The Visit (1964 film)


The Visit is a 1964 international co-production film from France, Italy, Germany, and the United States, distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Bernhard Wicki and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and Julien Derode, with the film's stars, Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn, as co-producers.
The screenplay was by Ben Barzman, adapted by Maurice Valency from Friedrich Dürrenmatt's 1956 play Der Besuch der alten Dame.
Bergman and Quinn head a cast that includes Irina Demick, Paolo Stoppa, Hans Christian Blech, Romolo Valli, Valentina Cortese, Claude Dauphin, and Eduardo Ciannelli.

Plot

Karla Zachanassian, a fabulously wealthy woman, returns to a decaying village she had been forced to leave years earlier in disgrace. She had a child by Serge Miller, who denied paternity. Her purpose in this "visit" is to make a deal with the inhabitants — in exchange for a vast sum of money, she wants Miller killed.
At first reluctant, they eventually accept the arrangement and Miller is condemned to death. At the last moment, Karla stops the execution and tells the citizens that they will have to live with the guilt of their murderous choice for the rest of their lives.

Cast

Dürrenmatt stresses that The Visit is a tragicomedy. However, it is a study of the darker elements of human nature. The themes of the film, as with the play, are greed, revenge and corruption and the fact that money can buy anything, even justice. Power that comes from money can lead to hate, even murder and to the collapse of ordinary morality.

Reception

According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $6,100,000 in film rentals to break even and made $2,635,000, meaning it lost money.

Awards