Customer Reviews

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This DVD (which I'm returning) contains a very poor, degraded copy of the Oscar-winning film, as editted, dubbed and re-titled for "The Twilight Zone." The lack of the ORIGINAL film (not repackaged for TZ), or any of the original credits makes me seriously question whether this is even an authorized release. Only the TZ-style onscreen credits remain. Very disappointing presentation of what is otherwise a beautiful film.

This French short film, which was nominated for and WON both the Cannes Film Festival Award and an Academy Award, brings Ambrose Bierce's short story to life in a powerful way. With very little dialogue, this film, while discarding Bierce's explanation of how Peyton Farquhar was captured and sentenced to hang as a spy (and which actually is not necessary, in my opinion), depends on the visual rather than the spoken and succeeds admirably! The film may last less than half an hour, but in that time the viewer is rivetted not only by Roger Jacquet's performance as the condemned man but also by the beautiful scenery, the tight editing and just the right pacing of the action (the music, especially the slow lovely ballad "A Livin' Man", sung in the style of the Old Southern spirituals, also sticks with the viewer). The twist ending (which is worthy of the best TWILIGHT ZONE episodes [which, by the way, this film was used for in the fifth and final season of that wonderful series]), made me actually catch my breath, more than when I actually read ths original story. I heartily recommend this film not just for literature-lovers and film buffs but also for anyone with a love of the unusual and mysterious.

I am 36 years old. I read the book and saw the movie when I was in the 9th grade. I am ordering the book here on line and have not seen the movie since then. The fact that I remember this story so well after all of these years should be proof enough that it is truely a work of art. It served our class as the perfect forum for discussion, and a fine example of literary expertise. Though it is a very short work, it captures all of the power, suspense and drama of a feature length film. A GREAT STORY!

Amazon.fr sells a DVD of this under the title "La Riviere du Hibou". It contains not only the film "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" but the adaptations of two other Ambrose Bierce short stories, "Chickamauga" and "The Mocking-Bird". All three are by the same director, and these form the trilogy from which The Twilight Zone derived a slightly edited version of "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" for American television audiences. Thanks to Warner Home Video, you can now watch the entire trilogy.

The good news: the audio is in English (the inner voices of characters are in French, but in Occurrence these are very brief and unobtrusive), the French subtitles are removable. The sound and picture have been digitally restored, the sound quality is very good, the picture quality is excellent, stunning in places. "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is presented in it's original full length, with the original French title sequence. You have never seen this film look this good.

The bad news, you'll need a multiregion player to watch it on, it's a Region 2 PAL disk. And this DVD will cost you a bit more.

Buying from Amazon.fr is simple, you use the same login as your account here, plus you can use the Google translator to get through the French menus if you are unsure. But it's easy, English is often just French pronounced poorly.

If you are not so adventurous, by all means petition Warner Home Video to release this DVD here. Very, very little work would need to be done to ready this DVD for the North American market, and based on the passionate comments about this film here, there may indeed be a strong market for it.

Enrico's legendary film of the Bierce short story, an adaptation arguably as good as the original, certainly deserves a print freshly struck from the original negative. The film has been used as a "textbook" introduction to cinematic techniques as well as to the uses of time in film--and moreover it's been cited as the inspiration for feature-length films such as "Donnie Darko" and the underrated but powerful "Jacob's Ladder." Unfortunately, for someone who has seen a good 16mm print, this DVD transfer is a pale imitation of how the film should look, so bad I can't bear to watch it let alone screen it for students. (If you're a jazz buff, you'll appreciate the credits, which include the expatriot American drummer and original member of the Modern Jazz Quartet, Kenny Clarke.)

There's another 25-minute French masterpiece that uses the same theme and which has acquired an even more devoted, cult-like following: Chris Marker's "La Jetée." The film takes a while longer to sink in, but upon doing so, it's unshakeable, a permanent part of the viewer's consciousness. Good thing, because the surviving VHS and DVD prints are even worse than "Occurrence"--so unwatchable as to be pointless. The copy that I recently saw was so lacking in definition and grey scale that it was impossible to discern the film's one and only moving image.

This was the first film that blew my mind. As an 8th-grader circa 1970, I recall watching this film with my church group. Its images, seared into my young mind, have returned to me many times over the years. Finally, over the past few months, I searched it out. I was amazed at how much I remembered -- a slithering water snake, a sandy beach, a long row of trees, the distorted voices of the soldiers, the ending.

In the years since I first saw "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," I have developed (somewhat) my appreciation for good film and cinematography. And good film this is. Using hardly a spoken word, it intelligently takes us into the mind of a Civil War era spy awaiting execution by hanging. We experience his longing for the life he is leaving as well as his mounting terror. The underwater shots especially are amazing and well-shot. There are subtexts of life v death, and even a hint of Christliness in the central character.

My second viewing, 36 years after the first, was worth the wait. "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"" is a 25-minute psychological and emotional masterpiece -- a perfectly-rendered period piece that precisely echoes the mood and methods of 1862.

This IS a classic short film. One that should be shown in all FILM schools/classes to students of the art of cinematic storytelling! BUT, this DVD version is disgusting! The beautiful (original)monochrone is marred by a SLOPPY tranfer. It is all but unwatchable. The people who released this version are no friends of cinema! SHAME ON YOU! This warrents a prestine viewable copy. I give this 5 stars only because I have seen it on it's first showing many years ago and the film is BEAUTIFUL! But, not in this dreadful release! Again, SHAME ON YOU releasing this crappy rip-off! Horrible!

This must have been transferred hastily from film to video, then to DVD. In any case, it is so dark that almost all detail disappears. In some sections it's hard to make out what's going on at all. This version was produced by Monterey Media. Beware!

It was a big moment for me when I originally saw the film in grade school. Bierce's stuff is never easy but always worth it, and this story has a classic twist ending. I was really looking forward to seeing it again. I'm very disappointed.

I just saw this a few weeks ago in my 11th grade English class. Our teacher really didn't have a lesson plan for the day, so he played this film for the class. Nearly everyone in the class hated it and was laughing the whole time, but something about the film hit me hard. This is definitely one of the most memorable films I've ever seen in my life. The end is the real beauty of the film. The way the mood changes from rejoiceful, as the hero is running to his wife, to solemn and cold, as the hero is suddenly hanging from the bridge. My entire class was laughing hysterically when the hero is running to his wife. As soon as the scene shifted back to him hanging from a bridge, motionless, the entire class fell silent, as did I. This is one of those rare films that slaps you in the face and leaves a mark that lasts forever. See this film by any possible means.

I first saw this movie as a college freshman. I now teach high school English to special education students. My kids were totally obsorbed with the film. It is rare to find a movie that can stimulate such critical thinking across an audience of extreme differences.