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Accident – 1967 Losey
- It opens with a powerful shot with accident audio off camera and a great dolly shot focusing in on the house
- From that strong opening there’s a real sense of strong framing with the bottle of whiskey, car, and bodies thrown from the accident
- The film as a whole is ultra-austere- just so understated and English- Bogarde is a big part of that with his manicured and internalized performance- he’s like a tea kettle slowly boiling after the woman he loves/lusts sleeps with basically everyone around him except him
- Heavily ambiguous and implied
- Interesting long sequence of acting with the two actors in the scene doing voice over of their feelings while the models (themselves) in the scene don’t say anything
- Complex narrative- pretty tough first watch
- Not in the top 10 of 1967
- Recommend
Drake2017-04-19T14:13:51-04:00
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I really can’t get behind this film as just a recommend grade. Elements such as the eye-catching blocking being present in most scenes and the dedication to Cronenberg-like icy lighting really lift this film for me.
Screenshot collection:
https://imgur.com/gallery/accident-1967-underrated-NcQeCz9
I think this or Mr. Klein would be my #2 from Losey from what I’ve seen so far. Brilliant director.
@Harry- Accident actually lands between 1000-2000 in the TSPDT list. A truly unique film indeed.
Updated Joseph Losey ranking-:
Films:
1. The Damned (1961) – MP
2. The Servant (1963) – MP
3. The Prowler (1951)
4. Mr. Klein (1976)
5. The Romantic Englishwoman (1975)
6. Secret Ceremony (1968)
7. The Sleeping Tiger (1954)
8. Accident (1967)
9. King & Country (1964)
10. The Lawless (1950)
11. The Go-Between (1971) – R/HR
Performances:
1. Dirk Bogarde – The Servant
2. Van Heflin – The Prowler
3. Mia Farrow – Secret Ceremony
4. Dirk Bogarde – Accident
5. Alain Delon – Mr. Klein
6. Dirk Bogarde – The Sleeping Tiger
7. Oliver Reed – The Damned
8. Dirk Bogarde – King & Country
9. Viveca Lindfors – The Damned
10. Evelyn Keyes – The Prowler
11. Alexis Smith – The Sleeping Tiger
12. Alexander Knox – The Damned
13. Macdonald Carey – The Lawless
14. Macdonald Carey – The Damned
15. Julie Christie – The Go-Between
Joseph Losey ranked-:
Films:
1. The Servant (1963) – MP
2. The Damned (1961)
3. The Prowler (1951)
4. The Romantic Englishwoman (1975)
5. Secret Ceremony (1968)
6. The Sleeping Tiger (1954)
7. Accident (1967)
8. King & Country (1964)
9. The Lawless (1950)
10. The Go-Between (1971)
11. Mr. Klein (1976) – NR
Performances:
1. Dirk Bogarde – The Servant
2. Van Heflin – The Prowler
3. Mia Farrow – Secret Ceremony
4. Dirk Bogarde – Accident
5. Dirk Bogarde – The Sleeping Tiger
6. Oliver Reed – The Damned
7. Dirk Bogarde – King & Country
8. Macdonald Carey – The Lawless
9. Viveca Lindfors – The Damned
10. Evelyn Keyes – The Prowler
11. Alexis Smith – The Sleeping Tiger
12. Tom Courtenay – King & Country
13. Robert Mitchum – Secret Ceremony
14. Sarah Miles – The Servant
15. Elizabeth Taylor – Secret Ceremony
When you break down acting into the fundamentals there is few if any actor better than Bogarde. His characters are always so layered, complicated and looks to be hiding a secret in every frame of his richly detailed face. The inner turmoil in some of his roles is crazy to the point it seems strange he didn’t went insane and managed to have a three decade leading man career.
@James Trapp-So I don’t mind being ambiguous and all that. And you could say character interactions being cold is a choice. That’s fine. But someone like Antonioni do this very subtlely. Not like this. This here is more like just plain poor acting/characterization by the supporting actors. Especially that hotel caretaker and the woman on the train or even when his girlfriend leaves him. He is just obsessing over a newspaper. I don’t know. It’s just poorly done. I can’t really name a film like this where I mostly did not dig any of the supporting character performances. I think that father scene is well done and sadly the other character interactions are not upto snuff.
I get what you are saying about the opening scene. But do we even see that character again? Does Delon even visit or see that place again? The film’s structure would be better if it start with Delon buying the painting given it also comes back at the end as sort of a bookend. And all of the other film is from Delon’s POV. Yeah. I don’t have a problem with the ending. It’s quite perfect and great. But even in getting there you could say Losey misses the mark by just jumping from an obsessive Delon chasing after the other guy and then him just standing there without any hesitancy.
Losey films I have seen ranked:
1.The Servant(1963)-MP
2.Accident(1967)-HR
3.Mr. Klein(1976)-R/HR
Performances:
1.Bogarde-The Servant
2.Bogarde-Accident
3.Miles-The Servant
4.Delon-Mr.Klein
5.Baker-Accident
6.Foxx-The Servant
7.W.Craig-The Servant
8.M.York-Accident
He likes to hold shots even after a scene ends, zoom outs, deep focus and depth of field. I think The Servant is clearly his best work and The Go-Between seems to be the other acclaimed film of his I need to watch. I think he is far more suited to chamberpiece character dramas like The Servant, Accident with his approach rather than a noir thriller like Mr.Klein.
Also I really love the bookends of Accident and the voice over narration in the scene between Bogarde and Delphine Seyrig.
There is also a well done POV tracking shot that is used in Mr. Klein. But only once. The production design in Mr. Klein is superb too with many paintings in the background and wallpaper almost like a Visconti film. The character interactions in Accident and Mr.Klein are very cold which would probably make these downright inaccessible to most viewers. I don’t think Losey was a director that was acclaimed in his lifetime like say Jean-Pierre Melville. But his reputation has improved since. He made like 30 films I believe.
@Anderson – I like your ranking for The Servant (1963) and Accident (1967) and agree about the impressive compositions and the way he holds shots.
I disagree on Mr. Klein (1976) ranking but also the genre labeling. I do think people (me included) throw around the noir label a little too loosely at times. Mr. Klein and The Servant are both films that thematically revolve around identity and society at large. The Servant uses the set up of a chamber drama to examine the dynamics of class in British society.
Mr. Klein is a twist on Hitchcock’s “wrong man on the run” concept except it does not use exceptional set pieces or great chase sequences. There is some nice camera work like the tracking shot you referenced but overall, the film is more a slow-burn psychological drama with some thriller elements. The pacing is not quite as slow as The Servant, but I would not say there is a significant difference.
The mood and tone are monumental as is the production design, but the compositions are crucial as well. There are similarities to The Trial (1962) as both films show the main character increasingly suffocated by outside forces even though there is little in the way of on-screen violence. Mr. Klein’s relationship with the space surrounding him in the compositions changes significantly over the course of the film. Early in the film Mr. Klein is shown inside his large estate lounging out of his bedroom in a green bathrobe as he meets with a Jewish man that Mr. Klein lowballs in purchasing his painting as he uses the man’s desperation against him. Throughout the first half of the film Mr. Klein walks through museums and art galleries, fine restaurants, etc. As the film moves into the 2nd half Losey uses more close ups and zooms as well as low angle shots in showing the decline of Mr. Kleins public reputation and societal privileges. In the later 2nd half there is a shot inside his estate like a shot early in the film but now with police going through his art gallery. The film ends with a shot of Mr. Klein next to the Jewish man he rips off in the beginning of the film only instead of Mr. Klein lounging in his estate he is on a bus that is so cramped he can barely move his arms. During the middle section of the film Losey uses motif such as mirrors and shadow to call attention to Mr. Kleins identity which begins to be called into question by society at large including police but also his friends and colleagues
@James Trapp-I don’t see a MP in Mr.Klein but I respect your opinion. There is probably more to appreciate in the dark shadowy lighting in the 2nd half of the film. Than I appreciated. But this is a tough film. There isn’t a whole lot of a plot here. At least in Accident even if it has a tough narrative too I felt Bogarde character’s journey was involving. He is trying to make love to the Jacqueline Sassard character and always fighting with his demons. But here Delon was fine but he seems like he is trying to be a mix of his charming early personality and the Le Samourai stoic character. And he doesn’t really evolve or change as a character throughout the film. Really this character should deteriorate throughout the film but I didn’t really see that or a reason for the audience to get invested in the motives of this character. Also it was really odd to me how sleepy Delon looked in the first few scenes of the film. Like he hasn’t sleeped a whole night or two. But otherwise he is fine and solid.
When you look at Losey’s strengths imo he is very effective in doing these chamber dramas. With characters in different depths of field, deep focus etc. But Mr. Klein is more of a noir thriller. Of course he can do and adapt that to what he wants but maybe in a film like this you need more suspense and tension. And the supporting characters I thought was really poor. Like a badly acted student film. All of them were more or less was just stiff and confusing. I don’t even know what the point of Jeanne Moreau’s character was. Girotti was in it for like 20 seconds and he is the only supporting character I wanted to see more of. I was indeed disappointed by the film but still it is very cinematic because of the production design/cinematography elements and Delon is compelling enough in the lead. Also I like these kinds of spy stories set around World War 2. And the ending is moving for sure. I actually didn’t notice the art seller at the begining was the one at the end near Delon. Good catch.
@Anderson – “And he doesn’t really evolve or change as a character throughout the film. Really this character should deteriorate throughout the film but I didn’t really see that or a reason for the audience to get invested in the motives of this character”
I noticed during Losey Study that he seems to have a low opinion on mankind in a similar way to Kubrick. The lack of character growth is by design. Mr. Klein only cares about injustices when he is directedly impacted and even then he lacks the empathy required for serious self-reflection in examining since role in everything happening to France during that time period. One could argue that Mr. Klein the character is really more symbolic than anything else, he is a representation of indifference to human suffering which was not how the Holocaust started in the first place but it is what allowed it to continue for years. The film depicts the 1942 Vélodrome d’Hiver roundup, when thousands of Paris Jews were rounded up and sent away
That there is limited plot is arguably a strength given the abstract nature of the film. I would argue it belongs in the category of Kafkaesque movies like The Trial or After Hours. It is a mediation on identity and it is debatable if there even is another Robert Klein. The film is an existential nightmare as Delon’s character starts to lose his bearings, and is forced to confront his own identity. Yet the film leaves room for interpretation. In one scene Delon’s Mr. Klein visits his father who seems uncomfortable when he is asked if they have Jewish ancestors, then again maybe it means nothing, again it is abstract
@James Trapp-I didn’t see it in The Servant. But I think Losey struggles/choice with character interactions. Maybe this is all due to the flat Jacqueline Sassard performance in Accident but in Mr. Klein almost every character interaction is totally flat/cold. First Delon encounters the Hotel caretaker and she acts rather odd not even knowing how Robert Klein, one of her clients looks like. Then there is the sidekick friend character and I have seen this character in plenty of movies. But here their relationship is very bleak, I’m not even sure why he decides to help Robert Klein. The woman at the train is a total coincidence and another totally cold scene. The girlfriend is a caricature without much depth. In the scene where she leaves Delon, another very cold interaction. I didn’t see it in other scenes but here the Delon character is very obsessive with a newspaper to move along the plot. The Jeanne Moreau character, I don’t know how she is relevant to the plot? Then she has a relationship with someone at night? Is that supposed to be the other Robert Klein? I feel like there isn’t a whole lot for the audience to hang on here.
Maybe Losey is trying to do Antonioni but Antonioni is very subtle in what he does. Not like Losey here. Where every character is cold on the surface. Even in the last scene of Delon chasing the other Robert Klein he stops acting hesitant and just rolls along. Clearly this obsessive guy should be dripping with swelling and looking for the other Robert Klein everywhere even on the train rather than just jumping to him staring at the screen without any hesitancy.
Since you said it I think that father scene was executed well and well done unlike the other scenes of character interactions.
@Anderson – Yes, the character interactions are cold but that is the point as it is consistent with the film’s mood and tone. This film is set during the holocaust, yet there are no scenes of characters being murdered and no on screen violence. Violence is associated with intense emotions but again we do not see violence. We see indifference to human suffering which is incredibly cold.
The compete lack of empathy is the point and the film’s structure is crucial to all of this. The first scene establishes a major chasm in French society as you have a grotesque scene of a doctor performing a dehumanizing and humiliating series of “tests” on a Jewish woman before the film moves on to showing Delon’s Mr. Klein who is living a life of wealth and privilege. The opening 10 minutes sets the story in motion as these 2 different realities for the “haves” and “have nots” in Vichy France are occurring simultaneously and over the course of the film these two worlds collapse into one for Delon’s character.
Like I said the film is abstract and I think one possible interpretation is that the two Robert Kleins is not meant literally but figuratively as a representation the chasm in French society. The Robert Klein the viewers see is played by Alain Delon we see his life of high social standing. All we know about the other Robert Klein is that he is Jewish and by extension he has no societal privileges and low social standing.
I would include this film with Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and L’Avventura (1960) where the lack of resolution is the best and really only way to end it
@Drake-Have you seen The Concrete Jungle(1960) directed by Losey and starring Stanley Baker?
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