MartinHafer
"Gone to Earth" is a very, very pretty film. It was made in the UK and the colorful English countryside is quite nice. However, the film also is incredibly slow to be point of being tedious. It also features a main character who is a bit stupid and difficult to like. For me, this film was very tough going.Hazel (Jennifer Jones) is a sort of free spirit who loves nature and lives her own odd life. While somewhat pretty, this alone didn't explain why both the Parson and Squire were so smitten by her. The Parson's love was sincere but lacked passion and the Squire's had plenty of passion but nothing else. During the course of the film, Hazel vacillates between the two...though you wonder why any sane woman would want either of these losers.Overall, the film just didn't pay off for me. Pretty English countryside aside, the movie just seemed tedious and many of the characters nonsensical. It did, however, have a happy ending.
stonethrower88
Does anyone know if Jennifer Jone's voice was over-dubbed? It almost sounds like it. The accent doesn't seem to fit her true voice.cinematography is some of the best ever especially considering the 1950's releasegreat acting beautiful costumes a little too wordyBut nevertheless quite impressiveinspired Kate Bush, perhaps even sampled by her as well.characterizations are so pressburger and powelljennifer jones while impressive seems a bit out of place if it truly be taken for an English tale though she still impresses.
Waerdnotte
This film is one of the Powell and Pressburger films that have received less attention than many of their more well-known works, and it is a real beauty of a film.With some excellent acting from Jennifer Jones, Cyril Cusack and David Farrer (Farrer rarely reached this level of believability in any other Archers film) Powell's direction is ahead of the game, and with the photography of Christopher Challis the film evokes the early New Hollywood style of the mid sixties, with many more long shots of groups of people and a far more mobile use of camera than Powell had previous used. The colouring is sumptuous, with many close-up head shots surrounded by the rich colours of sky and countryside.The story of a naive country girl courted by two suiters; a country priest and a local squire is very reminiscent of post-war westerns, and Powell shows the relationships between the three as a battle between the order and probity of the priest's lifestyle and beliefs and the squire's passion and unrestrained desires, a Hardyesque reflection of British society in the 19th century, a view found in the Archer's other films such as A Canterbuty Tale and I Know Where I'm Going. It is a look back to what might be considered a more genteel Englishness, but does it with far more style than the contemporary Ealing Studio films.Beautiful to look at, forward-looking cinematography and some cracking music by Brian Easdale who had already worked on The Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes, this is classic Powell and Pressburger. It can be seen as the pinnacle of their 1940s work, bringing together the technicolour beauty of films like The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death and the rural idealism of A Canterbury Tale.
Jimlad
A beautifully made and gently rolling film, almost surreal in content.Some moments almost seem off cue and through a breathtakingly simple narrative visual style, comes a story of innocence, passion and ultimate tragedy. The music is hypnotic and compliments the flow of the film.Superb performance by all - including 'Foxy'! If this film was made today it would be showered with Oscars.Finally, it is hard to see a comparable style in the British film industry prior to this and certainly nothing after it. It is this fact that I believe contributes to the films unique qualities.
AD
