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And Soon the Darkness (1970)
Kino Lorber
Blu-ray Disc Released: 10/15/2019
All Ratings out of
Movie:
1/2
Video:
Audio:
1/2
Extras:
Review by Mike Long, Posted on 11/5/2019
It’s not news that we live in a world of remakes and re-imaginings and that we
should judge each of these films individually and on their own merits.
However, this can be a challenge.
When it comes to remakes, I’ve found that we often favor the version
which we saw first. (Which is why
I’ll always prefer Ringu to The Ring.)
Also, I tend to have a bias towards the newer film and assume that the
older one must be better. (There
are too many examples of this to cite.)
When I saw the 2010 version of
And Soon the Darkness,
I was underwhelmed by the film, despite the good cast.
Now that I’ve seen the original film from 1970, I’m having a difficult
time deciding which one should be considered best.
Jane (Pamela Franklin) and Cathy (Michele Dotrice) are two young British women
who are bicycling across the French countryside.
While they appear to be friends, Cathy begins to complain that she
doesn’t like this trip and that she wishes they’d gone to the city.
Following a roadside break, Jane gets fed up with Cathy’s nagging and the
fact that she’s not ready to bike to the next town, and leaves without her.
However, just a short time later, Jane regrets this impulsive move and
goes back to get Cathy. Except,
Cathy isn’t there. Jane rides to
the next town, and through broken English, learns that no one has seen her
friend. She enlists the help of a
handsome stranger, Paul (Sandor Eles), to look for Cathy, but she’s not sure if
she can trust him. As the day wears
on, Jane begins to feel more isolated and paranoid in this foreign country.
There were two things which stood out about the 2010 version of And Soon the
Darkness. First, the film had
very little story, it’s basically about someone looking over and over in the
same place for another person.
However, even more importantly, whereas the original was set in France, the
remakes takes place in Argentina.
While that is certainly a civilized, developed country, there can often be a
feeling that some parts of South America aren’t safe for tourists.
Conversely, I think that most people would agree that France seems like a
relatively safe place to visit (despite the recent protests).
It’s an interesting choice that the movie has decided to set this tale of
menace in an otherwise tranquil and serene, if not remote, locale.
Unfortunately, that’s the only interesting thing about this movie.
The minimalism seen in the remake is not an isolated incident – no, it
was carried over directly from the original.
The first half of the film does work to an extent.
We are introduced to Jane and Cathy and then watch them separate.
When Cathy disappears, there is a certain amount of tension in the film.
In the story’s second half, this tension is clearly meant to escalate,
but the narratives repetitiveness works against it.
The idea is that Jane is slowly going mad riding up and down the same
stretch of road looking for her friend.
However, the tedium begins to wear on the audience.
The idea that Jane is desperate and is in a country in which she does not
speak the language should translate into watching someone else’s nightmare
unfold on-screen, but the film simply can’t maintain the momentum to pull this
off. And, And Soon the Darkness
reaches a point where Jane is either going to find Cathy or she isn’t, the
audience just wants it to be over.
Having said that, the movie does have some admirable traits.
Despite the title, the entire film takes place nearly in real time and
the in the daylight. While most
thrillers thrive on being set at night, Director Robert Fuest intentionally
juxtaposes the rolling hills and green pastures with the anxiety which Jane is
experiencing. The small cast does
quite well, most notably Franklin, who is in nearly every scene, showing the
same sort of controlled madness that she displayed in The Legend of Hell
House. I never want to accuse a
film of being too subtle, but perhaps after harsh modern-day entries like
Hostel and Turistas, something like And Soon the Darkness
comes across as too quaint. It has
a solid premise, great scenery and acting, but it’s one-note idea is not enough
to hold our attention for 94 minutes.
And Soon the Darkness
doesn’t feature the best shoes for bicycling on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Kino
Lorber. The film has been
letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs
at an average of 35 Mbps. The image
is very sharp and clear, showing only trace amounts of grain and no defects from
the source materials. The colors
look fantastic here. Again, the
action takes place during the day and the picture is filled with vibrant tones.
This is a great example of how the colors simply looked better in some
older films. The level of detail is also
quite impressive – we can see the pores in close-up shots.
The depth is also noticeably good.
The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track which runs at 48 kHz
and a constant 1.6 Mbps. The track
provides clear dialogue and sound effects.
As this is a mono track, we don’t get a wealth of dynamic effects, but
the dialogue is mixed well with the background sound effects, and the it’s never
overpowered by the music.
The And Soon the Darkness Blu-ray Disc contains a few extra features.
We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Director Robert Fuest and
Co-Writer/Co-Producer Brian Clemens, along with journalist Jonathon Sothcott.
This is followed by a second COMMENTARY from Film Historian Tory Howarth.
The extras are rounded out by a series of RADIO SPOTS and a TRAILER.