8/140
Lovely to think that Scofield won the Oscar for his performance as Thomas More but for me the joy was watching Robert Shaw turn up to steal the show as Henry XIII in not much more than one scene. Lovely support from Leo McKern, and Vanessa Redgrave pops up briefly to waggle her tongue and eyelashes at the King like a crazy thing.
I'm accidentally knocking through Robert Bolt-scripted films quite quickly, having seen Lawrence of Arabia for the…
7/140
Despite the BFI's recent success in securing a DVD release for the 'X' certificate cinema version, four decades on it's scandalous that there isn't a top quality DVD or Blu-ray director's cut available. That this film has languished, unwanted, on Warner's shelves for decades has surely hampered its reputation and rehabilitation.
I've been able to take or leave Ken Russell in the past. Here, his trademark over-the-top style doesn't hamper the subtle power of his screenplay; it heightens it.…
(4/140)
I like an epic as much as the next man (if the next man is someone who enjoys dozing off in front of some swords and sandals on a sick day) but this is something else and naive as it may have been I wasn't expecting to be as blown away by it as I was. Those first few shots of the desert would take anyone's breath away and Lawrence's trip back into the desert to rescue Gasim is…
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
6/140
Just one of the many films on my list of 140 that I'm embarrassed at not having seen, watching this forty years after the fact its resonance and influence are obvious.
While parts of it are recognisably Malick in their slow, dreamy pace and measured cinematography I was surprised (and impressed) by the taut, lean narrative. Once Kit's fired his first shot he and Holly are hurtling towards disaster with barely a backwards glance and the film follows them…
