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Actors: Terrence Stamp, Samantha Eggar
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Collector |
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Terrence Stamp portrays a shy, socially outcast butterfly collector secretly obsessed with pretty art student Miranda Grey (Samantha Eggar.) Winning a fortune has freed him to leave his job at the bank and buy an isolated rural house with a secret cellar room. On a quiet London street, he ambushes Miranda with a chloroform-soaked cloth and drives away with her in his van. She awakes alone in his soundproof cellar, surrounded by such niceties as new clothes, furniture, and art books. When he enters and shows no inclination to harm her, her fear gives way to outrage. She demands explanation. He tells her that this is now her room. She demands release. He refuses. She bolts for the door. He blocks it. Is it ransome he wants? No. Sex? Oh no, he respects her too much for that. What, then? He loves her. He just wants her to get to know and love him.
Their psychological duelling escalates. In return for certain considerations - art supplies, fresh produce, baths, etc. - she agrees to stay for four weeks, until June 11; and he promises to refrain from undue force. As she marks off the days, she attempts various escapes - flooding his upstairs bath when a neighbor pops in, sneaking a note into the letter he dictates for her mother - but his vigilance prevails. Her mental trickeries - promises of friendship and secrecy, marriage consent, seduction - are thwarted by his mistrust and his disgust at sexual cheapness. Her revulsed response to his cherished butterfly collection and the deaths it has necessitated, and his failure to understand what she sees in the works of Picasso and J.D. Salinger, just deepen his conviction that keeping her here is the only way to keep her at all, since she and her intellectual London friends would otherwise surely reject him. Her release date arrives, but she is not released.
Driven to desperation, she resorts to violence. As he escorts her in the rain from the main house back to her cellar prison, she drops some cosmetic items, and, as he bends to retrieve them, whacks his head with a shovel. Horrified at his blood and pain, she runs; but she slips on the wet grass and loses in her struggle with him. He locks her away as intended, drives himself to a hospital, and is gone for three days. When he returns, she cries with relief. Despite his fury, he still loves her. But the end of his original plan is near.
--vjm, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Collector |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1960's-1970's
Crime & Scandal
Yes
Story of
- stalker with romantic feelings for victim
Escape/Rescue?
- escape/rescue from kidnapper(s)
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- simply wealthy
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
- emotionally unstable
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- aggressive
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (woman) long wavey
Body type
- (woman) average
How much in movie?
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Main Adversary
Identity:
- general circumstances
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
City?
Yes
City:
- London
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- thoughtful
Any profanity?
- None
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 vjm
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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