JohnHowardReid Producer: Christian Ferry. Copyright 23 August 1965 by Panoramic Productions. U.S. release through International Classics: September 1965. New York opening at the Paris: 23 August 1965. U.K. release through 20th Century-Fox: 3 September 1967 (sic). Australian release through 20th Century-Fox: 17 March 1966. Sydney opening at the Town (ran one week). 105 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Agnes Larbaud (Patricia Gozzi) is a beautiful but withdrawn girl who lives with her father, retired Judge Frederick Larbaud (Melvyn Douglas) and Karen (Gunnel Lindblom), their maid, in an old house located on a remote seacoast of France. She exists in a world of her imagination, because the Judge has kept her isolated from civilization.For companionship, she builds a scarecrow upon which she lavishes all her attention. Then one night, Joseph (Dean Stockwell), a wounded young Army deserter, arrives at the lonely house. When he sees the scarecrow he puts on its ragged clothes and collapses. The Judge and Karen discover from newspapers that Joseph is wanted for murder, but do not notify the gendarmes of his presence. The Judge is pleased to have someone intelligent with whom to talk and play chess, and Karen soon becomes romantically involved with Joseph.NOTES: The story of "Rapture" involves the interrelated search for love by its four leading characters. Douglas plays a retired judge who feels that his dead wife never loved him, and who hopes to win the affection of his teenage daughter. She, played by Patricia Gozzi, is in turn desperately in love with a fugitive merchant seaman (Dean Stockwell) who comes their way and is captivated by her. Gunnel Lindblom, as the servant girl, solves her own romantic needs by taking love wherever she finds it.These performers bring to the screen a wealth of contrasting personalities: veteran actor Douglas, who has been a stage and screen luminary for the past thee decades and has appeared in a wide variety of roles; young Stockwell, who went through an entire career as a child star before growing up to adult roles in such films as Compulsion and Long Day's Journey Into Night, for both of which he was awarded the prize as best actor at the Cannes Film Festival; sixteen-year-old Patricia Gozzi, who gave an unforgettable performance with her touching and sensitive role in Sundays and Cybele; and Gunnel Lindblom, the exciting Swedish beauty seen recently as the heroine of Ingmar Bergman's The Silence. Rapture was filmed mainly on location on the coast of Brittany in an old farmhouse on a hill above the fishing port of Erquy. The farmhouse was designed in the Breton style of the early 19th century on a site completely lacking in such amenities as water, gas and electricity. — Fox Publicity.COMMENT: This film looks very attractive from the trailer, with its arresting compositions, superb black-and-white CinemaScope photography and fine music score. The film itself, however, suffers from a rather slow script, which is made to appear even more laborious by the sluggish delivery of some of the players, especially Melvyn Douglas.

Perception_de_Ambiguity Plot: "Set against the rugged beauty of the Brittany seacoast, it tells the story of a young girl whose lonely isolation under the watchful eye of her stern and bitter father is abruptly shattered by the arrival of a seductive fugitive from the law."'Rapture' is a coming-of-age tale, a dark Gothic fantasy, a romance, a bit of a melodrama, and maybe a few other things. Its ability to stay clear from clichés despite the familiar dramatic framework alone is astonishing, which makes the film ultimately pretty uncategorizable, not to say anything about how sensible and dare I say perfect everything else is about this relatively layered production that feels grounded in realism while often being quite magical thanks partly due to the script, and partly due to its beautiful dreamy score and arresting as well as intelligent compositions of its CinemaScope black and white cinematography.Its nationality isn't easily identifiable either. The spoken language is English, the writer of the source novel is British, as is the director, but he was born to French parents, the film (unlike the novel) is set in France and most of the crew is French, as is the main actress. Its overall feel is predominantly French but it definitely also has British and American touches and there's something Bergmanesque about it as well as it often plays like a chamber psychodrama and with Bergman regular Gunnel Lindblom in the cast providing a direct link to the Swedish auteur. Speaking of actors, although without big stars the main players are all recognizable faces who fit their roles excellently and all of which give very good performances with the memorable standout being French actress Patricia Gozzi as the young girl, she bowed out of acting only a few years later but if you happen to have seen 'Sundays and Cybele' you certainly will remember her from that movie.There are many films I could compare it to, but no comparison would be exhaustive. The enigmatic stranger who enters a family with each person projecting their own desires onto him and them essentially creating their own image of the man is an important element in the film that recalls Pasolini's 'Teorema'. Then there's an impressive section later in the film in which the girl finds herself in Paris for the first time and she is completely overwhelmed by her surroundings and the situation in general, which has something of the same year's 'Repulsion'. In fact I think I saw Catherine Deneuve rubbing her nose in the background in one of the shots...OK, I didn't. Anyway, those comparisons are just scratching the surface.I'm not really sure to whom I would recommend 'Rapture', but if my genre description made it sound like your kind of thing you may want to look into it. Especially if you loved Chan-wook Park's 'Stoker', I think there are a few similarities between them with a general oddness that is not only captivating with its complex web of character relationships but also feels perfectly natural to the material, in particular thanks to its mentally troubled young protagonist on the brink of sexual awakening who is like a warmer but also more visibly unhinged version of India Stoker with the actress very much having the same strange appeal as Mia Wasikowska as well as the acting chops to go with it.Although understandably not the kind of film with a huge mainstream appeal 'Rapture' apparently never even saw all that much of a release back in the 60's. The handful of reviews that I found (all written within the past few years) amazingly enough are unanimously very positive, which strengthens me in my belief that this is a gem still waiting to be discovered by a much wider audience. It's only now that the film sees its first wide home video release by the UK label Eureka, so maybe now its time has finally come.

lindsaychase4 I have just tracked down this film, through this site, many years after the one and only time I saw it. I saw it as a B film i.e. tagged on to the main feature but it left such a lasting impression I cannot remember what the main feature was.It was the beginning of the film that made such an impact on me and that I remember most.The idea of a scarecrow coming to life (Joseph in hiding) and Agnes'd reaction which gripped me. The photography was dark and powerful.The developing relationship between Agnes and Joseph and her fathers reaction to it was moving. I do not know what I would make of it now but I hope it would generate the same emotions that I felt as a teenager.

Felix77 This is a well-grounded psychological drama with with element of suspense. The directing and acting is excellent and seems contemporary. Melvin Douglas is awesome and Dean Stockwell and Pozzi not far behind. Cinematography is excellent with a beautiful black and white medium. It is intended for mature audiences and mental lightweights need not apply. I rate 4 stars out of 5.