gavin6942
As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on Britain in 1943, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.While this film is about World War II and a man's struggles with alcohol (as noted in the plot summary), this is not what I particularly enjoyed about the film. I thought it was most interesting because it showed the scientists behind the scenes. Whether it was isolating a gas or something else, it was nice to see this aspect.The point is made that a politician had never seen an adding machine before. This could be taken in many ways, but for my purpose I think it is neat to focus on these men because their creations are what move war (or society) forward. Countless movies depict war, but very few show the men and women who design the airplanes or other devices.
Theo Robertson
The films of Michael Powell feature quite prominently in the list of greatest British films list . BLACK NARCISSUS , THE RED SHOES , THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP and A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH all feature there somewhere . This film called THE SMALL BACK ROOM is constantly ignored for some reason , perhaps the fact it's in black and white might have a lot to do with it but is certainly of the best films in Powell's resume Perhaps this fact that it is shot in black and white works in its favour ? In some ways it's a different take on film noir . David Farrar plays Sammy Rice a scientist working for the war office and finds himself besieged on all sides by marketing agents who want to win government contracts for new weapons even though these weapons are nowhere near as effective as the marketing men claim . What the film does brilliantly is taking us in to the tortured psyche of Rice who knows fine well that this will cost the lives of young men who have to fight the war against Nazi Germany with these weapons In film noir the protagonist is portrayed as a flawed anti-hero and in the case of Rice he's flawed both physically and mentally . He has a foot missing which has been replaced by a tin one that causes him pain which has led to an addiction for pain killers which don't work except to feed his addiction . Rice also has a sometimes addiction to alcohol and Powell shows his expressionistic influences by a quite breath taking sequence where Rice has to literally fight his addiction . The entire film benefits greatly from the cinematography of Christopher Challis that any director of film noir would kill for One other overlooked aspect to THE SMALL BACK ROOM that you would never get in an American movie is the " joint effort " portrayal of the allies . Churchill summed up allied victory as being won by " American money , British courage and Soviet blood " a somewhat simplistic sound bite but the fact is it was a broad coalition of many countries and of many brave young people who can claim the victory for defeating Nazi Germany and it's nice to see a film open with a British officer finding himself surrounded by servicemen from America , Poland and France . Believe me you wouldn't get that in a 21st Century American film THE SMALL BACK ROOM remains one of the best films Powell made . Like the cosmopolitan coalition who beat the Nazis there's a lot of factors as to why it's a good movie . If you're expecting a war film then that's not what you're going to get because it's a journey through the psyche of a tortured man with the burden of a world at war on his shoulders and the film is good at portraying this on screen and contains some excellent cinematography
antcol8
Between Film Noir and Cassavetes lies...not much. But definitely both this film and Nicholas Ray's In A Lonely Place. Those couples! Their tension stretched to - and almost beyond - the breaking points. That's the mastery: those who find this film dull just...haven't been there. Rarely has a film been so well titled - it's so claustrophobic!And how it all connects: the crippled Sammy with his temper and his drinking problem, and at the same time, with his ineffable mastery. What a great character - so modern in his total impossible - ness.The luminous Sue, photographed so artificially, with the light shining on her face like in some early Sylvia Sidney movie where she's working in a luncheonette, or something like that. And how can you not love those touches of looming surrealism - Teutonic? I don't think so. It's more like Powell saw Chien Andalou right after it came out and was marked forever - besides the clocks and bottles in the "surreal" sequence, that close-up of the bomb on the beach. And I love all those "exotic" (for Great Britain) locales when the film finally opens up - I'm reminded of I Know Where I'm Going. The relentlessness of this film is its genius. But would you say this film looks forward to things like This Sporting Life? I wouldn't, because there's plenty of humor in this film. Powell and Pressburger understand that rubbing the viewer's faces in non-stop misery can just create numbness, and that the humor creates a space of something like distance, where we relax for a moment before plunging again into the gloom of people who obviously love each other, but who have great difficulty in communicating. Oh, that moment when Sue takes both her photo and her kitty away! If that doesn't create an empty feeling in the pit of your stomach...well, maybe you're lucky.
jfaulk001
The Small Dark Room is a dull misnomer. The suggestion is that within that Defense Ministry cramper some insignificant human being is earnestly working away and finally does make a breakthrough, for which some Higher Up will snatch credit. That's not what this picture is about. How about this title?: The Broken Pace.Noir? Where's the crime, the chase, the gunshots, the road house, the slinky woman, the scream, the ominous shadows?Many years after its original release, Powell saw this film at a retrospective and declared it "cold." This emotional void is the real reason it failed to win an audience.Much time is wasted on satire and caricature: humpty dumpty Robert Morley, grinning despicable Jack Hawkins, the "Old Army" Colonel, the chaotic Committee Meeting, the intrusive over-animated blonde at the nightclub, etc. Go for convincing realism throughout the film so the audience can respect Farrar's problems, his relationship with Kathleen, and most of all the German explosive device that is killing children.The explosive device is a careless figment of the writer's imagination. Can we credit that these "thermos flask" metal cylinders with sensitive mechanisms inside can be air-dropped from 5000 or even 500 feet and not be destroyed on impact?We must see at least one device, obviously of grenade strength, detonate as a child picks it up. This will enable the audience to feel real apprehension and moral indignation. Don't just talk about the "thermos" things.Bitter David is not easily embraced by an audience. Add a prolog or flashback showing him ten years earlier. Pebble Beach: he's with a beautiful blonde, they walk barefoot along the shore, he kicks some water at her to make her squeal. Testing site: as an outdoor explosive experiment goes awry, all dive for cover, David pauses to yank an old-timer to safety, but David's right foot doesn't make it. Hospital ward: the blonde brings a box of candy to David, kisses him, smiling sits on the chair, then sees the flat sheet where his foot should be, she's struck dumb, runs off.Later on, even show his prosthetic foot beside the bathtub, the thick white cotton protective stocking beside it. This won't affront an audience who have come through WWII.Kathleen should actually burst into tears at an impasse. David: "Now, don't cry. I haven't for ten years." "They're not tears. They're holy water . . . (she touches her cheeks to his hair) . . . to beg God's mercy. Ten years is too long to try you." The concluding Pebble Beach scene, Revised: As the Sergeant and David walk to the explosive device, clouds like billowing black smoke darken the landscape, a stiff wind is blowing. Sergeant: "I'll help, you may need a hand." "I'd rather have a foot, if a new shipment comes in. Better you should join our compatriots behind the barrier." The Sergeant gently salutes him, "Yes sir," and goes. As David works on the device, there are some flashes of light in the dark sky, thunder rumbles, strong winds stream his hair and flap his collar. He succeeds at the disarmament. "Thank God," he murmurs to the cylinder.Powell's actual 1, 2, 3 Transformation sequence: The Sergeant sees David off at the train, tells him he's The Best. In a shadowy interior, David strongly reassures Corporal Cyril Cusack. David finds a smiling Kathleen in his flat, she gives him a message and sends the "new man" off to his duty. (How's that for a quick Hollywood Happy Ending from Cold Contemptuous Godless Maestro Powell!)
