Criterion worthy? - Betrayal (1983) Discussion

[–] timmy_501 16 years ago

It sucks that I had to watch a grainy, fullscreen VHS with bad sound, but I will never watch it again anyway.

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Betrayal 6/10

This story is already over

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[–] m-daisley 14 years ago

If you worried about, full screen, too grainy and poor sound, you probably weren't ready for this film anyway. It is one of the best performances by Ben Kinsley and, Jeremy Irons isn't half bad too. Patricia Hodge is magic and the whole thing in flash back is just genius. You should really watch it again without all the techno things annoying you. Just appreciate the story and the acting. This movie had a profound effect on me years ago and I searched high and low and eventually got it on ebay.

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[–] timmy_501 14 years ago

Well, poor presentation hurts any film. I don't think being ready is going to change that. Still, you may be right that watching it again might improve my opinion of it, I'll consider it.

Dear Mom, I put a couple of people in Hell today...

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[–] fmpol 15 years ago

Absolutely.

It's a shame that this movie seems to have fallen out of filmgoers' collective psyche. It was selected best film of 1983 by the National Board of Review but if you look at the other winners of its approximate era (say the preceding and following 10 years), this is the one title that younger filmgoers may not recognize or have ever seen.

The skimpy number of "external reviews" on this site doesn't give visitors any sense of the very positive reception that this film got at the time of its release. And while it wasn't the type of movie that could become a box office hit, I do remember that when it came out on video, it was widely recommended as an overlooked gem. It would be nice if a similar rediscovery could occur with a DVD release.

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[–] maenad-3 13 years ago

We first saw this film on television about 20 years ago. It was riveting. Just trying to figure out the chronology was a challenge. Being admirers of Pinter, we truly enjoyed this beautifully filmed version of "Betrayal." Fortunately, we made a VHS tape and were able to watch it about five more times, each time appreciating the reversal of the time sequence. We just watched it tonight on a DVR program, great resolution, huge screen and found it just as intriguing. Irons, Kingsley and Hodge present all the nuances of the triangle perfectly. The clutching of the two hands at the end/beginning grips my heart every time.

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[–] butaneggbert 7 years ago

I am not a wealthy person, but I'd be willing to fork over lots of dollars if Criterion through with the full treatment: restoration, interviews, commentary, film critic analysis.

I so love this movie.
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Nothing to see here, move along.

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