Hesse’s soul-searching tale of intellectual Harry Haller’s struggles with his beast inside was one of my favorite books when I was a college student. I wasn’t sure how it would work out as a movie, but director / screen writer Fred Haines did a brilliant job of converting the story to the screen in 1974. To do so he interjected animation, reverse motion, colorization and sets that could have been designed by Dali.

The casting was superb. Max von Sydow is perfect as the dark, brooding Harry, whose emancipation is accomplished by tiny degrees. I was not immediately sure about Dominique Sanda, but she grows on you as Hermine, Harry’s alabaster seductress. Pierre Clementi is superb as Pablo, the bohemian saxophonist who adds bright counterpoint to an otherwise colorless world. And Carla Romanelli plays free-spirited Maria nicely. Love the bedroom scene where she describes without words how she managed to get into Harry’s flat. Well done.