Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality” – Emily Dickinson
If Death took a holiday, the guns would go silent in Iraq, the slaughter on our nation’s highways would cease, and the news media would be compelled to cover positive events in the humanities, arts, and sciences. Unfortunately, Death has not had a vacation in recorded history, but Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 fantasy, Death Takes a Holiday, allows us to consider the possibility. Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Gladys Lehman and based on the play "La Morte in Vacanza" by Alberto Casella, Death Takes a Holiday stars Frederic March as the Grim Reaper who takes on human form in an attempt to discover why men fear him so much. Why he has waited 5,000 years to satisfy this curiosity is not explained.
[Spoiler] After a brief tryout as a shadowy figure who scares the daylights out of those that cross his path, Death shows up at, of all places, an upscale party at an Italian villa, posing as the mysterious Prince Sirki. Only one person knows who he really is, the host Duke Lambert (Guy Standing), and he is sworn to secrecy. Sirki proceeds to fascinate the guests. Given to bursts of wit and poetry, he can just as quickly turn sullen and threatening, and some soon find out that it is better not to look too deeply into his eyes. During the three days in which the Prince is at the villa, however, people all over the world miraculously escape death and potential suicides are doomed to frustration.
To see what’s behind all the conversation about love, the suave but naïve Prince Sirki falls for the irresistible Grazia (Evelyn Venable), the daughter of one of Duke’s friends. Grazia knows who Death is but does not fear him, much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Corrado (Kent Taylor) who has developed a strong disdain for Prince Charming.
More sinister than Brad Pitt in the 1998 remake Meet Joe Black, March turns in a very convincing performance as the creepy yet strangely appealing guest. Although the ending is melodramatic, the emotions are very real and the suggestion that Death may in reality be a friend disguised as a foe is quite touching.
(Howard Schumann, talkingpix.co.uk)
In this wearisome and predictable plot line, Death falls in love and bores us to death talking about it.
(Dennis Schwartz, homepages.sover.net)
I've heard DRACULA was advertised with the tag line "The Weirdest Love Story ever told!" (this is probably a paraphrase), but at heart, I've never felt that you could honestly call that movie a love story. The tag line would be much more appropriate for this one, since it ultimately boils down to what amounts to a love story. This movie is very good indeed, particularly if you consider that it is built around a concept that could have easily been handled in a cute or facile manner. Instead, it is handled as seriously as possible, with some real thought put into how death would try to come to terms with a life and an outlook that was to that point totally unfamiliar to him; much of the credit does go to Fredric March in the title role. It's quite scary when it needs to be, particularly during the first twenty minutes. From then on, it deals with its themes with subtlety, a quiet wit, an enduring sadness, and an everpresent tension on how Death might react if crossed. It's not perfect; some of the dialogue is self-conscious and artificial, as if the writers knew they were dealing with weighty issues and were trying to be profound. But I am certainly glad they didn't try to turn it into a musical comedy of sorts.
(Dave Sindelar, scifilm.org)
See also the remake: Death Takes A Holiday (1971)
Maggie Gyllenhaal导演处女作，Leda中年和青年交替出现真是呈现了母职的纠结、挣扎和未必是所谓的天性的面向，过于真实和窒息。费兰特很喜欢的洋娃娃意象在这个故事里也是有点瘆人。（还是要去看下书是怎么展现这样的心理的…）
这部比类似题材的《正发生》和《女人的碎片》时间跨度更大且延展性更强，女主家里三代女性的关系处境、追求事业平衡、探寻心灵伴侣、对当初出走事件的情绪理解和过后的愈合、甚至拿走娃娃的原因，每一个拿出来讲，都有一大段的理解和感悟。
很深刻，联想到《无声告白》和国产女性电影《我的姐姐》，在身份认知和生活选择上，没有明确的答案只有当下的选择，而选择因其每个人的个性与追求等等因素而产生差异，所以之前我说就这？为什么不怎怎，这不是又压迫怎怎其实想来，在这部电影看完后会完全的羞愧，因为不管女性做了什么抉择，她都不会得到最终的“自由”，有的人就会像女主这样被记忆鞭策，被内心深处的自责鞭策，即使女儿们可能已经忘记，但是她没办法忘记，而正是有人知道割舍不下，所以做出牺牲而获得最后的心安理得，但同时她的其他方面被阉割了。说到社会对女性隐性的道德上的绑架其实抛妻弃子是不管男女都会被谴责的，但程度却不同，可对内心的谴责比如背包客比如管理员莱利，前者基本没展现对孩子的自责，而后者有所展现，只能说还是人各有异，导演在这也没有想要在这问题上批判谁
女性角度去讲所说的婚姻与家庭，但总感觉偏向平淡，可能就是想要这种风格吧
leda年轻时候做全职妈妈那段太绝了！没人知道她是如何在嘈杂压抑的环境下让异国的诗歌开出花，直到一个与人私奔的背包女客在饭桌上由衷夸赞她意语诗歌的美妙时，仿佛才终于有人看到了她的价值，她被埋没在家务里的闪光才华，她放弃自己本该自由昂扬人生的不甘与心酸，也唯有她看向leda那赞许的眼神里夹杂着更多失落情绪，那份失落来自看着她不得不担负起母亲职责，被困在原地却别无他法。而中年leda从海滩上拿走那个娃娃，一开始让人奇怪，但后来也觉得这是由于她割裂的内心这辈子也不知道当初该怎样选，好像怎样选都会后悔，那份后悔如果不是为自己就是要为孩子，但为什么女性不可以选择为自己让自己闪光，而非得要做个一生献给孩子燃烧自己的“伟大”母亲？
今日反婚反育广告，科尔曼目前为止今年女主热门种子最佳表演
没啥意思。在中国这样的妈绝对不合格，别管你多大成就。还搞外遇，把俩孩子直接扔给老公和姥姥。
人生好难，出轨、离开儿女感觉不错，但社会建构的那些东西终究让你回来。
7.0/10 哪个妈妈未曾是女儿。女导演最懂女人和母亲。小说的剧作就是扎实。
太喜欢这种怼脸特写了，压抑的暴风雨，神叨叨的氛围，快要窒息的母亲
就像一直向深海游去，一直到精疲力尽，最后发现自己距离海岸太远了。
离开孩子的感觉怎么样 太美妙了 那你为什么在哭呢
很精致，表演吸引人。这个主题太沉重了，是除了女导演很难感受到并表现出的啊。
感受到了情绪却无法融入情绪。马吉吉伦哈尔绝对是有才华的。把夹在家庭与自我之间挣扎的女人们展现得很好。
女性角度去讲所说的婚姻与家庭，但总感觉偏向平淡，可能就是想要这种风格吧
草蛇灰线的藏匿式写法：导演一直在将片子的重心目光做出障目的转移，从熟悉费兰特观众想要看到的母亲与妮娜之间的关系；到母女关系；到母亲与黑手党之间的矛盾，三组人物关系之间或隐或显，互为主线、彼此成全，一个故事被藏着讲出。配乐真好
女性视角的作品越来越多和好了。很喜欢这种文学性的电影表达，没有歇斯底里和跌宕起伏，就拍出了作为母亲的内在压抑和分裂感。母职困境确实没有出路，年近半百回望过去仍然没有，仍然窒息。
好片子，但看完我是不敢生小孩了。（以及对学术圈的描绘也过于真实了，一博士生每天省吃俭用边带小孩边科研还要烦恼于阳痿老公硬不起来，吃了这么多苦最后还不比学阀在学术会议上随便提一嘴你的文章，或者…能被大佬看上睡一晚，哈哈哈fuck！）
p. s.这部电影看的太过于压抑，站在女人的角度来体会女主人生的经历，痛苦大于快乐，谁看了都会不想要小孩的。这片不能在国内播出，影响我国的百年大计😂
抓的是情绪和状态，控诉女性做母亲后的境遇，在一大堆歌颂母爱的作品及伟大母亲的塑造后，科曼用强大表演塑造了反类型的母亲形象，别具一格。当然杰西巴克利格外亮眼。但是整体过于散了点，以至于成片略微逊色了点，不够精彩。
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