MovieChat Forums > Wanda (1971) Discussion > Well I finally saw it...

Well I finally saw it...

posted 17 years ago by johnyzero_2000
5 replies | jump to latest

And I can say i liked and I didn't like it. The character of Wanda is very hard to figure out, she has officially hit rock bottom and feels that life isn't worth living but she is too weak to kill herself. All self worth of the woman is non-existant because how can someone just shack up with a man so you can sleep inside for that night? Someone that is dead internally. It's not easy to like the woman named Wanda and it's hard to have any compassion for a woman that has abandoned her husband and children then shacks with the nasty and irredeemable Mr. Dennis. What I did like about the movie is Barbara Loden. She gave an excellent performance and it's a subtle one instead of showy. A role like Wanda an actress would see this as an opportunity to chew the scenery by Loden goes in the opposite direction playing it low key and the results are a performance devoid of theatrics. Loden also wrote and directed Wanda and this is another case of what might have been. Her direction is solid as a rock and her script is very natural with it's dialogue, too bad she never got more publicity with this picture. My favorite scene is when she comes out of the Woolworth's in new clothes, smiling and looking pretty and then Mr Dennis shatters the new self esteem that she has acquired. Other memorable scenes are the long walk across the coal mine to see her father for money and the courtroom where she just gives up custody of her children and not putting up any fight. I think Wanda is a movie that one will get after a few more viewings.

[–] artihcus022 16 years ago

My favorite scene is when she comes out of the Woolworth's in new clothes, smiling and looking pretty and then Mr Dennis shatters the new self esteem that she has acquired.

You should see the film closely. He only throws those clothes out because he sees them as cheap, superficial and in bad taste, reflecting the consumerist fantasies of Wanda's.

You should see this film again, it's made for repeated viewings. Wanda is not like any Hollywood film nor is it one of the cliche'd "independent" films that were made then and now, supposed to reflect "real life". It follows it's own rhythm and style uncompromisingly with beautiful low-key visuals and an excellent soundtrack and trusting the audiences to make their own minds about characters who are ambiguous, who are not explained to audiences and who we are never asked to identify with, even if we do eventually. It's more like a poem in images than a screenplay filmed.

Loden also wrote and directed Wanda and this is another case of what might have been. Her direction is solid as a rock and her script is very natural with it's dialogue, too bad she never got more publicity with this picture.

Her film got considerable attention in Europe and I believe it won a price at Venice. In America it never got anywhere save for a small following. Barbara Loden had planned to make more films afterwards and struggled to find funds. She was able to pull up the money for Wanda largely because of her clout as a respected Broadway thespian and for the fact that she was Elia Kazan's wife.

"Ça va by me, madame...Ça va by me!" - The Red Shoes

[–] BwlBoy 14 years ago

"........an excellent soundtrack"

Were we watching the same film? There is no music in it so how can there be a soundtrack?

By no means a bad film but I felt the plot required far more than the sedate pacing that was offered particularly in the last third. Wanda and Mr Dennis carry out their heist like Bonnie and Clyde on valium. Mr Dennis seemed like a cross between Jonah Jameson in looks and Hunter S Thompson vocally. Quite bizarre but actually the stand out performer in the film. I personally found it hard to appreciate Loden's performance because the character was so characterless and vacant. Not essential but I would liked to have understood why Wanda had become this pathetic woman.

[–] Stirchley 12 years ago

the long walk across the coal mine to see her father for money

There were no subtitles and I could hardly hear the dialog in that scene. I didn't get at all that that was her father. Is that really true? I thought he was just a sweet old man she had befriended.

[–] maxtshea 9 years ago

I too got the impression Wanda was making her rounds of people who might give her a buck or two, and the old man was just one of them.

[–] CaptainTerrific 9 years ago

^^^ That, and he seemed simple-minded. My first take was that she was hitting him up because she could take advantage of him easily.