Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Alan Bates plays a mysterious, potentially insane man who insinuates himself into the lives of a British couple (Susannah York, John Hurt) claiming his years studying Aboriginal magic have left him with, among other powers, the ability to kill with a shout.Given that I was in film school in 1978 and enamored of any and all films that were enigmatic and aggressively non-linear in their storytelling (the more indecipherable the better), I am rather surprised that "The Shout" somehow got by me. Seeing it now, I can tell that it is just the kind of film that I would have loved as a youthful, elitist film scholar. (As in "The Emperor's New Clothes," many of us who fancy ourselves serious film fans have the tendency, with films like this, to adopt the self-flattering position of: "How could you possibly not understand what this film is about? Go back to your formulaic Hollywood product that spells everything out!" - ignoring the very real fact that self-conscious incomprehensibility was often the raison d'etre of many 70's films and frequently indicated nothing deeper than a willingness to depart from the traditional at any cost).To my adult eyes, "The Shout" is an engrossing metaphysical puzzle. A chilling & superbly acted thriller that is nevertheless cluttered up with so many artsy touches that they serve to undercut the overall effectiveness of the story.I liked the film very much and have watched it twice, but, should you find yourself on the other side of this opinion, don't buy into any of the postings that would have you think yourself a mouth-breathing plebeian if you don't understand it…that's youth talking. "The Shout" is constructed PRECISELY so that it is not easy to understand, and edited in a way that defies the attribution of a single, absolute conclusion being drawn. Like "Don't Look Now," "3 Women" and "Images," "The Shout" is designed to invite differing (sometimes conflicting) interpretations.Whether or not one likes the film is a matter of taste, not intelligence. Perfectly bright people who find it a muddled and ultimately pointless exercise are no less perceptive than those who consider this one of the best films ever made. For my money, I enjoyed its mysteries and ambiguities, but there is no denying that the same film could have been made a great deal more entertainingly (and comprehensibly) without losing any of its spiritual heft.

During a cricket game in the grounds of an asylum, patient Charles Crossley is telling a story to his opposite scorekeeper Robert. He tells of how he came across musician Anthony Fielding outside church one day, and he invited back home for dinner. Over dinner he tells Anthony and his wife Rachael that of his last two decades of living in the Australian outback, where he learned many spells from the aboriginal witch doctors and one being the shout. It can cause instant death when heard. Soon Charles settles into the homestead, where he has Anthony and Rachael under his thumb, as he fears him and she's infatuated by him.Weird, baffling and truly novel passes through my mind whenever I watch this sedately complex, courageous and alienating late 70's British experimental thriller. The way it has layer upon layer, goes on to ambitiously build a minor and gripping structure, which its inspired psychological strangle hold and mystical air takes shape as to how genuine the pieces are and if they do come together. Does it make sense? Well, it's hard to say what the bigger picture means, but it is indeed curiously haunting, daunting and truly unpredictable. The non-linear story and compact script chips away with plenty of cryptic messages inter-cutting the soft, dream-like touch brought on by director Jerzy Skolimowski. He gives the film such an hypnotic appeal amongst its arty brushes, where its swirling electronic score peaks in the right places and Mick Molloy's sublime framing emits elegant photography work. Those scenes involving the 'shout' are lethal, and only increase to the lurking eeriness created by top-notch sound FX. Visually the film has a powerful, isolated and lush setting that works with the story's spiritual and supernatural journey. The three lead performances are sensational, but it's Alan Bates who dominates the show with his startling and obscure turn as the tramp/patient. John Hurt as the downtrodden turned bewitched composer gives in a stellar performance and Susanna York, as his wife is also great. The talented Tim Curry shows up in a small, but effective role.Quite an unusual puzzle, which is strangely compelling, unique and very well made.

I'm always fascinated by the way a country like Britain is presented in a totally different, almost alien way when 'looked at' by a foreign film-maker. Skolimowski is an underrated director, and I've generally been impressed by what I've seen from his work; as a matter of fact, I might be watching three other films of his that I own on VHS - LE DEPART (1967), THE ADVENTURES OF GERARD (1970) and TORRENTS OF SPRING (1989)...The plot of this film (from a story by Robert Graves) is compelling and relatively simple but, handled in such a weird fashion (one might say deliberately), it becomes somewhat hard to take! Still, there's a strong cast on hand: Alan Bates (who has had perhaps the most interesting, if largely unsung career from the British New Wave's flock of "Angry Young Men" - I followed this with one of his early films, THE CARETAKER [1963], via the BFI's R2 SE DVD), Susannah York and John Hurt in the lead roles and, in support, Robert Stephens, Tim Curry and an impossibly young - and thin - Jim Broadbent.Bates and Hurt play typical roles - the former eccentric, the latter bewildered - but their rapport, and the one each shares with York, is what holds the film together. There's also an effective electronic score by two members of the then prog-rock band Genesis (appropriate considering that Hurt plays a musician with a penchant for experimentation with everyday sounds)! The scenes involving Bates' deadly shout are very well handled; its Aborogine connection links the film with another strange contemporary title, Peter Weir's THE LAST WAVE (1977), which I've only watched once but remember liking a lot - so much so that I considered purchasing the Criterion DVD, despite its being one of their lower-tier releases (then again, THE SHOUT is an absolutely no-frills edition but, at least, it was dirt-cheap!).If there's any complaint I have to make about the DVD, it's the fact that the audio level is rather low and, consequently, the dialogue - part heavy British accents and part Bates' whispered delivery - is unintelligible at times (which can become frustrating, given that this is largely a dialogue-driven film!).

And I really do mean 9/10. This film is a superbly made, wonderfully acted, deliberately under-stated fantasy masterpiece. The sense of conviction, of the truth being portrayed even when the paranormal erupts into the world, is unnerving. Yes, the film as a whole is unapologetically high-brow, full of cultural allusions that many will miss (The dry psychoanalytic cracks, the Francis Bacon-inspired compositions, the inversion of Orpheus), but all that can happily be missed without in any way detracting from the film. For those who love metaphysics, the incredible thrill of the possibility of magic, this should not be missed. (The current DVD release, MOST Regrettably, has been sub-optimally re-mixed. However, for those new to the film, it shouldn't matter too much. For those who have, turn that shout up loud!!!)