That White Summer of Roses

With a name cast like Tom Conti, Rod Steiger, and Susan George, you might wonder why you've never heard of this film. There's a good reason. Technically it's a movie, but in all other respects it isn't. Tom Conti stars as a Hungarian lifeguard during the last year of WWII. He watches Hungarian people lying around watching a nude blonde who sunbathes on a raft. Down the river, Rod Steiger apparently helps out partisans. Susan George shows up and Conti pretends to marry her so she will be safe from the Germans (why the Germans want her we don't know). Every so often a supernatural breeze (we know it's supernatural because of the music) blows across Conti's face and he "senses" bad trouble (I guess it's a literal rendition of an "ill wind blowing"). If you think all of the above is confusing, consider this: one of main storylines in the film concerns a giant catfish who makes a huge furrow in the water ala Jaws as he moves. But he is not the "water-devil" referred to about a hundred times in the movie. The "water-devil" is another story entirely. Put plainly, the movie doesn't make a whit of sense. Not recommended. (R. Pitman)