I read the book and it was a masterpiece of literature. Friedrich Dürrenmantt is/was a genious. His comedies/satires/crime stories are gripping, witty, funny, strange and extremly entertaining.
But what is the film like, is it any good?
I totally agree with you!
(book-masterpiece & Dürrenmatt-genius)
Dürrenmatt's work is really impressive.
And since he collaborated with Schell on the script and also played a role (himself) in the movie, it is bound to be great.
I just watched the movie for the first time in years and it is really wonderful.
Of course, the book is better, but then again books are always better.
This is really a great adaptation with wonderful actors (watch out for the corpse of Schmied - yes it's Donald Sutherland!) and a beautiful -as always- score by Ennio Morricone. Extremely well directed and an overall dark atmosphere worthy of Dürrenmatt. I highly recommend this old school gem.
dito
i really can't believe this film is rated so low (5.6 - currently). this is an excellent film with a great cast and an intriguing story. also, watch out for duerrenmatt's five minute appearance in this film as an enigmatic writer.
Did you read the book in English or German? It's a difficult read in German, but Duerrenmatt's mastery in that language is well worth it.
shareI read the book in German (since its my motherlanguage), but his writing style is good; no monster sentences like Mann, no overdiscribtive parts like Grass. Compared to other German-speaking writers (from swisserland and austria) it is a pleasure to read it as it is timeless and gripping. The Suspicion is even more gripping. But if you have troubles reading German books (which is understandable even for native speakers) I would recommend you not to give up and/or try to read easier novelists like Max Frisch's Homo Faber.
shareWas Homo Faber the story of a rubber gay guy?
Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.