Touches You

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I saw this movie recently and realized I missed one of the most underrated shows of the 1960's. It was also a pleasure to see the talents of Allan Bates, Charlotte Rampling, James Mason and Lynn Redgrave together, with the backdrop of London in a time of change. I found Lynn Redgrave's performance was outstanding in the role of a likable girl we can all relate to: a diamond in the rough who cannot find romance because she isn't glamorous. Yet she has huge talent and interacts amazingly well in the scenes with the small children in her charge. Some of these scenes are absolutely delightful. Then there is the scene where she pops out of the background and does and solo performance for guests at a party. What an amazing talent! Charlotte Rampling was the opposite of Georgy--beautiful, popular, flitting around from party to party and yet, unhappy. She got along well with the stay at home Georgy and the two opposites were good friends. Allan Bates, as boyfriend to both, was superb in his role as a decent young man whose energy is totally out of control. Rampling and Bates represent the restless youth of the sixties and issues related to abortion, sex, and the conflict with London society. James Mason was his usual, restrained self, a pillar of the London scene, yet sexually frustrated and essentially unhappy. He thought he found a fix for his malaise in Georgy. But Georgy knew her own mind and was more than a match for the older man. Some loose ends are left untied and the movie does come to a surprising conclusion. All in all, fine entertainment and a movie that shows the currents of change in the 1960's.

Probably one of the most popular of movie themes from the Sixties is Hey There Georgy Girl from which The Seekers sold a gazillion records. It perfectly captures the mood of the film set in swinging London of the Sixties.Lynn Redgrave got a deserved Best Actress nomination for playing the title role, a somewhat dowdy, but incredibly vivacious young lady who is just itching to explore life. Her father's employer James Mason who has seen Georgy grow up and he's liking what he sees. Giving music lessons is what keeps Georgy in spending money as she shares her flat with the beautiful Charlotte Rampling and her randy boyfriend Alan Bates. When Bates knocks up Rampling the arrival of the new one changes all their lives.Redgrave is so vivacious in the star role that if Elizabeth Taylor hadn't been up the same year for Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, Lynn might have copped the Oscar. Mason got a nomination for Best Supporting Actor though with his name he got first billing. The film also got nominations for the song Hey There Georgy Girl and for black&white cinematography.Unjustly neglected is Charlotte Rampling as the beautiful and selfish roommate. She makes it clear she's giving up the child and Bates at Redgrave try to make a go of it. But he's not about to commit.Sometimes the wrong people do bring the little ones into the world. In the end as Mason and Redgrave marry and there's an instant family, the entire audience gives it's good wishes that they'll make it. And some of the best families are created this way.Georgy Girl led by Lynn Redgrave's vivacity is as fresh as it was in 1966.

It is hard to find words to describe to this generation the extent of the condemnation that girls "in trouble" faced 50 years ago.Films like Pagnol's "Fanny" or Demy's "Umbrellas of Cherbourg" poignantly illustrated the difficult choice between romantic love and contracting oneself out to ensure that one's child would not face society's all too real retribution.In that context, Georgy Girl is an extremely bold film that turned the Fanny tale on its head, playfully mocking the absurdity of the situation and cleverly empowering the victim. However, it manages to rise above "message" pieces such as "Guess who's coming to dinner" by carefully treading the line between reality and satire and always respecting the basic humanity of the characters.The spot-on performances of the cast, especially Redgrave make this fun to watch and easy for modern audiences to relate, even after the softening of the attitudes that the film gently mocks.Much like the Seeker's opening theme - very 60's but still catchy and fun...

A Kimba and Astro conversation... Astro: so what was James Mason's role? Like what was he in the movie for? Kimba:he appreciated Gy for who she was because he lived with a woman who was as "exciting as a brick". Gy is a symbol of all that's been missing from his life.Astro: I see. (light bulb just came on) Kimba: that is why the bedroom scene with James transforming everything into the opposite of what it was cracked me up! Astro: yes - and in that he was almost transforming it into how he saw Gy. Which was intriguingly the opposite to how Gy saw herself! Living in the 60s was a time where we thought life was fun, and people accepted each other. Looking back now, I see how confused, shallow and unrealistic it was. Kimba: it is the same now, i think each decade holds different confusions. Astro: I thought it interesting when Jos and Gy were looking at each other talking, with Meredith sitting in a chair. They just looked each other, fell in love and kissed, right in front of Meredith! Kimba: Meredeth is truly selfish and horrible. Jos really is a child, and he knows that. When they part, Gy has a smile on her face cause she knows too. Astro: and then she just moved on when he kissed her good-bye on the dock . Kimba: yeah no anger! Astro: Could we ever just feel that way ? Kimba: the movie has to have the characters be extreme. The extremeness offends some people. But it doesn't work without it, because you wouldn't see the contrasts, eg the maternity ward scene. Astro: I just felt all the way thru that it was idealistic - which characterizes the 60s . Kimba: yeah ! This is a serious comedy . Astro: the extreme is funny. Kimba: it is an acquired taste. Many are confused by it and miss the subtleties. It is about people, and if we looked we might recognize some of those people! Yes they are doing/saying horrid things but that is what happens in life. Astro: that is true. I liked James and her Dad sitting on the stairs drinking. Kimba:...the father saying his daughter is a frump and the look on James's faceKimba: and the scene when they tell him his wife is deadAstro: I find conversations when people have had a bit to drink, amusing! Yes - and having to be told that he must be sad and grieving! Kimba: I found that boat scene really touching . Jos was struggling with himself so much and Gy was so understanding. Astro: Meredith showed callousness, James compassion, Georgy loyalty and confidence, Jos frivolousness, her Dad was pragmatic... Kimba: yeah so right. Wife's inability to show anything Astro: also found the words to the song interesting - the change in the words from the start to the end. Astro: James was unhappy for years. Even to making a contract with Gy! Kimba: he must have, so I don't view him as horrid, I really understand him. Astro: yeah - it is a challenge to all of us really. To not just dismiss someone on first pass. Kimba: 3 characters had the ability to see things as they were and the other 3 were selfish Astro: yet all had a tinge of being selfish. All were wanting/seeking something, but some were totally unable to give. There you have it. Recognizing what we want, but being prepared to give it up for others, and not just because we want to be a martyr. Kimba: I like to think that James and Gy will work well together! Astro: I wonder what all those characters will be like today?How would Sara grow up? Would Meredith have any friends - or just more shallow friends? Kimba: and the untiring devotion of the father to James, the scene in the kitchen when he looks upward and talks about him upstairs like he is god! Astro: He is the perfect manservant. Kimba: i think Gy is so warm and although somewhat dysfunctional is just wanting something very simple and lovely from life, and i think she is really only dysfunctional from those around her. Astro: I was thinking that. It was really those around her who were dysfunctional! Astro: she was the 'best' person of all of them. Kimba: i love that scene near the beginning with the children dancing and the slow motion. That was what Georgy was about to me.Astro: yes - that was good. She actually had a good job it seems. Kimba: and she was good at it. Funny how you end up talking about these people like they are your friends or you know them! Astro: it is - easy enough to do if you identify with them though. Kimba: Loved the father he was so classic. James wants passion. He has lived without for so long. It is sad Astro: and he knows what he wants. He is a millionaire and could 'buy' what he wants, but does not. Kimba: and his wife is attractive, but he doesn't want that! Kimba: his wife is orderly too and he doesn't want that! Astro: it is like he only worked out what he wanted later. Kimba: but that's just it hey, you see that so often in real life Astro: and who he wanted. He must have watched Gy grow up. Kimba: see i find it amazing that not many will see the complexities of this movie at all. They will just see the crassness.