THE COLLECTOR

1965/Director: William Wyler/ Writers: John Fowles (novel), Stanley Mann (writer)

Cast: Terence Stamp, Samantha Eggar, Mona Washbourne, Maurice Dallimore

The Collector is a film by William Wylers, based on the novel by John Fowles, starring basically only two actors in a almost stage style performance. Terrance Stamp plays butterfly collector Freddie Clegg who is actually rather brilliant but has an incredible inferiority complex. He works as a clerk who is taunted daily by his co-workers until he one day wins a substantial fortune in the British football pool. He uses his money to buy and equip a isolated, rustic old house in the lush British country side. By equip I mean he turns the Gothic looking cellar into a furnished holding cell meant to contain one Miranda Grey ( Sammantha Eggar ) who he has developed an obsession with and is determined to make her fall in love with him. The first step in his bizarre courtship is to chloroform her then kidnap her and haul her back to her cell. She has no idea where she is or what Freddie’s intentions really are and in some ways neither do we, as the viewer is uncertain of how sincere he really is with his promises and comfortings.

The film focuses on the tension and conflicts between educated and born into money Miranda and once working class Freddie who is now wealthy and has a lot of free time on his hands. Both actors deliver excellent performances. The movie came on the heels Hitchcock’s Psycho (and so cannot avoid often undue comparisions) and while technically Psycho is a better made film, The Collector is a more believable study of a broken mind and psychosis. One cannot help but sympathize somehow with Freddie’s plight (and Stamp’s insightful performance adds to our ability to connect with the unhinged young man). We almost hope that Miranda will little by little actually come around to Freddie or that he will honor his word and release her at the time he promises at the beginning of her captivity. Not just for her sake, but for his own because does not seem to be an evil person. None of this is to be and the film ends tragically, but not with Freddie being killed off by his captive, as is the norm for modern captor/captive films, but with the unintentional death of Miranda from exposure to the elements basically.

Some reviews I scanned refer to Freddie as a serial killer, but this is not the case at all. He sincerely seems to mean no harm to Miranda and while he is forceful he is never brutal or sadistic. As the film progresses however and the worlds from which Freddie and Miranda were born into seem to remain distant and unknown to the other Freddie becomes more and more frustrated and Miranda more and more terrified and dependent at the same time. In one scene Freddie tries to understand Miranda’s interest in Picasso and J.D Salinger and angrily destroys the books he bought her. In another Miranda insults Freddie’s prize winning butterfly collection that he shyly reveals to her, hoping to show something of his true self to her.

As I said, the film ends not with the death of the captor but with the slow decline and death of the captive. The last shots of the film show Freddie stalking his next victim, now more experienced and not apt to make the wrong choices as before, such as choosing someone he has nothing in common with. Freddie, while at times likable and almost naïve in nature, in the end has little remorse left for Miranda and concludes she brought it all on herself. One scene is left to the viewer to decide what really may have or may not ahve happen when Freddies lies down in bed wit the again chloraformed Miranda and caresses her hair as the scene fades in typical 1960’s fashion. He promises nothing happened as she was unconscious but why even mention the incident all then.

While the movie is nicely shot and I might say it suffered a little from a lack of a truly claustrophobic atmosphere. It also suffered from a really inadequate soundtrack by the usually capable Maurice Jarre. The soundtrack is nice… but too nice and at times a little corny and seems like more of a soundtrack for the films of the 1950’s. The movie needed a score that was a little more tension creating, rather than, honestly, soothing and inappropriate.

Another great British movie that, like The Servant, uses the action and drama as a vehicle for other messages, here such as British class struggle, the basic problems of loneliness and men and women communicating in general. I am also preparing a post on what I call Miranda style movies, and have about eight films to try and pander. Some may seem a little odd and may stretch the category a little and I will see if I can manage to be convincing or not. I searched for some quotes from the film but could find none really and will see if I can get a script from online and select some of my own, as some of the lines are so unsettling and chilling. A truly creepy film that relies on acting and atmosphere and well written lines. I have never read the book by John Fowles and being in China I may have a hard time locating it unless I can back to Beijing or Shanghai. I would certainly like to read the book after seeing this film again the other night. I cannot recommend a movie like this high enough.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 14th, 2008 at 8:26 am and is filed under Crime-Film Noir, Drama, Psychos-Slashers . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.