Index

 Reviews

 Interviews

 Articles

 Short films

 Capsule reviews

 Links

 Contact

 About EMVG

Best viewed without Internet Explorer

© Esa Linna unless stated otherwise

Lifespan. UK/Netherlands 1974. Directed by Sandy Whitelaw

An American scientist, Dr. Ben Land travels to Amsterdam for a conference, where the fellow scientist Dr. Linden is about to give a speak. Mysteriously Dr. Linden refuses and hangs himself the next day. Is there a connection between his fascination to death and extending a length of human life - and who is the mystery man who looks just like Klaus Kinski?

Sandy (Alexander) Whitelaw's only feature film besides 1997 Vicious Circle, Lifespan doesn't quite live up to its expectations, but nevertheless delivers an unique atmosphere, that is enjoyable to watch - at least. The slowly revealing mystery with characters like sadomasochistic Dr. Linden's girlfriend Anna (Tina Aumont) and Swiss Man (Kinski) are the ones to watch out, and Lifespan probably gives devoted Europhiles more kicks than it did to me. Themes that Lifespan treats, are important and ageless. That is why it's a pity that Lifespan falls between the mainstream and Euro-cult, although that makes it an unique and one of its kind. This aspect has been covered also in the extra material.

At the first half of the film, Klaus Kinski stares like he hadn't had nothing to do with this film but luckily he has a chance to be manic himself later - and does a pretty good performance in the end. To be true, this is still not one of his classics. Tina Aumont has a great dark looks that fits to her S&M character quite well. The dubbed dialog steals a bit of credibility, but luckily the dubbing itself isn't technically bad at all.

Terry Riley's astonishing soundtrack either makes you smile (if you find it funny) or makes you smile (if you are into these cheezy sounds of 70's).

Mondo Macabro must be thanked about brave selections like Lifespan, which are not money makers but examples of film that is hard to categorize, and rarely receive a decent DVD release. The audience for these kind of films is small, but it just shows Mondo Macabro's love and faith of what they do. Extra material contains a 20-minute interview by Sandy Whitelaw and his audio commentary, with trailers and stills galleries. Pete Tombs' "about the film" -essay gives again a nice introduction to the backgrounds of Lifespan. Anamorphic picture is decent, even though it is somewhat soft. Colors save a lot. Mono audio channel does a good job with dialog, that sounds clear enough.