A Man for All Seasons

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant: A Film for All Seasons
Review: This film has become a legendary telling of the life of Sir...canonized Saint...Thomas More who was hailed by Sir Winston Churchill as "these isles greatest Englishman." Paul Scofield's More is an heroic intellectual who ultimately loves God and the sometimes terrible demands of Truth more than the glamour of the world and his own life of renown in it. His characterization of More's wisdom, wit and humanity has become "mythical" in its own right. Robert Bolt's play is brought to the screen with a magnificent cast. Leo McKern is fascinating as the ruthlessly pragmatic Cromwell...More's arch enemy...who eventually suffers More's fate as ironic victim of fiercely amoral allegiance to historical "Necessity." Robert Shaw is compelling and tragic (at this moment in Henry VIII's soon-to-be bloody reign) as the young King who embodies...literally as "Sire"...circumstances that will convert a "Defender of the Faith" into its persecutor. John Hurt as the treacherous opportunist Richard Rich is also a "man" for all seasons whose conscienceless lies and ultimate betrayals embody duplicity in "Will-to-Power" and ethical bankruptcy hardly reserved to the 16th Century or the machinations of Reformation politicians. Recall: Sir Richard Rich became Prime Minister. In my estimate, the most affecting moment of the film is when More's family comes to visit him for the final time. His execution is certain. His daughter's pleas to submit...and reserve truth to God in his heart...have been rebuked by the logic of TRUTH, ultimately LOVE of God that he holds crucial to his manhood and salvation. Lady Alice...played like a Lioness in Winter by Wendy Hiller...threatens her beloved Thomas with unforgiving hatred for the OBSTINACY that has ruined their position in the aristocracy and condemned him to death for treason. More is unable to stifle sobs of despair, pleading to his wife not to abandon him at this moment of maximum trial and shame. She does not... And this dazzlingly human instant, wonderfully encaptured by Scofield and Hiller...is "The Man for All Season's" source and moment of triumph. Yes, Scofield's rebuke of the corrupted Parliament is scathing and "heroically" magnificent. But the man who stated: "I die the King's good servant, but God's first;" may indeed have gotten his final grace of fortification from a lady whose faith and love demanded uncomprehending trust and devotion. The film, as Saint Thomas himself might allow, was not even...ultimately about Truth or conscience. "Only God is LOVE through and through," states More/Scofield as a kind of axiom he must believe to endure the soul ordeal "Necessity" has crossed him with. In the film,the axiom is "proved." Not by argument, but by his good wife's unconditonal love. This is Lady Alice's trial...and because she too is heroic and endures in soul-tested love...She is The Woman; He becomes The Man... both, like the film, brilliant, gracious and GOOD: For All Seasons....

Rating:
Summary: But For Wales?
Review: One of the finest films of all time, directed by Fred ( High Noon, From Here to Eternity ) Zinnemann. Among the ensemble of players are Wendy Hiller, Orson Welles, Susanna York, Robert Shaw, Leo Mc Kern and--in one of his earliest roles--a young John Hurt. Truly a cast for all seasons!

It's an acting lesson, headed by the great Paul Scofield who not only captures the essence of Sir Thomas Moore, but who does so with superb economy of motion; he hardly makes a gesture thoughout the entire film--- Duse would have loved it.

How does he do it? Well, as I said, it's an acting lesson. Suffice it to say he rightly deserved winning the Oscar.

Robert Bolt's brilliant play is a study of contrasts with a mystery at the heart of the theme: Was Moore a Saint who is now in Heaven with The Blessed, or was he a fool who could have died in his bed at a ripe old age after a lifetime of domestic felicity and the highest honors his country could bestow upon him?

If there is no God, or if you believe that the conflict between The Anglican and Catholic Churches to be of no paramount importance, is your integrity still worth losing your head on the chopping block?

Hmm. . .

Magnificent in every respect.

Rating:
Summary: A Morally and Spiritually Uplifting Film
Review: I just saw "A Man For All Seasons" (Fred Zinnemann's 1966 version) and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was about a man who died for his faith in the name of God. He died under the tyrannical founder of the Anglican Church (as I regret my church's origins now), King Henry the VIII. This king wanted approval of everyone in the kingdom, especially the chancellor (which is the bishop's principal legal authority), who was Sir Thomas More. By the way, the issue was primarily around the king's divorce and re-marriage, and then later trumped up for the king's assumption to the role of head of the Church of England. Sir Thomas More evaded the primary and other issue until it was forced on him and eventually he lost everything, save his pure conscious before God. I highly recommend this film esp. after seeing "The Passion of The Christ".

Rating:
Summary: Sir Thomas
Review: I had to watch this movie in my senior English class in high school, and at the time, I thought it was the most boring film ever made. Being forced to watch a movie in a class isn't the best way to watch something, but that same year, I had had to watch "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" for my government class. I loved "Mr. Smith...", and I've watched it several times since then. But I never got around to seeing "A Man For All Seasons" until I bought the DVD for my Oscar Best Picture collection. Now that I'm older and wiser, I was able to appreciate this film a lot more. It is a wonderful character study of a man with impeccable character, Sir Thomas More, a man who stood by his beliefs even though it would cost him his life.

Paul Schofield's performance is superb, and the costumes in this film are magnificent. I recommend it to anyone interested in seeing an example of someone standing up for what he believes in.

Rating:
Summary: A film for all viewers
Review: Without a doubt, this is one of my top ten films of all time, mainly because there is so much that can be drawn from.

Zinnemann's adaptaion of the Robert Boltman play was done on a low budget, and whilst it takes artistic license slightly further, the film remains a historical masterpiece. Paul Schofield as More is magnificent, combining a stoical adherence to truth on the one hand, with a dry wit on the other, and this is an accuracy of depiction that could not have been drawn from the words of the script. Robert Shaw as Henry is also fantastic, showing the viewer both the very personal side of the monarch, when he is disappointed at More's non-attendence at the wedding to Anne Boleyn; and the aggression of a lion as he shouts (in full hearing of all party guests) - "I ask you, do they take me for a simpleton?" The swift change from an amiable friend to a dominating absolute monarch is brilliantly played by Shaw, and though it is a marked contrast to the plain More, the performances are equally great.

In October 2000, John Paul II made Thomas More the Patron of politicians (he was already the unofficial patron of Catholic lawyers in the UK). Both positions indicate what a great man he was. A scholar of great learning, a man of letters, a liberal in an autocratic age. His character was perhaps best displayed as his end, in his words to the executioner - "Pluck up thy spirits, man, and be not afraid to do thine office; my neck is very short; take heed therefore thou strike not awry, for saving of thine honesty." The combination of humor and greatness, even in the face of death, povide a role model for all.

If you enjoy the film, read the play and 'The Life of Sir Thomas More' by William Roper, his nephew. Although it bears relation to a specific incident, this popular poem of the time is a fitting epitaph for this great man -
When More some time had Chancellor been
No more suits did remain.
The like will never more be seen,
Till More be there again.

Rating:
Summary: While the real More was more complex - this is a GREAT movie
Review: I have loved this movie since I saw it in its original release too many years ago. Certainly, Sir Thomas More was a magnificent person who died a martyr and has been canonized a saint. However, don't confuse the play and movie with the flesh and blood man. He was much more complex in real life than the purely noble performance of Paul Scofield. You can read the biography of Thomas More by Peter Ackroyd to get at some of his complexities.

But this is a wonderful movie and I recommend it with great enthusiasm. It is a powerful movie and can have some useful at least temporary curative effect on the soul suffering under the ironical detachment and cynicism of our time. Scofield is wonderful and the definitive performance of this role. Orson Welles is quite special as the corpulent and corrupt Cardinal Wolsey. John Hurt is superb as the traitor Richard Rich. Shaw is fine as Henry VIII as is the rest of the cast.

And who can forget the line where More asks to see chain of office that Richard Rich was given to perjure himself and betray More. After examining it and being told that Sir Richard was made the Attorney General of Wales More says, "Richard, it profits a man nothing to trade his soul for the whole world, but for Wales ..." Wonderful stuff.

The disk offers the wide screen theatrical release and a full screen version for those who like to see less of the picture in order to avoid the upper and lower "bars". There is also the original trailer.

There are no other features on the disk beyond scene selection.

This disk belongs in every collection and should be reviewed regularly as an healthful tonic to help remedy the bilious nihilism of our age.

Rating:
Summary: The Most Interesting of Six Thomases
Review: This period in English history and then the Elizabethan era which follows have always interested me. You thus can understand my appreciation of Derek Wilson's book In the Lion's Court: Power, Ambition, and Sudden Death in the Reign of Henry VIIII. Wilson focuses his primary attention on six Thomases: Wolsey, More, Cromwell, Howard, Wriothesley, and Cramner. Henry's VIII's relationships with all six serve as the basis of Wilson's narrative. By the way, there really were lions in London at that time ("the King's Beasts") housed in the Tower menagerie and a major tourist attraction. More once compared the king's court to a lion pit "in which the magnificent and deadly king of beasts held sway." Of the six, More interests me the most. His rectitude threatens and infuriates Henry, and eventually results in More's execution. Thus presented, More is a tragic but noble political victim and religious martyr, later canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. He is no less admirable as portrayed by Wilson but, in my opinion, is much more complicated than Bolt and others suggest. For years, More skillfully navigated his way through a court ("a lion pit") characterized by what Wilson refers to as its "seamy realities": "The royal entourage was a vicious, squirming world of competing ambitions and petty feuds, guilty secrets and salacious prudery. Courtiers, vulnerable to threats and bribes, could be induced to perjure themselves, to exaggerate amorous incidents which were innocent in the context of stylised chivalric convention, to indulge personal vendettas....Over all these momentous happenings looms the larger-than-life figure of Henry VIII, powerful and capricious yet always an enigma."

People still disagree about Robert Bolt's characterization of More in the play and then in the film for which Bolt received an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay. I agree with others who insist that More was less noble than Bolt suggests. No one, however, disputes the fact that More courageously accepted decapitation rather than compromise his religious faith. Cynics suggest that More was already a dead man...and knew it. He had an estate to protect and family obligations to accommodate. I am unqualified to speculate or even comment further on More's motives even as I marvel at his survival skills when drawn into "the lion's court."

Paul Scofield received and deserved his Academy Award for best actor in a leading role. The film and director Fred Zimmermann also received Academy Awards. The cast is exceptionally talented, especially Nigel Davenport (Duke of Norfolk), Wendy Hiller (Alice Cromwell), John Hurt (Richard Rich), Leo McKern (Thomas Cromwell), Vanessa Redgrave (Ann Boleyn), Robert Shaw (Henry VIII), Orson Welles (Cardinal Wolsey), and Susannah York (Margaret More). Unlike many stage productions later filmed, this one derives substantial benefit from Ted Moore's cinematography, especially the exteriors shot throughout and beyond royal residences. Moore also received an Academy Award for his work.

Those with an especially keen interest may wish to examine The Last Letters of Thomas More as well as several solid biographies of him by Peter Ackroyd, J.A. Guy, Richard Marius, and Gerard B. Wegemer.

Rating:
Summary: A Morally and Spiritually Uplifting Film
Review: I just saw "A Man For All Seasons" (Fred Zinnemann's 1966 version) and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was about a man who died for his faith in the name of God. He died under the tyrannical founder of the Anglican Church (as I regret my church's origins now), King Henry the VIII. This king wanted approval of everyone in the kingdom, especially the chancellor (which is the bishop's principal legal authority), who was Sir Thomas More. By the way, the issue was primarily around the king's divorce and re-marriage, and then later trumped up for the king's assumption to the role of head of the Church of England. Sir Thomas More evaded the primary and other issue until it was forced on him and eventually he lost everything, save his pure conscious before God. I highly recommend this film esp. after seeing "The Passion of The Christ".

Rating:
Summary: Question Your Answers
Review: A wise man once said, "Always ask what your motives are for what you are about to do." This film illustrates that maxim. It tells us that a good man takes a reasoned stance on an issue, further, that such a stance is usually a step on the ladder to the moral high ground.

Set in the smorgasbord of human frailties that was the Court of Henry VIII, "A Man For All Seasons" presents a supporting cast of characters, each of whom portrays a weaknesses in each of us. It then gives us a protaganist who shows us a better way. Paul Scofield's Thomas More tells us that we need be true to ourselves in order to have a meaningful life. All else is vanity.

This film is a how-to on being human. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: STILL A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
Review: Five hundred twenty-six years ago today Sir Thomas More was born. His would become a truly remarkable life but nothing about his storied history is more remarkable than his stand for honor and morality against King Henry VIII. A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS recounts in almost precise historical detail the events that would make More a martyr and international hero for generations and, indeed, for all seasons.

Leading an all-star cast, Paul Scofield stars and Sir Thomas More, a man wanting nothing more than to live a quiet, peaceful life with his family. But events in England spin out of control as King Henry VIII, portrayed masterfully by Robert Shaw (JAWS), determined to wed his second of many wives, runs headlong into the Pope and, because of his religious convictions, into More. The classic story is one of betrayal, deceit and of ultimate honor and triumph for More.

The stellar cast also includes Orson Welles (CITIZEN KANE) as Cardinal Wolsey, Wendy Hiller (THE ELEPHANT MAN) as More's wife Alice who wants her husband alive and well but also sees the that her love for him is based in large measure on the man of integrity and character that he is, and Nigel Davenport (CHARIOTS OF FIRE) as The Duke of Norfolk, More's weak and naïve ally and friend.

Leo McKern (LADYHAWKE) stars as Thomas Cromwell, the political sociopath who wants power and the King's approval, really, more than More's submission, and is the vile instrument who ultimately brings about the corruption of Richard Rich, More's one-time friend and protege, portrayed wonderfully and wickedly by John Hurt (THE ELEPHANT MAN). Richard Rich epitomizes the very worst in public service, a man who can be bought and who will do anything to gain power and prestige. Rich seems to have lived well before his time. Given what we have seen in recent years in world politics, and especially in the highest office of the government of the United States, Rich would have been very comfortable in today's divisive political landscape.

A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS is one of the greatest films of all time. It says much about the responsibilities of those who, whether elected or appointed, ascend to the highest political offices possible. How sad it is that, as a "civilized" world, we have forgotten this as we seem to be bent on supporting and electing the very shoddiest, underhanded and corrupt individuals that society has to offer. Maybe it's time we learned the lesson.

Sumptuously staged and shot, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS is based on the equally striking stage play by Robert Bolt and received the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1966. Paul Scofield, for his landmark portrayal of Sir Thomas More, took home the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Douglas McAllister