STILL OF THE NIGHT
US, 1982, 93 minutes, Colour.
Roy Scheider, Meryl Streep, Jessica Tandy, Josef Sommer.
Directed by Robert Benton.
Still of the Night gives Meryl Streep an opportunity to act in a thriller and a murder mystery. She is the mistress of a man who is murdered and she goes to his psychiatrist who begins a pursuit of the criminal trail as well as falling in love with her. There are echoes of Spellbound – especially with a dream sequence included in the film.
Still of the Night is not an action thriller. Rather, it is a psychological study with Roy Scheider as the psychiatrist and Jessica Tandy as his mother. The important thing is atmosphere.
The film was written and directed by David Newman with director Robert Benton. They had made some amusing films like The Late Show as well as writing part of the screenplay for Superman: The Movie. However, Benton went much more serious in 1979 with his Oscar-winning Kramer vs Kramer. Other interesting films include Places in the Heart, the gangster film, Billy Bathgate, the nostalgia film, Nobody’s Fool as well as directing Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman in the film version of Philip Roth’s The Human Stain.
1. A satisfying and entertaining thriller? Psychological, murder mystery? The perennial appeal of the murder mystery? Nightmare, horror? Puzzle, clues?
2. The influence of and tribute to Alfred Hitchcock: the references to Spellbound with the psychologist, Vertigo with the nature of the murder and the fascination of the psychiatrist with the blonde, possibly criminal, woman, the observation by the murder victim of Brooke as in Rear Window, the North By North West auction, the potential madness of Psycho, the final climax with its echoes of Rebecca and Saboteur?
3. The New York background, Long Island, the wealthy auction business, Central Park and the muggings, apartments, the psychiatrist's off-ice? The special effects? Shocks? The dreams and their atmosphere, colour? Symbols? The musical score?
4. The title, the opening and closing with the moon? The tone of the first sequence with the car thief and the discovery of the dead body? How clear was the plot, the red herrings and clues, the victim and the flashbacks, the reading from the psychiatrist's file? The dream and its clues?
5. The introduction to Sam. his work. his skill as a psychiatrist, his own personal life and the experience of the divorce? His background as psychiatrist, the influence of his mother? The phone calls indicating his way of life? His reliance on his mother and her wanting to arrange new dates, the meal and discussion about the dream and its meaning? His feeling the pain of the divorce and her endorsement of this? The memories of his growing up and his need to follow Brooke and solve the mystery?
6. Sam's involvement and his obsession? His knowledge of George, reading his file and the importance of the flashbacks? Brooke's sudden arrival in his office and the puzzle about the watch, her hurrying out to avoid the police? The importance for the audience of getting to know that Sam knew a great deal about Brooke? of her relationship with George? The enigma, for instance, of George's looking at the massage? George's reference to Brooke in discussions with Sam as 'your girlfriend'? George's taunting Sam about not asking details of Brooke? Sam's fascination, his impulsiveness to follow Brooke, his susceptibility? His not telling the police or his mother the full truth? His following Brooke, the walk in the park, searching her office, deciding to save her, believing her? Brooke's corresponding to his needs: as psychiatrist, in terms of his relationship with his wife, his apprehensions -the laundry sequence, the importance of going to her apartment - seeing her in the park and following her, the mugging and his behaviour? The experience of the auction and buying the painting, saving her? Professionally and personally unravelling the mystery, commenting on the dream?
7. The initial audience response to Brooke: the Impact of her nervous visit, the watch, avoiding the police, suspicions with her presence at the laundry, her bringing him the gift of the statue? How did she appear in the flashbacks - as coloured by George's retelling of the incidents rather than from Brooke's own point of view? George's cheapening her? The significance of his Rear Window seeing her with the Asian masseur? The phone calls, her ignoring him when he was with the police in the office, her invitation to the auction, her suspicious actions in the office, her busyness on the phone and her efficiency, the counterpoint of her bids and Sam's disappearing from the room, her not killing him when she discovered him - with the audience expecting her to? The escape to her parents' home? The dramatic impact of her long monologue explanation of her life? Explanation of her parents, her emotional tangles, her father's death? The unravelling of the dream and walking through the house with Sam? The confrontation with Gail and the melodramatic ending? The echoes of Hitchcock's blonde enigmatic heroines?
8. The police officer, his warnings to Sam, his investigations, his presence at the auction, the interview with Gail and the irony of his death?
9. Gail and her brief impact in her efficiency, the tour of Crispins, the indication of clues, giving information? Her style and strength? The encounter with the police? The confrontation in the house - the stabbing of Sam, the fight with Brooke and the Rebecca/Saboteur/Vertigo death?
10. George's dream and its ingredients - Brooke's home, his perception of Brooke, the little girl, the fear, the green box and the revelation about Gail? The interpretation?
11. The filming of the auction sequence with this atmosphere, comedy, style, dramatic tension, Sam's disappearance, Brooke's being busy with the bidding and her anxiety?
12. How well did the film work on the level of thriller, psychological study, nightmare? Homage to Hitchcock?
