The Postman Always Rings Twice

Besides its obvious focus on the sexual attraction between the protagonists, this version does have its own virtues, and in particular the way in which, the deeper they get into crime, the more we are also shown that what drives these two fallible human beings, which they can barely recognise themselves, is ultimately just a yearning for a little bit of mutual joy in their otherwise miserable lives. Thus, compared with the Visconti version, this one comes more to life, after the murder (including through Michael Lerner’s memorable part as the canny lawyer dealing between insurance companies, although, on the other hand, the Angelica Huston circus interlude seems to come out of nowhere, make no sense, and achieve nothing). It is after the murder, and increasingly as it progresses, that we find ourselves feeling more and more sympathy for these people.

With that in mind, the weakness of the ending – which comes across less as the fulfilment of tragic destiny than as the petulant refusal of the filmmaking gods to allow this couple to have even a moment of happiness without immediately and brutally punishing them for it – seems all the more unsatisfying. The film is also hurt by a very poor musical score that seems to have nothing to do with the events and emotions we’re watching onscreen (it sometimes seems as if the 1980s and 1990s were decades that continued to rely on uninspired orchestral scores heavily focused on the string section to supply emotional cues, in a way that lagged far behind changes in filmmaking and that has had the effect, in retrospect, of causing those films to seem far more old-fashioned than they otherwise would). Nevertheless, it is very odd if not disconcerting to think that the distance in time from Visconti’s film to Rafelson’s is significantly shorter than the distance from this film to today (writing in 2025).