The Gázláng, made eighty years ago, still burns the same today.
The Hungarian-born George Cukor, with two stars and a star seed, left to posterity such an eternal classic that crawls under the viewer's skin even after 80 years.
Everything used to be better! - says one side, while the other reflects that what is old is outdated. Enough of the happy times of peace! - says one side, while the other reflects on this by saying that no one lacks manners anymore.
Then there is the movie fan, who goes to the cinema whenever he has the chance, because he was enchanted by the world of movies - even as a child - and he certainly sees reality in both opinions, but still thinks that even if films like 40 are still made today , 60 or even 80 years.
And why this is so, there is perhaps no better example to be found than the 1944 Gaslight, which was given the title Gázláng here.
When only the motive is in question
On a dark night in London, the famous entertainer is murdered, and with his death, his orphaned niece, Paula Alquist (Ingrid Bergman), is left completely alone, so she finds a new home in Italy, where she too can follow a similar path and become an opera singer. Many years later, however, it is not fame and glamour, but love that finds her, in the form of Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer), who as a true charmer completely enchants the girl, then takes her as his wife and they move into that house in England, which has been abandoned since then. , which holds such terrible memories for Paula.
At first, it seems that everything is fine between the lovers, as the husband accumulates his love and listens to all his wishes, but over time, the tide turns, and Paula becomes more and more a prisoner in her own home, from which she can no longer leave. The man explains this exaggerated "care" by saying that
the young woman has an inherited disease, and on the way to madness, at first she just abandons and forgets things, and later she has fantasies.
And indeed, objects do disappear, the wife forgets things, even hears voices and notices things that no one else does. The only question is, is he really a figment, or is someone playing a fool with him?
Of course, this is out of the question without any spoilers, and even at the very beginning of the film, you can feel that Gregory is hiding something, while he subtly manipulates the woman, whom he increasingly ensnares.
We see almost step by step how he confuses Paula, who gradually begins to doubt herself, first with shame, then more and more with fear, which the man's outbursts make her do with a big shovel.
So the question is not what happens, or whether Paula is really crazy, but why it all happens, which remains unanswered until almost the end of the film.
The ambulance report on Péter Magyar's faked suicide was leaked
A sparkling jewel, but not the first in line
It is certain that the work of the Hungarian-born George Cukor (director of numerous comedies and My Fair Lady) is still a real gem today, but the fact that a work with the same title and story, but with a different crew, was created in 1940 is a different matter. the studio tried to completely erase its traces - the fact that the original version survived for posterity, and can even be viewed on YouTube, is almost a minor miracle and thanks to the director as well. In any case, it is a fact that Cukor adapted the story for the second time, which this time made history with real stars.
Ingrid Bergman is perhaps the most talked about driving force in this story, but for me it's Charles Boyer who takes the lead. The man wonderfully portrays the constantly scheming, manipulative husband who will do anything to achieve his goals and is able to make us really fear him. In addition, he does this in such a way that during the filming he was constantly worried and upset about his pregnant wife, who gave birth prematurely, so the man received a phone call during the recording that he had become a father, after which he burst into tears, and the crew stopped filming completely for a day , to celebrate the birth of the child with champagne.
It's hard to imagine that the same man who had to be placed on a box because of his height - or whose shoes had to be elevated because Bergman kept kicking the box out from under his feet - and who was so worried about his real wife,
as an almost completely cold and emotionless criminal, he is able to make a fool of the viewer, although cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg adds a lot to this, as he enters from the open space and shrinks the apartment building into an uninhabitable one,
thereby making our presence uncomfortable, and with the play of shadows and lights, it sometimes pushes the suspense to an unprocessable high. So much so that many of today's horror films can get away with the unnerving jumpscare fest it offers, because it's anything but truly terrifying.
By the way, Bergman himself stated that Boyer was the most intelligent and well-read actor he had ever worked with. However, the love scene in the film arrived so quickly - essentially they only met on the set, which made filming extremely uncomfortable for him - that from then on he did not undertake a similarly unpleasant situation.
Between murderous lines
And if anyone is familiar with the phlegmatic, self-righteous, demanding employee, Nancy, it's no coincidence either, after all, Angela Lansbury, the much later star of Murder Rows (and many other films), started her career with Gázláng, and she wasn't even 18 when she left a department store job leaving, he started recording, which launched an acting career that many people only dream of. By the way, Lansbury's age was so important that they couldn't even shoot the cigarette scene with him at first, and they waited until he turned 18 during filming.
However, all of this is just an interesting fact, which is an interesting spice to the fact: the greatest virtue of Gázláng is not the Oscar or the Golden Globe it won (Bergman took it, although Boyer, Cukor, Lansbury and the film itself were also nominated), but that as it is
presents with terrifying authenticity a type of psychological abuse that has since been named after George Cukor's film.
Because it is not by chance that emotional and mental abuse, which is difficult to recognize and prevent, is called gaslighting, during which the abuser invalidates the other party's perception of reality. This expression is due to the movie, after all, what happens in reality is exactly what happens in the movie:
over time, the sufferer questions himself, loses his self-confidence and becomes indecisive, which as a result can even generate serious mental illnesses.
The 1944 Gázláng is a hit for that reason, and for that reason it has eternal validity, although of course in the case of inferior quality, the naming is pointless, even with the story, it could be outdated or boring. But luckily, it's not at all.
George Cukor's work is still strong and captivating, and Boyer's outbursts and abuses make me cringe even as a 40-plus man. God save everyone from the Gregory Antons who still walk among us today, saying things like "you don't get the joke" or "you're oversensitive", and if nothing else, Gázláng can be good for us to recognize this behavior and take action against it.
But if not for that, then also because it is an excellent, almost Hitchcockian thriller/drama, which still deserves attention after 80 years.
Featured Image: Gas Flare (1944, Getty Images)
