The Dance of Death (1969)
Director:
David Giles
Writers:
C.D. Locock (translation), August Strindberg (play)Stars:
Laurence Olivier, Geraldine McEwan, Robert Lang
This Swedish melodrama is set upon a small fortresslike island. Upon the island lives a bitter artillery captain, his wife and his family. The officer is angry at never receiving the promotion he felt was his due. He constantly argues with his wife. Complicating matters is the captain's illness, which he has kept secret. His wife cousin, a quarantine officer, comes to the isle with his son. The captain immediately begins trying to destroy him socially, professionally, and financially. More trouble ensues when the cousin's son and the captains daughter fall in love. The two perceptive youths observe the twisted relationship between the fathers. As the daughter finally chastises the father for his behavior, the captain has a stroke, writhes about upon the floor with foam dripping from his mouth, and dies.
