Offbeat (Revised & Updated) by Julian Upton;

Author:Julian Upton;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SCB Distributors

Brando appeared for a cut-price fee in The Nightcomers. Wonder why?

The touches of paternal whimsy that run through the scenes of Quint and the children naturally make the film’s overheated moments all the more alarming. When the orphan Miles discovers that Quint is embroiled in a sexual relationship with the otherwise buttoned-up Miss Jessel (the scenes of Quint tying her up for another S&M session, albeit brief and heavily cut, can still raise an eyebrow), it is at a cost to his (and his sister’s) innocence, not to mention sanity. (It certainly seems enough of a traumatic experience to turn Miles into the slightly warped man-child of the James story proper.)

The Nightcomers was largely reviled on its release — a critical reaction Winner would later get used to (and even start to court). It marked the beginning of his ongoing affair with blatant tastelessness, something that he was able to indulge in more frequently as censorship relaxed further. But the passage of time has served to dilute its excesses and coax out its (admittedly few) charms. For the most part, it now looks quite admirably restrained (no pun intended), in parts even tranquil. It remains an intriguing curiosity on Winner’s CV: the only film in which he tackles ‘higher brow’ material, and in which he aspires to and largely achieves something of an arthouse sensibility.

Julian Upton

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