What can I say about this movie? It was shocking to say the least. The commentator warned us viewers that it included such taboo subjects (at the time) as homosexuality, incest, and cannibalism, but I didn’t think that the three would be interwoven in such a dramatic and bizarre manner. Perhaps I should have known since it was based on a play written by Tennessee Williams but there you go.
To tell you more of what happened would spoil the ending. Granted there is a lot of foreshadowing that gives one a pretty good idea of what is to come, but the ending is so horrific that even if one feels certain they know they will still be surprized by the sheer violence of it all.
It is the strangest and most compelling movie of that era I have ever seen. The fact that it stars Katherine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift, and Elizabeth Taylor doesn’t hurt. Both Katherine and Elizabeth were nominated for an Oscar for their roles (neither won). At the end of filming Katherine spat on the the director, and never spoke to him again. Apparently she objected to his treatment of Monty whose homosexuality he apparently had issue with. One can almost understand why the director would want to direct this movie, harboring such sentiments. In some ways it can be seen as a morality play, ie look what happens to homosexuals when they let their desires get the best of them.
The movie is too complex for such a simple explanation however. You must see it in order to know what I mean.
God save the sea turtles.
