Circle of Two (1980)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Jules Dassin

Writers:

Marie-Terese Baird (novel)
Thomas Hedley Jr. (writer)

Release Date:

November 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Their lives would always be entwined...

Plot:

The story of the impossible love between a schoolgirl and a 60-years old painter. |

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Nudity | Date Rape | Breasts | Rape Attempt

Cast

Tatum O'Neal	...	Sarah Norton
Norma Dell'Agnese	...	Ruspoli
Donann Cavin	...	Smitty
Elan Ross Gibson	...	Gym Teacher
Maggie Morris	...	Music Teacher
Richard Burton	...	Ashley St. Clair
Larry Ewashen	...	Men at the Cinema
Robin Gammell	...	Mr. Norton
Patricia Collins	...	Mrs. Norton
Michael Wincott	...	Paul
Daisy White	...	School Secretary
George Bourne Sr.	...	Old Man
Bibi Caspari	...	Mime
Gordon Jocelyn	...	Antiquary
Brendan McKane	...	Man at the Terrace

Also Known As:

Les ages du coeur (Canada: French title)
Obsession

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-12 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda

Company:

Film Consortium of Canada

Trivia:

When Tatum O'Neal's character goes to the porn theater where she meets Richard Burton's character for the first time, Lee Majors and Tatum's father Ryan O'Neal are clearly seen as two of the people in the theater. Ryan O'Neal visited the set often to supervise his daughter due to the film's sensitive material.

Quotes:

Sarah Norton: Have you thought about going to bed with me?
Ashley St. Clair: Yes.
Sarah Norton: [walks over to the bed] Let's.
Ashley St. Clair: Obviously, no.
Sarah Norton: Why? Is it because you think I'm a virgin? Because if you think I am...
Ashley St. Clair: You are.
Sarah Norton: I am.

Movie Connections:

References Gone with the Wind (1939)

Soundtrack:

Circle of Two

Circle of Two Review

The premise for Circle of Two is an intriguing one. A forbidden love between a sixty year old painter Ashleigh (Richard Burton) and a fifteen year old girl Sarah Norton (Tatum O'Neill); and the question of whether such a relationship is acceptable given society's moral standards. The problem with Circle of Two, however, is that it fails to live up to its promise. To begin with, Director Jules Dassin and Hedley should have put more thought into the screenplay. When I watched this film, I expected to learn something new about love and sexuality. Instead, I got boring dialogue, a pointless lecture on art, outings where Sarah Norton seemed to have more fun away from Ashleigh, and a closing scene so artificial that its emotional impact was lost. This script would have made good actors look bad. So one can imagine how the film's problems were compounded even further with the largely amateurish cast that Jules Dassin had to work with. Tatum O'Neill was not in her element. I did not believe for a second that her character Sarah Norton was in love with Ashleigh. Her performance seemed to be superficial and contrived, like a contestant at a beauty pageant. It was as though she forced herself to be happy, when the script required her to be happy, and to be sad, when the script asked her to be sad. The only scene I liked with her in it was at the very end when she said nothing at all. That was probably the closest Tatum's Sarah Norton ever came to being real. But Tatum was not the only one at fault. According to Tatum O'Neill's A Paper Life, Burton was drinking shots between takes and, judging from his performance, one can tell something was up. Burton's Ashleigh appeared so tired, dull and scripted that it was impossible to imagine Sarah Norton falling in love with him. He simply did not have the charm or even the complexity to attract even women of his own age, let alone a fifteen year old. The only time Burton ever came alive was when he shouted "No!" toward the end, but that was a short scene. The rest of the cast was also dismal. Even their arguing was unconvincing, because they waited patiently to take turns. Michael Wincott as the jealous boyfriend Paul was probably the best thing in this film, but his role was small. To be fair to the actors, Dassin's direction and the script let everyone down; but it is also true that a great movie goes beyond the script. Kubrick's Lolita did that with James Mason and Sue Lyon; Konchalovsky's Runaway Train went beyond the script with Jon Voight and Eric Roberts playing convicts; and so did George's Hotel Rwanda with a wonderful performance by Don Cheadle who should have received an Oscar for his role. The directors of these films also knew how to use music not simply to dramatize their films, but also to reveal something about the characters themselves. In spite of its own score (a combination of Antonio Vivaldi, Carl Off and Bernard Hoffer), Circle of Two never really succeeds in doing that.

In conclusion, the idea of a forbidden love story between an elder painter and a teenage girl is a good one, but its execution in Circle of Two is terrible. In many ways, it is a shame that a controversial, Lolita-type story – which most film directors for understandable reasons would prefer to avoid – did not have receive more intelligent and thoughtful treatment on film; that a script which actors would have gladly rehearsed was not written; that actors, who were committed to their part or had the talent to make their characters real, could not be found; and that the talented director Jules Dassin (who did so much better with films like Rififi and Topkapi) did not have to will to put his foot down and say, "Before we do any filming, we must rethink the love story and revamp the script." The only silver lining in all of this is that one day an intelligent film about an elder painter and a teenager girl falling in love may one day be made. If such a film ever appears, this it will be surely spark controversy, debate and questions for many years to come.