The Trap (1966)
A film review by Shane R. Burridge
Copyright 1996 Shane R. Burridge
The Trap (1966) 106m.
There are at least half a dozen other films with this title, but this is the one in which Canadian trapper Oliver Reed shows up in town with a mind to take a wife back to his log cabin in the mountain wilderness. He buys mute Rita Tushingham for a thousand dollars, and the expected scenes of conflict and resolution ensue. Film's premise relies heavily on the convention that the audience must witness - and indeed, expect - change in the two lead characters in order to make the story worthwhile (Personally, I'm not that worried by films which refuse to change or develop their protagonists). Reed, playing against a character who is mute, seems to make it his duty to act enough for the both of them, stamping through the scenery and barking in a nearly unfathomable accent. It's a very cartoony performance - by the film's end he virtually becomes Pegleg Pete - but it's obvious he's playing it broadly to give Tushingham ample material to react to.
Reed doesn't see Tushingham's muteness as a handicap, just as he fails to recognize any other quality in her besides the immediacy of her companionship. The bearlike Reed understands only nature, red in tooth and claw. His business and existence revolve around the hunting, trapping, and killing of animals: he is the king of the mountain, and all others, including Tushingham (who he refers to as `rabbit') are subservient to him. It's not surprising that his surname is La Bete (`The Beast'), and indeed many parallels to the story and situation of `Beauty and the Beast' can be drawn. The isolated wilderness might well be the far-off mysterious forests of any fairy tale. But they are the `trap' of the title, along with the `marriage', the snowbound cabin, the inhibitions of the characters, and of course the ever-present animal traps Reed carries with him. It is Tushingham that makes the more significant escape from these traps, but I don't believe her newly-developed independence or self-sufficiency are as important as her action to make a lifestyle choice of her own. By the film's conclusion it is not so much her decision as her confidence that matters.
Pace of film doesn't flag and manages many dramatic moments for a two-character piece. The exciting (though improbable) scene where Reed is being stalked by wolves could easily have been lifted from a horror movie - this isn't wholly unexpected considering Sidney Hayers was director. Composer Ron Goodwin cites this score as being his most popular with concert audiences (how could it beat out 633 SQUADRON?). Reed would end up in a very similar situation twenty years later, partnered with the considerably less inhibited Amanda Donohoe in Nicolas Roeg's CASTAWAY.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews