Accident (1967)

Available on Blu-ray Disc (Region B)UK 1967 English (Colour); Drama/Mystery (London Independent); 105 minutes (PG certificate)Crew includes: Joseph Losey (Director); Harold Pinter (Screenwriter, adapting Novel by Nicholas Mosley **½ [5/10]); Joseph Losey, Norman Priggen (Producers); Gerry Fisher (Cinematographer); Carmen Dillon (Art Director); Reginald Beck (Editor); John Dankworth (Composer)Cast includes: Dirk Bogarde (Stephen), Stanley Baker (Charley), Jacqueline Sassard (Anna), Michael York (William), Vivien Merchant (Rosalind), Delphine Seyrig (Francesca), Alexander Knox (Provost); Harold Pinter (Bell)BAFTA nominations (4): British Film, British Actor (Bogarde), British Screenplay, British Art Direction - Colour; Golden Globe nomination: Foreign Film - English Language"The story of a love triangle... and the four people trapped in it!"An emotionally suppressed, Oxford University don (Bogarde) vies with a more successful (in life) academic colleague (Baker) for the affections of an exotic, icy student (Sassard), who survives a car accident that kills his favourite male tutee (York).Second (and finest) of three collaborations between American director Losey and English playwright Pinter (briefly seen as a TV producer) takes a dim view of human nature and what cruel, selfish acts we are capable of, regardless of surface beauty and propriety.Following his '50s emergence as a matinée idol, one of Bogarde's intellectual, grown-up dramas, during which he and Baker (total opposites) did not get along, thus aiding their on-screen rancour.Blu-ray Extras: Documentary, Interviews, Trailer. *** (6/10)

Joseph Losey's "Accident" sent shock waves in the west due to its frank portrayal of a frustrated man and his hidden desires when it was released in late 1960s.However,it would appear to be a rather subdued film if one were to judge it from today's liberal standards. For a casual viewer,this film's title is highly misleading as Joseph Losey has shot his film in such a manner that it does not at all appear to be about an accident which has some indirect bearing on the protagonist's life.Accident is true to the spirit of 1960s,a time when everything mattered to everybody especially one's emotional as well as material well being.The credit for this film's honest portrayal of academic milieu can be attributed to director Joseph Losey and screen writer Harold Pinter who have truthfully described what really happens in institutions of higher learning. Lastly,British actor Dirk Bogarde is one major reason to watch "Accident" as he does perfect justice to his role of a man who is unhappy at all times.

Complex and slow moving, this highly rated film now seems very much of-it's-time although it was considered rather avant gard on release. The story, mostly told in flashback, moves with the speed of a work by Antonioni, exploring similar themes of moral decay, disaffection and dissatisfaction among a privileged group (jn this case Oxford academics.) Few of the characters are sympathetic and human weakness is laid bare on all fronts. At the heart of everything is Dirk Bogarde's Oxford Don, a dour man in the throws of a mid-life crisis. Seemingly wearying of his pregnant wife and jealous of his boorish colleague (Stanley Baker), the whole balance of a previously comfortable life is finally thrown right off balance by the arrival into his social circle of a young Italian woman, the exotic new girlfriend of an aristocratic student (Michael York). Jacqueline Sassard, as the object of the far reaching sexual obsession is a curious mix of beguiling beauty(those amazing eyes!) and very little personality while York is boyishly vacuous and we know his ultimate fate in the opening scene. Baker's character is perhaps the most unpleasant. He brags about his success as a resident expert on TV panel-shows and flaunts his sexual conquests and sporting prowess to an increasingly frustrated Bogarde who then goes in search of an old flame while attempting to secure a TV position of his own in order to keep pace on all fronts. Predictably the three male leads Bogarde, York and Baker) are instantly under Sassard's spell and jealousies which have so far largely rumbled along for many years, flare up, if rather slowly, and with a great many heavy silences and moments of extended tension. Screenwriter Harold Pinter's theatrical background does tend to show through in such sequences. One can easily envisage many of the scenes playing out on stage And while the acting is first rate there is sometimes an irritating element of theatricality about the whole thing. One long single-take involving the making of an omelet, which is clearly terribly significant, is a perfect example of how it often resembles a filmed- play. Beautifully filmed, it must be said, and directed with a firm hand at a very deliberate pace. But it does seem somewhat self-regarding and dated now. It's undoubtedly thought provoking, but exists in a world far removed from anything most of us will recognise and as such can be hard to relate to and a little tiresome to stay with. In the end the characters don't engender enough sympathy for us to care what transpires.

Having just viewed The Victim, Night Porter, and The Servant -all Dirk Bogarde films, I found the accident interesting but somewhat boring. Yes, the atmosphere is thick with uncomfortable people in uncomfortable situations. The dialogue is sparce. People stare. We hear thoughts. . . a whole sequence of Stephen and a former girlfriend meeting in a restaurant with very little if any dialog. And a sign in the restaurant "Eat here and keep your wife at home as a pet." Lovely. Apparently the restaurant was known for late night trysts.The three men, Stephen, Charley, and William have the hots for Anna, although I can't imagine why. She is as warm as a piece of stone, and her acting is minimal. I wasn't prepared for the final accident. Whose? I was reminded of some of the French and Italian films of the 1960 -L'Avventura, La Notte, L'Eclisse.