Charly [DVD]

Early Adaptation of Flowers For Algernon. Harder title to find on used sites so very pleased to find it on Amazon. Very good.

Great movie

I love that Charly's out on DVD! And the quality of this DVD is good, seeing as the original movie wasn't filmed that well in the first place. I saw it several times back in the day. It always looked a bit muddy and dark.

The message of Charly (based on the David Keyes short story and novel, "Flowers for Algernon," remains as powerful and poignant today as it was in 1968 when Cliff Robertson brought the story of Charlie Gordon to television. American don't treat the mentally handicapped well. Theirs a struggle marked too often by social stigmatism that marginalizes their existence. People don't like to see those who are obviously mentally handicapped or ill. Perhaps their conditions remind us of our frailties.Starring Cliff Robertson (who was also responsible for the made-for-tv film's production) and Claire Bloom, the film tells the story of a 38-year-old retarded man who is given one chance at normalcy. For a few brilliant months he becomes a genius through the agency of a flawed operation by a scientist whose ethics are weak. The true horror of the film is realized when Charles Gordon is able to clearly see his own approaching demise and the inevitable return to his former retardation.Both short story and script question many aspects of America's dependence on a technology that outstrips our ability to lay an ethical foundation for its use. We forget that innocent people are hurt in our rush to scientific acclaim.As a teacher, I was overwhelmed by the response of my middle school students to both the short story and the film. They understood the inherent dangers in what they read and viewed. For any teacher, I recommend the film and urge that it be accompanied by a study of the short story or novel on which it is based.

Remember a piece of sentimental dreck called "Powder" (an "uplifting" nineties movie) about a kid who attracted lighting, was a genius, and loved animals? How about that John Travolta flick about a man who has a tumor that makes him smart (another "uplifting" nineties movie)? Naturally both (the characters, not the actors unfortunately) are hounded to tragic (but upliftingly-tragic, not sad-tragic) endings by the mob of intolerant villagers afraid of their "special powers".Of course that was a few years ago. Now we have the new-age touchy-feely let's-get-spiritual nonsense of "K-Pax" to keep us home on a Friday night. Ah, the evolution of American Film.Well it's (...) like this, that makes me really appreciate Charly for the gem that it is.Like any good Welshman, director Ralph Nelson (Lilies Of The Field, Soldier Blue) will never use three words when ten will do. I don't know for sure that he's Welsh (in fact I'm alnost certain he isn't), but he certainly has something to say.In a nutshell: mentally retarded man gets IQ boosting operation, only to realize the fix isn't permanent."Charly" is part of that golden era of "legitimate" Science Fiction: films where ideas and intelligence were still important and dramatization was still taken seriously. It makes a good book-end to "Colossus: The Forbin Project" and "The Andromeda Strain", and it asks if ethical/moral/social responsibility can keep pace with technology (this is something to think about, now that scientists are busy patenting our genes for their own commercial gain).Daniel Keyes original short story was evolved into a teleplay, then a novel (1966) and then this feature (1968). Keyes had several years and many drafts to get the book right. Nelson and team are not quite as fortunate, but still do an excellent job. Yes, it does on occasion belabor the point, but there are also moments of brilliance: when the newly developed super-intelligent Charly makes his appearance before a auditorium of scientists ("a television in every room") it is both funny and prophetic (and I believe this to be intentional); in one exceptional scene he tells us our destinies (with remarkable accuracy), and sees his own tragedy. He has become a performing mouse, like Algernon running the maze. And his performance won't last for long.Some complain about the Biker/Disco/Hippy/Sex and Drugs montage. Yes, a tad dated. But Charly is a second grader suddenly thrown into adulthood; he has no way of coping normally so he does the best he can. These sequences might not always work, but they don't fail. They don't hurt the film, they just don't help it as well as they might.Ralph Nelson has always chosen his feature-films cleverly - he might be a little heavy-handed, but he knows the value of the material and he tries to be faithful to it. Unlike our contemporary efforts (Powder, et al) where the townsfolk are ignorant and evil and the "oddity" is a saint, "Charly" (and Nelson) at least pay lip-service to the moral and ethical ambiguities: is making a stupid man smart always a good thing? At least here there's something to think about.Cliff Robertson, Claire Bloom (she's hot) and the supporting cast all deliver first rate performances. "Charly" was shot Techniscope (2.35) and uses some split-screen sequences that may not reproduce well on pan-and-scan VHS version. Please let there be a DVD soon!Yes it has it's short-comings, but as a film (and even better as an SF film) "Charly" it s still the equal of Gattaca, Andromeda Strain, or Colossus. In other words, definitely a must see.

Daniel Keyes created a timeless classic that stirs the heart and mind, and Cliff Robertson made it come to life on screen. I loved the story, book, and movie back in the 1960s and I love them now. Mary Shelley established the concept of science run-amok long before Keyes, but her Frankenstein monster is usually mistaken for the creature, not its creator. Keyes establishes a clearer line: his hero is just that, and his doctors not megalomaniacs, but people who accept the idea that because science can do something, it should. And that seems true, especially when the work is so benign, so kind; especially when a nice, 68 IQ man can be transformed.Other questions for science emerge: what is informed consent, and what does it matter, if informed consent itself is only possible after the actual experiment makes the subject capable of giving it? The questions are many, and yet the film is not preachy or pedantic. Rather, I love Charly (Charlie in the Keyes' work) and I root for him, even as I know he is in an impossible, hopeless situation, and he comes to know it. The mouse, Algernon, becomes a touchstone that both Charly and I learn to love, as well. Charly's victory is in becoming, and his tragedy is that becoming transforms him through loss of innocence. Just as a child sees love in every face, until he doesn't, Charly's unequivocal trust in human kindness, tried and tested, becomes an unforeseen consequence of the experiment.

Great price great product it has a good story of how experimentation with a brain can go wrong it has a great moral lesson don't fool with God's creation

Los actores súper, sobre todo el protagonista. Muy buena. Saludos.

Un attardé mental devient un génie suite à une opération au cerveau. Ses émotions n'évoluent cependant pas au même rythme. Le film est un drame de science-fiction réalisé en 1968 et mettant en vedette Cliff Robertson, qui a remporté l'Oscar du meilleur acteur pour ce rôle. Le film est original et mérite d'être regardé. Sans effets spéciaux particuliers, le réalisateur a réussi à faire de ce film un film de grand intérêt qui peut bouleverser à certains moments. Je le conseille fortement.

Bon d'accord le DVD est en anglais et sans sous titre (ni anglais ni français) mais c'était indiqué sur la description du produit, donc rien à dire. J'ai testé les premières minutes, c'est compréhensible ! Merci !

Charly war in meiner Jugend mein Lieblingsbuch. Die Geschichte im Buch gefällt mir besser. Trotzdem ein beeindruckender Film mit einem absolut überzeugenden Cliff Robertson in der Hauptrolle. Da der Film von 1968 ist darf man keine hochwertige Qualität erwarten.

Il film è davvero molto bello! L'interpretazione di Cliff Robertson è eccellente.Un film delicato, pulito, edificante e ricco di spunti di riflessione. Insomma, c'è una una vera trama, degna di essere raccontata e rappresentata in un film.Un fim da vedere, anche se il DVD è solo in lingua inglese.Non è comprensibile come mai non sia stata realizzata la versione italiana del DVD, dal momento che esiste la versione italiana del fim ("I due mondi di Charly") che è pure stata trasmessa in TV (molto raramente)