Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)

Directed by John Huston. Starring Marlon Brando, Brian Keith, Elizabeth Taylor, Julie Harris, Zorro David, Irvin Dugan, Robert Forster.

Off-key Gothic hotbed of lust and inhibition at a US Army base involving a tangled web of love connections. Brando’s closeted-homosexual major suppresses his desire for a private (Forster), while the private fosters a voyeuristic obsession with the major’s wife (Taylor), who’s having an affair with the major’s commanding officer (Keith), whose suicidally depressed wife (Harris) only gets emotional support from the gay houseboy (David). Might have been given a pass if the film embraced the high-camp value of its melodramatic hysterics, but the filmmakers instead treat it all with deadly, semi-pretentious seriousness; the final camera shot, lurching focus from one of three characters to the next with a scream flooding the soundtrack, is especially embarrassing. A few of the performances help, at least, despite the overbaked accents; Taylor may be quite woeful, but Keith’s loutish hypocrisy commands attention, and Brando finds inventive ways to enrich a good emotional breakdown, whether it’s ostentatious (outdoors) or understated (in a classroom). The picture throughout has been pointlessly suffused with a monochromatic gold tint, though some of the release prints carry the full-color treatment. Adapted from Carson McCullers’ novel by Gladys Hill and Chapman Mortimer; Francis Ford Coppola’s contributions to the script went uncredited. Forster’s feature debut, in addition to being the (uncredited) first film appearance for Harvey Keitel in a background part.

44/100