This Angry Age
Encyclopedia
This Angry Age' is a 1958 drama film
directed by René Clément and produced by Dino De Laurentiis
. It is an adaptation of Marguerite Duras
' 1950 novel, Un barrage contre le Pacifique. The film stars Anthony Perkins
and Silvana Mangano
. The original novel was adapted again in 2008 by Rithy Panh
in a production starring Isabelle Huppert
.
but he was later replaced by Perkins. Mangano, the wife of the film's producer, De Laurentiis was cast as the female lead.
Clément shot the film in technirama-technicolor. Although he was unable to film in Indochina
, the setting of the original novel, as it no longer existed. Nor could he film in the newly-independent Vietnam
as nationalist struggles continued. Thus Clément reconstructs the setting in Thailand
.
described Clément as "a specialist in that sore of tragedy that evolves from the inability of deeply pained people to face their own feelings." The reviewer also praised the "great pictorial beauty and admirable psychological truth" of Clément's film. The reviewer also praised how the "crumbling of the dam against the assaults of the river stands as an image of what is going on within the family."
The film was also a critical success in France, being lauded as "a complete success, a chef-d'œuvre". Although François Truffaut
did not share this enthusiasm, accusing Clément of instead directing "his career". He added that "For Clément, the essential thing is that the film he is making costs more than the last one and less than the next."
Duras was dismayed by the absence of certain colonial themes that were important in her novel, yet absent in the film. She said she felt "betrayed" and "dishonoured" by the film.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by René Clément and produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Dino De Laurentiis
Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis was an Italian film producer.-Early life:He was born at Torre Annunziata in the province of Naples, and grew up selling spaghetti produced by his father...
. It is an adaptation of Marguerite Duras
Marguerite Duras
Marguerite Donnadieu, better known as Marguerite Duras was a French writer and film director.-Background:...
' 1950 novel, Un barrage contre le Pacifique. The film stars Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
and Silvana Mangano
Silvana Mangano
Silvana Mangano was an Italian actress.Raised in poverty during World War II, Mangano trained as a dancer and worked as a model before winning a "Miss Rome" beauty pageant in 1946...
. The original novel was adapted again in 2008 by Rithy Panh
Rithy Panh
Rithy Panh is an internationally and critically acclaimed Cambodian documentary film director and screenwriter.The French-schooled director's films focus on the aftermath of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia...
in a production starring Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert is a French actress who has appeared in over 90 film and television productions since 1971. She has had 14 films in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and won the Best Actress Award twice, for Violette Nozière and La pianiste . She is also the most...
.
Plot
Twenty-year-old Joseph (Perkins) and his sixteen-year-old sister Suzanne (Mangano) live in the merciless conditions of a hot foreign land with their widowed mother. Their mother attempts to exert a hold on her children by involving them in the family's run-down rice plantation. However the siblings seek liberation, and look for this in their romantic lives. Suzanne becomes involved with Michael (Conte) and Joseph finds a love interest in Claude (Valli).Cast
- Anthony PerkinsAnthony PerkinsAnthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
as Joseph Dufresne - Silvana ManganoSilvana ManganoSilvana Mangano was an Italian actress.Raised in poverty during World War II, Mangano trained as a dancer and worked as a model before winning a "Miss Rome" beauty pageant in 1946...
as Suzanne Dufresne - Richard ConteRichard ConteRichard Conte was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films from the 1940s through 1970s, including I'll Cry Tomorrow and The Godfather.-Life and career:...
as Michael - Jo Van FleetJo Van FleetJo Van Fleet was an American theatre and film actress.-Career:Van Fleet established herself as a notable dramatic actress on Broadway over several years, winning a Tony Award in 1954 for her skill in a difficult role, playing an unsympathetic, even abusive character, in Horton Foote's The Trip to...
as Mme. Dufresne - Alida ValliAlida ValliAlida Valli , sometimes simply credited as Valli, was an Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films, including Mario Soldati's Piccolo mondo antico, Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case, Carol Reed's The Third Man, Michelangelo Antonioni's Il Grido, Luchino Visconti's Senso, Bernardo...
as Claude - Nehemiah PersoffNehemiah PersoffNehemiah Persoff is an American film and television character actor. He was born in Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate.Born in what is now part of Israel, Persoff emigrated with his family to the United States in 1929...
as Albert - Yvonne SansonYvonne SansonYvonne Sanson was a Greek film actress. She appeared in 46 films between 1946 and 1972 and she mainly worked in Italy.-Selected filmography:* Flesh Will Surrender * Campane a martello...
as Carmen - Guido CelanoGuido CelanoGuido Celano was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 120 films between 1931 and 1988.He was born in Francavilla a Mare, Italy and died in Rome, Italy.-Selected filmography:*Rotaie, directed by Mario Camerini...
as Bart
Production
Clément purchased the film rights to the original novel in 1956. The original male lead was supposed to have been James DeanJames Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
but he was later replaced by Perkins. Mangano, the wife of the film's producer, De Laurentiis was cast as the female lead.
Clément shot the film in technirama-technicolor. Although he was unable to film in Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, the setting of the original novel, as it no longer existed. Nor could he film in the newly-independent Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
as nationalist struggles continued. Thus Clément reconstructs the setting in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
.
Reception
The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described Clément as "a specialist in that sore of tragedy that evolves from the inability of deeply pained people to face their own feelings." The reviewer also praised the "great pictorial beauty and admirable psychological truth" of Clément's film. The reviewer also praised how the "crumbling of the dam against the assaults of the river stands as an image of what is going on within the family."
The film was also a critical success in France, being lauded as "a complete success, a chef-d'œuvre". Although François Truffaut
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
did not share this enthusiasm, accusing Clément of instead directing "his career". He added that "For Clément, the essential thing is that the film he is making costs more than the last one and less than the next."
Duras was dismayed by the absence of certain colonial themes that were important in her novel, yet absent in the film. She said she felt "betrayed" and "dishonoured" by the film.