Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality” – Emily Dickinson
If Death took a holiday, the guns would go silent in Iraq, the slaughter on our nation’s highways would cease, and the news media would be compelled to cover positive events in the humanities, arts, and sciences. Unfortunately, Death has not had a vacation in recorded history, but Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 fantasy, Death Takes a Holiday, allows us to consider the possibility. Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Gladys Lehman and based on the play "La Morte in Vacanza" by Alberto Casella, Death Takes a Holiday stars Frederic March as the Grim Reaper who takes on human form in an attempt to discover why men fear him so much. Why he has waited 5,000 years to satisfy this curiosity is not explained.
[Spoiler] After a brief tryout as a shadowy figure who scares the daylights out of those that cross his path, Death shows up at, of all places, an upscale party at an Italian villa, posing as the mysterious Prince Sirki. Only one person knows who he really is, the host Duke Lambert (Guy Standing), and he is sworn to secrecy. Sirki proceeds to fascinate the guests. Given to bursts of wit and poetry, he can just as quickly turn sullen and threatening, and some soon find out that it is better not to look too deeply into his eyes. During the three days in which the Prince is at the villa, however, people all over the world miraculously escape death and potential suicides are doomed to frustration.
To see what’s behind all the conversation about love, the suave but naïve Prince Sirki falls for the irresistible Grazia (Evelyn Venable), the daughter of one of Duke’s friends. Grazia knows who Death is but does not fear him, much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Corrado (Kent Taylor) who has developed a strong disdain for Prince Charming.
More sinister than Brad Pitt in the 1998 remake Meet Joe Black, March turns in a very convincing performance as the creepy yet strangely appealing guest. Although the ending is melodramatic, the emotions are very real and the suggestion that Death may in reality be a friend disguised as a foe is quite touching.
(Howard Schumann, talkingpix.co.uk)
In this wearisome and predictable plot line, Death falls in love and bores us to death talking about it.
(Dennis Schwartz, homepages.sover.net)
I've heard DRACULA was advertised with the tag line "The Weirdest Love Story ever told!" (this is probably a paraphrase), but at heart, I've never felt that you could honestly call that movie a love story. The tag line would be much more appropriate for this one, since it ultimately boils down to what amounts to a love story. This movie is very good indeed, particularly if you consider that it is built around a concept that could have easily been handled in a cute or facile manner. Instead, it is handled as seriously as possible, with some real thought put into how death would try to come to terms with a life and an outlook that was to that point totally unfamiliar to him; much of the credit does go to Fredric March in the title role. It's quite scary when it needs to be, particularly during the first twenty minutes. From then on, it deals with its themes with subtlety, a quiet wit, an enduring sadness, and an everpresent tension on how Death might react if crossed. It's not perfect; some of the dialogue is self-conscious and artificial, as if the writers knew they were dealing with weighty issues and were trying to be profound. But I am certainly glad they didn't try to turn it into a musical comedy of sorts.
(Dave Sindelar, scifilm.org)
See also the remake: Death Takes A Holiday (1971)
在沙漠上办一场自己的遗物市集作为给好友陌生人们前来告别的葬礼💧
上路起初是被动的选择，但慢慢地，她离不开这样的生活了。篝火旁，人们诉说自己的故事，天亮后，就此别过。我们生来就是孤独。
配乐增色很多，都感受不到在演，观感像是那种看不见外伤内腑已震碎的武功。人生从来都唔易，只系有时你觉，有时你唔觉。
与你分手我选择放逐
诗意的空镜，琐碎艰难的日常被赵婷缝合得天衣无缝。不是无处停留，只是停留在哪里都不对，都是勉强的尴尬，是依然不改的孤独。那么，上路吧。我想起鲁迅的孤独者，有时候孤独是遗传的，是命定的，那么就接受吧！我仿佛看到了自己对自己晚年生活的推演，那么到时候就去承受去感受去忍耐，这是你的人生。
以为是人文，措不及防满嘴鸡精。剪辑和钢琴是要干嘛
夜景是赵婷的拿手好戏，火星点点，拿着吉他的西部牛仔，纹身的少年，这是属于她的风格了。这一部中加入了更多的配乐，没帮上什么太大的忙。
8.5/10。①没有房子的房车客女主四处流浪的现代游牧生活，也在过程中被遇到的人们治愈。②通过生活流叙事、舒适的音响、颓废灰冷却又美而散漫的高水平摄影美术等营造了疏冷又浪漫的氛围。③大量运用非职演增强写实感。④对影像元素的调用水准还有提升空间（剪辑和叙事节奏等）。⑤女主有家却因种种原因而待不住，赵婷又何尝不是呢？
So, hold out your right hand and look at a star. Because there are atoms from stars that blew up eons ago that landed on this planet, and now they're in your hand.
配乐好听，但略显泛滥，不过整体来说很成熟了，懂得克制，收放自如，一些事点到为止就可以，没有过多着墨。予人以尊严，予生命以尊重，在泥潭里寻觅转瞬即逝的诗意，十分动人了。
绝大多数人从未离群，而那些离群的人，有的选择回归，有的选择继续上路。在路上，人、物、风景皆是过客，所谓浮生若梦，为欢几何？秉烛夜游处最有诗意。而诗意，就是最好的缅怀。
一部这样的作品能横扫国外众多大奖，不是学院派也不是豪华巨作，这样的小成本小格局题材，能颠覆整个颁奖规则与制度，确实令人摸不着头脑。一部向国家地理频道致敬的作品，确实影片中许多拍摄的时间节点都选在了当地风景最美的时候采景，也没有表达太深远的命题，或是说国外电影人在这部电影中找到了他们已经丢失了的精神文明?
用自然抚慰破碎之心，孤独也是途中风景。一成不变的阴郁色调让电影本身包裹一种寥落，于女主来说却是孤傲与洒脱。亡夫始终不能埋藏记忆深处，既然不想回归，那就一起在旷野流浪。全片在放逐与资本之间游移，Fern想逃离却无法避免的芥蒂始终横亘眼前，或许我们身处的时代，没人能真正挣脱社会生活。
周末看了两遍。美国中西部，亚利桑那，内华达，新墨西哥，奇迹一样的地方，美不足以形容。
总以为叫无主之地，无爱，无依，无生。信仰能帮你。
很喜欢赵婷的镜头语言：把小小的人就直直地放在画面中央，人那么小，背景的大自然那么大。夜深人静的时候看会簌簌流泪，但白天看又会觉得人生本来就是一个人来一个人走啊，孤独是不可避免的；有些人，就像结尾写的，就是“不得不出发”，孤独的同时也获得了自洽的天人合一的自由。片中还提到了美国的社会问题和家庭关系，寥寥几笔却让人思考，整部电影真的是一部很有哲意的电影散文诗，气质绝了。
它是唯一一个能够代替
上次遇到边看边哭得止不住的片子还是《再生号》，这个年龄看这个片儿真是太代入了，这种穿透胸口的孤独感那么空洞、那么宽大又那么细致入微，就好像影片中提到的星尘一样。似乎无限可能的当代社会，在生存的边缘处却把可能性压缩成了一条线。绝对不是出于贫困、疾病或者任何理由，Fern就是选择了这样一个生活方式，这是一种非常具体的生活方式的！虽然也有人出于各种境况不得不变成homeless，Fern虽然也有困境，但这种方式是她权衡了所有最后选择的【生活】，如果有一个非常具体的原因，就把这个片儿拍小了，所以现在特别精妙。看到燕子的时候简直哭死。
出走半生，一次次上路，逃离熟悉的一切人与物，无非是想要逃向寒荒，放逐心里那个始终滋生蔓延的伤口。失去你，家园湮废，幸福也变得可有可无。张开右手，望向星空，来自千万年前宇宙爆炸的微尘，如今落入了你的手中。而你在哪儿呢，在我已经离开的苍茫旷野中吗？还是在我即将抵达的渊崖巨浪中？无尽轮回里，你我的生命又是什么呢。继续上路吧，为了再一次相遇。如果这一生不能，那就到下一世里久别重逢。
孤独感是每个人都有的，所以人类就是群居动物。但是人的进化到现在的人，就是因为有许多异类吧，他们远离人群，也永远在路上。这电影其实还讨论了美国的养老制度，其实我觉得这个是很难解决的，人内心的孤独不是靠养老福利的提高来解决的吧。所以人始终要解决“自我”或“本我”的问题，但是活着还是必须有“他我”，“有人惦记才算是活着”。最终才自由自在的走在路上，完成“超我”。
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