Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality” – Emily Dickinson
If Death took a holiday, the guns would go silent in Iraq, the slaughter on our nation’s highways would cease, and the news media would be compelled to cover positive events in the humanities, arts, and sciences. Unfortunately, Death has not had a vacation in recorded history, but Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 fantasy, Death Takes a Holiday, allows us to consider the possibility. Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Gladys Lehman and based on the play "La Morte in Vacanza" by Alberto Casella, Death Takes a Holiday stars Frederic March as the Grim Reaper who takes on human form in an attempt to discover why men fear him so much. Why he has waited 5,000 years to satisfy this curiosity is not explained.
[Spoiler] After a brief tryout as a shadowy figure who scares the daylights out of those that cross his path, Death shows up at, of all places, an upscale party at an Italian villa, posing as the mysterious Prince Sirki. Only one person knows who he really is, the host Duke Lambert (Guy Standing), and he is sworn to secrecy. Sirki proceeds to fascinate the guests. Given to bursts of wit and poetry, he can just as quickly turn sullen and threatening, and some soon find out that it is better not to look too deeply into his eyes. During the three days in which the Prince is at the villa, however, people all over the world miraculously escape death and potential suicides are doomed to frustration.
To see what’s behind all the conversation about love, the suave but naïve Prince Sirki falls for the irresistible Grazia (Evelyn Venable), the daughter of one of Duke’s friends. Grazia knows who Death is but does not fear him, much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Corrado (Kent Taylor) who has developed a strong disdain for Prince Charming.
More sinister than Brad Pitt in the 1998 remake Meet Joe Black, March turns in a very convincing performance as the creepy yet strangely appealing guest. Although the ending is melodramatic, the emotions are very real and the suggestion that Death may in reality be a friend disguised as a foe is quite touching.
(Howard Schumann, talkingpix.co.uk)
In this wearisome and predictable plot line, Death falls in love and bores us to death talking about it.
(Dennis Schwartz, homepages.sover.net)
I've heard DRACULA was advertised with the tag line "The Weirdest Love Story ever told!" (this is probably a paraphrase), but at heart, I've never felt that you could honestly call that movie a love story. The tag line would be much more appropriate for this one, since it ultimately boils down to what amounts to a love story. This movie is very good indeed, particularly if you consider that it is built around a concept that could have easily been handled in a cute or facile manner. Instead, it is handled as seriously as possible, with some real thought put into how death would try to come to terms with a life and an outlook that was to that point totally unfamiliar to him; much of the credit does go to Fredric March in the title role. It's quite scary when it needs to be, particularly during the first twenty minutes. From then on, it deals with its themes with subtlety, a quiet wit, an enduring sadness, and an everpresent tension on how Death might react if crossed. It's not perfect; some of the dialogue is self-conscious and artificial, as if the writers knew they were dealing with weighty issues and were trying to be profound. But I am certainly glad they didn't try to turn it into a musical comedy of sorts.
(Dave Sindelar, scifilm.org)
See also the remake: Death Takes A Holiday (1971)
09.04.2022 | @ Regal Gallery Place | 导演前途无量。边看边闪回刚读完的Midnight Library。我爱一切能借星爷的搞笑外壳认真讲好故事的作品，这一部真是好得出乎意料。
一部refined的b级片，如果加点宗教无厘头就全活了。最喜欢变成峡谷悬崖上的石头那段，太灵了。看着很欢乐，如果能有炸鸡可乐以及零食就好了。生活太难了，Evelyn。
132分钟穿梭无数个多元宇宙（or平行宇宙）寻找解决中年夫妻问题，父女问题，母女问题以及和自己的问题。问题都是老问题，但天马行空无厘头最后还能串成一个cycle，我拍手叫绝！最后我要说，杨紫琼才是真的文武双全，打戏看得太舒服了。
总有某个平行宇宙里，你从小喜欢的阿姨正在搅姬😉
外壳闹热，内核悲哀。厌弃自我，厌弃伴侣，厌弃生活。于是补偿性的宇宙中不够“爷们儿”的丈夫大变李小龙，瘫痪累赘的老父行动如飞，疏离叛逆的女儿化身伏地魔。华服换了皱衫，镁光灯咔嚓代替洗衣房轰鸣，就连难以启齿的性也变成了博人一笑的梗。最后拖得天长地久的大和解看似美满，其实依旧是、温柔刀、刀刀割人性命。唉，人生无趣，人不如石。
没有时间旅行者改写历史，看佟湘玉解锁葵花派制服赤焰狂魔莫小贝
剧情走向能够预估一半，嗑high程度完全超出预期。粤语区东亚女观众共情直接拉满。看到影评分化出三种类型，可以看出三种小孩：幸福家庭小孩，大家长控制欲弱于影片理想化描述的小孩，以及受到多倍摧残的小孩，还真的是笑不出来…PS：贝果真的让我联想了无数次库尔贝的《世界的起源》…
影片可以看做是在中年危机、家庭矛盾、攻苦食淡但味同嚼蜡的生活状态+平行宇宙（宇宙跳跃）概念加持之下的《盗梦空间》+《黑客帝国》。剧中的动作桥段则是成龙style《自杀小队》及各种致敬周星驰电影。不肯妥协的、渺小、愚蠢、坚硬、自大的石头现身的桥段与平行空间频繁快速切换的桥段简直《2001太空漫游》神降附体。多情自古空余恨，好梦由来最易醒。不是有了爱就能解决一切问题，但若没有了爱，这个世界何止是太过乏善可陈......影片的主题是爱、坚持、理解与接受。“我见过了每一个宇宙的自己，之所以仍然选择这个最糟糕的宇宙，是因为我要和你在一起。我们就算是两块石头，我也会跟你跳下悬崖。”最后，死亡和缴税真真是人生中不可避免的两件大事。
直到这一幕出来之前，对各种玩的飞起的梗有点投入的间隔感，也觉得这部电影和《青春变形计》没有大区别。东方式的个人困境要在另一个语境里才能被接受被改变被解决。也不能说不买单，只是说哪有什么完美世界呢？直到这一幕，让你相信每一部电影都有一个起点，让你相信这部电影不是洋葱，还是有心有核儿。陈年鸡汤了，但还能被劝服。
中式家庭伦理混搭千奇百怪类型元素，想象力超凡卓绝。场景调度/变幻、蒙太奇剪切、叙事技法炫到飞起，高概念体验式模拟人生游戏不断冲击视觉感官，包括那些插科打诨的笑料与荒腔走板的迷影致敬，最后再以极其温暖的方式回归原始母题，即家的核心是爱。见证过多元宇宙的每一种命运还义无反顾坚定当初的选择，相信所有东亚母亲都应该深有共鸣。
确实看得挺爽，但果然一口气泄在了后面的和解之路。爱的方式有很多种，偏偏又落进了那个纠缠不清的俗套里。原本期待剧情给出的答案能像它的形式风格一样新颖呢。
不過不喜歡“我是你妈”
很癫狂，很飞，很天马行空，很自由，玩得很开心，一路狂奔，拍一部顶十部，剪辑和表演的空间很大，很遗憾的是在情感上，尽管它打动了很多人，但并能完全没打动我，如果更聚焦在秀莲的个人挣扎上可能会更有力量吧，对我来说。这可能就是不加节制的副作用吧。
直到这一幕出来之前，对各种玩的飞起的梗有点投入的间隔感，也觉得这部电影和《青春变形计》没有大区别。东方式的个人困境要在另一个语境里才能被接受被改变被解决。也不能说不买单，只是说哪有什么完美世界呢？直到这一幕，让你相信每一部电影都有一个起点，让你相信这部电影不是洋葱，还是有心有核儿。陈年鸡汤了，但还能被劝服。
当然，这片子也给众多文艺逼工作者一个启示：文艺不是装逼，文艺也需要落地。接地气的东西，才是最浪漫的。
很有想象力很天马行空的外壳下包裹着美式廉价温情的糖果。
尽管看过上万部影视，这部备受我期待的《瞬息全宇宙》里那些应接不暇、脑洞大开、天马行空的想象画面依然让我感到惊艳，为眼花缭乱的特效与剪辑点赞，通过电影体验非比寻常的超现实是我喜闻乐见的观影趣味。片中还有一些不只是把我逗乐而是令我哈哈大笑的段落：1.抢塞肛门的情节（前面看到奖杯的外形就邪恶了下，没想到后续竟延伸出如此设计）；2.真人版“料理浣熊王”的亮相；3.SM戏码；4.杨紫琼亲自模仿“料理鼠王”；……P.S.：男主角竟然是曾经观看《夺宝奇兵2》《七宝奇谋》时惊喜过我的关继威！& 虽然略显杂乱的故事剧情有些影响爽度，但我个人整体观感还是胜过《瑞士军刀男》。—— 搜啊找啊，总算知道片中石头段落让我联想起的动画短片了，是《轮盘记》。
外壳闹热，内核悲哀。厌弃自我，厌弃伴侣，厌弃生活。于是补偿性的宇宙中不够“爷们儿”的丈夫大变李小龙，瘫痪累赘的老父行动如飞，疏离叛逆的女儿化身伏地魔。华服换了皱衫，镁光灯咔嚓代替洗衣房轰鸣，就连难以启齿的性也变成了博人一笑的梗。最后拖得天长地久的大和解看似美满，其实依旧是、温柔刀、刀刀割人性命。唉，人生无趣，人不如石。
我和赵先生恰好是放映厅里唯二的华人，和周围其他族裔的人一起笑一起哭。always be kind。so damn proud！
我们固执地妄图逃离母亲并不断说服她去过好自己的人生，她却控制不住自己地拼命要关注我们。一切从我们诞生于世的那一刻开始无法扭转，变成无限循环的长期伤痛。hello，mom。bye，mom。
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