SECONDS (Criterion, 1966) D: John Frankenheimer, w/ Rock Hudson, Salome Jens. Rating: NNNN Blu-ray package: NNNN Rating: NNNN
Seconds is one of the tensest and most disturbing 60s thrillers and a pointed critique of the twin American dreams of success and self-reinvention.
Middle-class banker Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph) finds his life, marriage and career empty, so he acquires a new face and identity – painter Tony Wilson (Rock Hudson) – all provided by a mysterious company that manages everything from Hamilton’s fake death to Wilson’s new life.
Director John Frankenheimer (whose The Manchurian Candidate would make a good double bill) films the action via extreme close-ups, odd angles and James Wong Howe’s ever-moving camera. The overall effect is the kind of intense paranoia that feels like everyone but the hero is in on the plot.
Hudson reportedly called Tony Wilson his career-best performance. Ditching his romantic comedy mannerisms, he portrays the anxiety-riddled Hamilton inside the aspiring free spirit Wilson.
Highlights of the extras package include Frankenheimer’s dry commentary, which ranges from lighting design and lens choice to shaping the star’s performance, Alec Baldwin’s appreciation of the movie and its director, and Criterion’s retrospective making-of doc with interviews of Frankenheimer’s widow and Salome Jens, who plays Wilson’s love interest.
EXTRAS Commentary, Frankenheimer interview, Hudson interview, Baldwin appreciation, retrospective making-of doc, visual essay, print essay. B&w. No subtitles.
