On a Knife's Edge (1984)

Movie
German title	On a knife edge
Original title	The Razor's Edge
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1984
length	128 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	John Byrum
script	John Byrum, Bill Murray
production	Harry Benn , Robert P. Marcucci
music	Jack Nitzsche
camera	Peter Hannan
cut	Peter Boyle
occupation
Bill Murray : Larry Darrell Theresa Russell : Sophie Nelson Macdonald Catherine Hicks : Isabel Bradley Denholm Elliott : Elliott Templeton James Keach : Gray Maturin Peter Vaughan : MacKenzie Brian Doyle-Murray : Piedmont Stephen Davies : Malcolm Saeed Jaffrey : Raaz Faith Brook : Louisa Bradley André Maranne : Joseph, the butler Bruce Boa : Henry Maturin Serge Feuillard : Coco Joris Stuyck : Bob MacDonald Helen Horton : Lady of the Red Cross

The Razor's Edge is a film by John Byrum from the year 1984 . It is based on the novel On a Knife's Edge by William Somerset Maugham .

As early as 1946, another film adaptation of the novel was made under the same title .

action

Mentally shattered by the experience of the First World War, the American Larry Darrell breaks up his engagement after returning home in order to start a life of travel and search for answers. Finally he arrives in India where he finds enlightenment. A few years later, Larry and his former fiancée found each other again in Paris after she was married to another man. When Larry begins another relationship with another woman, his former fiancée tries to break that liaison.

criticism

“The novel by Maugham, which was adapted in 1946, in a decorative and charming remake. The inner odyssey of the American war returnees - an expression of the search for the meaning of life, for identity and knowledge - is presented as the adventure of a relaxed, compassionate, honest soul without the religious dimension fully coming into its own. The only weakness of the very seriously played and staged film is the narrative structure, which only brings internal and external motifs together into a meaningful whole in the second part. "

- Lexicon of international film

backgrounds

Bill Murray asked Columbia Pictures to move forward with the remake if he should appear in the movie Ghostbusters , which was shot after the remake was made, but appeared earlier.

literature

• W. Somerset Maugham : On a knife edge. Roman (Original title: The Razor's Edge ). German by NO Scarpi . Diogenes-Verlag, Zurich 1985, 351 pages, ISBN 3-257-20088-9

Web links

• On a knife edge in the Internet Movie Database (English)

swell

1. ↑ On a knife edge. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .