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Directed by: Robert Hamer Starring: Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood, Alec Guiness x8 “Revenge is a dish which people of taste prefer to eat cold.” For some reason, murder seems to be one of the best topics for a movie. Even from the beginning, film was viewed as an intrinsically immoral and pornographic medium, so why try to fight it? From action shoot ‘em ups to film noir and cheesy slasher flicks, watching people die on camera has always been a strangely satisfying phenomenon. The mix of intimate proximity with the characters and being far removed from the physical action allows for us to live out our bloodlust in a harmless way. It’s a healthy release. Kind Hearts and Coronets follows the career of an amateur killer, Louis Mazzini. Mazzini was born the son of a noblewoman, but because she married a foreigner of modest roots, her family severed all ties. After his mother dies, and the D’Ascoyne family refuses her last wish of being buried in the family mausoleum, Mazzini decides to extract his grudge by killing the entire family off, leaving him to inherit the title of Duke and take back what was rightfully his (and more). At its heart, Kind Hearts and Coronets is a brilliant satire of British society’s obsession with class and constant desire to ascend in social rank. Fueled by his hatred for the D’Ascoyne’s arrogance and the way they spurned he and his mother, Mazzini plots extravagant ways to kill them off one by one, often taking advantage of their own hubris and lavish lifestyles. Everyone in the film is a bloody hypocrite, it’s just a matter of who is more offensive to determine where out sympathies lie. The subjective nature of film makes it easy to guide the audience into identifying with Mazzini as he plots and carries out his schemes against the D’Ascyone family, though he himself is obviously a monster in his own right. Fans of Charlie Chaplin’s daring Monsieur Verdoux will recognize the kind of moral ambiguities at work here. Both films test their audiences abilities to discern moral contradictions and social hypocrisy, Kind Hearts and Coronets by juxtaposing Mazzini with the D’Ascoyne family, and Verdoux by contrasting a murderer to an arms dealer and war profiteer. Neither film makes a distinct moral judgment on its own though, the audience has to come to their own conclusions. Verdoux and Mazzini are similar characters; both are seemingly harmless and polite individuals on the outside but possess a great destructive power that they keep hidden. They also possess similar motivations for their actions. Verdoux kills to increase his personal wealth, while Mazzini kills to further his social standing. In addition, both films were received with some hostility when they first opened, as moralists of the time were offended not only by the notion of having a murderous character in a film, but making him a likeable person. Some people have no sense of humor I guess. The performances of the actors all add tremendously to the movie’s success. Dennis Price carries to film with admirable grace in the role of a murdering up-and-comer on the social ladder. A lot of the film’s exposition is done through voice-over, which usually causes all kinds of flashing red lights to go off, but Price’s tone and demeanor are perfect for this method of storytelling. His voice is so respectful and refined that it’s easy to miss the bitterness and insincerity in every word he says. The juxtaposition of his deliberate words with some of the images shown provides some of the films best laughs as well. His body language is similarly conflicted between his aspirations of high society and his brutal urges to kill. He is able to convey a lot just through his eyes and face, which is helpful in communicating with the audience without disrupting what’s going on on-screen. Joan Greenwood as Sibella is the perfect foil for Mazzini. His attempts at restraint and class are offset by her passionate outburst and melodramatics. She appears flighty and impulsive at first glace, but her actions are all motivated by a dark intelligence, and she is a master manipulator. Near the end of the film, Mazzini says something along the lines of “We deserve one another,” and nothing could be further from the truth. They both share the same ultimate goal of ascending the social ladder, but they each take a different set of stairs to climb. Then of course there’s Sir Alec Guiness, who famously played eight roles in this film. All members of the D’Ascoyne family are played by Guiness, and while none of them are terribly complicated performances, he is able to give each of them an individual and entertaining personality. He’s really a chameleon, transforming not only through his make up and costuming, but in his posture, body language and vocal performance. Kind Hearts and Coronets is a great film for fans of British humor, especially those familiar with the understated and ironic wit of the great Ealing studio. The dialogue is sharp and layered with intricacies, and the performances all deliver entertaining personalities to enhance the humor. The directing style is very modest in comparison to the content of the film, though the flashback structure at the beginning of the film is incredibly innovative for its time. Highly recommended. RATING: 5.0 PROS: brilliantly funny, biting satre, great performances CONS: none ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041546/
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Aug 21, 2004 17:02
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The writing is nthing short of genius. Alec Guinness is awesome played eight parts all by himself (his retired war general guy is best "boom boom boom *BOOM*). By far the best of the Alec Guinness comedies they released around that time (others include The Ladykillers, The Man in the White Suit, The Lavender Hill Mob.) 5.
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Aug 22, 2004 07:00
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By far the best Ealing comedy (and therefore the best of a good bunch) this is also one of my favourite films. I'm really just posting this to back up the original review, as it's spot on. The performances are superb and the script and plot are impeccable. Kind Hearts and Coronets is the ultimate black comedy.
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Sep 16, 2004 15:55
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