Jump to content

Lilith (film): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
mNo edit summary
m Reference page split.
Line 22: Line 22:
| gross = $1,100,000<ref>Anticipated rentals accruing distributors in North America. See "Top Grossers of 1965", ''Variety'', 5 January 1966, p. 36</ref>
| gross = $1,100,000<ref>Anticipated rentals accruing distributors in North America. See "Top Grossers of 1965", ''Variety'', 5 January 1966, p. 36</ref>
}}
}}
'''''Lilith''''' is a 1964 American [[drama (film and television)|drama film]] written and directed by [[Robert Rossen]] starring [[Warren Beatty]] and [[Jean Seberg]]. Based on a novel by [[J.R. Salamanca]], it was Rossen's final film.<ref name="casty">{{cite book |last1=Casty |first1=Alan |title=Robert Rossen: The Films and Politics of a Blacklisted Idealist |date=25 March 2013 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-6981-9 |pages=9, 228, 233, 244–245 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZDN4wdZtTsgC |language=en}}</ref>
'''''Lilith''''' is a 1964 American [[drama (film and television)|drama film]] written and directed by [[Robert Rossen]] starring [[Warren Beatty]] and [[Jean Seberg]]. Based on a novel by [[J.R. Salamanca]], it was Rossen's final film.<ref name="casty">{{cite book |last1=Casty |first1=Alan |title=Robert Rossen: The Films and Politics of a Blacklisted Idealist |date=25 March 2013 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-6981-9 |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZDN4wdZtTsgC |language=en}}</ref>


==Plot==
==Plot==
Line 43: Line 43:


==Production==
==Production==
Produced by Rossen's Centaur Productions<ref>{{cite book|title=New York Film Festival Programs, 1963-1975 |publisher=Arno Press |year=1976 |page=57}}</ref> and financed mainly by distributor [[Columbia Pictures]], ''Lilith'' was shot on location over a period of six weeks in a rented boarding house and the Killingsworth Taylor mansion, [[Long Island]], and in [[Rockland (Brooklandville, Maryland)|Rockland, Maryland]], where the clinic was located.<ref name="casty" /> One week of shooting was done in the studio.<ref name="casty" /> Rossen, already weakened by illness and medication when filming started, finished the film in complete exhaustion.<ref name="casty" /> According to Jean Seberg, this was owed in parts to Rossen's and Beatty's permanent confrontations over how to play his role.<ref name="casty" />
Produced by Rossen's Centaur Productions<ref>{{cite book|title=New York Film Festival Programs, 1963-1975 |publisher=Arno Press |year=1976 |page=57}}</ref> and financed mainly by distributor [[Columbia Pictures]], ''Lilith'' was shot on location over a period of six weeks in a rented boarding house and the Killingsworth Taylor mansion, [[Long Island]], and in [[Rockland (Brooklandville, Maryland)|Rockland, Maryland]], where the clinic was located.<ref name="casty_233">Casty, p. 233.</ref> One week of shooting was done in the studio.<ref name="casty_233" /> Rossen, already weakened by illness and medication when filming started, finished the film in complete exhaustion.<ref name="casty_233" /> According to Jean Seberg, this was owed in parts to Rossen's and Beatty's permanent confrontations over how to play his role.<ref name="casty_233_234">Casty, pp. 233–34.</ref>


==Release==
==Release==
''Lilith'' had originally been chosen by the [[Motion Picture Association|MPAA]] as the official American entry to the 1964 [[Venice Film Festival]], but was withdrawn after press reports that festival director [[Luigi Chiarini]] had disparaged its artistic merit.<ref name="casty" /><ref name="nyt">{{cite newspaper|title=‘Nothing but a Man’ and ‘Lilith’ Presented |last= |first= |date=21 September 1964 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/21/archives/nothing-but-a-man-and-lilith-presented.html |access-date=26 July 2023}}</ref> It screened at the [[New York Film Festival]] on 19 September 1964.<ref name="nyt" /> Upon its subsequent cinema release, the film turned out a commercial failure.<ref name="casty" />
''Lilith'' had originally been chosen by the [[Motion Picture Association|MPAA]] as the official American entry to the 1964 [[Venice Film Festival]], but was withdrawn after press reports that festival director [[Luigi Chiarini]] had disparaged its artistic merit.<ref name="casty_244">Casty, pp. 244–45.</ref><ref name="nyt">{{cite newspaper|title=‘Nothing but a Man’ and ‘Lilith’ Presented |last= |first= |date=21 September 1964 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/21/archives/nothing-but-a-man-and-lilith-presented.html |access-date=26 July 2023}}</ref> It screened at the [[New York Film Festival]] on 19 September 1964.<ref name="nyt" /> Upon its subsequent cinema release, the film turned out a commercial failure.<ref name="casty_228">Casty, p. 228.</ref>


==Reception==
==Reception==
Press reactions to ''Lilith'' were mostly negative when it was first released.<ref name="casty" /> After the film's presentation at the New York Film Festival, the critic of the ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' wrote a reserved review, praising the "striking images" and Jean Seberg's "fresh, flighty, fearsome performance", but faulting the lack of a "lucid demonstration of what the whole thing means" and weak acting by Warren Beatty and Peter Fonda.<ref name="nyt" />
Press reactions to ''Lilith'' were mostly negative when it was first released.<ref name="casty_228" /> After the film's presentation at the New York Film Festival, the critic of the ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' wrote a reserved review, praising the "striking images" and Jean Seberg's "fresh, flighty, fearsome performance", but faulting the lack of a "lucid demonstration of what the whole thing means" and weak acting by Warren Beatty and Peter Fonda.<ref name="nyt" />


Reviews in later years were more sympathetic, calling it "ambitious" and "sadly underrated" (Chris Lloyd, [[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]])<ref>{{cite book|title=Time Out Film Guide, Seventh Edition 1999 |year=1998 |publisher=Penguin |location=London |url=https://www.timeout.com/movies/lilith |access-date=26 July 2023}}</ref> and "a masterpiece" ([[Dave Kehr]], [[Chicago Reader]]).<ref>{{cite newspaper|title=Lilith |last=Kehr |first=Dave |date=24 June 1985 |newspaper=Chicago Reader |url=https://chicagoreader.com/film/lilith/ |access-date=26 July 2023}}</ref> In the 1975 ''[[The New Biographical Dictionary of Film]]'', David Thomson described ''Lilith'' as "an oddity, the only one of [Rossen's] films that seems passionate, mysterious and truly personal. The other films will look increasingly dated and self-contained, but ''Lilith'' may grow."<ref>David Thomson ''The New Biographical Dictionary of Film'', 2002, London: Little, Brown, p. 760.</ref> In her 2015 review for [[The Village Voice]], critic Melissa Anderson saw in ''Lilith'' a "fascinatingly fractured" film which recalled ''[[Last Year at Marienbad]]'', pointing out the presence of Jean Seberg "who most indelibly imprints the film with otherworldliness".<ref>{{cite newspaper|title=Jean Seberg Remains Wonderfully Commanding in ‘Lilith’ |last=Anderson |first=Melissa |date=14 July 2015 |newspaper=The Village Voice |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2015/07/14/jean-seberg-remains-wonderfully-commanding-in-lilith/ |access-date=26 July 2023}}</ref>
Reviews in later years were more sympathetic, calling it "ambitious" and "sadly underrated" (Chris Lloyd, [[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]])<ref>{{cite book|title=Time Out Film Guide, Seventh Edition 1999 |year=1998 |publisher=Penguin |location=London |url=https://www.timeout.com/movies/lilith |access-date=26 July 2023}}</ref> and "a masterpiece" ([[Dave Kehr]], [[Chicago Reader]]).<ref>{{cite newspaper|title=Lilith |last=Kehr |first=Dave |date=24 June 1985 |newspaper=Chicago Reader |url=https://chicagoreader.com/film/lilith/ |access-date=26 July 2023}}</ref> In the 1975 ''[[The New Biographical Dictionary of Film]]'', David Thomson described ''Lilith'' as "an oddity, the only one of [Rossen's] films that seems passionate, mysterious and truly personal. The other films will look increasingly dated and self-contained, but ''Lilith'' may grow."<ref>David Thomson ''The New Biographical Dictionary of Film'', 2002, London: Little, Brown, p. 760.</ref> In her 2015 review for [[The Village Voice]], critic Melissa Anderson saw in ''Lilith'' a "fascinatingly fractured" film which recalled ''[[Last Year at Marienbad]]'', pointing out the presence of Jean Seberg "who most indelibly imprints the film with otherworldliness".<ref>{{cite newspaper|title=Jean Seberg Remains Wonderfully Commanding in ‘Lilith’ |last=Anderson |first=Melissa |date=14 July 2015 |newspaper=The Village Voice |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2015/07/14/jean-seberg-remains-wonderfully-commanding-in-lilith/ |access-date=26 July 2023}}</ref>

Revision as of 08:25, 27 July 2023

Lilith
original film poster
Directed byRobert Rossen
Written byRobert Rossen
Based onLilith by J.R. Salamanca
Produced byRobert Rossen
StarringWarren Beatty
Jean Seberg
Peter Fonda
Kim Hunter
CinematographyEugen Schüfftan
Edited byAram Avakian
Music byKenyon Hopkins
Color processblack and white
Production
company
Centaur Productions
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • 19 September 1964 (1964-09-19) (New York City)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,100,000[1]

Lilith is a 1964 American drama film written and directed by Robert Rossen starring Warren Beatty and Jean Seberg. Based on a novel by J.R. Salamanca, it was Rossen's final film.[2]

Plot

Set in a private mental institution, Chestnut Lodge in Rockville, Maryland, the film tells of a trainee occupational therapist, a troubled ex-soldier named Vincent Bruce, who becomes dangerously obsessed with seductive, artistic, schizophrenic patient Lilith Arthur.

Bruce is successful in helping Lilith emerge from seclusion and leave the institutional grounds for a day in the country, and later escorts her on excursions in which she is alone with him. She attempts to seduce him, and eventually Bruce tells Lilith he is in love with her, after which they begin sleeping together. He catches Lilith seducing an older female patient and witnesses her behaving inappropriately with young boys on two of her outings, incidents which greatly disturb Bruce.

Bruce triggers the suicide of another patient out of jealousy over the patient's crush on Lilith. This brings up memories in Lilith of her brother's suicide, which she implies was due to her attempt to initiate an incestuous relationship with him. She goes on a destructive rampage in her room and winds up in a catatonic state. Bruce then presents himself to his superiors for psychiatric help.

Cast

Production

Produced by Rossen's Centaur Productions[3] and financed mainly by distributor Columbia Pictures, Lilith was shot on location over a period of six weeks in a rented boarding house and the Killingsworth Taylor mansion, Long Island, and in Rockland, Maryland, where the clinic was located.[4] One week of shooting was done in the studio.[4] Rossen, already weakened by illness and medication when filming started, finished the film in complete exhaustion.[4] According to Jean Seberg, this was owed in parts to Rossen's and Beatty's permanent confrontations over how to play his role.[5]

Release

Lilith had originally been chosen by the MPAA as the official American entry to the 1964 Venice Film Festival, but was withdrawn after press reports that festival director Luigi Chiarini had disparaged its artistic merit.[6][7] It screened at the New York Film Festival on 19 September 1964.[7] Upon its subsequent cinema release, the film turned out a commercial failure.[8]

Reception

Press reactions to Lilith were mostly negative when it was first released.[8] After the film's presentation at the New York Film Festival, the critic of the New York Times wrote a reserved review, praising the "striking images" and Jean Seberg's "fresh, flighty, fearsome performance", but faulting the lack of a "lucid demonstration of what the whole thing means" and weak acting by Warren Beatty and Peter Fonda.[7]

Reviews in later years were more sympathetic, calling it "ambitious" and "sadly underrated" (Chris Lloyd, Time Out)[9] and "a masterpiece" (Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader).[10] In the 1975 The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, David Thomson described Lilith as "an oddity, the only one of [Rossen's] films that seems passionate, mysterious and truly personal. The other films will look increasingly dated and self-contained, but Lilith may grow."[11] In her 2015 review for The Village Voice, critic Melissa Anderson saw in Lilith a "fascinatingly fractured" film which recalled Last Year at Marienbad, pointing out the presence of Jean Seberg "who most indelibly imprints the film with otherworldliness".[12]

Awards and nominations

Lilith reached #6 in the 1965 best films list of Cahiers du Cinéma.[13] Jean Seberg was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

The film was nominated for the American Film Institute's 2002 list AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions, but not included.[14]

Legacy

The Academy Film Archive preserved Lilith in 2000.[15]

In 2013, the Harvard Film Archive screened Lilith as part of its retrospective on Robert Rossen.[16]

References

  1. ^ Anticipated rentals accruing distributors in North America. See "Top Grossers of 1965", Variety, 5 January 1966, p. 36
  2. ^ Casty, Alan (25 March 2013). Robert Rossen: The Films and Politics of a Blacklisted Idealist. McFarland. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-7864-6981-9.
  3. ^ New York Film Festival Programs, 1963-1975. Arno Press. 1976. p. 57.
  4. ^ a b c Casty, p. 233.
  5. ^ Casty, pp. 233–34.
  6. ^ Casty, pp. 244–45.
  7. ^ a b c "'Nothing but a Man' and 'Lilith' Presented". The New York Times. 21 September 1964. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  8. ^ a b Casty, p. 228.
  9. ^ Time Out Film Guide, Seventh Edition 1999. London: Penguin. 1998. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  10. ^ Kehr, Dave (24 June 1985). "Lilith". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  11. ^ David Thomson The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, 2002, London: Little, Brown, p. 760.
  12. ^ Anderson, Melissa (14 July 2015). "Jean Seberg Remains Wonderfully Commanding in 'Lilith'". The Village Voice. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  13. ^ Hillier, Jim, ed. (1986). Cahiers du Cinéma: 1960-1968: New Wave, New Cinema, Reevaluating Hollywood (Harvard Film Studies). Harvard University Press.
  14. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 19 August 2016.[dead link]
  15. ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
  16. ^ "Lilith". Harvard Film Archive. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lilith_(film)&oldid=1167362089"