Cinema Cycle - Gaslight

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE VIEWED: 03/09/2015   

TITLE: Gaslight

FORMAT: Laserdisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 54 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 28.1 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 1259.4 miles

SYNOPSIS: A manipulating husband tricks his emotionally fragile young wife into thinking she is insane in order to steal her family jewels.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Sociopaths are creepy people.  There are wolves that parade around in sheep's clothing everywhere.  One of the key lessons in life is learning how to spot and avoid them.  London was a very, very foggy place at the turn of the 20th century.

PROS AND CONS: This film was not what I expected.  I had never seen this work before and found it interesting and a bit creepy.  What I realized soon into the film was that this is basically an instructional video on how to manipulate and undermine people.  In essence, this is  ‘How To Be A Sociopath - 101’.  

Every young woman should see this film to learn how not to be manipulated by men or people in authority.  The fact that Charles Boyer is so sinister in this film makes it all the more uncomfortable to watch.  He plays the cold blooded, scheming, murdering husband very well.

That said, there are a few things that were odd about the movie.  Why Joseph Cotten’s character should take such an interest in solving the crime is questionable.  We assume he is a police detective, although it is never specifically stated that he is.  The entire film takes place at night and London was a very empty and very foggy place at the turn of the century, or so we would be lead to believe.

The final scene were Ingrid Bergman’s character finally confronts the man that has been manipulating and tormenting her is a little odd.  She toys with him and almost kills him, which seems a bit out of character, but does bring closure to her story.  

To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.