Something Wild

a wonderful romance
I saw this movie many years ago, and fell in love with Ralph Meeker. He is at his most romantic, and does a very convincing drunk scene. He takes Carroll Baker in(who moves from her parents house when she is assaulted by a stranger),but won't let her leave. he wants her to fall in love with him.There are no car chases, or exciting happenings, but I love the story, and had tried to order this movie several times before. Jean Stapleton (All in the Family) and Doris Roberts(everybody loves Raymond) have small parts in this movie. And there are some very good street scenes of New York.

a rare gem, now available
carroll baker has never looked more beautiful than in her 1961 stark role here...in 'baby doll' she was full of dialogue and innuendo, but 'something wild' takes the viewer a step further...a rape is committed in the first 5 minutes of the film and what follows is almost a silent movie....all there is to consider is carroll baker in black and white as her life responds to this event....the film's study of human nature is so basic that you end up feeling like you're watching a caged animal's reaction to threatening stimuli....written and directed by her husband at the time.

A beauitful and devestating and above all odd diamond in the rough
One of the most aggressively strange films I've ever seen, and at the same time also one of the most understated. It's a film where events, even the most horrific and strange, simply happen, and the audience is left to interpret quite a bit. Also one of the few films where its long periods of silence are ruled by the actors and are not purely director-driven. The acting is some of the most piercing and amazing; every line, every look loaded.

At face value, this film is somewhat "culturally questionable" and "problematic", but the more I thought about it, the more, really, it just WASN'T-- what it is is complex and weird and often inexplicable-- just like the actions of real people. Strange to see the cinematographer of Metropolis work so well with this obviously actors-studio inspired film. The film's subtext, and the film is entirely subtext, somehow increases the tension tenfold; there were several times it took me twenty minutes to go "OH that is what this character...

Click to Editorial Reviews