Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality” – Emily Dickinson
If Death took a holiday, the guns would go silent in Iraq, the slaughter on our nation’s highways would cease, and the news media would be compelled to cover positive events in the humanities, arts, and sciences. Unfortunately, Death has not had a vacation in recorded history, but Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 fantasy, Death Takes a Holiday, allows us to consider the possibility. Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Gladys Lehman and based on the play "La Morte in Vacanza" by Alberto Casella, Death Takes a Holiday stars Frederic March as the Grim Reaper who takes on human form in an attempt to discover why men fear him so much. Why he has waited 5,000 years to satisfy this curiosity is not explained.
[Spoiler] After a brief tryout as a shadowy figure who scares the daylights out of those that cross his path, Death shows up at, of all places, an upscale party at an Italian villa, posing as the mysterious Prince Sirki. Only one person knows who he really is, the host Duke Lambert (Guy Standing), and he is sworn to secrecy. Sirki proceeds to fascinate the guests. Given to bursts of wit and poetry, he can just as quickly turn sullen and threatening, and some soon find out that it is better not to look too deeply into his eyes. During the three days in which the Prince is at the villa, however, people all over the world miraculously escape death and potential suicides are doomed to frustration.
To see what’s behind all the conversation about love, the suave but naïve Prince Sirki falls for the irresistible Grazia (Evelyn Venable), the daughter of one of Duke’s friends. Grazia knows who Death is but does not fear him, much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Corrado (Kent Taylor) who has developed a strong disdain for Prince Charming.
More sinister than Brad Pitt in the 1998 remake Meet Joe Black, March turns in a very convincing performance as the creepy yet strangely appealing guest. Although the ending is melodramatic, the emotions are very real and the suggestion that Death may in reality be a friend disguised as a foe is quite touching.
(Howard Schumann, talkingpix.co.uk)
In this wearisome and predictable plot line, Death falls in love and bores us to death talking about it.
(Dennis Schwartz, homepages.sover.net)
I've heard DRACULA was advertised with the tag line "The Weirdest Love Story ever told!" (this is probably a paraphrase), but at heart, I've never felt that you could honestly call that movie a love story. The tag line would be much more appropriate for this one, since it ultimately boils down to what amounts to a love story. This movie is very good indeed, particularly if you consider that it is built around a concept that could have easily been handled in a cute or facile manner. Instead, it is handled as seriously as possible, with some real thought put into how death would try to come to terms with a life and an outlook that was to that point totally unfamiliar to him; much of the credit does go to Fredric March in the title role. It's quite scary when it needs to be, particularly during the first twenty minutes. From then on, it deals with its themes with subtlety, a quiet wit, an enduring sadness, and an everpresent tension on how Death might react if crossed. It's not perfect; some of the dialogue is self-conscious and artificial, as if the writers knew they were dealing with weighty issues and were trying to be profound. But I am certainly glad they didn't try to turn it into a musical comedy of sorts.
(Dave Sindelar, scifilm.org)
See also the remake: Death Takes A Holiday (1971)
之后上映应该会小爆吧，完成的不错，演员选的也很好。但是关于性倒错和精神疾病的运用太工具化了，只是构成案件的线索，对欲望、快感和多重人格的表现都有点浅尝辄止的感觉（可能是我对城定秀夫期待太高吧。。
笑点密集，无法自控。日常如果我也这么幻想可能真被人送医院了，毕竟被雷劈得能看到静物说话的应该也找不出第二个了
开头5分钟的时候就让我怀疑这电影是来洗钱的。。。王彦霖，你怎么了？？！！
三星半，看的人压抑绝望，但现实生活就是如此，哪有那么多热血沸腾的事情值得期许呢，尤其是对人到中年的夫妻而言，让人麻醉的鸡汤也只属于年轻人。
浪费了那么多实力演员，编剧和导演是挺能幻想的，没什么逻辑。
是那种，表演和剧本很match的电影，85分钟，短小精悍。
原本以为只是挂着“小众性癖”的痴汉系喜剧，但情节演进的过程恰恰是通过不断放出烟雾弹逐步推翻荒诞“告白”基调，从而落实“被谋杀”计划的过程，欲望的确实性得以正视。
autassassinophilia慕自我暗杀癖。结尾出乎意料，逃得出设计，逃不出怪圈。有精神分析的轨迹。
4.这是毙了多少原声
31/10/2021 @ 電影中心 [hkaff]。一場婚姻關係的困獸鬥，比較好奇小三到底發生甚麼事變成弱智了
看之前：病娇真棒
这几年结婚风险，生娃焦虑，中年危机，各种影视剧整齐划一要向大家传递：和错的人在一起，步步都是杯具。
差不多最后半个小时才看懂哪个是目标，最后男主没被杀死也是遗憾（对自己和观众来说）。但是看完依旧没明白重点是什么。可是正装的男主还是很迷人的。
灵修改变不了中年夫妻静如死水般的生活，只会陷入过度的自责和非常的想象，不免产生心魔，他们缺乏的是沟通。
老戏骨的演技是挺好，故事拍的差点儿，镜头也是晃来晃去的，看得出成本很低……
纯粹抱着猎奇的心态看，没想到还挺有意思，变态作为噱头，内核是多重人格+精神分析的悬疑片。穿插全片的伏笔和结尾的留白（反转?）甚至有点《脑髓地狱》的既视感。
刺骨般的真实。那些不动声色的撇嘴与皱眉，那些无动于衷，轻轻一吹满屋子都是婚姻的骨灰。
设定很带感，什么女子高中生、老师、多重人格、有想被杀的变态心理，但是没啥意义，也拍的没啥意思！
作为一个喜剧故事，点子和创意挺有意思的，感觉看起来挺新奇的，不过也会想起《你不是一个人》。故事还是不够饱满，后半程进入俗套模式，结局有亮点，哈哈。其实可以学《动物管理局》，正片虽然一般，但衍生的剧集在编剧上更精彩，这部剧也可以试试。
老夫老妻终归是：不抛弃，不放弃。很细节，很写实。
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