MovieChat Forums > Last Embrace (1979) Discussion > This film is one of Demme's most underra...

This film is one of Demme's most underrated

posted 20 years ago by CalDexter
16 replies | jump to latest

You must see this film, it isn't a Hollywood edge of your seat thriller, but a well made drama in the Hitchcock Tradition. Roy Scheider and Janet Margolin are superb in this film, and there are cameos from Christopher Walken and Charles Napier. You can't get it on DVD yet, but it damn well should be. The acting, music and photography are all first rate. I was suprised that no one is talking about this undiscovered gem, as it was directed by Jonathan Demme who made Silence of the Lambs and recently, The Manchurian Candidate.

It deserves controvesy on a Message board. Whos seen it?

[–] jbm27 20 years ago

Please tell me more about this film. I am a huge Scheider fan and Demme fan so let me know if its worth seeking out.

[–] CalDexter 20 years ago

Totally recommend it to you jbm27, by the way, it isn't an action packed Hollywood no-brainer, but an intelligent drama thriller, Scheider is great in this, playing the same sort of character he played in Marathon Man (Masterpiece). The music and photography in this film is superb also.

Scheider plays a Government Agent on holiday with his wife, when she is killed in an attempted shootout hit on Scheider. This causes him to have a nervous breakdown and after returning to New York he discovers that someone or some organization want him dead. The film is full of twists and turns, i have'nt seen a modern day 'thriller' that is like this one. SEE IT!

[–] a-ahb 19 years ago

The closest comparison I can think of is David Mamet's Homicide. Another near-perfect yet underrated thriller,

[–] Jake23 18 years ago

Just to say I saw this on TV for the first time last night - it was on dead late but, largely initially because of the excellent RS but then because of the thriller plot, it kept me up. Very many big nods and winks to Hitch - I spotted Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, and that was half asleep at two in the morning.

Also, wasn't sure what to make of the dreamlike quality of it - like the whole movie from the end of the first scene on takes place in Scheider's head? At one point in the cemetery he walks over a path that has the word "Dreamland" written on it - maybe he too died in the shoot out, and this is his journey through a hellish afterlife where he will perpetually be on the run and/or losing the thing he loves. Just a thought....

Will tell my pals about it anyway - good to have a decent movie with intelligence that doesn't require a massive explosion every five minutes, a helicopter every ten, and a montage sex scene in the middle.

Jake

How come you never came to see me, all that time I was away?

[–] emmas_place2003 18 years ago

I also saw this film for the first time a couple of days ago. At first I didn't think I was going to like it - it seemed full of cliches but it had me hooked!

I too noticed alot of similarities or "winks" to Hitchcock (my favourite director):

Vertigo - the scene in the cemetery and the church tower and finding out that someone isn't all they seem to be
Psycho - shower scene
Saboteur - the final scene
Foreign Correspondent - the scene on the platform at the train station
Dial M for Murder - the scissors on the table
Family Plot - the scene in the department store

[–] Jake23 18 years ago

Brilliant - well done. I'm not a Hitch afficionado, I have to confess, but did recognise some of the obvious nods and the overall styling at points - e.g. the shot from above when he goes into the tower, a la the detective at the foot of the stairs in Psycho, and the other "god" shots. It probably initially reminded me of Brian de Palma, which then let me put two plus two together given BdP's various homages to The Master...

Changing the subject, Have you seen Something Wild by J Demme? It was one of Ray Liotta's first movies, and he is terrifying in it as a young psycho, without going into pantomime Christian Slater territory. It was on (UK) TV a couple of weeks ago - I wonder if there is a sneaky late night season thing happening.

How come you never came to see me, all that time I was away?

[–] emmas_place2003 18 years ago

No I haven't seen Something Wild, I only know Silence of the Lambs and had heard of Last Embrace because of the nods to Hitchcock which was why I watched it... I've seen Carrie and Dressed to Kill by BdP. I thought Dressed to Kill had the same sort of "dreamy" quality you mentioned as Last Embrace.

[–] Jake23 18 years ago

Absolutely right re Dressed to Kill and dreamlike quality. So which Hitchcock films have that (assuming that's the common thread of inspiration? I've never seen Marnie, but I understand it's pretty much psychological. Vertigo certainly has its fevered sequences.

Have you seen Snake Eyes by BdP? It has a bravura single take opening shot lasting about seven minutes - again, I understand it is a tribute to AH (a la the start of The Player), but not sure which one - any clues?

How come you never came to see me, all that time I was away?

[–] emmas_place2003 18 years ago

I think The Trouble with Harry, Vertigo, Marine have a dreamlike quality but this is no doubt helped along by a playful (The Trouble with Harry) or haunting score by Bernard Herrman. Even The Wrong Man and The Birds have a certain unnerving quality because of the nightmarish situations the lead characters find themselves in.

Haven't seen Snake Eyes or The Player so can't help you there I'm afraid.

[–] CalDexter 18 years ago

Its good to see people are discovering this movie again. The ending gets me all the time....Was Harry trying to save Elle at the end, more for Love or to bring to Justice? Its a film that ends full of questions.

[–] heyuactor 11 years ago

Its a film that ends full of questions.

Long ago you wrote that but it's still true. I'm going to rewatch this because maybe I missed something. It bothered me, the ending, it felt unsatisfactory. In Vertigo the ending was weird but more satisfying for some reason.

"Did you make coffee...? Make it!"--Cheyenne.

[–] sarchiorama 17 years ago

every time this is on I watch it even for janet margolin's sexual antics

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] EliotTempleton 10 years ago

Too many references to Hitchcock here; granted, when he was good, he was very, very good, but there are lots of his films where there isn't a moment of genuine suspense, which is why I'm always puzzled by his title as the "Master of Suspense". This is a great movie on its own, without referencing Hitchcock or even De Palma, so why not enjoy and praise it without comparing it? Somewhere on this board someone commented that the Rozsa score is some big Hitchcock connection, which is pretty laughable, since the only Hitchcock move that Rozsa scored was Spellbound, which is, by the way, a huge dog of an over-rated film.

[–] joonas5883 9 years ago

I HAVENT SEEN IT
AND IN FINLAND IT HASENT SHOWN ONCE

[–] joonas5883 9 years ago

dvd...andy dvd exist