for whom the bell tolls. movie verison.

i went through this hemingway kick earlier in the year because of woody allen's "midnight in paris" and of the four works i read by him, "for whom the bell tolls" is my favorite. i youtubed the trailer for the 1943 film version of it but had no real desire to watch it. then the other day while checking out what movies TCM is airing this month decided to check this out.

first and foremost, this movie is long. 170 minutes long. i know the book is thick but i became so engrossed in it that i flew through the pages. the movie not so much, there were parts where i did stop paying attention. i mean the overture at the beginning confused me, i thought there was something wrong with the library's copy. also there is an intermission. that is how long this is. but i can overlook its length because it stayed true to the book and did not give it a hollywood ending. i was really scared at the end that it would be some overdramatic we live happily ever after story but thankfully it wasn't. but then again who edits hemingway?

the film stars gary cooper ("super duper". . . yes read in a taco voice) and ingrid bergman. this is my first cooper film and second bergman one. i was surprised with the casting. in my head, roberto was younger and maria looked more like natalie portman sans hair ala "v for vendetta". also bergman didn't read very spanish to me. i mean her acting was great but visually just wasn't maria.

also i hate to be mean but i thought gary cooper was horrible. isn't he some hollywood legend? any suggestions for better film of his to see? or is famous cos of his good looks versus acting ability? he is definitely drool worthy but i found him and his acting stiff. and is his voice just too famous cos i thought it was monotonous and expressionless. the voice over at the end made me cringe. i just didn't believe him, he lacked the passion i imagined roberto possessed. that last goodbye to maria did not read sincere.

also what was with all the bad make

up on the spanish? the old man is a great and sweet character but it was hard to take him seriously with the skin tone they gave him. the same thing with pilar. pilar is a strong and important character (katina paxinou won an oscar for her performance, according to the backcover) but the make up made her look silly and exaggerated. which i guess mirrors the character, but still also i pictured her fatter. but don't get me wrong, paxinou deserved that oscar.

like i said earlier i appreciated that the film stayed true to the story. i appreciated the use of "unmentionable", "obscenity" and "spit in your milk" which was taken straight from hemingway's dialogue. i loved the vignette of pilar's memory when they overthrew the nationals. that part in the book had me on the end of my seat. i am also glad they did not shy away from maria's backstory. though roberto and maria's lack of sex was expected (it's interesting to think that if a remake was made now this would be included), i think an important part of their relationship was her ability to have sex with him but in the 40s that would not have been okay with audience. i guess they covered that with the whole "you are the first man i kissed" bit. i also missed roberto calling maria, rabbit.

all in all it was worth the check out. but once again an example of how the book is always better.

ps gary cooper reminded me alot of jimmy stewart. but i love and prefer the later.