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Erica is unmarried only temporarily in that her successful, wealthy husband of seventeen years has just left her for a girl he met while buying a shirt in Bloomingdale’s. The film shows Erica coming to terms with the break-up while revising her opinions of herself, redefining that self in its own right rather than as an extension of somebody else’s personality, and finally going out with another man. Erica refuses to drop everything for Saul, an abstract expressionist painter, simply out of love for him because he expects her to. It is not so much loneliness that is her problem, and the problems that men, flitting around this newly “available” woman like moths round a flame, bring to her sense of independence.Read More »
Alan Bates
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Paul Mazursky – An Unmarried Woman (1978)
1971-1980ComedyDramaPaul MazurskyUSA -
Carol Reed – The Running Man (1963)
1961-1970Carol ReedThrillerUnited KingdomAn Englishman with a grudge against an insurance company for a disallowed claim fakes his own death in order but an insurance investigator starts snooping around.Read More »
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Clive Donner – The Caretaker (1963)
1961-1970Clive DonnerDramaUnited KingdomQuote:
The Caretaker was the play that made Harold Pinter’s name when it was first performed at the Arts Theatre, London in 1960, and it remains probably his most famous. Two years later, Clive Donner’s film version began shooting, after producer Michael Birkett had raised the finance from figures such as Noel Coward, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Sellers, Peter Hall and Leslie Caron – all passionate admirers of the play. For the film, two of the cast of that original production – Donald Pleasence as Davies and Alan Bates as Mick – are joined by Robert Shaw as Aston, allowing us to see on film three of the greatest stage interpretations of Pinter’s characters. Donner’s sensitive film becomes a study of shared illusion, tragic dispossession and a fraternal bond of unspoken love, combining mesmerising performances and the magic of Pinter’s dialogue into a spellbinding film.Read More » -
Mihalis Kakogiannis – Alexis Zorbas AKA Zorba the Greek [+Commentary] (1964)
1961-1970ClassicsDramaGreeceMihalis KakogiannisIf ever there was a role that Anthony Quinn was born to play, it was the lusty, life-affirming title character in Zorba the Greek. The scene is the isle of Crete, where English writer Alan Bates arrives in the hopes of realigning his own values and outlook on life. He is “adopted” by the flamboyant Zorba, who determines to educate Bates in the ways of the world-or, to be more precise, Zorba’s world. Along the way, Bates is introduced to widow Irene Papas, the unrequited love object of everyone on the island, who comes to a tragic end when she is accused of adultery.Read More »
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James Ivory – Quartet (1981)
Drama1981-1990James IvoryRomanceUnited KingdomQuote:
Marya Zelli finds herself penniless after her art dealer husband, Stephan, is convicted of theft. Marya accepts the hospitality of a strange couple, H.J. and Lois Heidler, who lets her live in their house…Read More » -
Ken Russell – Women in Love (1969)
1961-1970DramaKen RussellUnited KingdomQuote:
Ken Russell’s celebrated and controversial film is a lyrical take on love and death as experienced by a Britain ravaged by World War One. Based on D H Lawrence’s acclaimed novel, it tells the story of two couples trapped between the pressure to follow convention and the urge to explore a Bohemian lifestyle. Set against the lush English landscape, the protagonists engage with nature in a direct and sensuous way, each searching for love but unsure what it means. Featuring stunning performances by Alan Bates, Jennie Linden, Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson (whose role earned her an Academy Award), Women in Love is opulently designed, beautifully shot and is an undisputed landmark of British cinema.Read More »