I've always liked both Ava Gardner and James Mason, who, together, form a memorable duo. However, the movie wastes their considerable talent and star quality. "Pandora" is a singularly overheated take on the Flying Dutchman legend, overflowing with colour ! passion ! thrills ! romance ! music ! exotic scenery ! (I'm adding the exclamation marks because, basically, this is what the movie itself does, all of the time.) "Pandora" is not only overheated, it is also deeply confused. You get large dollops of Christian religion and theology, ancient myth, musings about Feminity, famous poetry and so on : it is all thrown together without much taste or discernment.
Some suspense, or some sense of suspense, might have helped, but sadly the title and the first ten minutes or so give away most of both plot AND ending. (Who makes this kind of weird decisions ? It's pretty much like making a movie about a blind and shy heiress who finds true love in the arms of a lesbian war veteran, and then calling your movie "The story of a blind and shy heiress who finds true love in the arms of a lesbian war veteran".)
There is a lot of colour in the movie, both in a factual and in a "couleur locale" sense. As befits a nicely overheated movie shot in Spain, the viewer is treated to a full collection of clichés about Spain : bull fighting, matadors, Catholicism, knives, fiery tempers, gypsies, ominous predictions above cards announcing "Death". It's somewhat like Bizet's "Carmen", minus the wit, imagination and relevance.
I'm still throwing the movie five stars - but this is mainly because I like both Gardner and Mason. We've all got our weaknesses...
A small cultural note : here in Belgium too we are familiar with the "Flying Dutchman" legend. However, the version I've heard was quite different from the one shown in the movie. In this version, the captain of a ship was punished for sailing (meaning working) on a Good Friday, which should be a universally respected day of rest and meditation. He is now doomed to navigate his impious ship for all eternity...
Some suspense, or some sense of suspense, might have helped, but sadly the title and the first ten minutes or so give away most of both plot AND ending. (Who makes this kind of weird decisions ? It's pretty much like making a movie about a blind and shy heiress who finds true love in the arms of a lesbian war veteran, and then calling your movie "The story of a blind and shy heiress who finds true love in the arms of a lesbian war veteran".)
There is a lot of colour in the movie, both in a factual and in a "couleur locale" sense. As befits a nicely overheated movie shot in Spain, the viewer is treated to a full collection of clichés about Spain : bull fighting, matadors, Catholicism, knives, fiery tempers, gypsies, ominous predictions above cards announcing "Death". It's somewhat like Bizet's "Carmen", minus the wit, imagination and relevance.
I'm still throwing the movie five stars - but this is mainly because I like both Gardner and Mason. We've all got our weaknesses...
A small cultural note : here in Belgium too we are familiar with the "Flying Dutchman" legend. However, the version I've heard was quite different from the one shown in the movie. In this version, the captain of a ship was punished for sailing (meaning working) on a Good Friday, which should be a universally respected day of rest and meditation. He is now doomed to navigate his impious ship for all eternity...