never on a sunday Tagged Articles at Cinematical

American filmmaker Jules Dassin has reportedly died today in Athens, Greece, of complications after catching flu. Obviously it is a sad time for fans of Dassin's Night and the City; Richard Widmark, the actor who starred in that classic noir, died one week ago.

Dassin was born in Connecticut in 1911, became an actor in Yiddish theater in New York and then went on to Hollywood, where he made films noir like Brute Force, The Naked City, Thieves' Hideaway and of course Night and the City, which was his last American film thanks to the persecution of the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Fortunately, as an exile in Europe, he continued to churn out brilliant movies, such as the pre-eminent heist flick Rififi, the crime caper Topkapi and the gold-hearted hooker film Never on a Sunday, which starred Dassin and his future wife, Greek actress Melina Mercouri, and for which he received Oscar nominations for writing and directing. His last film was the disappointing 1980 Canadian production Circle of Two, which starred Richard Burton and Tatum O'Neal.

My handy-dandy SIFF Guide described Never on a Sunday as a "black comedy" ala Weekend at Bernie's and its protagonist as a sort of Mexican Judd Nelson -- neither description being particularly enthralling. Fortunately, in spite of being overlong, the film has considerably more depth and emotion than Weekend at Bernie's (a fun film, to be sure, but far from the realm of the cinematic masterpiece), and lead actor Humberto Busto (Amores Perros), in spite of the resemblance of his profile, hairstyle, and brooding-teen vibe to the Breakfast Club-era Nelson, brings a surprising depth to a role that could have been very one-dimensional.

When we first meet Carlos (Busto), he is sitting at the bedside of his dying Uncle Julio as he gasps his last breath. Unfortunately for Carlos and his family, Uncle Julio decided to die on a Sunday, and apparently in Mexico that's a bad thing to do. The bereaved family can't get anyone from the coroner's office to come over to issue a death certificate, and without the paperwork they can't get a funeral home to come and get the body. They finally find one funeral home that will pick the body up, and Carlos is sent by his father to accompany his uncle's body, to witness the cremation and handle the paperwork.