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Thanks, Mr. Dursin, for covering the release of Figures in a Landscape in this 'Aisle Seat'.
I've been acquainted with this Joseph Losey-directed film for almost 30 years, initially having read an entry on it in one of Leslie Halliwell's film guide books during the mid-1980s.
During the late 1980s, a local UHF TV station broadcast Figures and I recall video-taping it via my VHS player at the time. I watched Figures several times by 1990, but that tape has been long since gone.
[Paramount issued a Region 2 DVD of Figures in 2006, which I got then and still own]
By '87/'88 , though, I was also collecting vintage LP soundtracks and, already, was rather a completist for acquiring discs of music by Richard Rodney Bennett (initially because Bennett had written a score for an early DOCTOR WHO serial).
While Mr. Dursin's input might very well represent the majority of current cinema mavens' attitudes regarding any given title's 'obscurity', there's certainly much more international cinema which is more obscure than Figures in a Landscape. Bennett was nominated by the British Film Academy Awards for his Figures music score, as long-time soundtrack collectors should have awareness of by reading the liner notes on the reverse sides of the LPs from Nicholas and Alexandra and/or The Return of the Soldier.
I consider it doubtful that European/U.K. productions would have temp tracked their films with music (such as from Planet of the Apes) from a Hollywood studio. In any case, modernistic composition techniques were very much a part of the overall zeitgeist during the 1960s & 1970s (both in academia as well as film scoring) and Bennett - who had private tutoring with Pierre Boulez during the 1950s - would not have required any guidance from a Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack. Bennett had already composed for opera houses & symphony halls before 1970, plus had previously written music for films directed by Joseph Losey [Blind Date (1959) and Secret Ceremony (1968)].
A few FSMers (myself plus Advise & Consent, to name 2) have praised Bennett's music for Figures.
[I think Anabel Boyer became convinced of its virtues after seeing it mentioned in a 'best/favorite 5 from 1970' thread.  ]
No doubt TheFamousEccles is a fan.
I'm also a fan of the films of Joseph Losey (who was an ex-patriot American in the U.K., by the way).
Viewing Figures in a Landscape within the context of Losey's lifetime of work in cinema - and especially regarding his collaborations with Harold Pinter - I consider Figures, despite any flaws, a very Pinter-ish entertainment and it shouldn't be overlooked simply because it may be unfamiliar.
As Figures in a Landscape resides within my favorite 50 films, I rate it higher than the 2.5 stars offered by Dursin.
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