One of Powell and Pressburger's more troubled films, Gone To Earth features the rapist as romantic hero.
Jennifer Jones is the quarry, the innocent young maiden who's pursued by, and eventually succumbs to the local squire despite her repeated refusals and her marriage to the parson. It's this fantasy women used to have when they felt ashamed of their sexuality- if I protest and he FORCES me, I can't be to blame. Or, alternatively, they really do want to say no but don't have the power to. Either way I can't help but view this with modern eyes and I find it offensive.
At the end of the film, Hazel dies while being literally hunted (with hounds) by the squire she eventually rejected because, it seems, she is a loose woman and can't be allowed to live. Again, this is just shocking.
As for the actors, Jennifer Jones is rather an odd actress with a dreadfully mangled accent. Especially at the beginning of the film, her English country girl sounds like she's from the Deep South of America. She was David O. Selznick's discovery and his wife which is why she got the part, but she was really the wrong choice for this role. David Farrar plays the rogue of the piece with a Nivenish, villainous flair and Cyril Cusack is sweetly sad as the mild parson, a noble creature who gets a raw deal throughout the film. The other actors aren't bad and the Technicolor scenery and the music is magnificent, to P&P's credit. I only wish they hadn't chosen this story.
Jennifer Jones is the quarry, the innocent young maiden who's pursued by, and eventually succumbs to the local squire despite her repeated refusals and her marriage to the parson. It's this fantasy women used to have when they felt ashamed of their sexuality- if I protest and he FORCES me, I can't be to blame. Or, alternatively, they really do want to say no but don't have the power to. Either way I can't help but view this with modern eyes and I find it offensive.
At the end of the film, Hazel dies while being literally hunted (with hounds) by the squire she eventually rejected because, it seems, she is a loose woman and can't be allowed to live. Again, this is just shocking.
As for the actors, Jennifer Jones is rather an odd actress with a dreadfully mangled accent. Especially at the beginning of the film, her English country girl sounds like she's from the Deep South of America. She was David O. Selznick's discovery and his wife which is why she got the part, but she was really the wrong choice for this role. David Farrar plays the rogue of the piece with a Nivenish, villainous flair and Cyril Cusack is sweetly sad as the mild parson, a noble creature who gets a raw deal throughout the film. The other actors aren't bad and the Technicolor scenery and the music is magnificent, to P&P's credit. I only wish they hadn't chosen this story.