A classic among stories of addiction, Days of Wine and Roses (1962) remains 60 years after its making a stunningly harrowing viewing experience. The depiction of PR man Joe (Jack Lemmon) and secretary Kirsten’s (Lee Remick) descent into ruinous alcoholism is extremely gruesome compared to Hollywood standards of the time.
When Joe meets Kirsten, he is admittedly drinking like a fish, but still managing to keep his middle-class act together. Times are boozy in general, and drinking with clients is part and parcel of Joe’s job. His addiction begins to get out of control with the humiliating work – and especially, after the teetotaller Kirsten starts drinking along with her man. The love of the couple in turned into the feeding of a shared addiction.
Based on JP Miller’s television play, the film is one of the few dramatic directorials of the famous comedy director Blake Edwards. It was also Jack Lemmon’s first non-comical lead role. It is rare to see such frighteningly immediate acting as in Lemmon’s and Remick’s scenes here together.
Days of Wine and Roses has been considered to be the film that brought the AA definitively into the mainstream. Among the people who made it, Blake Edwards and Jack Lemmon were both alcoholics, both of whom later sobered up. (Sakri Pölönen)
Language: English, subtitles: Finnish