Watch Ash Wednesday For Free

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

I actually enjoyed this film quite a bit. It wasn't quite "Virginia Woolf" or some of her other films. But I think it showed some great depth and the desperation in a women, who thinks she is losing her husband, especially set in the 70's. Henry Fonda, as great an actor as he was, would not have been my choice as the male lead. However, his role is secondary for all intents and purposes. The film is also obviously about a wealthy woman. First, it's set in Switzerland and she's an American. One who can afford plastic surgery, which in her character's mind,is the way to possibly gain her husband's attention. Not a radical idea today, but plastic surgery was less talked about in this time period. I came across this film accidentally on television awhile back and have had trouble finding it since. It's definitely worth watching if you are an Elizabeth Taylor fan.

"Ash Wednesday" opens with a series of sepia-toned, fabricated photographs putting a young, glamorous Elizabeth Taylor together with a lean, dark-haired Henry Fonda; it's a great credits-sequence, well pulled off, until we find out that all this fancy living has taken its toll on poor Liz, portraying a lawyer's wife from Detroit (couldn't they aim higher than that?). Figuring plastic surgery is the only way to win back her estranged husband's love, Taylor checks into a Swiss medical resort and receives a full-body lift, later trading in her gauze and bandages for Valentino wraps and elaborate fur ensembles for a vacation at the local chalet. There's nothing remotely engaging about this scenario, except to see La Liz in a series of delectable wardrobe changes. We know that when Fonda arrives and sees her, nothing will be different (this is telegraphed far in advance). The picture was probably ahead of its time in depicting the vanity in men as well as in women, but Taylor and Fonda have a tough time creating actual characters (the writing being hardly more than a sketch). Liz has a nice moment asking Fonda to sing with her as they walk home, also a strong scene arguing with her daughter (Margaret Blye, who is well-cast; her eyes are almost as beautiful as Taylor's). But this fairy-tale-that-isn't hasn't much to offer aside from its surface attributes, which are photographed in a maddening series of subdued colors. ** from ****

Ash Wednesday (1973) Costarring Henry Fonda, Taylor plays your typical depressed, run-of-the-mill, middle-aged housewife who in an attempt to win back her divorce-seeking husband, goes to a Swiss spa to undergo plastic surgery and regain her youthful beauty. Well, not only is the operation a success, she comes out of it looking like, well Elizabeth Taylor. Dominick Dunne produced this movie before he went on to novel writing fame and fortune. It's considered a really bad movie. I consider it high seventies camp at its best. Most definitely a thumbs up. Watch it in college with your friends over vodka tonics.

I lost track of this film after they pulled Elizabeth Taylor's face off, so I can't possibly divulge any plot points. (Okay, so it wasn't Elizabeth getting her face torn off, but it was somebody and it was SICK.)The whole point to this film, as I understood it, was that Elizabeth Taylor's character Barbara is a superficial women who thinks everyone else is superficial also. Her marriage is on the rocks, so she automatically assumes she's getting ugly. Appearance isn't everything, Barbara dear. She is understandably shocked when her husband lets her in on that fact. He doesn't care if she looks like a troll named Brunhilde (which is how she starts off the film)--he just doesn't love her anymore. I thought he was a real twit, as he acts as if he couldn't care less about her and never did.I get aggravated when Elizabeth Taylor's face is the centerpiece of a movie. The woman can act, but I have yet to meet anyone who realizes that. Movies like this mirror her real life to me. She has to look beautiful, and if she doesn't, she isn't a whole person. She doesn't function properly. (Small wonder she's had so many personal problems. Being a beautiful goddess all the time has to be difficult.) To me, Barbara Sawyer is a bit like Elizabeth Taylor. Her face seems to be her fortune, and she gets quite distressed if something happens to it. It seems unfortunate that Barbara (and possibly Ms. Taylor) place so much store by looking good. "My husband's leaving me. I'm not surprised, my hair looked awful today." That sounds unreal, but that is how Barbara acts. Even more unfortunate is how my whole review here is based on how she looks. Now I'm doing it. It just makes for a very pathetic individual, and maybe Barbara is supposed to be.