Review of Unfaithful (1931) by Bryan W — 06 Sep 2010

It may seem as though the concept of this film is so prevalent in the movies and television that dealing with it straight out could be nothing but boring and repetitive, but leave it to an ace director like Lyne to tear up your expectations.

It could have been a non-stop shout fest from beginning to end, but more than anything, the writer here understands what happens to two people in a relationship; once they've settled at the point of trusting each other, it becomes easy to rely on that trust to make selfish decisions, but with that trust comes understanding and one cannot expect to go too long without alerting one's significant other to their altered behavior.

Moments like this pepper the film, most often handled with looks and actions rather than clumsy dialogue; an early scene in the dining room after dinner says more than words could much better than words could. Lyne's slow build from moment to moment makes the events never seem forced and gives them weight without explaining too much; not explaining the crimes of passion at the film's heart allow us to better connect the dots between the affair and events that occur much later in the story.

Overall, it's great stuff for those who miss subtlety in modern drama, and for a story of this caliber, it's the subtlety that makes it worthwhile.