10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The way it was, August 13, 2002
This review is from: Zandy's Bride [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This movie is a powerful view of the plight of women in our early days.Liv Ullmann could not have been better as the mail order bride and Hackman gives a terrific performance as her "buyer".The scenes from the big sur country are breathtaking in their stark beauty.Don't miss this film.It tells a long forgotten story of how difficult it was for those that came before us.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
As subtle as a dull Bowie knife, January 3, 2011
This review is from: Zandy's Bride [VHS] (VHS Tape)
The forgotten 1974 pioneer drama "Zandy's Bride" is a difficult film to like. There are some excellent directorial touches by Jan Troell, a Swedish filmmaker hot off the substantial success of his pioneer sagas
The Emigrants [VHS] and
The New Land [VHS] (both starring Max Von Sydow and Liv Ullmann). There's also the beautiful scenery of Big Sur, an interesting locale for such historical excursions. Finally, you have a pair of actors in Gene Hackman and Ullmann at the height of their considerable powers. So where does the film go wrong?
The misguided foray, based on the Lillian Bos Ross novel
The Stranger, shockingly evolves into a bitter struggle, the fault of a filmmaker's pretension when attempting to expose the realities of a harsh Garden of Eden. The battles are not man versus nature, but man against woman. Interpretation is key, and what "Zandy's Bride" chooses to emphasize - the extreme emotional weaknesses of a manly man - are the least interesting aspects of the drama. You could call it the dirty laundry of
Sarah Plain and Tall and
Heartland.
Hackman plays ranching loner Zandy Allan. After carving a life in rough mountainous terrain, he's ready to start a family and promptly purchases a mail-order bride. She appears in the form of Hannah Lund (Ullmann), an immigrant first seen uncomfortably standing in the town's muddy main street with suitcases at her feet. Surly and terrified, Hackman's character carts her back to his desolate homestead without so much as shaking her hand. She's older than expected and, well, perhaps not as pretty. Hannah is repulsed by his cabin's horrid condition. "I told you this was a no frills life!," Hackman screams during one of many childish outbursts.
Their honeymoon night is an extended rape sequence when Hackman forces himself upon an exhausted Ullmann - one of several unpleasant, if not unbelievable, scenes that hang over the film like a dark fog. It's clear Hackman's Zandy does not even remotely understand the opposite sex and has little respect for them to boot. Such ugly characteristics are explained when he visits his neighboring parents and we see such behavior is learned from an abusive father. Things go from bad to worse when Hackman physically dunks Ullmann in the horse water trough because her hair is too fashionable for the town BBQ. Hackman's Zandy is a hateful child-man, terrified of intimacy and the female species. He's an abuser with more respect for animals than his wife. The choices he makes, including adultery and abandonment, make it difficult to understand what Ullmann sees in his repugnant soul.
Perhaps she's taming the wild beast of the frontier independent, awkwardly symbolized by Hackman's life-and-death struggle with a bear on the edge of his property. Maybe, since the beginning of time, men have treated women with similar disrespect. Ullmann's Hannah rebels and does everything but burn a bra in the front yard. I get it. Still doesn't mean "Zandy's Bride" is especially enlightening. It's a meandering exercise with a few challenging moments, evolving into a clumsy mess emphasizing the dark aspects of the male lead.
I have problems with Hackman's performance and wonder if he was the right actor for the role. He has such a quietly sympathetic presence, well utilized a year later in
Bite the Bullet and fresh off his Oscar-winning success in
The French Connection. There's a nice supporting turn by Harry Dean Stanton as a helpful neighbor, an unshaven sort adorned in animal skins who treats Ullmann's character with surprising courtesy. When watching Stanton, I realized a similar character actor was needed for Zandy, an unknown whose reputation did not precede him. The film could have then focused more on Hannah (and Ullmann is excellent), including her months alone at the ranch after being abandoned. Ultimately, the entire film is a waste of good talent. I usually watch forgotten movies hoping to discover a gem. More often than not, they turn out to be "Zandy's Bride," a film discarded for all the right reasons. As subtle as a dull Bowie knife.
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