40 Carats
After her car broke down in Greece, Liv Ullmann had gotten to the edge of frustration when a young American on his motor scooter stopped before her. He offers her a ride to the town, but she refuses because she is too old for such things; at least that’s what she thinks. After all, she is 36. The eyes of the youth light up as anyone else’s would have if they saw Liv Ullmann and he hits on her starting with Ouzo shot and ending on the beach.
However, Liv vanishes in the morning twilight and only sees him months later in New York when he escorts her daughter. There was an electrifying atmosphere around them both. The daughter was left by herself at the pool table because she is quite good at it. They fall in love. But there is one little problem: he is 22 while she’s 36 ummm 38 well actually 40 “Forty Carats,” a movie based on a Broadway play derived from a French play adapted from (can we hope for stage musical yet?), addresses this issue with much romantic gusto.
Yet I couldn’t be bothered about any of this stuff it doesn’t matter to me whether or not she is 40 and he’s 22 what matters is how they are as human beings and characters imposed along our interest fictitiously. Alas these people do not therefore film sags into Shaw type theoretical dialogues without wit.
In analyzing why I felt nothing personal about movie turmoil, ultimately I came to Liv Ullmann as an answer. We cannot accept such a conservative forty year old woman who doubts of being attractive to men and unable to let love enter into her life. That isn’t herself we know. What has been said about this character in “Forty Carats” does not describe the person we see who is shining with beauty absolutely confident.
The question that stayed after the film with me is the exact opposite one: how could such a stunning woman possibly fall for some punk like that kid? Edward Albert, recently seen in “Butterflies Are Free,” stars as a 22 year old boy. He looks wooden and a little bit too good looking he does not seem to love her at all; he seems to want to argue with her. It’s as though pure logic can convince her. This may be true in theory but it is far less enjoyable.
The movie adaptation diverges slightly from the stage play on a few occasions that might be misjudgments. For instance, the confrontation between Liv Ullmann and the young man’s parents was played hard and heavily with an underlying note of cruelty on his father’s part. In fact, he looks like Eddie Albert’s opposite character in “The Heartbreak Kid” who is simply using his wife and son’s lives to work through himself. And this scene is so real and harsh that comedy simply cannot support it at all.
This is a comedy and that makes the other difference between the play and the movie which has a better ending. The lovers finally separate in the play. In the movie, they meet again on that very beach in Greece (of course), and we fade out with love triumphing over reason or so forth. It would have been more interesting if the story began from their wedding and encompassed first six months of their married life particularly if it were next door to Fred and Ethel Mertz.
Watch 40 Carats For Free On Solarmovies.