Divorce His Divorce HersRating:
Release Date: 07 March, 2002 Retail Price: $7.99 OUR Price: $7.99 You SAVE: $0.00! Cast: Complete Cast (6 total) |
Divorce His Divorce Hers Reviews
The star appeal of the two leads comprises the narrow range of interest here.
The real-life first marriage of the two stars is nearing its own point of divorce during the creation of this torpid film, the last wherein Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor are teamed, and this provides probably the only reason for watching what is at best an exercise in costly kitsch. Produced by the Welsh National Network, HTV Harlech, the work scripted by John Hopkins was made for television to be seen on consecutive evenings, ostensibly presenting first the standpoint of Burton's character Martin Reynolds and latterly that of Taylor's part -his wife Jane - as their 18 year marriage decomposes. As presented, the two seem to have agreed upon the general causes of the passage of events, as there is little variance between any of the scenes supposedly contemplated separately by the married pair and a lack of posture from the scriptor becomes a fatal flaw for the narrative. A large portion of the picture involves Martin's relationship with his employer, and since this requires continual global travel, marital strain ensues, with this intended ancillary plot regarding his career choice becoming the trunk of the scenario, in stead of the union between Martin and Jane. Director Waris Hussein has a less than marvelous assignment in eliciting meaningful performances from Burton and Taylor, disastrously failing at it although Burton's innate intensity gives some life to most of his scenes despite the too often fatuous dialogue around which he seems too weary to ad lib. The excellent Italian actor Gabriele Ferzetti smoothly deals with a pallid part as Jane's latest lover, Carrie Nye emotes outrageously as the "other woman" and Barry Foster does well as Martin's sturdy adjutant, but we are never really shown why the couple's marriage is ending, a point not adequately addressed by scattershot plotting.
the games people play
Much like the dialogue in so many bad marriages, the script for this 1973 TV mini-series does not flow well, and is often strained, with awkward passages; it is nevertheless fascinating to watch Burton and Taylor battle each other, these fabulous on and off screen lovers, both experts in the chaos of divorce, having done so twice with each other, not to mention a few others.
Burton plays a businessman who is uncommunicative and aloof, and Taylor is his wife who will do anything to get his attention, until the relationship becomes almost sado-masochistic, with its manipulative games...as she tells him at one point, "it's no fun behaving badly if you're not going to punish me".
The story fluctuates between the present to flashback memories, with occasional fuzzy continuity, but since there is little plot, and this is a tale of emotions gone wrong, it doesn't affect the film.
The beauty of Taylor's face is breathtaking, but not all of Edith Head's gowns are flattering, which I found rather peculiar, as some actually accentuate certain out-of-shape elements in Taylor's figure that could have been easy to disguise.
Burton looks very dapper and immensely attractive, with his powerful, gorgeous voice.
Both give terrific performances, though by no means on the level of the '66 "Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?". Others in the cast include Carrie Nye, and Barry Foster, and it also stars the city of Rome, with some beautiful vistas of the Eternal City.
It is interesting that in one scene, there is a newspaper with the headline "London Arab Terror Alert", which was a top story just a few weeks ago, proving that headlines, like the games played in dreadful relationships, go 'round and 'round, as if caught in a web of madness.
Total playing time of this Part 1 (taken from the man's perspective) of the mini-series is 75 minutes (Part 2 is from the woman's perspective); this film is now in public domain, and there are some cheap versions available, which are a little washed out in color.
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