Film Intros

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

What I recall enjoying particularly about The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) is some sparkling dialogue – laced, in the words of a contemporary critic, with “salty expressions” – and a brooding coastal atmosphere with swirling mist as the backdrop for an unexpectedly touching romance. The late Captain Daniel Gregg and the bereaved Mrs Muir from London find themselves occupying the same creaky old house much to their mutual consternation. As in a number of other well-loved films directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz the leading actors give performances beyond their usual bounds. I revelled in the confrontations and assignations between Gene Tierney as the uncommonly pretty young widow and Rex Harrison as an unusually dapper if irascible sea dog, and I was caught up in their predicament as reality intruded. Third on the bill is George Sanders, an actor I always enjoy watching in these well-scripted classic Hollywood productions. I barely remember his role but I’m sure it involved some entertaining rivalry with the ghost.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039420/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ghost_and_mrs_muir

Hidden

The enviable Parisian lifestyle of an attractive couple – played by my favourite French actor Daniel Auteuil and the ever watchable Juliette Binoche – is tainted by the inexplicable actions of an unknown stalker. The invisible, perhaps imagined persecution, gets to the husband Georges in particular, affecting his behaviour at work as well as towards his wife. He digs deeper, and dangerously, remaining as unprepared as the viewer for the shock in store. Hidden (Caché) (2005) is a Michael Haneke film, designed to make you feel uncomfortable, to experience the “deep-seated collective malaise” of modern society, in this case through the medium of a gripping neo-noir drama. The formidable German-born writer/director achieved even greater acclaim with The White Ribbon (2009) and Amour (2012) but I’ve shied away from these subsequent projects as they sounded too bleak for me. I’m happy to recognise an inspired auteur on the basis of this one brilliant work that exercises the talents of Auteuil and Binoche in their prime.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387898/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cache_2005