Nonureva Really Surprised!

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

calvinnme ...as this one seemed to just be retreading familiar ground. This was director-scenarist Billy Wilder's late '70s return to Sunset Boulevard territory, reuniting him with William Holden in a role not at all dissimilar to that which had skyrocketed the actor's career in the 1950 classic.In this film he plays an aging independent Hollywood producer, desperate for a success, who travels to a Greek island with the hope of luring a reclusive Garboesque film queen out of retirement with a screenplay based on Anna Karenina. The star, remarkably well preserved with a bizarre collection of hangers on surrounding her (or are they imprisoning her?) is erratic, to say the least, once Holden finally succeeds in meeting her.Wilder fans may be intrigued with the film's premise for a while (based on a story by Thomas Tryon) but this film largely told in flashback after beginning with the film star's Anna Karenina-like suicide in front of a train lacks the wit and sardonic black humor that had so distinguished Sunset Boulevard. In fact, this suitably bizarre tale has no leveling humor at all, and it is sorely missed.The cast is adequate, nothing more. Holden, his character so integral to Sunset Boulevard, is largely reduced to the role of observer here, and Marthe Keller as the mysterious Fedora lacks any sense of depth or fascination as the aging Hollywood queen whose youthful appearance is eerily similar to that of a female Dorian Gray. Hildegarde Knef as an embittered Countess who lives with her, and Jose Ferrer, as her doctor, fill out the cast. There are also brief appearances by Michael York and Henry Fonda.While ultimately the film must be judged a disappointment, considering the impressive pedigree of those involved, fans of Wilder will still want to see it - at least once. But there's only so much interest one can develop for a film in which it is difficult for its audience to muster any emotional involvement for any of its characters.

mmallon4 Fedora is one of the most bizarre films I've ever seen to say the least. At points I'm almost laughing at the movie's plot twist yet the more bizarre and highly improbable the movie became the more I found myself getting engaged in the story, waiting in eager anticipation to find out what will happen next with those oh so joyous "I did not see that coming" moments. The film's highly implausible plot manages to draw the thin line between being completely absurd but never feeling like a parody.The character of Fedora herself is a reclusive movie star who goes to extreme lengths in order to stay "on top" and retain her eternal youth to the point which even Norma Desmond would consider crazy. Early during the film I suspected Greta Garbo to be the likely source of inspiration for the character of Fedora (whom Wilder always had great admiration for) but as the plot progressed I thought to myself "ok even Garbo was never this nuts".One of Fedora's other intriguing aspects is the film's critique of New Hollywood and how times have changed since Hollywood's golden era came to pass. Fedora is the only film I've seen which displays a harsh attitude towards New Hollywood with lines referring to Hollywood being taken over by kids with beards who don't need a script, just a hand- held camera with a zoom lens as well as the demise of glamorous movie stars of the past. This is one of several aspects of Fedora which makes it similar to what you could call its spiritual cousin Sunset Boulevard; which itself commented upon what was lost when the silent era came to an end. I could go on making comparisons between the two films from William Holden playing a Hollywood hack in both films to Michael York's role the in film being similar to the role Cecil B. Millie played in Sunset Boulevard.I imagined by 1978 Wilder was far past his directing prime, not to mention after the 1950's he seemed to become content with only directing comedies; thus I'm surprised to consider Fedora as one of his greatest films and a return to the roots of his earlier work as a director. As soon as William Holden's narration begins you can instantly tell this is classic, old school Billy Wilder.

writers_reign For Wilder buffs - and what serious film fan isn't - his penultimate film is a referentialists dream. The setting, Corfu, is not a million miles from Ischia, the setting for Avanti and where Avanti boasted two stiffs Fedora boasts one in a literal sense and one in a symbolic sense. The casting of Bill Holden in the lead invites direct comparison with Sunset Boulevard where a young Holden (Joe Gillis) lucked into an ageing movie star by chance and exploited the situation to the full; here, an older Holden (Barry Detweiler) contrives to get next to an ageing movie star who, he hopes, can rescue his flagging career. Wilder manages some pertinent barbs at the 'new' schools and practitioners of film-making, makes some risible casting choices in minor roles - Ferdy Mayne, Michael York, Marte Keller - but generally pulls off another minor gem. Well worth a place in any Wilder DVD collection.

dbdumonteil "Fedora" was made with German and French money.It speaks volumes about what America thought of the commercial potential of one of its greatest directors.As "Buddy Buddy" ,remake of a FRench comedy does not count ,"Fedora" is Wilder's last opus.And it is a good film,nay a splendid one regarded in context,the best last movie Wilder could make ,which is just as well ,because when epitaphs are seen as worthless,the things that came before can sometimes been retropectively tarnished by association."Fedora" stands in little danger to bring this about.It is a last film ,soon,like the others ,to yellow with age but never lose its poignancy.Some said it was a poor man's "Sunset Blvd" .There are similarities: flashbacks,real-life actors (Cecil B.De Mille in "Sunset" Henry Fonda and Michael York" in "Fedora" ) and the terror of getting old ,the longing for eternity.There the comparison ends.For "Fedora" was ,in 1978,a "modern" film which the European (notably the FRench critic) hailed as a young man's work."Fedora" is absorbing from start to finish:it is ,in turn,a romantic story (the affair with York) an investigation à la "Citizen Kane" ,a thriller and even a Gothic horror movie.William Holden,Hildegarde Knef , Swiss Marthe Keller,Mario Adorf and Jose Ferrer are all excellent.The first scene when the heroine throws herself under the train recalls the techniques of the forties/fifties .Whereas "Fedora " is a thoroughly modern film,it manages to display nostalgia for the things we lost when the cinema began to lose its innocence or became intellectual or "got small!"The same nostalgia we felt in "Avanti" .The luminous blue Mediterranean sky is in direct contrast to the darkness of Wilder's earlier films noirs.With "Fedora" Wilder came out blaring!