Romancefest 2013: Goodbye Again

GOODBYE AGAIN is a 1961 drama starring Ingrid Bergman as a 40-something interior designer who  has found herself in a somewhat one-sided relationship with a playboy businessman (Yves Montand). They've been together for years but haven't gotten married, and Montand hasn't stopped seeing other women.

As the film opens, Bergman meets a young lawyer (Anthony Perkins) about 15 years her junior. Perkins is quirky, likable and charming, and pursues a romance with Bergman who at first turns him down due to the age difference (and her loyalty to Montand) but eventually Perkins' courtship and yet another infidelity from Montand wear her down until she finally leaves Montand and lets Perkins move in.

The film makes a lot of its Parisian locations, and as a contemporary film it has lots of really cool late 50s and early 60s cars.

The cast is great, with Bergman beautiful and graceful as always (and stretching a little by playing her age) and Montand believable as a philanderer who isn't necessarily all bad.

But, it's Perkins, fresh off of PSYCHO, that really steals the show here. This must have been before the type-casting really set in, because here he is allowed to play a pretty regular (but engaging) guy, with none of the hang ups of his more famous character, Norman Bates. Of course, being so familiar with Perkins as Bates, it's difficult not to sense a sinister undertone to some of the proceedings in this flick, but it's not intended and shouldn't count against it.

What could count against it, however, is the fact that it is so slow. For a small human drama it is a little too big in scope. These proceedings could have been taken care of a little more efficiently. There are great moments, however, especially the bleak (but realistic) ending of the film, and the movie treats human relationships with much more maturity than most films.