MovieChat Forums > The Night of the Iguana (1964) Discussion > Hated this movie

Hated this movie

posted 20 years ago by bregund
27 replies | jump to latest

Are you supposed to like any of the characters? I thought the performances were very good, especially Richard Burton, and the writing was very good as well. But I didn't like any of the characters, they were all bitter, angry, soulless, self-centered people. And the rev's sophomoric behavior at the end of the movie made me hate him even more, spreading lies and urinating on Judith's luggage. Yuck. If I wanted to see that, I would watch a Jim Carrey movie. I wanted to see this movie for years because I kept hearing how good it was, but I'm selling this DVD on ebay.

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] bruce-129 20 years ago

you have a dvd of night of the iguana?

[–] beccaliani 17 years ago

it is available from Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Iguana-Richard-Burton/dp/B000EBD9TE/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1201634747&sr=8-1

Thanks!

[–] bruce-129 17 years ago

Thanks, I did find it and have owned it for a while now.

There are some others I'm waiting on though, mostly:

Chilly Scenes Of Winter
May Fools

[–] blinddoc 20 years ago

Sorry to say this, bregund, but you truly did not understand the film by a long shot. The very message of the film and its "soulless" characters, as you put it, is not to be self-centered. The very scene where Shannon shuts up Maxine when she was about to reveal the "iron maiden"'s lesbianism is as selfless as it gets - so if you don't understand that I would truly urge you to watch it once again. It is one of the most humanistic and beautiful films ever made, i.m.h.o.

Best,
Burnie

[–] txfirebear 20 years ago

Nicely stated. I've just learned over the years that some people find "The Night of the Iguana" to be boring. Maybe, it's just not the right time of life, or maybe they'll never feel the script's power. But for some of us, this movie/play saved our lives. It's a masterpiece of acceptance during a time of Cold War fear (see Dante's "Matinee"), and I've found it's words and themes useful in helping others with depression, oppression, repression, and religious abuse. Recently, in reaction to NBC's listing of the 100 greatest Americans, the sonic artist Moby mentioned Tennessee Williams' name first, before mentioning William Faulkner. I feel "Iguana" is a good piece of evidence as any to support Williams' greatness.

I'm interested in the previous question: "You've got a DVD of "Iguana"?"

Personally, I do because I recorded it off of TMC last summer on a DVD recorder. However, as far as I know, no commercial copy is available. In fact, old VHS tapes of "Iguana" can bring a price of up to 4 or 5 times the original list price. This film is ripe for the DVD treatment. They need to include the documentary, "On the Trail of the Iguana" and a commentary track from Sue Lyon and Elizabeth Taylor (ok, in my dreams).

[–] bruce-129 20 years ago

yeah he urinating thing was over the top, but i think that
is the purpose, people are like that. yes they are.

maybe they do things that you do not find out about, or that
strike you less obvious and nasty than pssing on someone else's
property, but people are like that, and not the people you would
think are.

i'm sorry you did not like the movie, and did not care about the
characters. i guess i could relate to most of the characters
without needing to like them, and most of them were pretty human.

still, you implied that you have a dvd of this movie ... and indications
are that it is not out on dvd, so are you sure you saw the same movie?

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pimp4u 19 years ago

This had to be one of the most BORING movies ever made! The characters had no substance, there was no real plot to follow, the writing was horrible, etc.

[–] mrscifiguy 19 years ago

You should stick to watching only color remakes, with a cast that you are familiar with. Also...ovoid anything but modern mtv-style fast editing and shaky-cams.

As for myself, I'll stick to the classics.

[–] donny-31 19 years ago

Thank you for finally speaking up! I've been just DYING to hear what somebody named pimp4u thinks of John Huston and Tennessee Williams. My world has been rocked. Ode to Joy!

Here's looking at you, kid.

[–] txfirebear 19 years ago

Ow! Such sarcasm stings, Donny. The funny thing is, pimp4u won't be able to understand the tone. It sounds like he's far more interested in making judgements about character, writing and direction than actually experiencing the story. But to give the devil his due, critics have complained about the fragmented storyline and slow pace.

Despite these problems, this film is one of my favorite films, hands down. I think it saved my life.

Peace,
Mike aka TXFirebear

[–] djsnafu23 19 years ago

Thi is one of these movies that I would love to see what popel who really likes it saw in it.

I believe some of the dialogue and character exploration was very interesting indeed- the selfless acts in the scene mentioned above, as well as the nature of the beach boys (remember the fight), the (realistic, yet deeply fdlawed in my opinion) erception of good morals (the driver and opld ladies not only had self-righteousness, but if portrayed in a less caricaturistic way they would have gained the majority of the audience's sympathy as well do the driver's "heroics" and clean looks), so i feel there werre redeeming points and a deeper than usual character study.

however, while the film as a whole was fascinating in its topics, ie the gray nature ofcharacters, what true altruism is, failed love and compromise (the ending) etc, the film itsself in my opinion was unsuccesful. The poster above couldn't have phrased better what I thought watching the film- the story is non-existant and the pacing leaves a lot to be desired (no, I dont want to see car chases and explosions). I think it may have payed itself better if it was a little more theatrical and claustrophobic, if the dialogue wasnt as sparse and everthing happened in one setting, sort of how tape was or the Last Supper, I just fel the dialogue lent itself to a more confined environment with longer scenes.

[–] gioconda 17 years ago

funny donny31.

I was thinking the same thing.

"pimp4U" probably thinks Tennessee Williams is Venus's father!

[–] pogostiks 17 years ago

Anyone who finds this fim boring is either too young or too lazy to understand it and appreciate it.

Tennessee Williams has written some of the most memorable characters into this play... and Burton, Kerr and Gardner have never been better. The photography is luscious, and there are only two moments in the film that really don't work (Hank's fight with the cabana boys and Sue Lyons' whining... but otherwise it gets better with every viewing.

My advice is to see it again in ten years... you might be able to find what you are missing right now.

[–] mptnla 19 years ago

Get outta here!! How can anybody hate this movie? This is one of my all time favs and I just enjoyed it this past week on TCM. I've recommended this movie to friends and had them ask me "what's it about" -- which is hard to answer. Nothing really HAPPENS in the movie, but it's just more of a slice of life/character study. Superbly cast and acted. Richard Burton was brilliant. I don't know if he was nominated for this role, but he certainly should have been.

I thought the urination on the suitcase scene was great, because at that point, his character had lost everything thanks to Ms. Fellowes, and had no shred of decency left to protect. So why not go out with a bang? I thought the best scenes were those between Burton and Kerr, since contrary to someone's earlier comment about likeability, her character was sympathetic -- yet strong, and very likeable. For the rest of the great cast, their "dislikeability" is what made them interesting, and made for this to be one of the best movies I've ever seen.

"Penny I like you too...when you're not burnin' up our furniture.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 19 years ago

The characters in a book or movie do not have to be likable for the book or movie to be good. Truth is, most people that you meet in day to day life aren't very likable either, and it's the job of a good writer, film maker, or actor to convey this somehow. Otherwise all a movie or book becomes is is cheap entertainment and escapism.

[–] walton_n_friends 19 years ago

Erm... none of that happened at the end of the movie. That was more toward the middle.

[–] nosnojsirhc 18 years ago

Typical original poster - waltz into a room, dismiss a movie, never check back.

Anyway, OP's comments are typical for the type of person that was played as the bee-yatch running the bus crowd in the movie. Of course there are people who wouldn't get the movie - they're crammed to far up their own @$$ES to figure it out, just like her character. The 'unlikeable' characters in life let them run around making the world a sour lemon because the 'unlikeable' characters don't want to cause the horrible suffering of pointing out the sour lemon's interior flaws, just as the Rev in the film calls off Ava Gardner from shaking the lemon to her core.

Sleep well, bitter lemons.

It's a great and hilarious movie.

[–] SampanMassacre 17 years ago

im sure the original poster who hated the film, and pimp4U, can both agree on one thing:

SUE LYON!

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!