Review of The Beguiled (1971) by Mark P — 02 May 2007

Bit of an odd little film this one - it's interesting and a departure from Eastwood's usual type of roles. Although it's set during the American Civil War, it's not a western - more a (and I don't use the word in its Emo/Borg sense) Gothic melodrama and unfortunately for me that's where it falls down a little - too much melo and not enough proper drama - the plot (which is commendably different) relies too much on contrived situations and emotional responses from the female characters in the film to Eastwood's charming scumbag, the direction emphasises the melodrama by lurching around quite a bit at times and crash zooming in for exaggerated dramatic effect and coupled with a lurid musical score the cumulative effect is rather dis-satisfying for what it in some ways quite a strange and subversive film.