Perhaps my idea of what constitutes a "made for TV" move is marred by what I'd grown used to before HBO and other cable networks added a bit of class to the genre. So I was still surprised to learn this movie was 'one of those.' Shades of Fear is graphically gorgeous despite all the action taking place on a passenger ship. Better even than Titanic, which naturally was mainly grandiose. And the music! God, where can I get it? No soundtrack released as far as I know. As for the story. Well, it was mostly wise sayings and a quickly solved mystery. Gabriel Angel's personal impediment to love was resolved too quickly to make sense. Still, I liked it. I give it a B+.
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trottokim3 August 2013
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A fabulous ensemble, great art direction, vintage music and glorious costumes made this much better than I thought it would be based on reviews. It's not award worthy outside some of the performances (which would have been forgotten by the time award season rolled around), but oit is charming, sophisticated and witty, even if the main stories of forger Jonathan Pryce and the beautiful Grenadan Rakie Ayola (who longs to become an aviator) aren't really all that strong. Vanessa Redgrave and Dorothy Tutin are quite good as missionaries who have a secret that would have rocked their order in 1957, and John Hurt as a vindictive passenger who recognizes Pryce aboard their glamorous cruise ship is delightfully over the top as he seeks revenge against him for a past ill deed that he can't forget.
Ayola is a gentle flower like Caribbean, filled with sweetness and vulnerabity, so she is an absolutely perfect heroine, but far more able to take care of herself than her appearance lets on. I just didn't think that she had much chemistry with Pryce. That cannot be said for Redgrave and Tutin whose love that dares not be named is tender and touching. This is the type of film that would only have interest to certain kinds of audiences, perhaps an artistic flop flawed by a script that just wanders, but intentions certainly were good. Therefore, if you watch it from the perspective that you are getting a little Art House film with qualities outside of the story, you can find enjoyment in it. -
esh-313 July 1999Despite what the blurbs say, the story's focus is a young girl from Grenada traveling to England who wants a pilot's license. The art forgery is a very minor sub-plot. If you like her character, you'll probably like the movie despite the weak story line, but I just couldn't get that interested. I felt I wasted my time watching this.
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crumpytv9 September 2021I gave up half way through.
The storylines are too weak and uninteresting.
There is a heavyweight cast, but this could still not compensate despite the attempt to shock. -
karamlinda23 March 2005Redgrave, Pryce, Tutin and the younger actors all give virtually flawless performances in this somewhat original but unevenly written tale. While the story has some good lines, the suspense does not hold. The marvelous character actors haul the script along. Ms. Ayola as the buoyant, aspiring aviator is particularly compelling. There's a surprising, touching scene between Redgrave and Tutin when they discover that their collegiality has blossomed into love -- Vanessa sensually licking a spoon evokes a laugh. If you think, as I, that films are worth seeing for good performances, this one will not disappoint.
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malcolmgsw19 November 2021This film should be called 5 Characters in search of a plot. How on earth the BBC could waste licencepayets money on this rubbish is beyond belief. The fact that this film couldn't find a distributor speaks volumes.
I lasted for 40 minutes but couldn't take any more. -
Jennel22 August 2003Perhaps the video title ("Shades of Fear") and plot summary are a bit deceptive, and designed to lure fans of Agatha Christie style mysteries. However, I was impressed with the script's comic tone, and the dialog, which mostly avoided cliches. The directness of some of the dialog was undercut, a couple of times, by a conventional use of swelling music during dramatic, confessional scenes; and some of the character developments were a bit too pat. The missionaries played by Redgrave and Tutin, for instance, confessing their sensual affection for each other, after years of denial was a bit much. Not for those looking for a traditional British chamber mystery, but rewarding for other reasons: the acting (especially John Hurt's performance), the very good photography (rarely has food been so lovingly depicted by the camera), decent period atmosphere aboard the ocean liner (loved the little extra touches like the horses in the cargo hold), and the somewhat unconventional protagonist. A bit too much like a Hallmark greeting card at the end, but interesting and enjoyable for the most part.
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This movie apparently has two titles: Shades of Fear and Great Moments in Aviation.
Shades of Fear I guess alludes to a kind of mystery that goes on, but I don't recall it being very intense or interesting.
I don't recall anything about aviation, but I read here that apparently someone wants to become a pilot. But it's not very important to the show. The whole show takes place on a ship, btw.
Plus, the cover of the movie doesn't even show the main character, a young black woman. It strikes me as very strange they leave her off.
And the blurb about some art theft is not actually a major plot point.
Really, the movie is a romance. I'm not a fan of great age disparities in couples, but this movie pulls it off. The main character, Gabriel, played by Rakie Ayola, is a ton of fun to watch. Her personality is refreshing and the opposite of stilted.
If the show has any point other than romance, it's as a counterpart to social, stiff-upper-lip norms. Which I guess is why they had the two lesbian missionaries, whose love comes out to each other during the progression of the various minor plots. Otherwise, they seem kind of foisted on the show.
Gabriel is kind of a Pollyanna, spreading her forthright and accepting honesty, backed by humor and quirky fun. There starts to be some feeling of tension as you the viewer wonder if someone will showcase disapproval of some kind. Racism to the girl, antagonism towards a biracial couple, or anti-homosexuality. But there ends up being none of that, despite it being a period piece. Which is very refreshing. Like a glimpse into a world that could be. -
info-9070123 November 2021The acting is superb and Rakie Ayoka is fascinating in her delivery of an adventurous dreamer navigating a world outside of her supportive, comfortable home with all of its familiarity. One of the most obvious points is that her family support system is the rock upon which she stands. It is solidly indicative of an array of young blacks who pushed the boundaries of living as they had done all of their lives to find new ground for exploration. If looked at from this point of view primarily, and not as a murder mystery, which it barely is, the film is much stronger.
It is a film about the inner fearlessness of exploration first and its ability to promote other changes, and Shades of Fear is a much better title than Great Moments in Aviation, which is nonsensical in itself and weak for the point(s) of the film. It is about Gabriel's fears, the missionaries' fears, the husband's (John Hurt's character) fears and the character Duncan, played by Johnathan Pryce's fears and how they work through them to find their own best truths and selves, or are forces to release them. It is an exploration into breaking free of your limitations and pre-conceived notions of self and those you encounter.
The story is able to develop slowly and fully on many levels because it is not burdened down by moronic, trite depictions of how blacks and whites operated during this time period, but instead shows a far more realistic view of how broad the experiences of blacks were in the 1950s. This is excellent in and of itself! The disparities in the opportunities between the races are depicted in the employment of the workers on the ship, from coal loaders, and stewards, to cooks, musicians and other crewmen (no women, which might well be the way ships worked then, not sure). Yet there is a the realistic approach of Gabriel's acceptance of her predicament of being the one who will probably be without a room on a full to the brim ship, if she does not participate in the roos with Duncan. He would get the room first, and her immediate understanding and acceptance of this and ability to move forward and pivot into the circumstance is the way black people have acted for centuries. This light touch gives the film a more realistic delivery of the times.
It is about the contrast of bright, shiny and hopeful, vs. Jaded, disappointed and selfish, vs. Stuck, bitter and needing to exact revenge, juxtaposed against fear of breaking out of the appointed roles assigned in life to find your best self, as told through the five main characters we follow throughout the film. It is a nuanced film with innuendo and not for those who need everything to be hard hitting and overt, because they don't want to pay attention to the subtleties of the filmmaker's vision.
If you can do that though, release the need to get ahead of the story and just pay attention and follow it with respect, it is a wonderful little piece of real cinema!