Film
The Postman Always Rings
Twice
Starring Jack Nicholson and
Jessica Lange
Directed by Bob Rafelson
McDonald Theater
Some things never change: A
drifter finds a sexy, bored wife
and her doltish husband run
ning a roadside tavern. He
seizes her the first chance he
gets. She matches his passion
in every encounter. They try to
murder her husband and fail.
They try to leave and fail. They
try to murder him again and
succeed. They get caught. And
so it goes
Or so it would seem.
But what if they got away with
it? Do they live happily ever
after? Or does their shared guilt
lead to inevitable tragedy? The
constellation of people, events
and emotions which lead to
tragedy are almost mythic — this
story has been told many, many
times.
James M. Cain’s 1934 novel,
The Postman Always Rings
Twice, poses a different ques
tion: Can Frank and Cora's ob
session with one another lead in
any other direction but tragedy?
Director Bob Rafelson's
remake is the second American
film version of Cain’s con
troversial, banned-in-Boston
novel. The story is as simple as
the characters that live in it:
Frank, an aimless drifter past his
prime; Cora, a young, sultry ex
beauty queen; ana Nick, an ar
rogant and ignorant Greek im
migrant. Frank and Cora fulfill a
need in each other that neither
understands. Nor does it matter.
They share an identity ex
pressed in their passionate
coupling: A need to transcend,
through lovemaking, the hope
lessness in their lives. Their ob
session is so violent and ten
acious, so out of control, that
murder is the only logical step in
a doomed sequence.
Frank and Cora are simple,
stupid people. We don’t know
who they are or what drives
them so compulsively. Rafelson,
true to the book's spirit, isn’t
interested in exploring the cou
ple’s moral values. The pair
aren’t remotely interested in
why they are so compelled to
have each other at any cost.
When Cora tells Frank, "I don’t
care what's right or wrong an
ymore,” they have reached a
point where any consideration,
practical or spiritual, is unim
portant.
Cora is looking for an identity
in sexual release. Frank willingly
supplies it. The violent nature of
their coupling reinforces the
fatality of their relationship, the
desperation in each encounter,
as if it will be their last.
The expression of violent
eroticism as the prime mover of
the succeeding action is steam
ingly explicit. Rafelson under
stands that anything less than
violent, sweaty mating betrays
the power of the story.
The setting is as gritty as the
characters. Rafelson creates an
atmosphere as depressing as
the story he's telling. It’s no
surprise that the book uses the
Depression as its background.
This particular period stresses
the hopelessness of Frank and
Cora’s relationship and makes
The Postman a truly American
story.
Rafelson has made a hand
some, studied film. The camera
lingers over the grime under
Frank's fingernails, the runs in
Cora’s stockings. There’s a pa
tina of grease and age over
everything.
The bright lights and dreams
Forged by a god. Foretold by a wizard. Found by a King.
John Boorman's EXCA1.IBUR Nigel Terry‘Helen Mirren
Nicholas ClayCherie LunghrPaul Geoffrey „.dNicol Williamson
Daily at 8:00 P.M.
Fri-Sat
7:00 P.M.
9:40 P.M.
Sunday
at 1:30, 4:00,
6:30 & 9:00 P.M.
The Postman Always Rings Twice — "in the heat of passion" — is now at the McDonald Theater in the
Eugene Downtown Mall.
of Los Angeles are only twenty
miles away, yet the feeling of
isolation and despair are every
where. His careful use of
shadow and light express the
subtle changes in mood — rage,
passion, despair, isolation — all
are seen in the way a room
changes its color with the
feeling of its inhabitants. The
tenderness that develops
between Frank and Cora is
bathed in soft light, their pas
sion is played out in dark, dingy
rooms.
Rafelson creates tension by
keeping each scene stripped of
anything more than essentials.
The audience has to rely on
instinct to make the necessary
connections between feeling
and action. In one scene, Frank
leaves the cafe, glances back
once, then heads down the
road. In the next he is pulling a
tire of its rim with a crowbar.
We must make the connec
tion, and all we have to go on is
one glance from Cora to Frank
in the lunchroom. Jessica
Lange throws out a tremendous
amount of feeling in that glance,
powerful enough to make us
understand why Frank is work
ing in that gas station. No ex
planation is necessary — he's
not surprised to be there and
she's not surprised to see him
back. Instinct guides this story
through all its sordid and tragic
paces.
Rafelson demands as much
subtlety from his actors as his
sets. Jessica Lange gives a
tremendous performance as
Cora. She is all at once sensual
A
Well, while I write this little box-ful, it is bright and sunny outside.
Everyone has been pleasant enough to mention just how nice it is
outside I heard rain's coming Sigh
I'd very much like to thank Sherry for coming in and being so efficient;
Cindy for her incredible one-lense glasses; Steve for the plant; all the
bookers I talked to tor their spare moments; Tamara for the mint; Sally O tor
her effervescent words, and Jerril for keeping me posted
Remember that Thursdays the day for the Thursday Revue stuff I need
it the week prior to publication so I can graduate and still get the issue out
Thanks!
One last thing, The Return of the Secaucus Seven is showing at Cinema
7 — sorry to have spaced that out Double sigh, Ert-zi.
The Complete
Beatlemania Retrospective
"A HISTORY OF THE BEATLES" is two
amazing hours of the rarest concert
performances — studio rehearsals —
interviews — TV shows — and more —
together in one outrageous program
The Beatles as you've never seen them
This is the finest collection of the rarest
Beatles films you'll ever see!
d LUEiliM \ii
PARTU
FRIDAY-APRIL 17th
ShOWS:
7 00
9:15
11:30
150 GEOLOGY • UofO Campus
For more info: 686-3761 Admission
$2.50
and vulnerable, a child-woman
who is both victim and vic
timizer.
Lange begins as a sullen,
violent goddess who eagerly
drives her lover to murder, then
celebrates her triumph by mak
ing love over her husband’s
body. She ends as a lonely, vul
nerable child that begs to be
loved.
She is called upon to show
anger, passion, and fright in the
extreme, which she does. But
it’s during the quiet moments
when she really shows her skill.
The way she glances at Frank
across the lunchroom counter
for the first time leaves no doubt
of her intentions and that he’ll
never leave.
Rafelson’s ability to bring this
out in her performance is
crucially important. Cain’s story
is told by Frank, but Rafelson
wisely chose not to use narra
tion. Instead he depends on his
actors to give us the feelings
that Frank describes. Lange
does it beautifully.
The Postman is really her film.
Jack Nicholson is only a con
sort, a role he gracefully ac
cepts. He has been criticized for
being nothing more than a
character actor in The Postman.
As Frank, a petty thief and
drifter, he isn’t needed to give a
large performance.
Frank is a small man — small
dreams, small hopes, small ex
pectations. The only thing he’s
ever really wanted is Cora and
even so, she is the fire behind all
their schemes. If Nicholson had
overplayed his part, the story
would have lost all of its balance
and most of the power.
Frank initiates their slide into
hell, but it is Cora who leads him
there. In this, Nicholson remains
true to the book. Occasionally
he appears almost in awe of
Cora’s strength, of the pragma
tic streak that runs through her.
Always the opportunist, he
simply seizes on her dreams
and makes them his own. Not
the kind of part for a leading
man, but Nicholson gives a fine
performance by carefully tuning
himself into Lange’s Cora. With
John Colicos as Nick, Cora's
husband, The Postman Always
Rings Twice is a fine ensemble
performance.
— Sally Oljar