The Visit (1964)

Let's be realistic.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Blistering performances.

In the small town named Guellen, the Mayor, Council and residents are preparing to welcome the wealthy and powerful Karla Zachanassian (Ingrid Bergman) that left the hometown when she was seventeen years old and now is returning. Guellen and the inhabitants are completely broken since the mines and factory are closed and they hope Karla, who is one of the wealthiest persons in the world, would invest in the town. The owner of a small shop, Serge Miller (Anthony Quinn), who might be the next mayor, is invited to receive Karla since they had been sweethearts. When Karla arrives, the Mayor offers a dinner to her. In his speech, he recalls beautiful moments of Karla while living in Guellen. When he finishes, she tells that his speech is a lie and makes corrections. She tells that her school teacher was abusive with her; her father was an alcoholic and lazy worker; she lost her virginity with Serge and got pregnant; Serge paid two friends to defame her and she lost her daughter that died one year later; because of her record, she moved to Trieste to work in a whorehouse, where she met her husband. Now she offers a fortune (one million) to Guellen and another million to be shared by the residents provide they execute Serge. What will the population do? "The Visit" is an unknown (only 990 votes in IMDb) masterpiece of revenge, with one of the most acid, ironical and cynical stories ever shown in a film. Ingrid Bergman performing an evil resented woman is a role totally unusual for this beautiful actress. The screenplay is excellent with an unexpected plot point with the revelation of the true intention of Karla. She explores the weak moral of a needy and greedy population. The conclusion is impressive. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "A Visita" ("The Visit")

After twenty years, an old resident (Ingrid Bergman) of a small European town is returning. However, in the meantime, she married one of the richest men in the world and after his death, she is immensely wealthy. The town, in effect, is sucking up to her in the hopes that she'll give them money--especially since their economy is in ruins.However, when she returns, she has a very strange proposal--she will give the town $1,000,000 and another $1,000,000 to be divided up among the people if they kill a man! Twenty years ago, Anthony Quinn, had gotten her pregnant and then denied paternity--even going so far as bribing some friends to lie and say she was a whore. As a result, she was driven out of town and into a life of prostitution. In effect, the entire town and Quinn had conspired to ruin her life.What makes this film so fascinating is its look at human nature. Slowly watching Quinn's "good friends" turn on him was fascinating. However, the most fascinating part occurred when Bergman had truckloads of products shipped into town and extended credit to everyone in order to push them towards a city-sanctioned murder. The most delicious scene was seeing Quinn's own wife lining up to buy this merchandise!! The film really excels at social commentary, as it pulls few punches. People in this film are almost universally scum. In addition, Bergman puts on one of her best performances--at times looking like a spider as she watches Quinn suffer.The only negatives were that towards the end, there was a very brief scene between Quinn and Bergman by the lake that just didn't ring true, plus the film seemed to go on a bit too long--lessening its overall impact. But, if you ignore these things (and I certainly could), this is an amazing and cold view of the worst aspects of human nature. A delicious drama that is creative and very hard-hitting.

Well, I haven't seen the play, but I enjoyed all the performances and plot of this disturbingly gripping and compelling film. Ingrid Bergman is riveting and enigmatic - does a great job with portraying a deeply hurt woman underneath a cold, stoney, vengeful exterior. My palms began to sweat and I felt like I was suffocating during the scene where Anthony Quinn's character tries to leave the town on the train...an excellent mob scene that develops slowly and builds, allowing you to feel Quinn's terror, helplessness and entrapment. Bergman is clearly the most stellar of the cast; her acting is bionic femme fatale and she looks phenomenal in her multi-millionaress outfits. Yes, there are some weaker spots, but I think if one over analyzes any movie one is able to find something worthy of criticism. Just sit back and enjoy "The Visit".

I read Der Besuch Der Alten Dame by Durrenmatt in German in college. This book has been one of my favorites as it shows how people might or could act in a similar situation. The book is superior to movie because of the powerful ending. Displays extreme revenge by a powerful rich woman. Shows how greedy some people are. Makes you wonder who you true friends are. But because the book was written in German and I read many years ago, I have forgotten many details about it. In the movie, the policeman and the young girl were secret lovers like the main characters. The young girl leaves and who knows may become another rich powerful woman who seeks revenge on her lover. Only time will tell. I wonder if I would react as the greedy peasants did.