Review of The Miracle Worker (1962) by Timmy S — 22 Aug 2012

Much like the word, âepic,â? âintenseâ? is a bit overused these days. As in, âMan, that burger was INTENSE.â? If something were truly intense, then you likely would be exhausted after experiencing it. Hang-gliding is intense. Childbirth is intense. Train wrecks are intense. And most of the time, watching a movie is generally not an intense experience. I sat through The Expendables 2 without breaking a sweat. I laughed at how dumb it was, but I never felt overwhelmed by it.

In The Miracle Worker, the Keller family enlists Annie Sullivan, a previously blind young Irishwoman, to be Helenâ(TM)s governess in order to try to instill some civility into the deafblind wretch. Watching Sullivan wrestle with Keller for eight minutesâ"trying to force her to eat with a spoon, getting splashed with water, diving across tables to restrain the feral little girl, repeatedly being slapped in the face, all while wearing a pinafore and dressâ"that was intense.

The main reason why this particular scene was so blistering to watch is because Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, who won Oscars for playing Sullivan and Keller, so completely inhabit the roles. They had previously performed the parts on Broadway, and often that is a hindrance in the transition from the stage to the screen: by the time the actors are working in front of a camera, theyâ(TM)ve allowed themselves to become complacent. In this case, though, Bancroft and Duke have disappeared into the roles even further. When you watch Sullivan trying her hardest to touch the incorrigible Keller, you really feel that it is these two characters interacting, not simply people pretending.

The other strength of the film is the direction of Arthur Penn, who would go on to change American cinema as we know it with Bonnie & Clyde five years later. As I mentioned before, the story was originally a play, written by William Gibson (not to be confused with the science fiction author of the same name). Penn is such a skilled director that he sidesteps the pitfalls of adaptation, opening the story up in key technical ways, such as Sullivanâ(TM)s hypnotic recollections of her childhood or the use of hand-held cameras.

He also completely avoids sentimentality with the movie, almost to the point of severity. The subject matter is ripe for inspirational Disney treatment (which it received in 2000), but because of the hard-nosed script and the stark beauty of the black and white cinematography, you do not get to see a sunny version of this story. Penn and Gibson grasp that, on its own, the story is amazing enough; we donâ(TM)t need any lame musical cues or button pushing to tell us how to feel. If this and Bonnie & Clyde are any indication, Penn is the kind of director who takes a seemingly familiar story and blows your expectations out of the water.

All of this said, not everything in the movie is perfect. Other than the two lead performances, the rest are on the spectrum from âdecentâ? to âinfuriating.â? Inga Swenson, as Kellerâ(TM)s mother, does an all right job at conveying the desperate, indulgent love she feels for her daughter (in addition to being a dead ringer for Emily Blunt). On the other hand, Victor Jory is simply awful as Captain Keller. Jory seems to have received no direction at all: he shouts every line and nearly ruins every scene he is in. It amazes me that Penn managed to score two amazing performances from Bancroft and Duke, and somehow this dud of an actor made it into the film as well.

So yeah, The Miracle Worker is, indeed, intense. If filmmakers could make two women fighting each other as breathless and riveting as a car chase in 1962, think about what directors should be doing today.