Review of The Landlord (1970) by Private U — 23 Nov 2007

"The Landlord" (1970) tells the story of Elgar Enders (Beau Bridges), a 29-year-old from a family of means who plans to demolish a Brooklyn apartment building he purchases and, in its place, build a luxury home.

There's just one problem: He gets to know the tenants and has a change of heart. And from there, Elgar's path takes a drastic turn from that which his family would approve. He becomes the landlord of this tenement; dates a woman of color; has a night of passion with a married woman of color; and becomes the father of an interracial child.

Race, obviously, plays a major role in the film. Elgar's mother, Joyce (Lee Grant), is bigoted; Fanny (Diana Sands), the woman he has an affair with, is married to a black activist; and Lanie (Marki Bey), the woman he's dating, is of mixed race (her mother is Irish, her father is African), and she has experienced reverse racism.

The film offers no overt moral or lesson, but the cinematography and some editing techniques give hints to what messages we might glean. For instance, this film -- like many during its era -- has a lot of jump cuts.

Some juxtapose the difference in classes, others aren't easily discernible. One thing is certain: Elgar Enders starts out as a spoiled kid mooching off his parents, but ends as a liberated man whose political consciousness not so ironically is in tune with the struggles of the '70s.

Bridges' nuanced performance as Elgar -- not to mention layered portrayals by Sands, Grant and others -- and a nice dose of comedy -- make this one must-see art house flick.