Review of Victim

Introduction

The 60s were a hard time if you were gay. This is the impression that I get from watching Victim. Dirk Bogarde plays a successful gay barrister with a chance to become a court judge. No wonder he keeps his private life private. He`s not the only high profile gay with a lot to lose, there are others too and all are being blackmailed. They all have one person in common, Jack Barrett. He`s on the run from the police after stealing money from his workplace to pay off the blackmailer. Unfortunately things don`t go his way and he lands himself in bother. Bogarde finds himself playing detective in trying to find the blackmailer to put an end to this once and for all.

Video

Presented with a 1.78:1 widescreen enhanced transfer, Victim is a black & white film made in `61. The contrast has been boosted somewhat and this leads to edge enhancement throughout the film. Blacks are very black. There`s some dirt and dust but this doesn`t spoil the film. Detail is okay and the level of grain on show is acceptable.

Audio

A functional mono soundtrack with clear audio from start to finish.

Features

Easy to navigate menu with a few extras:

• Trailer (2:12) - A sensationlist almost Daily Mail style trailer for its time. If you hadn`t seen the film, you`d be clueless for thinking that homosexuality was the dark evil crime that entwines its characters.

• Dirk Bogarde In Conversation (28:21) - An interview made in the early 60s, just after Victim, where Bogarde`s talks about his previous films and the reasoning behind making more `risky` films. There are film clips interspersed with the interview which makes this a little more interesting the first time around.

• Still Gallery - About a dozen black & white stills taken from the film with cast and crew plus a little explanation of each picture.

Victim has clear English subtitles and is packaged in a standard DVD keep case.

Conclusion

Victim was a risqué film for 1961 and this film plays on the homophobia of the time accordingly; homosexuality is an aberration and forces people to whisper and look upon you in disgust. It was illegal too. While breaking ground for its time, this film amounts to nothing more than an average drama and offers nothing of interest. It hasn`t dated very well either. Bogarde`s performance however is the only thing I found compelling, but not enough for me to find a single reason as to why one would or should watch this.