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Author
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Topic: The Earthling (super 8 optical sound)
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted August 06, 2005 02:53 PM
I chose to review this optical film first as it is very rare in any form. I've never seen a laserdisc, certianly, no DVD and it was sporadically released on VHS, with varying quality. With the high standards for sharpness in the optical sound prints, lovers of this film can't do better at this time than to own the optical sound feature.
The story :
Patrick Foley (William Holden) , has just come back to Austrailia after a long haitus. After talking with a friend that he saved during WW2, it is discovered that he is dying of cancer and has to take morphine in order to deal with his pain. He then ventures out into the Aussie wilderness.
Enter Sean Daley, the son of two vacationing aussies, in thier motor home. They enjoy a swim and then prepare to leave. Loosing control of thier Winniebago, they go off a cliff as Sean, (watching from outside the Winniebago) watches them plummet to thier death. Foley winesses this from a far distance.
Sean lays around in shock, until Foley attracts him with smacking rocks together. They meet. Foley's life has been about tough love, and he doesn't make it easy on the kid, making the boy fight for everything, teaching him how to trap, how to catch fish with your hands, gathering berries, ect.
They eventually make it to where Foley grew up as a child, and now Foley is close to the end, pleading with "God", please, just a little longer. At first, he was ready to die, now he wants to live for just a little longer. They grow extremely close, one dying, the other trying to survive, which leads to the most beautiful scene in the movie. Sean comes up behind Foley:
Sean : I hate you .... I really hate you.
(Foley reaches his hand back to Sean, pulling him up to him.
Foley : I know you do, I know you do son.
(He looks Sean in the face.)
Foley : Sean, you lost your folks, and a lifetime ago I lost mine, thier buried here. I always thought that today, was some sort of rehearsal for tommorow. Don't ever do that.
(Sean begins to tear up)
Sean : I'm afraid.
Foley : (with warm smile) Oh, there's nothing to be afraid of except a cold wind that'll kill you, for standing around looking dumb.
(Foley begins to sadden as well. Sean then lunges into a hug of Foley, crying.)
Sean : I love you, I really love you.
Foley : I could never tell my father that. I couldn't touch him. Never be afraid of love Sean. Show it, always show it.
The camera then pulls back until a long shot. We then see Sean adding the last few rocks to Foleys grave. he then picks up his walking stick and begins the journey back to civilization, to the strains of the beautiful song "I'm half-way Home" as the credits run.
As you can see, I am extremely fond of this movie. It parralels my relationship between I am my father. But the film, standing alone, Is a very good film. The director himself was dying of cancer as he made it, dying shortly after the film was completed. This is also by far, William Holdens best work of his last ten yeare (including Network), and, knowing that William Holden was to die about a year after this was made, one wonders if death was a close thing on his mind.
As stated earlier, this is an optical sound feature. The sound is your average optical mono, and not too bad. The sharpness is quite good, better than average, and defintely the Derann standard, without being Derrann.
Truly, a beloved film and worthy of putting in your collection!
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted August 13, 2005 02:32 PM
I'm glad to hear that it's on DVD. My print has the slightest of possible fades, (actually it seems to be a scene for scene thing, as most parts of the film, the color is stunning, beautiful blues and greens) so I'm still going to hold onto it.
This is what I call a "realism" film, in that you have a person with a slightly remorseful heart, (Holden) yet he shares his limited words, philosophy and mistakes with Sean Daley. There are very few films that can really hold me emotionally, and those that do tend to be the ones that deal with a situation involving death and it's closeness. Holden, ironically, said similar things in his excellent protrayal in "Network", where he can see death coming, "With discernable features" In reading about this movie in a long out of print book, "The Films of William Holden" Holden had a number of battles with the director of the film, most concerning the directors treatment of Rick Schroeder, but he certianly got the realistic great performance out of little Ricky. Though William Holden would go onto make one more film (S.O.B.S.) except for Network, Wild Rovers, The Wild Bunch and "The Blue Knight" (mini-series for TV) this would be Holden's best role in at least 15 or more years, more so as this was only a two person film, and the fewer the cast members, the better an actor has to be, as at many times that one actor has to carry the whole film on his shoulders.
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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