Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality” – Emily Dickinson
If Death took a holiday, the guns would go silent in Iraq, the slaughter on our nation’s highways would cease, and the news media would be compelled to cover positive events in the humanities, arts, and sciences. Unfortunately, Death has not had a vacation in recorded history, but Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 fantasy, Death Takes a Holiday, allows us to consider the possibility. Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Gladys Lehman and based on the play "La Morte in Vacanza" by Alberto Casella, Death Takes a Holiday stars Frederic March as the Grim Reaper who takes on human form in an attempt to discover why men fear him so much. Why he has waited 5,000 years to satisfy this curiosity is not explained.
[Spoiler] After a brief tryout as a shadowy figure who scares the daylights out of those that cross his path, Death shows up at, of all places, an upscale party at an Italian villa, posing as the mysterious Prince Sirki. Only one person knows who he really is, the host Duke Lambert (Guy Standing), and he is sworn to secrecy. Sirki proceeds to fascinate the guests. Given to bursts of wit and poetry, he can just as quickly turn sullen and threatening, and some soon find out that it is better not to look too deeply into his eyes. During the three days in which the Prince is at the villa, however, people all over the world miraculously escape death and potential suicides are doomed to frustration.
To see what’s behind all the conversation about love, the suave but naïve Prince Sirki falls for the irresistible Grazia (Evelyn Venable), the daughter of one of Duke’s friends. Grazia knows who Death is but does not fear him, much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Corrado (Kent Taylor) who has developed a strong disdain for Prince Charming.
More sinister than Brad Pitt in the 1998 remake Meet Joe Black, March turns in a very convincing performance as the creepy yet strangely appealing guest. Although the ending is melodramatic, the emotions are very real and the suggestion that Death may in reality be a friend disguised as a foe is quite touching.
(Howard Schumann, talkingpix.co.uk)
In this wearisome and predictable plot line, Death falls in love and bores us to death talking about it.
(Dennis Schwartz, homepages.sover.net)
I've heard DRACULA was advertised with the tag line "The Weirdest Love Story ever told!" (this is probably a paraphrase), but at heart, I've never felt that you could honestly call that movie a love story. The tag line would be much more appropriate for this one, since it ultimately boils down to what amounts to a love story. This movie is very good indeed, particularly if you consider that it is built around a concept that could have easily been handled in a cute or facile manner. Instead, it is handled as seriously as possible, with some real thought put into how death would try to come to terms with a life and an outlook that was to that point totally unfamiliar to him; much of the credit does go to Fredric March in the title role. It's quite scary when it needs to be, particularly during the first twenty minutes. From then on, it deals with its themes with subtlety, a quiet wit, an enduring sadness, and an everpresent tension on how Death might react if crossed. It's not perfect; some of the dialogue is self-conscious and artificial, as if the writers knew they were dealing with weighty issues and were trying to be profound. But I am certainly glad they didn't try to turn it into a musical comedy of sorts.
(Dave Sindelar, scifilm.org)
See also the remake: Death Takes A Holiday (1971)
只是不一样的人生路，不再被觉得励志什么的。
容易被忽视的佳作，既感人也太好哭了。最难忘扮演苏桦伟的三位不同年龄段的“神奇小子”，他们每个人都奉献了牛叉闪闪的炸裂演技，而这又不仅仅是演技那么简单，只因苏桦伟独一无二的人生极具魅力与传奇色彩。想起另一部《岁月神偷》，电影表面上是讲儿子的成长，实际上幕后灵魂人物一直是苏妈吴君如（影后级别的表演），要不是她几十年如一日的默默承担付出与鞭策，打破世界纪录与世界冠军的传奇也根本无从谈起。而往更远处看，苏妈与她的神奇小子一路跑来的成长经历，这明明就是一个大写的“香港精神”——不服输，不妥协，永远相信自己，逆境中乐观坚强，挺起胸膛与命运赛跑，Get Set, Go!
我还以为那个山洞跟老人的某种器官是相通的😂实景拍摄也是很厉害啊
#BIFF2021# 最后一场北影节电影，虽然因为（真正的）技术原因没有欣赏到预期的观影效果，但深达683米的大洞，尤其往下扔火的一幕，实属震撼。几乎没有台词，纯靠影像叙事。探索洞穴和老人的状态成对照关系。洞的终点，亦是老人生命的尽头。通篇晴朗的高原在结尾起了厚重的白雾。永远不要忘记敬畏自然，我们每一步探索，都会承受同等的代价。
今年刚好大陆香港都出了一部同类型且有真实原型的电影
看完好電影讓人心曠神怡。溫情勵志的基礎題材已用精簡的筆墨完成，點到為止，不加贅述，可對標今年夏天同殘運題材《了不起的老爸》。而香港電影傳統和兩年精細的劇本打磨又讓這部影片比同類型作品更勝一籌，即直擊揭露運動員群體矛盾的生存境況。瞬間的絢爛，長久的遺忘，健全的奧運冠軍尚且搓澡買牌，更何況本身就面臨極大壓力的殘障人群。電影在現實取材方面做足了功夫，給予個體、家庭、差異群體以極大尊重。吳君如等幾位香港老戲骨的演技無可挑剔，更誇爆新人演員梁仲恒，角色傳神入木三分。9.4
诗意，先验，技艺精湛，但就是看了像没看一样
拍法老派，但并不只是预想中的亲情励志，残奥金牌很快就拿到了，重点是之后怎么办，残障运动员即便再努力，也还是会被大众忽视受到不公平对待甚至生存窘迫，我也只能惭愧表示看了电影才知道苏桦伟是谁。普通运动员拼命是为了梦想和名利，残障运动员为的可能只是让自己不再被瞧不起，而这努力最终也还是会落空，想想还真是心酸。这部电影的遇冷，也是这一问题的表现。
2.5/5。开篇煽情过猛了，还没情绪带入呢。残障+民族情怀+荣誉+演技大咖吴君如，能骗观众很多眼泪了。评分影视作品如何不等于观众对运动员的尊敬多少。
【BJIFF】不可思议的杜比影院体验，一部“听觉”电影。在洞穴初现时，后方传来的讨论声让我误以为是影院观众的交谈，转头一看发现是临近“火车进站”般的体验。
2021.9.30 BJIFF 北影节最后一场，沉浸式洞穴探险。摄影和导演其中一人要么是天才要么就是在构图上花了大量时间精力去设计和调整。巨幕上看本应该是绝佳体验，深影巨幕厅后排的音响却一直发出噪音……
风光以及牧羊老人都是满分 一条孱弱的生命 一个需要被探测深度的洞 上和下 瞬间和永恒 高和低 值得一看
看到这电影的名字，我还以为是通往什么地方的入口
整部片子并不无聊，但真的十分压抑，看到最后竟有胸闷的感觉，气氛的渲染很到位
BJIFF.摄影最绝了！缓慢电影爱好者的盛宴。科学探险队对峡谷的探险实际上也是一种破坏，老人和深洞互为象征。村民看电视里的人乘坐电梯爬高楼，小孩子戴着探照灯是夜晚乡村里唯一的光，现代文明的到来真的是件好事情吗？难道不是入侵的一种？深入洞穴的过程也深入了我的意识，不管是滴滴答答的水声还是满眼的绿色都是一种深度放松。
电影节奏把握得很好，没有拖沓的感觉，几个妈妈和儿子的对手戏很赚眼泪。尤其那句“你是先天残疾，人们不会怪你，人们怪的是我。”唉……当妈的也有很多心酸
全片没有台词只有声效推进，从洞口不断下探687米。随着勘探的终结，老人的生命也走到了尽头，是电影语言的比兴，是诗意。
众人知道苏炳添奥运会刷新成绩的光面，又或许，这次会让人记得苏桦伟的暗面。
【北影节】4K摄影和杜比全景声的沉浸感太强 再深的洞也会见底 画家在测绘之后将整个洞用画笔封口是神来之笔
赢再多奖牌也没能改变生活落寞的局面，努再多的力也无人知晓。
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