Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

st-shot Anne Bancroft gives a shattering performance as a woman on the verge in The Pumpkin Eater. In arguably her finest role Bancroft through the shear power of expression slowly disintegrates from the pressures of raising an army of kids and the betrayal of her philandering husband in this melancholy marathon written by Harold Pinter and directed by Jack Clayton. Prolific breeder Jo marries up and coming screenwriter Jake Armitage and adds another child to the brood along the way. She luxuriates in the chaotic household but Jake chafes at the constant barrage of activity. He is also prone to straying. Watching Bancroft go over the edge is both disturbing and mesmerizing made even more uncomfortable by Jack Clayton and cinematographer Oswald Morris's insistence on making us see things from her point of view most of the film. Her haunting blank stares speak volumes making her rages all the more volcanic. The adult world she deals with is deceitful and cruel and we are left to witness her wall of denial crumbling. It's a grim but absorbing watch.Finch along with a superb supporting cast do an excellent job of illuminating Jo's hostile world. In a mere three scenes and one phone call James Mason goes about as low as one can get as a cuckolded husband with unctuous magnificence. Maggie Smith is exasperatingly callous as a mooch and lover to Jake while Yootha Joyce as a stranger in a benign hair salon is chilling.Over two hours in length this lugubrious work never wanes due to Pinter and Mortimer's fine tuned script that keeps you guessing as to the extent of Jo's instability along with Clayton's tension creating tight framing and Miss Bancroft's truly riveting performances that has to rank with some of the best of the decade.

Jody Hoevel I did my final college paper on this book/film and got an A!!!! Yes, I am obsessed with this film! Someone has posted the entire movie in 12 parts on Youtube. Enjoy- it is seldom shown on television and is still not available on DVD. I think the soundtrack added so much to the film. A Canadian recording company has been releasing Georges Delerue's catalog during the past few years. In late 2005 shortly after Bancroft's death they released "Music for the Films of Jack Clayton." There are 3 cuts from TPE. Beautiful and very close to the original. Also, Bancroft fans should check out wwwdotfAnnetasticdotcom This is a wonderful tribute website that covers Bancroft's 50+ year career. Lots of pictures and rare articles. It still makes me want to heave every time I think about Mary Poppins (sorry Julie) winning the Oscar when up against Anne's magnificent performance. All of the actors did a great job but it was Bancroft's movie.

jpwhitehead A very interesting portrait of mental illness in the 1960's. I would trust no one other than Pinter with this task given the period.As I heard depression was a word unspoken during this period. The film also gave interesting tints of the sixties but in terms of the mental health I would have liked it if Harold pinter gave more detail. But certainly it was true that Jo Armitage wasn't falling over herself to commit suicide. There was a certain element of ennui in terms of mental illness that certainly isn't present in today's films.I thoroughly enjoyed this latter aspect and am still looking for its turn of the millennium parallel...

wisecarol This script was obviously written by a philandering script writer. Anne Bancroft's character is having a perfectly enjoyable life until her husband moves one of his many girlfriends into their home with 6 of their 8 children. His constant philandering is thrown in Bancroft's face and she's the one who is sent to the shrink for hating the fact that she feels stuck with this pig. Her depression is blamed on her for having so many children. Hey Moron, this was pre-birth control pills and most families were this size. And when the shrink bandages her up and gets her back on her feet, the creep knocks her up again. Now she's really portrayed as an evil witch for letting that happen. The creep, realizing that the shrink can't fix his latest f-up, sends her to the MD to get her uterus ripped out. That'll teach her. The only reason I kept watching this tripe was for Bancroft's performance. Only she could've made this piece of crap even slightly palatable. The ending was laughable and just proved that this was written by a male script writer with absolutely no talent and total self-absorption.