I had seen the film before on television, starting twenty minutes in, but experiencing this drama, from the beginning, allowing the full emotional build up to Crock's revelatory and moving moment - where his stoicism dissolves - to be fully delivered had a devastating effect on me.
When the Crock first speaks of the greatness of Agamemnon to Taplow, the transmission of the regret at not only not completing his verse translation, but that he has lost the manuscript ("and so many other things") is beautifully delivered by Redgrave. However, as with all men, there is opportunity for redemption. When Fate delivers the manuscript back to Crock, a strange power gripped me; it was the equivalent of Kane reclaiming Rosebud. But Crock has lost faith; he has been 'ground down' as us Brits say, through proxy by the school system and by his cruel, selfish and childless wife. Clearly a great scholar, Crocker-Harris was ultimately used as a cog, trapped in the lower-fifth, alluded to as being like Heinrich Himmler, locked in a loveless marriage, suffering heart problems and facing a financially insecure future.
The weight of Life is on Crock's shoulders, sapping his will. He could never suspect the sliver of light - of affection - that Taplow would bring when he presents him with an inscribed second-hand copy of Robert Browning's verse translation of Agamemnon. But it is smothered in shadows by his wife's cruel, spiteful and misguided 'hard truth'.
I read the ending thus: In his farewell speech, Crock fearlessly faces facts about his apparent failures; he also does so with great dignity and self-deprecation and seemingly wins belated respect from the students. Taplow's appraisal of his in-progress verse translation might just have ignited Crock's determination to exert his will to power on Life again, after years of partly self-imposed psychological slavery. Pure speculation of course, but that's how it plays to me.
Redgrave's subtle, poignant and exquisitely developed performance, which is not only his best, but one of Cinema's very best. The final image of the respectfully defiant Crock walking off, manuscript under arm, God looking on graciously is "most gratifying" to me. Good old Crock! Good old Crock!
When the Crock first speaks of the greatness of Agamemnon to Taplow, the transmission of the regret at not only not completing his verse translation, but that he has lost the manuscript ("and so many other things") is beautifully delivered by Redgrave. However, as with all men, there is opportunity for redemption. When Fate delivers the manuscript back to Crock, a strange power gripped me; it was the equivalent of Kane reclaiming Rosebud. But Crock has lost faith; he has been 'ground down' as us Brits say, through proxy by the school system and by his cruel, selfish and childless wife. Clearly a great scholar, Crocker-Harris was ultimately used as a cog, trapped in the lower-fifth, alluded to as being like Heinrich Himmler, locked in a loveless marriage, suffering heart problems and facing a financially insecure future.
The weight of Life is on Crock's shoulders, sapping his will. He could never suspect the sliver of light - of affection - that Taplow would bring when he presents him with an inscribed second-hand copy of Robert Browning's verse translation of Agamemnon. But it is smothered in shadows by his wife's cruel, spiteful and misguided 'hard truth'.
I read the ending thus: In his farewell speech, Crock fearlessly faces facts about his apparent failures; he also does so with great dignity and self-deprecation and seemingly wins belated respect from the students. Taplow's appraisal of his in-progress verse translation might just have ignited Crock's determination to exert his will to power on Life again, after years of partly self-imposed psychological slavery. Pure speculation of course, but that's how it plays to me.
Redgrave's subtle, poignant and exquisitely developed performance, which is not only his best, but one of Cinema's very best. The final image of the respectfully defiant Crock walking off, manuscript under arm, God looking on graciously is "most gratifying" to me. Good old Crock! Good old Crock!