May. 12, 2004 - 2:59 pm

cover
Gaslight (1944)

wow, that was a rather long absence. Jill and i were trying to spend as much time together as possible though before she had to leave. we didn't end up watching any movies during that time. she's gone on to Colorado now, so i'm sure i'll catch up on my movie watching with all of the spare time i'll have on my hands now. mom had been recommending that i watch Gaslight for quite some time, so i finally sat down and watched it.

it's about a young lady whose aunt is murdered at the beginning of the film and ends up falling in love with her murderer unknowingly. once they get married and they move back to the home in which her aunt was murdered, he begins to try to trick her into thinking that she is actually insane and that she is always forgetting things and hearing noises that aren't real. it works amazingly well and that gives him plenty of time to focus on his ulterior motives...

i generally liked this film but i thought the basic plot was way too predictable. they never even left any doubt that the husband was the murderer. i found that a bit frustrating at points. other elements of the film help to make up for the shortcomings of the plot though. Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar for her performance and rightfully so. she was amazing as the helpless wife who slowly begins to lose touch with reality. i think part of the thrill of watching this is seeing all of the things they do to drive her mad and knowing that at no point is she actually losing her mind. she's just being convinced that she is.

the movie also has quite excellent cinematography. lots of closeups on objects with intense meanings for the characters, slow pans and tracking moves to help belay the feelings aroused by looking into someone's eyes, looking around a room in an awkward situation, etc.

so i'd definitely say it's a worthwhile film, but it has some flaws as well. it borders on goofyness at points, but overall comes up on top.