#143: Dodsworth
Part of the Top 150 Films series
One of my favourite pleasures of cinema is watching complicated characters attract and repel one another like subatomic particles. In this vein, Dodsworth is one of the most luminous, honest, and devastating depictions of a long-term marriage in crisis ever filmed. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Dan Savage’s favourite film! That it was released in 1936 and not 2016 is extraordinary, as it could have been made today with very few updates. Like Fran Dodsworth’s immaculate hair, there’s neither a performance nor story beat out of place (although Huston deserves some sort of posthumous honorary Oscar for his magnificent portrayal). Wyler’s consummate direction concocts a deliciously complex cocktail about the inherent bitterness of aging, the joy of travel, and the melancholic travails of love. Much like life, Dodsworth is keen to stress that there are no villains: just people, with faults and complexities and prejudices, but also humanity.
