Widow's Peak Review
by Oscar van Vliet (oprvliet AT cs DOT ruu DOT nl)December 7th, 1994
WIDOWS' PEAK
A film review by Oscar van Vliet
Copyright 1994 Oscar van Vliet
I saw this film a week ago in a sneak preview in Utrecht's Camera theater. It stars Mia Farrow, and some other people I had never heard of. The film is located in the Irish village of Kilshannon. The village is more or less divided into two parts: The lower part, where the common people live, and the hill, called Widows' Peak, where the film is set, and where the widow's of Kilshannon live. This has been arranged long ago, to keep men off the hill, and only widows can buy a house on the hill.
The film handles the arrival of a new resident, a young British widow whose husband died in the war (it is set shortly after WW1 if I recall). For some reason one of the Ladies has a violent dislike for her, which evolves throughout the movie into a war without quarter and eventually leads to the downfall of the village.
Though you won't notice it in the beginning, the film is done so that you can guess the outcome a quarter of an hour away. Also, the fights between the two ladies are by far not subtle enough. I suppose the writer wrote how two men would handle it, and "femalized" the fight, but it just doesn't work. The acting could be better, and the pace is too slow to keep your attention focused, but at least the setting is done right.
All in all, I gave it 4 out of 10, and a definite warning not to see it if you're not into this kind of movie. As I left the cinema, the comments I heard around me would indicate that they'd better not show this one at all.
Oscar van Vliet
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
