When Jeremy Brett assaults Anne Heywood, the aftermath has longterm effects on her and husband Richard Todd in this well wrought thriller.
This movie tries to say something real about the mental issues involved in stalking: the stalker's obsession, the victim's fears, the ancillaries victims' suffering. It's a matter that has consumed Western lawmaking for millennia, with no clear consensus yet in sight. What are we to conclude when Jeremy Brett's character says he is consumed with thoughts of Heywood? Blaming the victim may be satisfactory from the criminal's viewpoint, but my brand of libertarianism includes personal responsibility and the assertion that criminals, whether they commit crimes because of mental illness or conscious decision, should bear the burden of their transgressions; every time I watch a movie and the perp announces that the next crime is the fault of the victim or the police officer who has failed to shoot him.... puh-leeze!
Such issues are not going to be solved, or even adequately addressed in 90-mnute second features like this. Good performances, like those here, may make an entertaining thriller, but they butter no parsnips.
