The Worst Film Ever

Best movie ever!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The first must-see film of the year.

VICTIM is an atmospheric and highly suspenseful British crime film that's gone down in history for being the first film to explicitly tackle the subject of homosexuality. Even the word 'homosexual' hadn't been uttered in the cinema until this time. Of course, the theme of sexuality is only part of an otherwise traditional crime story, but it's the bit everyone remembers.The affable Dirk Bogarde expertly channels his own inner darkness for his central role as a lawyer investigating a blackmailing plot which has driven a man to suicide. Derren Nesbitt (BURKE & HARE) is suitably nasty as the guy who makes his living from exposing homosexuality - which, of course, carried a jail sentence in those days.VICTIM is blessed with strong direction from the veteran Basil Dearden who makes a compelling thriller with some starkly lit black and white photography. The supporting cast, which incorporates Sylvia Sims, Dennis Price, and Charles Lloyd Pack, is exemplary. Okay, this isn't the most entertaining film out there - aside from the extraordinary subject matter the story is relatively familiar - but it has gone down in history as a document of its time.

*** SPOILER WARNING *** Racial problems and the Civil Rights movement were major news in the early sixties but homosexuality was a subject no one discussed, not even in whispers. I am not saying that one subject is more important than the other, but for a film of this era to tackle such an issue was not only brave but was considered professional suicide.The network of characters in the film is astonishing, most of them are victims of the blackmail and as Farr follows the trail of victims that lead to the blackmailers we see the effects of what has been done to them. The movie follows the trail, beginning with a penniless man named Barrett (Nigel McEnery). As the film opens, Barrett is on the run from the police for embezzlement and is attempting to get out of London. He tries various sources to gain the money to get out but mostly finds doors slammed in his face. The police close in and catch him in a men's room attempting to flush pages from a scrapbook. The police piece the book back together and find that it contains clippings which follow the career of Melville Farr. Barrett had called Farr but he hung up Farr had spoken to Barrett but hung up on the boy when he called him for help. He is startled when he is informed that Barrett hung himself in his jail cell. Why startled? Farr was in love with him.Farr can't hide the truth especially when a photograph shows up that was taken when he attempted to break off the relationship. His wife Laura, who knows about his past, senses immediately that something is going on and presses her husband to admit to truth. He admits that he never had physical contact with Barrett, that he broke off their affair when he sensed a sexual attraction. She understands that what he felt was stronger and (although the film never states it directly) he is more likely to love a man more than he could ever love her.The way the screenplay unfolds this story is done entirely through words. There are no scenes of gay men cavorting; there are no scenes of sex, debauchery, no scenes of what is being explained. The physical acts of "perversion" are only spoken about, not in an over-the-top manner but in dialogue that is both direct and indirect. We understand what has gone on in the past, and we are given just enough dialogue to understand it but not overstate it. We aren't positive that sex ever happened between Barrett, and Farr but we know that the attraction was there.I was also struck by some of the characters in the film. There are two or three characters who seem accept Farr's past without ever granting an overt approval. There is the police detective who reads the Barrett situation almost immediately and tells one of his young disapproving sergeant that "If the law punished every abnormality, we'd be kept very busy." There is another scene at the very end when Farr's assistant William tells him that he has respected him for 10 years and does not intend to change his opinion. But the most striking is the last scene between Farr and his wife Laura when they agree upon their relationship, but it becomes a moment dictated by their personalities, not by the machinations of the plot.The characters set Victim apart from other films of this type. At the time (and for many years to come), movies about homosexual characters were dark tragedies which had one inevitable conclusion: a grisly death. Here, Melville Farr does not end up dead, does not end up going down the road of his own destruction, he has people around him who are willing to help but never seem overtly willing to accept who he once was.

This is a great British drama. Most of the other reviews focus on the homosexual context of the film, which is certainly important from a social standpoint; however I would like to focus on how great this movie is, aside from the gay angle.What impresses me most about this film is how tight and taut it is. Not a word is wasted. Every actor moves with incredible precision; not a pinky wiggles unnecessarily at any moment. The effect is mesmerizing. The script is fast-paced and constantly moves the plot forward. The camera-work is sublime, masterfully and carefully zooming in here, gracefully panning there; a true masterpiece of art from the director.Dirk Bogarde plays the upper class barrister with the true stiff-upper lip that we associate with the Britain's best class. His wife, played by Sylvia Sims, does not overdo her part as the humiliated wife; this is a role that could easily have slid into over-ripe dramatics, but she is as equally reserved and in control as her husband.All of the supporting cast are top tier as well. The blackmailer, who we meet not too far into the movie, is particularly sleazy and slimy, in a manner reminiscent of some of Dirty Harry's lead criminals. And don't assume you know everything that is going on either; the script has a number of twists and surprises at the end that will leave you very satisfied and entertained - you will be pleasantly surprised at how easily you have been misdirected! There are a couple of delicious ironies in the film. First, look for, in the apartment of the man who is blackmailing homosexuals, a sketch of Michelangelo's (nude) David. Very cute and clever. And second: hey, who is that actor in the tiny role of George, the assistant to the hairdresser? Its Frank Thornton, better known as "Captain Peacock" of the great British comedy, "Are You Being Served"; you will remember that the funniest cast member of that series was John Inman, playing the hilariously flamboyant and openly gay Mr. Humphries! A highly recommended drama.

Being the first English language film to use the big bad word "homosexual," Victim was banned at first in the United States (cue the eye roll emoticon). The film intelligently takes on the absurdity of sodomy laws in '60s England and the blackmailing that was the worst of it by that time. Top marks to Dirk Bogarde who wouldn't be dissuaded from his compelling performance as the star of this picture.Not being one to denigrate the passage of meritorious ideas, I appreciate cinema, as I do literature, for its capacity to influence the collective mindset in positive ways. I have my egalitarian sensibilities to credit for the lofty perspective permeating this review.