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)
一部看不见公路的公路片。电影史写到今天，所有的电影大师都在想办法在保留自己风格的基础上，探索视听的边界，以更好的表达自己想表达的内容。所以在一百二十多年的电影史上，电影是越来让观众看得懂的。但是近年来出现了这么一批故弄玄虚的文艺导演，把电影拍得让人越来越看不懂。这部片子就是一个典型。疯狂的过曝、固定机位把观众局限在半全知视角中，让人不得不去专注于那几个演员的聊天和掰扯。洪比较厉害的地方在于，能够在固定镜头中通过几人的站位，甚至是扭头这种小动作表达出人物的情绪，也借此完成生活的虚拟化。但是洪导拍的毕竟不是悬疑片，这一套反观众的套路看来是越来越不奏效了。不禁有江郎才尽之感。可能这也就是洪常秀想说的：这是我的电影，也是我的生活，不要你来瞎bb
where is my mask? 根本就没有！
人有时候会沉浸在对某些事物毫无保留任其膨胀的喜爱与赞美中，但与其说这是单纯对某事物的爱意，我时常觉得这其实是一个自我满足甚至自恋的过程。有时结果会令人疲惫困惑，但这样的情感宣泄似乎又很必要。他镜头下的人物对话和情绪捕捉真是有意思，简陋又巧妙。P.S.果然再一次敏令智昏……她太美了！
电影语言层面相当不错，专注于浅焦镜头。怜悯且无助。★★★★/8.1
抛却自结构的审视和玩弄之后，洪的电影已然成为关于纯粹发现和创造美的作品，在淡然和平静中由内而外析出并封存美的结晶，怎能不为之动容？
个人评分8.2/10【A-】
整体其实比较平庸，但是题材好评，这是目前为止新冠题材拍得最好的一部了
就是这么现实！在哪都一样！过了多少年也一样！疫情、饥荒、战争三大杀手竟然可能同期到来！美好的2022 年！
噢这么简单的故事 伪纪录片拍摄 直面镜头骂政府 能不五星？
真实到以为再看纪录片，那段20分钟左右的长镜头看的人全程仿佛被扼住喉咙一样窒息，片子好几处浅焦镜头，给女主怼脸拍的特写你能清楚的看她每一个细微的表情变化，而急促的呼吸声仿佛就在你耳边回响一样，浅焦镜头虚化的部分更传达一种强烈的不安感，把那种无助慌张怜悯的情绪也渗入你的骨髓达到共情。女主演技炸裂！！！从此也爱上朱迪科默~☺️
“为什么不让这么好的演员去演商业电影”？(电影里的台词）感觉听到了一场真实的灵魂拷问，完全是一部洪尚秀的私欲电影啊，拍独立电影就是浪费时间吗？拍黑白就是刻意吗？最后作为摄影的洪尚秀和金敏喜的一场“婚礼”，满屏的秀恩爱直接溢出屏幕啊。
所以别说“战胜疫情”，太妄自尊大和避重就轻。那么多撕心裂肺，那么多人永远不可能回去，那么多不计数不具名的逝去，都真实地发生过，我们已经输了。人类没有战胜困难，人类只是习惯了习惯。
看到最后那段真的惊了。前面的情绪靠一张美丽的脸倾泻而出，喜欢看日常对话的我并不觉得累。他好爱她，她好可爱，但爱又怎么说呢。
几度热泪盈眶，是洪给世上最真诚最纯洁最热爱生命的人的礼物
继续感受洪氏自嘲以及无休止赞漂亮minhee
这就是以“人”为中心和“以“国”为中心的电影的区别。隔着屏幕都感受到了新冠肺炎病毒的传播和紧张，每一个镜头都是为了人这个个体。又摆脱不了个人在国家、社会、体制面前轻如鸿毛。最后无奈的质问镜头问的绝不仅是英国！
一个疫情大爆发，并且现在还是捉襟见肘的国家拍的抗疫电影，让部分zg键盘感动得不行。还反过来嘲笑《zg医生》，我笑了
美满的爱情给了洪尚秀第二次生命。宠溺。没有了辛辣味道，是有甜甜的、清新味道的蒸馏水。向世界花式秀恩爱。这样不惮地宣告，是在挑衅婚约，是真爱。
我觉得懂我的朋友多少懂这部电影。
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