The Go-Between

Sanansaattaja / Budbäraren. GB © 1971 EMI. D: Joseph Losey. SC: Harold Pinter - based on the novel by L.P. Hartley (1953). DP: Gerry Fisher - Technicolor. M: Michel Legrand. LOC: Norfolk. CAST: Julie Christie (Marian Maudsley / Lady Trimingham), Alan Bates (Ted Burgess), Margaret Leighton (Mrs. Maudsley), Michael Redgrave (Leo Colston - adult), Dominic Guard (Leo Colston - boy), Michael Gough (Mr. Maudsley), Edward Fox (Viscount Hugh Trimingham). 116 min. A vintage print with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Lea Joutseno / Börje Idman. Viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 15 Sep 2009.

A worn vintage print with colour fading, yet still passable. - Joseph Losey at his best: my two favourite Losey films are King and Country and The Go-Between. - This belongs to the rare cases where a great film is based on a great novel. With the novel in fresh memory, it was a pleasure to notice the inevitable differences. The novel is based on the adult Leo's memory of his boyhood impressions half a century ago. - In the film, such a subjectivity would not be possible. One of the differences is that we realize from the looks of Mr. and Mrs. Maudsley that they realize what is going on between Marian and Ted. Probably also Hugh Trimingham is aware, but he is not easily offended. - In this film, Losey puts aside his 1960s experiments, and just proceeds as a profound cinematic storyteller, with a sure sense of the mise-en-scène. The film is both refined and powerful. The milieux, the performances, the music, all work perfectly. - There are two main victims of the web of deceit: Ted who commits suicide, and the young and innocent Leo, who will never recover.

The Go-Between (novel)

L.P. Hartley: Sananviejä (The Go-Between). GB 1953. Translated by J.A. Hollo / Tammi / Keltainen kirjasto, Helsinki 1955.

"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." This is one of the great opening sentences in world literature.

I read this novel for the first time in preparation for our tribute to Keltainen kirjasto (The Yellow Library), Finland's best series of modern quality fiction since 55 years.

The concept is very cinematic. The old man finds his boyhood diary from the year 1900 and relives the turbulent experiences of a special summer.

This is a Bildungsroman of boyhood observations that take place too early. This is also a social novel, constantly aware of the English class and rank system. From the boy's perspective it is the story of the love affair between Marian Maudsley (daughter of the wealthy Maudsley family) and Ted Burgess (the neighbour, the tenant farmer). They love each other, but Marian is destined to marry Viscount Hugh Trimingham, wounded in the Boer War, representing centuries of nobility. Money is destined to marry rank. There is also a strong sense of history in this novel, of the fatal impact of the wars that Britain had suffered.

But most of all, it's the story of the end of boyhood. It is very well written (I believe J.A. Hollo's translation pays justice to the original), in full command of the various layers of the story, and with a fine sense of poetic imagery. The belladonna has a special significance.

Ian McEwan's Atonement (I saw the film but haven't read the novel) seems to be inspired by The Go-Between.