Of Human Bondage – a fairly messy piece of heartbreak (in a good way?)

So, I rewatched *Of Human Bondage* last Saturday evening, instead of heading to the bar (it was raining cats and dogs here in Malmö, förresten). It’s the old-school Bette Davis tearjerker – the 1934 version by John Cromwell, not those weird remakes that pop up once in a while. Leslie Howard’s there of course, looking like he’s both thirty-five and seventy, which is a superpower I sometimes wish I had back when I was stuck in Sundsvall, freezing my ears off at the busstop, pretending I was seasoned and mysterious.

What struck me on this rewatch wasn’t the drama – God knows, there’s drama so thick you can butter your knäckebröd with it. Nah, it was Davis – she just chews the scenery until there’s sawdust all over London. Her Mildred is one of those characters you wanna slap and hug at the same time. I’m still not sure if the overacting is brilliant or just, eh, too much. Maybe both? If you know, let me know, vettja.

I actually first saw this film in the ancient library at gymnasiet, like 1992 or something. Some hopeless crush dumped me the day before, so the story of poor, limpy Leslie being obsessed by a walking disaster was… too on the nose. I remember the scratchy sound of the VHS, and the weird smell of stale coffee in the library office next door. That hugeness of emotions felt… familiar, somehow.

The film’s about human messiness, craving someone who’s terrible for you, and that destructive hope you can’t shake off. It’s heavy, sometimes wearying, but weirdly comforting.

If you’re a sucker for old Hollywood and don’t mind a clunky bit of melodrama, give it a go. Just maybe not if you’ve just been dumped, unless you’re into that.

watch the full movie on Mavshack Movies on YouTube

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