FIVE MILES TO MIDNIGHT
France, 1962, 100 Minutes, Black and White.
Sophia Loren, Anthony Perkins, Gig Young, Jean- Pierre Aumont, Yolande Turner.
Directed by Anatole Litvak.
Five Miles to Midnight is an unusual thriller made by a veteran directed Anatole Litvak who had been making films since the 30s eg. Mayerling, All that Heaven Allows, the Snake Pit, Anastasia. The film has an interesting combination of Sophia Loren and Anthony Perkins. However the end result, while interesting and entertaining in its way, is not completely successful. Anthony Perkins gives yet another performance as a neurotic young man.
1. Was this a thriller or a psychological study? The audience interest in the themes? The significance of the title and the French original?
2. The contribution of the black and white photography, the angles and trick photography for subjective feeling, the continued use of close-ups for intensity? The strong music and the atmosphere?
3. How well did the film use thriller techniques to involve the audience: the clash between Robert and Lisa, the portrayal of Robert's madness and jealousy, the sense of freedom at his death, the ominous nature of his return and threats, deceit, the confrontation to death, the final madness? Was the plot plausible? Were the characters credible? The build-up of suspense, the interaction of the two characters and the conflict? The atmosphere of menace and fear?
4. How convincing was the film as a psychological thriller, a study of madness and fear? An atmosphere of menace, the fascination of evil and madness?
5. The skill of Anthony Perkins in portraying this kind of madness? How well did he delineate the character of Robert? The initial confrontation with Lisa, the preparation for his death, the question of the insurance and his evil plan, his dishevelled look and hiding in the house, the irony of his playing with the boy, the continued presence of the sense of menace and his hold over his wife?
6. Robert and his playing with power, the inevitability of his eliciting a response of hatred and murder?
7. Sophia Loren's portrayal of Lisa? An ordinary kind of woman, her relationship with her husband and response to his jealousy, being seen in ordinary situations, her relationship with David, seeing her at home, changing because of fear of Robert, trying to pretend that he was not alive and yet trying to cope with him, the task of the insurance, the gradual build-up of fear and the desperation in her killing him and getting rid of his body, her degeneration into madness? How convincing, how frightening?
8. The balance in the portrayal of David and his normality? The irony of his ordinary sequences with those with Robert and Lisa. The audiences making the comparison?
9. The contribution of the boy and his playing with Robert, their games and their symbolism?
10. The film as a psychological thriller exploring disaster and destiny, doom and evil?
