This was shown earlier tonight on BBC 2 as a " Paul Merton shows us his favourite comedy moments " themed night and similar to those MOVIEDROME segments from many years ago Merton introduced the movie and its background . Apparently on its release the critics hated it while everyone who went to watch it in the cinema ( In those days you could smoke in cinemas ) took a dubious brand of tobacco with them
It's very easy to see why critics hated it at the time . These were people who had at the start of the decade seen countless British kitchen sink dramas , then saw by the mid 1960s British movies financed and produced by Hollywood , movies like DR NO and ZULU but by the late 60s were watching full blown psychedelic things like this . I guess it was too " Mod " for the critics . Evidentally it was made for a youth culture audience who bought records by The Doors , Jimi Hendrix and like their tobacco to be a little more exotic than the stuff you bought in the corner shop
As for the film itself it's impossible to review in 2005 since it's a film on its time ( Merton pointed this out in his introduction ) and resembles one of those anti narrative plots similar to what Richard Lester was making . I goes without saying it's painfully dated and I couldn't understand what the heck it's about and many scenes reflect this . Laurence Harvey does Hamlet then strips naked , Roman Polanski stands at a bar as the colour changes to a green sepia while several scenes look like they're an advert break or a pop video or were included because it seemed like an amusing idea . If you were old enough to enjoy the 1960s you might still enjoy this movie as a nostalgic period piece comedy . If it was before or after your time you'll probably not enjoy it
It's very easy to see why critics hated it at the time . These were people who had at the start of the decade seen countless British kitchen sink dramas , then saw by the mid 1960s British movies financed and produced by Hollywood , movies like DR NO and ZULU but by the late 60s were watching full blown psychedelic things like this . I guess it was too " Mod " for the critics . Evidentally it was made for a youth culture audience who bought records by The Doors , Jimi Hendrix and like their tobacco to be a little more exotic than the stuff you bought in the corner shop
As for the film itself it's impossible to review in 2005 since it's a film on its time ( Merton pointed this out in his introduction ) and resembles one of those anti narrative plots similar to what Richard Lester was making . I goes without saying it's painfully dated and I couldn't understand what the heck it's about and many scenes reflect this . Laurence Harvey does Hamlet then strips naked , Roman Polanski stands at a bar as the colour changes to a green sepia while several scenes look like they're an advert break or a pop video or were included because it seemed like an amusing idea . If you were old enough to enjoy the 1960s you might still enjoy this movie as a nostalgic period piece comedy . If it was before or after your time you'll probably not enjoy it