威迪 / Whity (1971)
6.9 
tt0067979
制片国家/地区：
西德剧情简介：
1971西德剧情西部片《威迪》由赖纳·维尔纳·法斯宾德导演，罗恩·兰德尔主演，影片讲述的是：
When is a Western not really a Western When it’s directed by Fassbinder WHITY is only my sixth film from the socalled German wunderkind I admire Fassbinder for his prolific and versatile output though I’ve yet to be won over completely by a film of his frankly I was hoping this would prove to be the one – but as it turned out I couldn’t have been more wrong For the record I’ve got four more titles from him to watch still considering my dismal experience with WHITY especially since I had fully expected it to be the most accessible of the lot I don’t know when I’ll muster the courage to get to them now…even if DESPAIR 1978 is a reasonably enticing title given the participation of Dirk Bogarde and the Vladimir Nabokov source
To be fair the Western ambiance is delivered in spades throughout The film was stunningly shot in Widescreen – by Michael Ballhaus later a valued collaborator of Martin Scorsese – in Almeria location site of many a Spaghetti Western It generally has the right feel for time and place with regards to settings and wardrobe while the allimportant score is highlighted by a decidedly infectious riff Even so the repertoire of Englishlanguage ballads the bulk of the film of course is in German allotted to chanteuseprostitute Hanna Schygulla – not to mention her own affected delivery – is inappropriately modern and comes across as unintentionally laughable Schygulla was a fixture in Fassbinder’s work the film also features Ron Randell bestknown if at all for playing Christ’s attorney in Nicholas Ray’s KING OF KINGS 1961 and Ulli Lommel who later graduated to directing himself notably TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES 1973 and THE BOOGEYMAN 1980
The overriding pretentiousness at work here is palpable above all in the film’s lethargic indeed deadly pace never have I seen a movie in which the characters moved more slowly Besides it isn’t helped by unsympathetic even annoying characters – mostly members of a dysfunctional family and particularly the pastyfaced frizzyhaired sons of landowner Randell – indulging in all manners of transgressions from such commonlydepicted capital sins as greed lust and murder down to nymphomania masochism interracial relationships and incest In the midst of all this is an unsavory gay subtext which inevitably seems to be on the agenda of virtually all directors so inclined in reallife but becoming obviously more pronounced in the liberalized modern cinema
The plot for what it’s worth is reminiscent of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s THEOREM 1968 – coincidentally another gay parable – as the life of everyone involved is influenced in some way by the household’s black manservant the character bears the ironic titular nickname but is also curiously underwritten and inexpressive who’s actually the fruit of Randell’s illicit affair with his frumpy colored maid The fact that each in turn pleads with him to slay the other could have turned this into a pointed black comedy – but the film is simply too labored and deliberately selfconscious for the subtlety intrinsic to such refined treatment
In the end one should note that 1971 saw a boom of arty Westerns with other such offerings as Alexandro Jodorowsky’s EL TOPO Peter Fonda’s THE HIRED HAND and Robert Altman’s McCABE AND MRS MILLER As for WHITY whose shooting by the way inspired Fassbinder’s own BEWARE OF A HOLY WHORE 1971 I had owned the Fantoma DVD – which includes an Audio Commentary from Ballhaus and Lommel – for quite a while before actually sitting down to view it I’d purchased the disc through the company’s own website during a sale but as I said could only manage to find a slot for it in my hecticeclectic schedule after having enjoyed a couple of equally stylized but far more satisfying Spaghetti Westerns – DEATH SENTENCE 1968 and YANKEE 1966 – earlier this week
When is a Western not really a Western When it’s directed by Fassbinder WHITY is only my sixth film from the socalled German wunderkind I admire Fassbinder for his prolific and versatile output though I’ve yet to be won over completely by a film of his frankly I was hoping this would prove to be the one – but as it turned out I couldn’t have been more wrong For the record I’ve got four more titles from him to watch still considering my dismal experience with WHITY especially since I had fully expected it to be the most accessible of the lot I don’t know when I’ll muster the courage to get to them now…even if DESPAIR 1978 is a reasonably enticing title given the participation of Dirk Bogarde and the Vladimir Nabokov source
To be fair the Western ambiance is delivered in spades throughout The film was stunningly shot in Widescreen – by Michael Ballhaus later a valued collaborator of Martin Scorsese – in Almeria location site of many a Spaghetti Western It generally has the right feel for time and place with regards to settings and wardrobe while the allimportant score is highlighted by a decidedly infectious riff Even so the repertoire of Englishlanguage ballads the bulk of the film of course is in German allotted to chanteuseprostitute Hanna Schygulla – not to mention her own affected delivery – is inappropriately modern and comes across as unintentionally laughable Schygulla was a fixture in Fassbinder’s work the film also features Ron Randell bestknown if at all for playing Christ’s attorney in Nicholas Ray’s KING OF KINGS 1961 and Ulli Lommel who later graduated to directing himself notably TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES 1973 and THE BOOGEYMAN 1980
The overriding pretentiousness at work here is palpable above all in the film’s lethargic indeed deadly pace never have I seen a movie in which the characters moved more slowly Besides it isn’t helped by unsympathetic even annoying characters – mostly members of a dysfunctional family and particularly the pastyfaced frizzyhaired sons of landowner Randell – indulging in all manners of transgressions from such commonlydepicted capital sins as greed lust and murder down to nymphomania masochism interracial relationships and incest In the midst of all this is an unsavory gay subtext which inevitably seems to be on the agenda of virtually all directors so inclined in reallife but becoming obviously more pronounced in the liberalized modern cinema
The plot for what it’s worth is reminiscent of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s THEOREM 1968 – coincidentally another gay parable – as the life of everyone involved is influenced in some way by the household’s black manservant the character bears the ironic titular nickname but is also curiously underwritten and inexpressive who’s actually the fruit of Randell’s illicit affair with his frumpy colored maid The fact that each in turn pleads with him to slay the other could have turned this into a pointed black comedy – but the film is simply too labored and deliberately selfconscious for the subtlety intrinsic to such refined treatment
In the end one should note that 1971 saw a boom of arty Westerns with other such offerings as Alexandro Jodorowsky’s EL TOPO Peter Fonda’s THE HIRED HAND and Robert Altman’s McCABE AND MRS MILLER As for WHITY whose shooting by the way inspired Fassbinder’s own BEWARE OF A HOLY WHORE 1971 I had owned the Fantoma DVD – which includes an Audio Commentary from Ballhaus and Lommel – for quite a while before actually sitting down to view it I’d purchased the disc through the company’s own website during a sale but as I said could only manage to find a slot for it in my hecticeclectic schedule after having enjoyed a couple of equally stylized but far more satisfying Spaghetti Westerns – DEATH SENTENCE 1968 and YANKEE 1966 – earlier this week
