Monday, February 8, 2016

Ship of Fools

Ship of Fools has one excellent element the relationship between La Condesa (Simone Signoret) and the doctor played by Oskar Werner. They are both great together and messages involved with their story are used well as subtext rather than simply being controlled by it. The romantic relationship is made believable as both of them find a powerful mix of warmth and sadness in their scenes together. The rest of the film though is preachy melodrama. Not of these relationships seem believable that develop and all feel like manipulation at its very worst. There never feels like an ounce of honesty in any of the other characters who carry their single uninteresting character trait, and this is not helped by the performances that are either bland or over the top. The moment I think I hate the most in the film is when Michael Dunn's Glocken directly addresses the audience at the end. It is extremely indulgent, and when he says the story mean nothing to you, I kind of wanted to curse at the screen.
2/5

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