My Favorite Carol Reed Film

During my deep dive into 1950s films, I came to the conclusion that I wasn't a big fan of film noir.  I bring this up because I feel that I need to acknowledge that "The Third Man" is considered one of the greatest film noir ever made, and the best film directed by Sir Carol Reed, one of the most beloved English film luminaries.  I don't dispute this, but after a rewatch of "The Third Man," I'm afraid my position remains unchanged - "The Third Man" is a magnificent film, but not my favorite of Reed's by a long shot.  

Carol Reed's list of accolades is a considerable one - Academy Award winner, first winner of a BAFTA for best British film, and an influence on dozens of other prominent filmmakers.  He's best known for his post-war films about war and crime, psychological thrillers and suspenseful dramas, often about haunted men on the run.  My favorite Carol Reed film doesn't represent any of Reed's strengths.  Instead, it's almost the total antithesis,"The Agony and the Ecstasy," a film made near the end of Reed's career, during a slump in his fortunes, about Michaelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel.  It's one of Darryl F. Zanuck's notorious roadshow spectacles of the 1960s, and Reed was hired because Fox couldn't get Fred Zinnemann.  It was a notable flop, mostly remembered for the zany "Animaniacs" spoof it spawned a few decades later.

And despite it all, I love this movie.  I love that it opens with a lengthy, pretentious documentary segment introducing us to Renaissance art and the work of Michaelangelo.  I love that the scope is narrowly focused on the creation of the Sistine Chapel frescoes, and Michaelangelo's antagonistic relationship with Pope Julius II.  I love that the film is talky and grandiose and spends so much time hyping up Michaelangelo's art.  Critics of the time complained that the film was more art history lecture than cinematic experience, and ignored Michaelangelo's personal life, but that was one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much.  I've always loved films about artists and the creation of their art, and there are few artists with work as awe-inspiring as Michaelangelo.  I was totally won over by the production, which recreated vast sections of the Sistine Chapel in Cinecitta Studios in Rome.  The power of the images came through, even though the first time I saw "The Agony and the Ecstasy" was on a tiny television screen.  It's no surprise that the film was nominated for five Oscars, including for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography (color).  

Most of the action, or inaction according to the film's detractors,  comes down to the artist and the pope.   They are played by Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison at their most ego-driven, and larger-than-life.  The two actors did not get along during the making of the film, which I think helped their performances.  They're both hamming it up delightfully in swords and sandals epic mode, not even trying to hide their distinctive accents, while their mutual disdain for each other comes across loud and clear.  Heston plays Michaelangelo as an antisocial grump who won't compromise on anything, while Harrison is the charming patron who gradually loses patience with his grand endeavors.  Rarely have I seen an Odd Couple pairing more over-the-top, couched in more ostentatious pageantry, and more entertaining to watch.  The inadvertent laughs these two provide fill me with such joy.           

As contrived and occasionally silly as the film is - there's a wild artistic epiphany scene, a deathbed resurrection, and a totally invented female love interest for the historically homosexual Michaelangelo - I so appreciate the film's willingness to elevate and celebrate artistic achievement in such magnificent terms.  When I finally saw "The Agony and the Ecstasy" on a more properly sized screen (not the original 70 mm, but good enough), I couldn't help but be dazzled by its scope and ambitions.  Art is often best appreciated through the eyes of other artists, and like Milos Forman was able to bring Mozart's genius to life in "Amadeus," I feel that Carol Reed and his crew were able to bring the work of one of the old Renaissance masters to the big screen in a memorably spectacular way.  

What I've Seen - Carol Reed

Night Train to Munich (1940)

The True Glory (1945)

Odd Man Out (1947)

The Fallen Idol (1948)

The Third Man (1949)

Outcast of the Islands (1951)

Trapeze (1956)

Our Man in Havana (1959)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)

Oliver! (1968)

---