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)
女性安全、种姓问题、民粹暴力，该片虽然看似自揭伤疤，但是主角们仍是些高种姓，敢想敢拍的前提还是高种姓掌握话语权
一碗丰盛的麻辣烫，有女性议题，政治议题，媒体议题……警察冲动杀人确实一开始就不可信，果然反转了，律师那么神能弄明白事件全过程也不可信，后面也圆回来了，除了结尾有点理想主义喊口号，前面都很好，政治🟰黑暗，在哪个国家都是一样的，至少印度端出来这么一碗诚意满满的麻辣烫（不输韩国）而且，画面还蛮干净，真的是第一次见到……
以为是个简单的反强暴反性侵的电影，谁知道上升到了腐败，还有警察良心的事。为了权利，几个屁民的生命算什么呢，幸好正义胜利了。
2021有《杰伊·比姆》，2022有《宿敌》。两部针砭时弊的印度电影都极度震撼了我。我曾在其他影评中有这样一种观点，好电影能让人从犯困看到不困，差电影可以让人从不困看到犯困。我看本片时已经晚上10点了，已经有些困意了，但是一发而不可收拾，越看越精神，像兴奋剂注入了体内，有比咖啡还要强大的兴奋效果，再一次领略了优秀印度电影的强大感染力。
开头本来以为是一个俗套的故事，直到后面的反转，真的太震撼了！
律师除了嘴炮担当好像也没有调查什么吧（调查文件不是警察给的吗)，这狠话放的让我莫名其妙。
本片涉及的尺度全面突破，见血的金句频出，讨论了众多议题，完美地将阶级压迫、程序正义、政治阴谋、体制谋杀、舆论煽动、媒体愚弄、乌合之众等等，通过一具被焚毁的女尸，逐步串联起来，格局由小见大，剧本架构成熟，叙事手法高超，悬念在猝不及防间，带来了极强劲的反转，呼应了前文一切镜头伏笔，最重要是升华了故事主题的广度与深度，深入分析社会劣根，探索上层意识操控，彻底剖开政客与百姓之间根深蒂固的矛盾。
每抛一个严肃社会议题探讨却浮于表面。
在良心面前 没有少数服从多数的说法。甘地说的。
最近看的几部印度电影，杰伊比姆、一个星期四和这部，都有反转，都在批判，揭露印度社会体制问题，虽然掀起反抗的都是个人，似乎仅凭借个别人的力量是无法撼动问题的根本的，而且他们的做法现实中可行性、成功率太低，印度的问题是错综复杂的绝不仅仅是影片指出的体制问题。但总归有人在反思，哪怕这个国家糟透了。
3.对公众情感的操控的能力是政治家最大的选票
7.9分左右。
有的人佩服印度和韩国敢拍还过审，但他们或许不知道，这两个国家所拍摄的敏感题材电影并非子虚乌有，虚构出来的，而是已经到了反反复复发生，全世界皆知的地步。韩国的腐败世界有名，几乎每一任总统都贪腐受贿被弹劾，印度的贪污腐败更是根深蒂固。韩国性侵案也很多，不止是娱乐圈还有孩子。印度的腐败阻碍了他们的经济发展，强奸案影响了他们的社会和谐稳定。今年几部印度关于这方面题材的电影我都看了。片中的2019年的案件确实发生过，当时传到国内只是奸杀焚尸，并没有说是谋杀。不管怎样，我觉得再多这样的影片也唤醒不了印度人民，因为民主制度的缺陷并不适合十三亿人多 印度。上世纪八十年代跟我们在同一起跑线上，如今被我们远远抛在身后。再过十年印度还是会如此。等着瞧吧。某些人不要觉得看了几部印度好片就觉得印度电影胜过我们这很无知
这么一来，拍这么一部电影，不光不会被封杀，还有可能专门拨款助力向全世界推广呢。
看了这部电影，感觉好多电影都是在狗刨…编剧神绝…
在良心面前 没有少数服从多数的说法。甘地说的。
后半程的法庭表演扳回一些也无力回天，
片头光感谢的名单就放了2分钟，注定了这是一部不简单的片子，自编自导自演，太敢拍了，政治、阶级的遮羞布统统撤掉。第一次160分钟的片子还嫌短了。
印度电影，韩国都追不上了，一部电影将政治阴谋，种姓余孽，女性地位，权力操控，官僚贪腐，小镇做题家困境都涵盖了，反转接反转再反转，还审核通过了，最后辨方律师最后那段话，写到国内任何媒体都是马赛克。
看到最后，才明白谁和谁是宿敌。印度真的很敢拍啊，这个题材，政党操控舆论，扭曲真实，你所相信的都是被加工的真相，所谓的坚守正义可能只是坚守着速食咖啡一样的即时正义......蛮牛的，国内绝无可能的题材。就是叙事稍有些乱，能理解是为了不断反转的爽感而刻意为之，姑且当作一种风格吧。推荐
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