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)
三星半，剧情推动得稍微有点快，旁白用得太多的戏我一律认为是导演偷懒。长尾的眼神表演相当好(怪不得老叫他演内敛的角色)，台词和肢体还有可以加强的地方，不过作为初主演电影很不错了! 学姐每个镜头都好有魅力，难怪一开始青梅赢不过www @2022-02-11 08:52:43
可能会因为一些事受伤，别只陷入自己的视角而自抛自弃，看看周围还有爱你的人在…日式叙述手法，主旨挺好的，演技除了个别细节整体还行，kento不错
多一星给画面和调度 节奏略微慢了点 看的时候总是忍不住关注男主那么长的睫毛...
6/10，有些无聊的家庭关系电影，除了一些自然风光外没有感受到新西兰的特色。
想起了dear Evan Hanson 但是太拖延太鸡汤了 是谁杀了我 原来是我杀了我！
日本片就喜欢讲大道理, 封面我还以为是个妹子.
怎么说呢，反正我在看的时候哭了，能把人看哭的电影，应该就可以算是好的电影了吧。日本的电影果然配乐好厉害，最喜欢的几段都是有配乐的，恰好和我的心引起共鸣了。最最喜欢的部分就是结尾那段在桥上的画面，小林真和小晶穿着制服闲逛，笑的很灿烂，搭配上音乐，感觉心被治愈了，青春真美好哇。虽然长尾在团里是元气担当，但是他挺适合演这种比较忧郁的角色，山田杏奈也很可爱。但还是觉得学姐的部分拍的有些可惜，总感觉和女孩子接吻的视频被传播，然后学校的同学都知道了的剧情有点太仓促了，我真的想知道她为什么会突然就想跳楼。不过也无伤大雅，整部电影想要传达的也都表现出来了。
“杜松子和水各一半，少拿水来糊弄我。”希望到老我也能这样喝威士忌。
评分偏低。酷奶奶和孙子的互动很感人，互为对方的情感补偿。
三星半，但为了兰普林还能打的美貌到四星。短期感化力这个我是很难信服的。但还是想以后可以做一个硬气的老太太。
我觉得日本纯爱，下次就不要拍的这么长，搞得这么苦情了。
除了拍摄唯美的场景，其他全是吐槽，又俗又老的剧情，无聊透顶
好平静的一部电影，好喜欢这种安静得能让自己的生活也慢下来的电影。
离交作业还有两小时，我还在看这个，也是够了
还以为是怎么了呢，原来是无病呻吟，浪费老子时间
配饭吃的
套路的人设和故事，灰头土脸的画面，没精打采的演员，没能被感动到。快进也是浪费时间。奶奶的演员在《45周年》里还行。
大家能够以ruth为主，ruth能够以自己意志离开，还有爱的人和酒及景，真的很圆满了
倔强任性而又历经世事的老年人生，能以这样的心态持续到老就挺完美的
安静克制不煽情的祖孙情，片内每个人都那么温暖，新西兰的男孩淳朴阳光，他的好友们也可爱良善。老太太年轻时酷帅走天涯，年老时是个有钱优雅老太太，能有一个这么好的护士尽心尽力照顾，而最后在自己最爱的日出的旷野里，在相互温柔以待的家人们和护士的环绕中安详离世，真，幸福。。。新西兰的山野天高地远辽阔峻美。。。
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