Film Forum

U.K., 1978
Directed by Jerzy Skolimowski
Screenplay by Michael Austin, Jerzy Skolimowski, based on the story by Robert Graves
Starring Alan Bates, Susannah York, John Hurt, Robert Stephens, Tim Curry
Approx. 86 min. DCP.

“Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski brought a unique, outsider’s eye to the portrayal of Britain on film… Most effective of all, however, is the director’s strange and darkly magical portrayal of the English coastline in his 1978 film, THE SHOUT, which contains – among many other unique things – one of British cinema’s most unnerving examples of sound design… The director’s use of sound, with the help of sound editor stalwart Alan Bell, is where the film’s effectiveness resides, creating an eerie and overwhelming filmic experience. THE SHOUT is told in flashback, starting from a cricket match in an asylum where two inmates are telling how one of them came to be there. The story then follows a village couple, Rachel (Susannah York) and Anthony (John Hurt), who are visited by a stranger called Crossley (Alan Bates). With Anthony being an avant-garde musician, he becomes curious about Crossley’s supposed skills in aboriginal magic and the power to perform a shout that can kill. The film develops into a power play where magical elements are used to seduce Rachel and gradually remove Anthony from the scenario, psychologically and physically.” – Adam Scovell, Sight and Sound
 

Reviews

“Sexuality triumphs over civilization through a series of small betrayals, each registered with appalling, pinpoint accuracy by Jerzy Skolimowski’s camera. Though Skolimowski had backed off from his formal ambitions somewhat (he once seemed a real rival to Godard), this 1978 feature is shrewd, imaginative moviemaking, a trance thriller that beats Peter Weir on his own turf.”
– Dave Kehr

“A stunning film from a highly venturesome stylist long obsessed with the psychological struggle for dominance within relationships… Unfolds with terrific tension and economy as it communicates through sound and image rather than through conventional exposition. Bates is a thunderingly eloquent madman, York a poised if bored lady-turned-uninhibited-wanton and Hurt one of Skolimowski’s typical ineffectual heroes, in this instance a glib, superficial type who proves unexpectedly resourceful.”
– Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times