Basil Dearden reunites with scriptwriter Janet Green for Victim, which has a lot in common with their previous Sapphire. The crime is different (blackmail) as is the minority subculture (gay men), but we again have an empathetic inspector with a bigoted sergeant, and a large cast of characters whose attitudes, both open and closed-minded, expose through the process of finding the blackmailer. As with Sapphire, it's big on point-making, but doesn't feel particularly preachy. In this case, it's more than just an issue of attitude, since homosexual acts still carry a jail sentence in 1961 Britain. And as with the previous year's The League of Gentlemen, Dearden presents gay characters as real, complex people, not caricatures. It's quite well done, though I do have a problem with one particular red herring that is entirely for the audience's sake and is never even remarked upon by the characters involved in the drama. A massive cheat. I'll say this though, Dearden's London always has the most marvelous fog, giving his city depth, and where in another context it would be dreamy, in his stories it rather speaks to a toxic atmosphere.
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Camille Deadpan
The tagline says: A Daring Picture About the World's Most Un-talked About Subject.I say: What a fantastic movie! It really is far ahead of its time.
Thorkell
A masterpiece!demagogo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2xUteY_emMSiskoid
Basil Dearden reunites with scriptwriter Janet Green for Victim, which has a lot in common with their previous Sapphire. The crime is different (blackmail) as is the minority subculture (gay men), but we again have an empathetic inspector with a bigoted sergeant, and a large cast of characters whose attitudes, both open and closed-minded, expose through the process of finding the blackmailer. As with Sapphire, it's big on point-making, but doesn't feel particularly preachy. In this case, it's more than just an issue of attitude, since homosexual acts still carry a jail sentence in 1961 Britain. And as with the previous year's The League of Gentlemen, Dearden presents gay characters as real, complex people, not caricatures. It's quite well done, though I do have a problem with one particular red herring that is entirely for the audience's sake and is never even remarked upon by the characters involved in the drama. A massive cheat. I'll say this though, Dearden's London always has the most marvelous fog, giving his city depth, and where in another context it would be dreamy, in his stories it rather speaks to a toxic atmosphere.