Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality” – Emily Dickinson
If Death took a holiday, the guns would go silent in Iraq, the slaughter on our nation’s highways would cease, and the news media would be compelled to cover positive events in the humanities, arts, and sciences. Unfortunately, Death has not had a vacation in recorded history, but Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 fantasy, Death Takes a Holiday, allows us to consider the possibility. Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Gladys Lehman and based on the play "La Morte in Vacanza" by Alberto Casella, Death Takes a Holiday stars Frederic March as the Grim Reaper who takes on human form in an attempt to discover why men fear him so much. Why he has waited 5,000 years to satisfy this curiosity is not explained.
[Spoiler] After a brief tryout as a shadowy figure who scares the daylights out of those that cross his path, Death shows up at, of all places, an upscale party at an Italian villa, posing as the mysterious Prince Sirki. Only one person knows who he really is, the host Duke Lambert (Guy Standing), and he is sworn to secrecy. Sirki proceeds to fascinate the guests. Given to bursts of wit and poetry, he can just as quickly turn sullen and threatening, and some soon find out that it is better not to look too deeply into his eyes. During the three days in which the Prince is at the villa, however, people all over the world miraculously escape death and potential suicides are doomed to frustration.
To see what’s behind all the conversation about love, the suave but naïve Prince Sirki falls for the irresistible Grazia (Evelyn Venable), the daughter of one of Duke’s friends. Grazia knows who Death is but does not fear him, much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Corrado (Kent Taylor) who has developed a strong disdain for Prince Charming.
More sinister than Brad Pitt in the 1998 remake Meet Joe Black, March turns in a very convincing performance as the creepy yet strangely appealing guest. Although the ending is melodramatic, the emotions are very real and the suggestion that Death may in reality be a friend disguised as a foe is quite touching.
(Howard Schumann, talkingpix.co.uk)
In this wearisome and predictable plot line, Death falls in love and bores us to death talking about it.
(Dennis Schwartz, homepages.sover.net)
I've heard DRACULA was advertised with the tag line "The Weirdest Love Story ever told!" (this is probably a paraphrase), but at heart, I've never felt that you could honestly call that movie a love story. The tag line would be much more appropriate for this one, since it ultimately boils down to what amounts to a love story. This movie is very good indeed, particularly if you consider that it is built around a concept that could have easily been handled in a cute or facile manner. Instead, it is handled as seriously as possible, with some real thought put into how death would try to come to terms with a life and an outlook that was to that point totally unfamiliar to him; much of the credit does go to Fredric March in the title role. It's quite scary when it needs to be, particularly during the first twenty minutes. From then on, it deals with its themes with subtlety, a quiet wit, an enduring sadness, and an everpresent tension on how Death might react if crossed. It's not perfect; some of the dialogue is self-conscious and artificial, as if the writers knew they were dealing with weighty issues and were trying to be profound. But I am certainly glad they didn't try to turn it into a musical comedy of sorts.
(Dave Sindelar, scifilm.org)
See also the remake: Death Takes A Holiday (1971)
对我这样的反乌托邦爱好者，只能送上5星，外加我的膝盖！
生活在一个洪水不会消退的城市远比科幻到外太空更有现实意义，但人类的进化依然缓慢，仍然在通过财富，阴谋，以及美好爱情去生活和永生。挺好。
男主的人物形象是不错的，但故事讲的是个什么玩意儿
结构工整，前后呼应，剪辑收放有度，虽然剧情的格局局限在富人的外遇这种俗气的情仇，但是叙事的结构和对回忆主题的深厚人文关怀依旧灿烂。狼叔关于俄耳甫斯与欧律狄克的谎言，也更加体现人类对思念和美好回忆的无法抗拒。
吴彦祖的肌肉六分，故事情节扣两分。
好奇的想问导演一句，自己的记忆，不是应该是自己眼睛里看见的东西吗，按理来说，只能第一视角来承显自己的记忆，可是电影里却是第三视角，不科学的。剧情发现到中间，突然出来一个已逝的地产商，剧情前面没有一点暗示也没有一点铺垫，这……
都是我喜欢的演员，但凑在一起却这么难看，BUG非常多，女导演经验不足叙事粗糙，比如狼叔最后从反派的记忆中看到了女主最后的情景——这里明显应该是反派的视角，但是不是，反派在开着车呢，女主居然还可以扒后窗户跟狼叔说挨辣舞友。。。女导演的水平真没胸高，狼叔的脸有些崩了，颜祖一出场又领了盒饭。。。
事实证明把简单的故事通过叙事手法和结构形式变复杂高端不是谁都能掌握的技巧。故事只值两星，把简单的故事说的枯燥乏味。但是架不住丽贝卡太有魅力和风情，以及休叔丽贝卡吴彦祖三个好身材，忍不住再加一星。晚礼服包裹下露出的女性肌肤太性感了。
帅哥狼叔被骗炮痛失资料惹
没想分这么低，我给个五分吧，影片的氛围很独特，像是欧美的游戏过渡，异样的世界塑造很迷幻、苍凉，爱情是这个末世盛开又枯萎的花朵……
有着一切高水准科幻片的设定和反乌托邦的世界观，却拿起来讲了一个毫无头脑的爱情故事，但不说男女主没有一点相合感，整部电影都是狼叔的自我迷失自我感受，让人只会觉得无理取闹，自述性故事风格像极了经典科幻片的影子，但一点点毛边都没沾到，难以想象这样的概念片拍成这种以爱情糊弄观众的方式。稍微拍深层次一点，稍微不那么以自我中心，再包装一个不做作的故事，这部电影水准就能提到8分以上，现在估计只有导演自己觉得拍得很好看吧
【6.0】第一幕还是挺吸引人的，到第二幕的时候剧情节奏就开始出问题了，bug也逐步显露，好在第三幕男女主的情感戏分拉回了点好感。整体属于那种空有高概念，却执行得不佳的科幻片。
打着科幻的口号和外衣 却是很纯的爱情片 犯罪和悬疑元素也只限于滤镜 倒不如更多的内心爱情戏表示纯爱更合理一些 不然实在太浪费卡斯的表演 最后的结局也属于硬套这个科幻题材 反派的动机和心理都有些考验智商下线 逻辑始终是此类电影越不过的鸿沟
--2021.08.29 Edgartown
6.5分
剧情太乐色了但是我好喜欢这个世界在沉没的设定哦
影片真心不太行，角色全员降智，动机成迷，一直在靠着演员支撑。故事有个非常大的背景，但完全真沦为了背景板，海洋侵入陆地，官商与民众的关系，这些内容基本上都在给男女主的爱情让路，最后的缉凶也毫无亮点。影片还给了个高概念，通过仪器达到五感的记忆回溯，原本以为影片会像《少数派报告》一样，通过记忆中的层层细节，不断的推导出事实真相，结果只是通过不断看别人记忆，以双线叙事方式交代女主过往，悬疑度和解谜快感全无，也特别不能理解，为何男主看了女主一眼就能爱得死去活来，对身边那么好的女助手视而不见。男主的行为也特别不能理解，明知危险，还经常去送人头，要靠女助手救，反派也要绕那么一大圈偷东西，好尴尬啊。最后那场被修改的俄尔普斯神话，点明了主题，这就是一场得不到的爱情。另，吴彦祖太客串了，去掉这条线也不影响故事。
用回忆的形式再加上主角文学性的自白，挺有腔调的，但故事太烂了，活在过去还是选择未来探讨尚欠，感觉黑女比女主更有意义。
3-…蛮有现实感又颇具文艺腔的科幻点子，可惜故事略矫情，导演也是电视剧功力
十五分钟以后就后悔了。莫名其妙矫情台词，过于冗长且老套的调情段落，女主演的太过了，满身写着“我好美我好性感”，太出戏了。格局也小，人物情感扭捏。
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