Secret Ceremony

Secret Ceremony

Company type	Film
Industry	Motion picture
Founded	1968
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Products	Psychological horror thriller film

Secret Ceremony is a 1968 British psychological horror thriller helmed by director Joseph Losey and featuring performances by Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow, and Robert Mitchum. Adapted from the Argentine novel Ceremonia secreta authored by Marco Denevi, the narrative centers on a destitute prostitute who encounters a young woman asserting she is her long-lost mother.

Plot

Leonora, a middle-aged sex worker mourning the loss of her daughter, crosses paths with Cenci, a solitary young woman who invites her to her residence. Leonora is struck by Cenci’s uncanny resemblance to her deceased daughter.

Although Cenci is 22 years old, she displays childlike behavior and persuades Leonora to remain, presenting her to her aunts as a cousin of her late mother. When Albert, Cenci’s stepfather, arrives, she accuses him of having sexually assaulted her. Albert responds by claiming that Cenci is mentally disturbed and had enticed him.

Subsequently, Cenci and Albert engage in a sexual encounter on the shore. Overcome with emotion, Cenci takes her own life. At the funeral, Leonora wrestles with whom to trust. After silently standing beside Albert during the burial, she ultimately stabs him.

The movie ends with Leonora in her apartment, listlessly toying with a lamp cord while reciting a poem about endurance.

Development

This film draws from a short story that secured a $5,000 award in a Life en Español contest and had previously been adapted for Argentine television before being optioned in 1963 by Dore Schary.

In an interview conducted in 1969, Mitchum revealed that the project encountered challenges prior to his joining and that his involvement did not alleviate those issues.

Filming

The production's budget was estimated between $2.45 million and $3.17 million. Primary shooting occurred at Debenham House in London, with supplementary scenes filmed at St Mary Magdalene Church in Paddington, Kensal Green Cemetery near the Molyneux Monument, and the intersection of Chepstow Road and St Stephen's Mews. Scenes set in a hotel and on a beach were captured at the Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin located in Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

Release

Secret Ceremony made its theatrical debut in the United States through Universal Pictures on 23 October 1968. The film later opened in London on 19 June 1969.

Home media

On 31 October 2000, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment issued Secret Ceremony on VHS as part of their Universal Treasures collection. Subsequently, Kino Lorber released a North American Blu-ray version on 21 April 2020, with Powerhouse Films following up with a UK Blu-ray edition.

Box office

The movie generated around $3 million from rentals in the US and Canada, achieving a total global gross of $5,232,905.

Critical response

The Monthly Film Bulletin observed the film’s thematic complexity, emphasizing its "insidious illumination of the fascination of madness" while commending Losey's distinctive directorial approach and the compelling performances by the cast.

Renata Adler of the New York Times regarded it as "incomparably better" than Losey's earlier work, Accident, appreciating its "touching story" despite some issues with pacing.

Ernest Callenbach writing for Film Quarterly described the film's significance as somewhat ambiguous but acknowledged its "creepy, misanthropic disgust with sex," praising Mia Farrow’s portrayal as "touching and perverse and human."

Modern appraisal

Three decades post-release, John Patterson from The Guardian dismissed Secret Ceremony as "woefully misguided material."

Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader criticized it for exemplifying Losey’s "worst tendencies as a filmmaker: cold without being chilling, confusing without being challenging."

In The Radio Times Guide to Films, the movie received a 2 out of 5 star rating, characterized as a "moody mistaken-identity melodrama" that deteriorates into "a macabre muddle of daft sexual psychosis and suspect psychology," while noting that Robert Mitchum's performance offers an unusual climax.

In contrast, Dan Callahan at Senses of Cinema contends that the film’s imperfections enhance its distinctiveness, drawing favorable comparisons to classics such as Some Like It Hot (1959) and Duck Soup (1933). He remarks:

Leslie Halliwell succinctly labels it as "nuthouse melodrama for devotees of the director."

External links

• Secret Ceremony at the British Film Institute