Of Human Bondage - Movie Review

You really know a film is good when it continues to resonate with you hours, even days after viewing it. Of Human Bondage is just such a film.  Brimming with gritty themes, the storyline and the characters display the complete frailty and vulnerability, not to mention depravity and baseness, of humanity.  A compelling tale that bewitches and intrigues, not least thanks to another stellar performance as the heartless, cockney waitress by Bette Davis.

Lesley Howard plays his usual character type – a somewhat dull, soft and vulnerable gentleman. However, his portrayal is perfectly in keeping with the orphaned boy turned self conscious young man, from the novel by W Somerset Maugham. Howard was well chosen for the film role.

 

And finally Frances Dee is the stunningly beautiful woman who helps ‘save’ Howards character, Phillip, from continued human bondage, by contributing to his awakening and freedom from Davis’ waitress, Mildred.

Personally I loved the themes presented in Of Human Bondage – which to me proved that since the beginnings of the film industry, stories have been real, honest and confronting. The place of film as a life changing, life enlightening device cannot be disputed after a viewing of this 1934 classic.

In it, the character Phillip states that “There is in every relationship the one who loves and the one who is loved.” What a profound piece of text that is. I recall the great Katherine Hepburn declaring that she was more into Spencer Tracey than he was into her, and she was ok with that. I seriously doubt I could ever have been so committed to being the ‘one who loves’ rather than ‘the one who is loved’. And yet, Of Human Bondage tells of that age old relational theme – “treat em mean, keep em keen.” Indeed, the indifference and frank rejection Mildred dishes out time and again to the obsessed Phillip completely baffles me – yet we see it so many times throughout history and in modern relationships too. Books like “Men marry bitches”, “He’s just not that into you” and “The rules” instruct women on treating men ‘mean’ to win their hearts, and here it was once again, way back in 1934.

 

Although Phillip is loved by the warm hearted Norah, he ends up going back to the cheap vulgar Mildred who does little more than spit in his face and take his money – go figure? I guess sometimes, due to inherent selfishness, or perhaps their own depleted sense of self worth, some people are compelled to use others and suck them dry – financially, emotionally or physically. At times we think we are being kind, or warm hearted and it really doesn’t serve us well. Life may be offering us good, worthwhile choices and we sometimes keep choosing the dregs out of a false concept of charity. Phillip chooses to leave the supportive Norah to care for Mildred, caught in a situation that is a complete affront to his generous love for her. It is a crazy circumstance, and yet when we are bound up in the idea being heroic towards those on whom we have planted our affection, rationality flies out the window.

As such, another theme that emerges towards the end of the film is the human habit of making choices reflective of how we view ourselves. Phillip returns to Mildred time and again as she continues to ruin both his and her own life, and in the final scene, he refers to his club foot and how he had been ‘limping through life’. His shame at his deformity, and embarrassment at perceived failings saw him making relational choices reflective of his view of his own self worth. Self sabotage can truly be a nasty thing! When he is liberated from these feelings of worthlessness, when he finds himself in a place of belonging, Phillip begins to really live and his relational choices reflect that.

 

The scripting, the settings and costuming are so believable, the characters so very very human, one almost feels as though one has been the proverbial fly on the wall for the films duration. Beautifully done.

With complex and compelling themes like these, and the haunting nature of classic black and white, Of Human Bondage is a wonderful watch. As always, the truest stories are very often far more personally challenging, and uplifting, than fables, and this semi autobiographical novel turned classic film ticks all the boxes for a great night in.

4 choc tops out of 5 from me.