Playing with Destiny (1962)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Play with fate |
| Original title | Term of Trial |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1962 |
| length | 113 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Peter Glenville |
| script | Peter Glenville |
| production | James Woolf |
| music | Jean-Michel Damase |
| camera | Oswald Morris |
| cut | James Clark |
| occupation | |
| |
Playing with Destiny is a British film drama directed by Peter Glenville from 1962. Laurence Olivier as a committed but disaffected teacher Graham Weir and Simone Signoret as his wife play a dishonorably grizzled married couple who have little to say to each other. Sarah Miles appears in another leading role as a student who wrongly accuses the teacher of having become sexually assaulted. The film is based on the novel The Burden of Proof by the British writer James Barlow (1921–1973).
action
Graham Weir's life has not turned out the way he once dreamed it would be. The middle-aged man is trapped in a marriage that seems to have long since stalled. In the course of both married lives, his French wife Anna has become bitter, the two no longer have too much to say to each other, even if Weir still loves his plump and prematurely aged wife. She thinks he is, as she says, a coward because he has never fought for anything in his life. Graham works as an English teacher at a school in a gray, shabby, working-class district, and the majority of students don't take him too seriously. Since he refused to use the weapon out of conviction in World War II, Graham has not suffered too well with his school principal and his colleagues either. His attitude is scourged as "unpatriotic" and has severely hampered his professional career, even if he tries to maintain his idealism in the education of the youth. Even some students show their open contempt and disregard for him, some of the wards behave lewdly towards him, especially the rebellious and rebellious classmate Mitchell. His lousy behavior towards Shirley Taylor one day even made Graham rethink his peacefulness and nonviolence, and One day Weir hit Mitchell on both hands with a ruler in class. Weir's only remaining friend is alcohol.
Shirley, a pretty, blonde and only 15 year old girl, has a very different view of the teacher than her classmates, who disregard Weir as an ancient fossil from bygone times. By all means, Shirley, harassed by Mitchell at school, tries to get Graham's attention and tries to be a particularly good student. He complies with her request for tutoring to improve her grades. One day, when Shirley's adolescent crush on the aging teacher grows, after her first, fleeting kiss on Graham's cheek after tutoring, a development begins that threatens to lead to disaster for Graham Weir. His wife Anna, who could not bear children for him, makes it clear to Graham that something is brewing if he does not keep the necessary distance from the girl in love. During a short trip to Paris with the school class, Shirley's infatuation with Mr. Weir becomes more and more evident. The teacher and student spend a harmonious day together while strolling through the city of love. He even gives her a small present, a stuffed animal. Back at home in England, Shirley Graham literally throws himself on the neck, but he makes it clear to her that firstly he is married and secondly only sees her as a student who he likes but doesn't like a grown woman like a man. Shirley is in tears. Deeply disappointed at Graham's rejection, she stands up and tells him to his face that she hates him. This is how the misfortune takes its course.
First, Shirley throws herself on the throat of the ruffian Mitchell to provoke Weir. Days later, a police detective appears at the Weir's home and tells the teacher that Shirley had reported him for sexual assault. Graham is deeply shaken and starts drinking again. After all, his wife is strong in character and stands by him. Eventually there is a lawsuit. There the student claims untruthfully that all touches and caresses came exclusively from him. Weir's attorney O'Hara quickly tears up Shirley's allegations. The girl cannot withstand O'Hara's sharp questioning for long and gets caught up in contradictions. Eventually she admits that she was in love with Weir, but otherwise sticks to what she said that the tenderness came from Mr. Weir. He is sentenced by the judge to 12 months' imprisonment for immoral behavior towards a minor. Weir is extremely upset because he is absolutely not aware of any guilt, and after the verdict again protests his innocence in court. He always wanted to be courteous and polite. His affection for Shirley was always pure, he never intended sex with her. When Shirley hears his words, she is very touched, gets up and walks up to the judge. In tears, she confirms Graham's testimony and takes all the blame on herself.
Despite the moral acquittal, the school principal expects Weir to voluntarily submit his departure from school. Back at home, his wife is already sitting on packed suitcases. Graham tells Anna that some of Shirley's charges are actually true. Graham slaps his wife in the face for this confession, but then the two seem to want to try again. Your love has rather strengthened this drama.
Production notes
Playing with Fate was filmed in Ireland and England at the beginning of 1962, and a short scene was shot in Paris. The black and white film ran on August 16, 1962 in London. The film could be seen in Germany from April 5, 1963. The German television first broadcast took place on March 18, 1974 on ZDF .
Sarah Miles, who was just 20 years old at the time of shooting, made her impressive film debut here.
The film structures carried out by Tony Woollard were designed by Wilfred Shingleton . Peter James was responsible for the equipment, Beatrice Dawson designed the costumes.
Reviews
The Movie & Video Guide called the film a “talkative story” and summed up: “Despite the good cast, a tiring film”.
"With" Playing with Fate ", a rather dreary melodrama about an alleged rape, Glenville took its cue from the ' sink realism ' of free cinema that was fashionable in those years ."
Halliwell's Film Guide found the film to be "a rather limp 'adult' drama" that is too schematically constructed to be "really of interest, despite the best that acting can do."
“The tragicomic portrait of a failed idealist hardly does justice to its claim to expose petty-bourgeois double standards. The clumsy staging is lost in clichés. "
Web links
- Playing with the fate of the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 1306
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 999
- ↑ Playing with Fate in the Lexicon of International Films