Remarkable psychological thriller with Hardy Krüger, Britt Ekland and Mark Lester
Four years after the brilliant and Oscar-winning musical "Oliver!" With him in the title role, the child star Mark Lester, born in 1958, surprised us with this bizarre psychological thriller that really has it all.
The wife of the successful Paul (Hardy Krüger) dies under strange circumstances. Their son Marcus (Mark Lester) is deported to an English boarding school. Meanwhile, Paul marries the very young and damn pretty Elise (Britt Ekland) and moves into a new house with her somewhere in southern Spain (filming took place near Almeria). One day young Marcus shows up there unexpectedly and talks about an early vacation. A strange relationship with erotic undertones immediately develops between the actually childish boy (Mark Lester was still twelve years old at the time of filming) and the beautiful blonde. Elise feels increasingly uncomfortable around the boy. Paul, who is often physically and mentally absent, hardly seems to be aware of all this or tries rather unsuccessfully to calm his worried wife. The situation comes to a head when Elise finds out that the boarding school (headmaster: Harry Andrews) is not on vacation yet. Even a psychotherapist (Lilli Palmer) who is brought in to help is unable to unravel the opaque web of relationships. The matter escalates into a bizarre power struggle between son and stepmother, especially as it becomes increasingly uncertain whether the deceased mother was not the victim of a crime...
Something like that could only be allowed in the progressive seventies! A film with an all-star cast in which there are irritating scenes between a young woman and an adolescent. Even if everything remains very modest, it's still difficult to swallow! A film that shows a child who could well be capable of very evil deeds! A film that takes into account the relaxed sexual morals of the 1970s, but also shows that it is primarily the father who withdraws from the conflict and thus makes everything worse. Certainly not a very happy role for Hardy Krüger, who was born in 1928, but he is extremely convincing as a slow-witted busybody. But the highlights remain the famous Mark Lester (later a close friend of Michael Jackson, both former child stars) and the really good Britt Ekland (born in Stockholm in 1942), who impressed two years later as a Bond girl and made a guest appearance in the popular film in 1984 Crime series "The Fall Guy" had, reserved. Lilli Palmer's role is unfortunately very small, but it's always nice to see her in international films.
A very special and daring film that remains exciting until the end and has a fascinating relationship constellation to tell.
Four years after the brilliant and Oscar-winning musical "Oliver!" With him in the title role, the child star Mark Lester, born in 1958, surprised us with this bizarre psychological thriller that really has it all.
The wife of the successful Paul (Hardy Krüger) dies under strange circumstances. Their son Marcus (Mark Lester) is deported to an English boarding school. Meanwhile, Paul marries the very young and damn pretty Elise (Britt Ekland) and moves into a new house with her somewhere in southern Spain (filming took place near Almeria). One day young Marcus shows up there unexpectedly and talks about an early vacation. A strange relationship with erotic undertones immediately develops between the actually childish boy (Mark Lester was still twelve years old at the time of filming) and the beautiful blonde. Elise feels increasingly uncomfortable around the boy. Paul, who is often physically and mentally absent, hardly seems to be aware of all this or tries rather unsuccessfully to calm his worried wife. The situation comes to a head when Elise finds out that the boarding school (headmaster: Harry Andrews) is not on vacation yet. Even a psychotherapist (Lilli Palmer) who is brought in to help is unable to unravel the opaque web of relationships. The matter escalates into a bizarre power struggle between son and stepmother, especially as it becomes increasingly uncertain whether the deceased mother was not the victim of a crime...
Something like that could only be allowed in the progressive seventies! A film with an all-star cast in which there are irritating scenes between a young woman and an adolescent. Even if everything remains very modest, it's still difficult to swallow! A film that shows a child who could well be capable of very evil deeds! A film that takes into account the relaxed sexual morals of the 1970s, but also shows that it is primarily the father who withdraws from the conflict and thus makes everything worse. Certainly not a very happy role for Hardy Krüger, who was born in 1928, but he is extremely convincing as a slow-witted busybody. But the highlights remain the famous Mark Lester (later a close friend of Michael Jackson, both former child stars) and the really good Britt Ekland (born in Stockholm in 1942), who impressed two years later as a Bond girl and made a guest appearance in the popular film in 1984 Crime series "The Fall Guy" had, reserved. Lilli Palmer's role is unfortunately very small, but it's always nice to see her in international films.
A very special and daring film that remains exciting until the end and has a fascinating relationship constellation to tell.