For some reason, when I read the film's title, I thought you were discussing Jonathan Demme's 80's film. Thanks for the heads up.

Oh, I liked that film much more. One of my favorites, actually, it has it all. And The Feelies are too cool for school.

Fantastic opening, I think that montage was the work of Saul Bass who also did the title sequence for Psycho, North by Northwest & Anatomy of a Murder. As for the movie seeming uneven, you're probably thinking about the inconsistent way the characters behave. That threw me for a loop too, until I realized that this is how life really is. You don't have a clear cut good guy, bad guy, victim & aggressor. But the point seemed to be about individuals who are broken and flawed.

Why doesn't Mary Ann tell anyone she was raped? Why does she suddenly give up her promising life to live in a squalid apartment and rot? Why doesn't she run away from her kidnapper when she has the chance? These seem like obvious right vs wrong choices in the movies, but if you know people who have experienced this sort of trauma in real life, 9 times out of 10 their behavior is going to be more like what we see in this movie, it doesn't make sense to us. Things don't get tied up with a neat ribbon at the end, and instead we're left feeling disturbed. Not by any particular event, but just by the way things don't seem 'right'.

One of the most revealing moments in the movie comes when she demands to know why he's doing this to her. Ralph Meeker simply says the devastating line: "Because you're my last chance."

And that basically sums up everything we need to know about these people. I think this movie was at least 50 years ahead of its time. To this day I can't think of a more accurate (realistic) portrayal of the aftermath of trauma except maybe Blue Jasmine with Cate Blanchett.

Great comments and insight Roop ... and thanks for the Blue Jas tip.

@TonyTonyTony said:

Great comments and insight Roop ... and thanks for the Blue Jas tip.

Thanks TTT! If you check out Blue Jasmine, I'd be curious to hear your thoughts. It's an updated take on Streetcar Named Desire but with a more realistic (less theatrical) spin on Blanche's mental illness. A lot like this movie, you can't quite pin what's wrong with her but you know something aint right.