summer [DVD] [2002]

when Joseph Mankiewicz decided to direct this autobiographical play by Tennessee Williams he should have been warned about all the thorns in the road to artistic consummation but despite all the obstacles he has succeeded in creating an extra-ordinary masterpiece which exceeds the original from Williams and is the first mature look by Hollywood mainstream on the taboo subjects of closeted homosexuality ,cannibalism ,paedophilia and the extremely controversial subject of therapeutic lobotomy .

the bizarre tale involves an extremely wealthy and patronising American widow violet Venables who is grieving her dead son Sebastian who died an alleged accident somewhere in the mediterranean on a vacation suddenly last summer ,while accompanied by his gorgeous young cousin .
Mrs.Venables has hired a young neuro-surgeon with the sole purpose of having her distraught niece lobotomized for her incoherent and hysterical utterances regarding the circumstances of Sebastian's demise ,since she wants to protect her son's tarnished reputation which will be destroyed if the claims of her niece are regarded as the veritable truth .

the plot is almost borrowed from William's own life and GORE VIDAL rewrote the script where he gave the whole issue a very relevant and crucial tinge of truth while almost creating a literary script of immaculate superiority .

the sycophantic direction by Mr.Mankiewicz combined with the revolutionary musical score by BUXTON ORR ,the haunting black and white visuals by Jack Hildyard and the almost surreal art direction comprising the sequences from the exotic tropical house-garden of sebastian ,the lunatic asylum where the young woman is imprisoned and finally the harrowing sequences from the mediterranean seaside resort are ground breaking cinema .

Montgomery Clift as a the rather sceptical surgeon empathising with the hysterical but brilliantly neurotic Elizabeth Taylor in her first great performance on screen are hypnotic to watch ,particularly as taylor delivers her exquisitely penned dialogue with sheer contempt of any authority as if she is in a surge of passionately artistic creativity unparalleled in her latter life .

the Venables woman is played with a contempt for the rest of humanity by an enchantingly aloof yet elegantly chilling KATHERINE HEPBURN ,who will go to any length to protect her son's past reputation even if she has to destroy the lives of those close to him to annihilate the truth and her dramatic outbursts are nothing less than superb from the entry to exit in every minute detail as she dresses like a diva and walks her deadly walk leading the rest of cast like a predator out on a hunt and the calm venomous biiter grieving woman is one of hepburn's great achievements .

there are more memorable sequences here than in any dramatic adaptation of a stage play ever with Taylor and Hepburn vying in a state of art text book display of acting prowess and that alone makes this utterly memorable for eternity as great art and also a tribute to the writing expertise of gore Vidal and the master class execution by Mankiewicz particularly of the great predatory hunt through the streets of a sun drenched mediterranean town in the wordless final montage .

the fact the making is steeped in the most controversial shooting circumstances involving any movie ever made with Clift's homophobic persecution by the producer Sam Spiegel and Taylor's and Hepburn's on and off screen love -hate relationship while mutually protecting their mutual gay friend Montgomery clift on the sets has made this into a great legend which will be remembered as long as cinema is liked and it lives as an art form on planet earth itself .
The oddest thing is that sebastion the gay protagonist who is the focus of drama here is never shown in the movie and in a very inventive manner the dirctor has substituted his presence with the camera itself and that is a unique achievement in cinema .

script -GORE VIDAL
PLAYWRIGHT -TENNESSEE WILLIAM
MUSIC -BUXTON ORR
DIRECTOR -MANKIEWICZ
CAST -KATHERINE HEPBURN -MONTGOMERY CLIFT -ELIZABETH TAYLOR

An adaptation of a Tennessee Williams play, this film is a clash of two characters, the rich widow Violet Venable (Katharine Hepburn) and her niece (Elizabeth Taylor) over what happened to Sebastian, the son of the older woman when on holiday in Spain with his cousin. If nothing else this film is worth for Katharine Hepburn alone. She gives one of the performances of her career (and one for which she got an Oscar nomination), even before she appears on the screen, her voice being heard as she descends in the lift - you'll never be able to forget it.

Quite daring for its time, I still find it a powerful story, and it ranks high among my favourites. The performances from the two ladies and Montgomery Clift and a strong direction from Joseph L. Mankiewicz have managed to avoid it to age, despite the topics it touches (homosexuality and mental illness). The DVD presents the film in a rather good copy, although not comparable to more recent black and white releases such as the restored "Casablanca", with some extras of no consequence.

"Suddenly Last Summer" (1959) is a strange, dark movie, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and based on a play written by Tennessee Williams. This film touches many subjects that where highly controversial at the time it was made, for example mental illness, homosexuality and cannibalism. Truth to be told, a lot is to be inferred, and not much is shown. However, the fact that the characters hardly ever mention things that so obviously have to do with what happens makes those themes stand out even more.

The central question in this movie is, of course, "what happened last summer?", and the spectator will be immediately drawn into the mystery. Unfortunately for us, the only witness to what happened is Catherine Holly (Elizabeth Taylor), a beautiful and traumatized young woman who became mentally unbalanced after witnessing the death of her cousin Sebastian Venable. Her aunt, wealthy Mrs. Violet Venable (Katharine Hepburn), thinks that Catherine should be lobotomized. That is the reason why she urges neurosurgeon Dr. John Cukrowicz (Montgomery Clift) to perform the operation. However, Dr. Cukrowicz believes that his patient may not be mad, after all, and that Mrs. Violet Venable might want the lobotomy in order to destroy Catherine's mind. But what does Cathy know? What happened last summer?

On the whole, I think that you will like this movie, if you don't mind the somber tone that pervades it. Recommended!