STRANDED (1965)

In Greece near some ruins, Jeff breaks up with Raina, telling her that in following her, he is no longer a man. After he leaves, she goes to a beach with her small dog and walks into the ocean in an apparent suicide attempt (all I could think was, what will happen to that poor dog?). Nicos, a handsome sailor, rescues her but she sends him away with no thanks. Later, in a hotel room, we discover that Raina and Jeff were part of a four-person tourist group. The other two are Bob, a handsome American, and Olivier, a handsome French painter. With Jeff gone, the other three rent a barge to go on a tour of the Greek islands, but the barge is junky with a small crew and cramped sleeping quarters, leading the three to decide to sleep on deck. Bob seems mildly interested in a romance with Raina, but when she recognizes Nicos, her rescuer, as one of the crew members, they begin a flirtation. We follow the group as they visit various islands, mostly being disappointed by them. Things we discover: Bob's father has done ruins restoration on some of the islands; Bob and Raina did one season of summer stock together; Olivier is gay and occasionally runs into some rough trade in the villages—Olivier doesn't want Bob to know he's gay and so acts a bit stand-offish with him, but Bob eventually figures it out. One night, Bob, Raina and Nicos set up a table on the beach and dine together, leading to Raina skinny-dipping late that night and to Olivier following her to the shore for a casual sexual encounter. Not terribly happy with the ports they're being taken to, the three decide to hop a Turkish barge which is larger and has more passengers (though we never see anyone else) but is in similarly grungy shape. After an evening of getting high on hashish, Olivier invites them to stay at a chateau in France; the beds are full of fleas and the connection between Raina and Bob begins to erode—though the two sleep in the same bed, they don't really bond as traditional lovers. In the end, Bob leaves and Raina and Olivier, who feels the pull of art ("I must work now while my generation is still important"), drive off down a French road.

This indie film, written and directed by Juleen Compton, who also plays Raina, got virtually no mainstream exposure in the United States, despite it feeling very much akin to the 1960s European new wave work of Godard or Antonioni. It does, however, come off like an American knock-off, which is not necessarily damning with faint praise. This feels like a marker for a new indie movie road that wasn't followed. The experiments in style feel rote, like something Compson did because it was expected. For example, the opening scene of Raina and Jeff arguing is presented mostly silent, until we hear an outburst of Jeff's. Then we hear Raina reply, but her lips don't move. Was that due to technical fudging or was it on purpose? Another time, Bob plays a banjo then stops, but we continue to hear it. Later, there are two short sequences in which the movement is choppy, as if frames were cut out at random. This definitely seems to have been done on purpose, but its meaning remains obscure. Similarly, the hash smoking scene is shot with distorting lenses. I rather like the "slice of life" feel of the narrative, beginning in the middle of the collapse of a relationship we know nothing about and ending with the futures of all three main characters up in the air, despite the apparent resolution of the Bob/Raina storyline (it felt a little like Brian leaving Sally at the end of Cabaret). There is an interesting sequence set in a diner/bar which may or may not be a gay establishment—Raina is the only woman there and Olivier pals around comfortably with the other men. Raina dances to the boppy pop song "Ya Ya" by Lee Dorsey and the men are entranced but remain distant.

The acting is about on a par with the other new wave films of the time, but it's difficult to judge the performances because of the superficial way the characters are written. Compson is fine as Raina, but she's not consistent in her actions, and her half-hearted suicide attempt feels against her nature (BTW, the dog remains with her throughout). Her sexuality is a part of her story but refreshingly, her sexual nature is not her be-all and end-all—mostly, I guess, she's seen as needing freedom at the expense of many other things. Gian Pietro Calasso is fine as Olivier, avoiding easy stereotypes in the portrayal of a confused gay man. (Calasso's brother Roberto was a famous Italian writer.) Alkis Giannakas is the handsome and occasionally shirtless Nicos who, despite his importance to the first half of the movie, more or less vanishes by the end. The outlier is Gary Collins, later a TV actor and talk show host, as Bob. He's a rather vanilla blond collegiate type—Collins was 27 but his character's age seems younger than that—and though I had my doubts that he would fit in with the other indie/Euro types, he provides a good balance in the cast. He is presented in a fairly neutral fashion, neither mocked nor envied, and though he clearly has affection for Raina, he is not swept away by passion (no one in the movie is, though Olivier has the potential to be). It's 90 minutes, and the first hour is well-paced, though things bog down near the end. Still, I was pleased to discover this unusual and unheralded film. Pictured are Collins (the blond), Compson and Calasso. [Criterion Channel]