Oddly enough, I had never seen this film in its entirety..just a few scenes. I think Bette was brilliant and the story is perfect for her. I wasn't impressed,however, with Franchot Tone's character and felt it was oversimplified and lackluster. I can't see Joyce (Bette's role) ever being attracted to such a man. Robert Montgomery would have been far better but only if the character had been improved upon. Overall tho, it is a great film, thanks to Bette. But nothing she did will ever eclipse "Jezebel" in my mind. Joyce is a lot like Jezebel if you think about it, with very similar personality traits. I gave this film a "9" mostly due to the performance by Tone.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Forbidden Relations
(1983)
Best of its genre
2 July 2006
What a wonderful,touching love story has been placed on film by this great director. I had not expected to be so moved. The camera-work is superb and the viewer feels as tho they are eavesdropping, as indeed they are. When one forgets the camera is there, then this is a true masterpiece. We are caught up in these two people and their "forbidden" love and we share their pain. It is a work of art and I thank Zsolt Kedzi-Kovacs for managing to get this film to the public. Luckily, there is an interview with him on the DVD which was quite informative and which I thoroughly enjoyed. The two stars of the film actually did fall in love during production, from which a daughter resulted, so I think that is a lovely "personal touch" to this drama.
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