The Fallen Idol DVD

This is a film haunted by empty spaces, looming interiors and imposing masonry. Its setting is the near-deserted house of the French Ambassador to Britain, a palatial ... Read on

This is a film haunted by empty spaces, looming interiors and imposing masonry. Its setting is the near-deserted house of the French Ambassador to Britain, a palatial London address that's been closed down for the holidays. Furniture is covered in dustsheets, most of the staff have been dismissed, and a stately silence fills the vast, well-appointed rooms. Only the ambassador's son, 8 year-old Philippe (Bobby Henrey), butler Baines (Ralph Richardson) and his embittered housekeeper wife occupy this opulent shell. Philippe is in awe of the enigmatic Baines, a strong but gently humble figure, but Baines isn't quite the great man Philippe believes he is.
As Philippe sees his hero's behaviour become more confusing, The Fallen Idol's expressionist, almost grotesque visuals come into focus: this is a child's eye view of the big, bad world, a child who is constantly dwarfed by angry or apathetic adults and lost in the shadows of oppressive rooms and streets. Reed's characteristically obscure camera angles have never seemed so justified: through Philippe, we catch stolen moments of the butler's life from behind balustrades and pillars, from window ledges and balconies. Though we can work out what Baines is up to, Philippe is understandably ignorant. When the plot turns to suspected murder, the boy's grasp of the games adults play is in danger of being unwittingly destructive.
Richardson gives a masterclass in noble yet flawed restraint and the young Henrey delivers a remarkably honest performance of hapless confusion, but the film really belongs to production designer Vincent Korda, cinematographer Georges Perinal and Reed. Rarely has a film outside the horror genre manipulated its sets to quite such a powerful effect. Hide