That was an excellent one.

An action-packed slog

The first must-see film of the year.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This is "based on" William Faulkner's classic novel, The Sound and The Fury. If you were wondering how they managed to get the nifty incomprehensible narrative onto the big screen...they didn't, instead opting for all the clichés of the Steamy South.Of the two Quentins in the novel, the filmmakers decided to do away with male Quentin and instead focus on Caddy's illegitimate daughter. This did not upset me as much as it does some fans of the novel- all Quentin really does is lust after his sister. The scene in which the incestuous desire is most apparent is transposed to the big scene, except it's girl Quentin (Joanne Woodward) being forced to say her sleazy travelling circus artist's name by her "uncle" Jason (Yul Brynner).In this film, the novel is re-done as Quentin's coming-of-age. Jason is now adopted rather than being her blood uncle so the writers can have their cake and eat it. Quentin is Jason's only hope to save his adopted family's good name: his adopted sister Caddy (Margaret Leighton)is an ageing nympho; one brother is an alcoholic; and the other one, Benjy, is a mentally-retarded mute. The parents were no good either.It's almost a parody of Southern Literature: nymphos, lushes, incest, lust, and it's quite entertaining on this level. However, the casting choices were poor. Joanne Woodward has a lovely Southern accent but she was pushing thirty when she played seventeen-year-old Quentin, making her look more like an idiotic woman rather than a schoolgirl (although this family are a bunch of misfits). Yul Brynner does not exactly come to mind when you think of a Southern brute but he is suitably brutish and sensual. Jason in the book was hardly sensual but the film-makers need their romance.Margaret Leighton isn't that bad as Caddy. It's not clear why her brothers would be so infatuated with her but she fills the role of decadent mother quite well.Whoever is playing the travelling circus man is risible, as is the person who wrote the dialogue. We get a bunch of clichés, pseudo-meaningful lines and illogical flirtation. It all looks like somebody filmed a dud Tennessee Williams play.If you're looking to punish a student too lazy to read the novel, please show them this film. Unless you desperately need your fix of steamy Southern melodrama, I would return to Tennessee Williams. Poor William Faulkner must have got a bit of a shock when he saw this.

I would also like to find out why over the years this movie has not been available for purchase on DVD or even VHS. I saw it on TV many years ago and really enjoyed it especially with a cast that included Yul Brynner and Joanne Woodward. Anyone out there have any clues? I realize this film did not really reflect the book by William Faulkner but I think it stood up on its own as a simpler version that most people could enjoy. Hopefully at some point it will be available again. Yul Brynner plays his character with some force and pomposity but is very appealing nevertheless. Joanne Woodward is a sweet gamin of a tom boy who acts the part to perfection. It has been along time since I have seen this film but it made enough of an impression that I still surf the internet in the hopes that I will find it available to buy and play at home.

I've been longing to see this Southern Classic since last year. Thanks to YouTube. Actually, I prefer watching the movie version than the original Faulkner novel, which is too confusing and complex. After reading through some of the previous comments, I thought this movie was really as bad as they said.In fact, however, different people have different views. The movie plot is mostly taken from the Jason Compson part, and I was glad that it centers on Miss Quentin rather than her mother, Caddy(I never find her character that attractive from the book)Joanne Woodward was already 28 when she played Miss Quentin, but she was quite convincing as a 16-year-old girl with her short blonde hair and tiny body, mischievous, optimistic and tough at the same time. Maybe you might think that picking handsome, charismatic Yul Brynner as a southern patriarch is kind of weird, but friends, they changed the original Jason character into Cajun French, and having that thick European accent is normal and compelling enough. I must say that Brynner is no doubt a very good actor, especially when he reveals his expressions with his beautiful, intensive brown eyes. The ice-cream eating scene between Brynner and Woodward is really tender when he gazes at her, asking "Can't You?" right after she smilingly says she could not imagine Jason would be in love with someone. Moreover, the kissing part between Jason and Quentin is one of the most underrated passionate romance scene I have ever seen on screen. It is both romantic and hilarious as we watch Quentin hugs Jason back because she is finally infatuated with her tyrannical yet gorgeous non-blood related guardian.Supporting actresses Ethel Waters and Margaret Leighton also gives fabulous and brilliant performances. I find Leighton as classy as ever in the Caddy role. For Faulkner Fans, you may find this movie absurd. On the other hand, you may see this Martin Ritt Film as interesting and enthralling as possible.

I have long wanted to see this film, knowing that it would be weird. I would think that viewers who have read the novel -- arguably, with Absalom, Absalom, Huck Finn, and Moby Dick, one of the four greatest American novels written -- would be, at the least, perplexed at the handling of this story, which could have, in the hands of a French New Wave director, been made into something that resembled the book. I had thought that Yul Brenner would be cast as Benjy. It gets all the more bizarre. Fascinating look at great literature meets hungry Hollywood. Of course, I may not be fair in that I thought Kubrik's take on The Shining was excellent, while King fans were outraged. Two Stars for its being made.