Between his glory days of the early-to-mid-1950s and his reemergence as a major Hollywood player in "The Godfather", Marlon Brando seemingly dropped out of sight in the last half of the 1960s, appearing in a variety of unsuccessful and mainly forgotten films that are seldom discussed or seen today. This movie happens to be one of those films. While it will never achieve the status of a lost classic, I found it to be an interesting effort in spite of its inherent flaws. Contrary to what one might expect from a movie with such a stellar cast, each character is left undeveloped to a large extent, making it difficult to emotionally identify with either victim or villain. The film's storyline and atmosphere are rather spare and understated, leaving long moments of silent inactivity that seem to be self-consciously artsy at times, yet do not truly diminish the gradually building suspense of the plot's resolution. A misguided attempt at a twist ending serves more to confuse things than provide a satisfying conclusion, but this does not ruin what was overall an enjoyable film, if one is able to get past its sometimes methodical and uneventful pace and instead allow the story to unwind in its own sweet time.
Review of The Night of the Following Day
