Review of The Spiral Road (1962) by Isaac M — 29 Oct 2011

I love this film. It has two very interesting characters with good development and well-written dialogue, played by great actors. The climax is very intense and exciting, but the film suffers from basic lack of resolution, preventing it from being great.

But what I like about this film is that it's courageous. The message is clear: there is no such thing as a self-sufficient man; cut off from man and God, man becomes an animal. But life is not portrayed as simplistic here.

The atheist protagonist's father was a hypocritical preacher who beat his son regularly. A Christian missionary claiming that God will protect her contracts leprosy from those whom she is trying to help.

The film does not pretend that life is black and white, but it does hold to objective truth. For that, the great actors (and a very disturbing view into psychological warfare), I will watch this film many more times I'm sure.