These are the ones that intrigue and move us, and offer something more than the image alone.
McQueen wears an open expression throughout, registering every emotion plainly, from despair to confusion to attraction.
He may be a bad boy, but hes trying so hard to make good.
In no other film I can think of was he quite so vulnerable.
Still, surrounded by such class McQueen gives us a lot with few words.
The Sand Pebbleslooks incredible.
It has a scope and a richness of landscape that you would expect from the director Robert Wise.
That fill-in wasThe Sound of Music.
Its weird to say this, but the two films have a lot in common, in cinematic terms.
Its the glorious sweeping shots of the river and the mountains that win me over for both films.
Papillon (1973)
Life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana.
Heat, disease, dangerous work duties, rape, murder, bad food, and heavily tattooed lepers.
More than that we want him to, against all the odds, escape.
The sequence in solitary confinement is one of McQueens best, I think.
Perhaps thats one of the reasons why hes had such longevity as a star.
He was very good at portraying male camaraderie at the worst of times.
McQueen pretty much always played a rebel.
Its no different with the three films mentioned here, but in these films he reached for something deeper.
He delivered performances that could surprise and involve you.
He could, when he put his mind to it, deliver a great performance.
