A Walk with Love and Death (1969)

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is possibly Huston's purest film, by no means the most complex, but one in which he is least self-conscious and most able to let the creative process run free. It's the equivalent of Ingmar Bergman's "Virgin Spring", just as "Chinatown" might compare to "Cries and Whispers".Huston's daughter, Angelica, contrary to some reviews above, fits extremely well, is not harsh-looking and unattractive, and is a superb casting. The difference between her looks as a teenager and as a woman are striking, but to call the casting "nepotism" is political correctness gone mad. Huston shouldn't ever be expected to conform to the codes of 21st century Mother Grundies. Assaf Dayan may, paradoxically, have been helped by struggling a little in a language that was not his native tongue in conveying the sheer youth and hothouse growth of the character he's portraying. Contrast his performance as the psychotherapist in "Betipul", the Israeli TV series unceremoniously and unsubtly copied by HBO's "In Treatment". Age changes men as well as women, and in similar ways, even if Hollywood critics disagree.Huston's movie is based on a curious but superb short novel, by a very underrated writer. Hans Konigsberger reminds me in some ways of Milan Kundera. He has the same flat intellectualised style contrasting starkly with the passion of the issues he's addressing. The novel takes about an hour to read and is well worth the effort.Does someone know where I could buy a copy of the movie?

....through the MIddle Ages in France.A voice over warns us: this is the story of a boy and a girl.Something had begun (the Hundred Years War):they had not seen the beginning and they would not see the end.Who would anyway? It takes place in France and it was not meant to be realistic;its closest relatives are arguably Bergman's "the seventh seal" (1957) and Marcel Carné's "les Visiteurs du soir"(1942) .The three works are fables ,the MIddle-Age being an alibi- ,and the three of them feature a stunning ending:the dance macabre in the Bergman's work,the hearts still beating in stone in Carné's and the "return to the sea" in this one.Many of the permanent features of the great director emerge in "Walk": the odd pair (Assaf Dayan is childlike ,naive and chivalrous whereas Huston -who was only eighteen- seems a mature woman who still believes in a society which would survive till 1789! those who fight,those who pray and those who work),the absurdity of any quest (what's good going to Paris?the heroine says.What's good escaping again?),the presence of death (which predates Huston's last film -the Dead- by fifteen years;and A.Huston is in that film too),the stranglehold religion had on the minds and on the souls .The 1965-1975 years were a period of barren inspiration for Huston,they say,but it did provide at least two masterworks :the underrated overlooked "Reflection in a golden eye" which is looked upon as a classic in France and which was very faithful to McCullers' novel and the grandiose "Man who would be king" ."A walk with Love and Death " is second only to these ,being more original than "fat city" and beating hands down the harmless "sinful Davy" and the muddled "Kremlin letter" and "Mackintosh Man" .Beautiful luminous cinematography.

This is a fairly dry, low budget medieval picture by John Huston and starring his daughter Angelica...LOOOONG before she emerged as one of our great actresses. She's very awkward here, and the role is awkwardly written and the whole thing simply doesn't work.I have read some things Angelica herself wrote about this film -- that her father was often not active in her life, and that he wanted to do this film to sort of make things up to her, i.e., allow her to star in something he was doing. Also, that it was made to some degree to piggy-back on the popularity of Zeffirelli's '68 "Romeo and Juliet", which created a brief interest in romance films in medieval settings. That makes perfect sense, but the film "A Walk with Love and Death" doesn't work on any of those levels, unfortunately.A rather sad waste of some amazing talent. Knowing what Angelica has become, you have to wonder what she could have done acting-wise under different circumstances. Also, it's particularly unkind to cast a young woman of her looks -- interesting, but harsh and definitely not "pretty" -- in this sort of role, where her lack of prettiness seems at odds with the character. You can't help but feel sorry for her here! You can file this one under "every dad thinks his daughter is beautiful", right next to Sophie Coppola's debut in "Godfather 3". (And nothing against either amazingly talented lady, but this further proves that nepotism not only is a bad idea, but IT DOESN'T WORK.)

The movie is a thin, episodic journey through a landscape marked by battles and skirmishes and dangers - it doesn't aim for an epic quality (everything is very sparse) nor to analyze the political or social aspects of the situation (except in a brief appearance by Huston himself as a nobleman who's giving up his rank to join the peasants - he's much more vibrant and interesting than anyone else in the movie): actually it's a bit of a mystery what it DOES aim to do. Judged simply as an evocation of pure time and place, it's a bit too discreet and tidy - hardly the kind of attempt to conjure up messy verisimilitude that failed in "Revolution." Huston is fairly interesting and manages to convey both her noble blood and the idiosyncratic attitude that would have led her on this journey. The film's general discretion works against a compelling depiction of passion, and it ultimately seems to have worked its way merely to a teenage idyll of togetherness, which makes it hard to face up to the imminent tragedy. An odd item in Huston's filmography, sometimes exhibiting the awkwardness of a dubbed Continental item.