It's Green on the Other Side of the Mountain (Olivia on the soundtrack)
and pay attention to Richard’s Window, the song Olivia Newton-John sings at the end. That was the final blow, and held more emotional impact for me than any other moment in the film.
By DERRICK BANG, Entertainment Editor
This review does not have any pictures with it. That in itself is not t00 strange, I guess, I’ve done many reviews without the aid of explanatory photographs. But I quite honestly could not find a shot that would do any justice to the complete visual impact of this film.
A quiet shot, maybe, of the two young lovers during one of their walks in the meadow? Perhaps, but that’s not what the movie is about. A still of the horrible forward plunge that ended Jill Kinmont’s promising ski-ing career, the image that caused a viewer behind me to breathe, “Oh. God forbid-“? No, that’s not what the movie is about either. Or possibly a gut-wrenching glimpse of the agonizing months of post-operative therapy. Unfortunately, that’s also not what the movie is about.
So what does “The Other Side of the Mountain” concern? It is a story of love, and it does pertain to all of those above-mentioned things, and quite a bit more. I’m deliberately talking nebulously, becuase I don’t want to give away more than is necessary. This particular review is for those who have seen the film; the rest of you are missing a bet. See it. come back, and you’ll better understand whattam attempting to say here.
I wish the poster art did not compare this film with “Love Story,” because they’re not even in the same ballpark. “Love Story “wasa sloppy soap opera which had a gift for drawing tears from its audience, just that gift not a thing more. “The Other Side of the Mountain” is real, and all the more poignant because it is a true story. And it doesn’t try to milk your feelings artificially; it doesn’t have to.
For the emotion does not the in the story itself, but in the telling. The film holds no real surprises, because it begins with a thoughtful Jill Kinmont looking back at the past. Even the final crushing blow is foreshadowed. But that doesn’t matter, for it is the sequence of events which commands our undivided attention. Without really knowing it, we become involved. And pay attention to “Richard’s Window”, the song that Olivia. Newton-John, sings at the end. That was the final blow, and held more emotional impact for me than any other moment in the film.
I’d never seen Marilyn Hasseln before, but. my God, she is good. I believed I was with her when she went over that mountain. It’s hard to imagine she was merely recapturing events of twenty years past; her portrayal insisted that she must have lived the part.
And Beau Bridges, as the crazy Dick Buek, or “Mad Dog” Buek, as he was known. Already young Bridges is a better actor than his father Lloyd was, is, or ever will be. Dick Buek has got to be Bridges’ best film role to date. I smell Oscar nominations around the corner.
Well, people, I can’t do anymore. I just can’t put on paper exactly what “The Other Side of the Mountain” stirred within me. I don’t think anybody could, and capture the true spirit of the story.