A Merry War (1998)

Why is this out of print?

I love this movie - I won't go on about it - but why is this movie "out of print" on DVD? It's FANTASTIC! It has 2 big stars in it: Helena Bonham Carter and Richard Grant, it's based off a great George Owell book, it's a great little film! WHY is this OUT OF PRINT!? There's no way this DVD should be any more than $12 like everything else out there! Does ANYONE know why this gem is "out of print"??? September 19, 2007

Overlooked and weird

I didn't know this existed. If you don't thats o.k. too. Take it or leave it. It has the tortured poet and love and poverty English going for it. Not great. March 8, 2007

Good adaptation of Orwell's novel; reservations with the ending

A Merry War is based on a not very well known book by George Orwell, Keep the Aspidistra Flying (it was shown in theaters under that name in some countries). In 1930s London, Gordon Comstock (Richard E. Grant in a not very impressive performance) stars as a copy writer in an ad agency (where he is considered among the best in the trade) who leaves his job in order to pursue his vocation as a poet. That turns out to be a very bad decision, not least because his poetry doesn't arise from mediocrity. His life goes downhill after leaving the ad agency, at least from a material point of view, moving from one bad form of housing to another worse, until he finishes in what 1930s Europe would be the equivalent of a slum. His long suffering girlfriend, Helena Bonham-Carter, accompanies him, but up to a point, and in the end, it is she who makes him go back to his senses. Comstock final embracement of bourgeoisie conformism (which is in the book) leaves something of a bad taste (also, the movie is surprisingly pro life on the issue of abortion). Something I have found also surprising: It has been said that Orwell turn away from the left after his disillusionment with the Stalinist repression of the trotskyites during the Spanish civil war, but this book was written before that war, and Orwell already happily punctures more than a few of the left's sacred cows. January 30, 2007

A Merry Romp

Gordon Comstock (Richard E. Grant), a would-be poet, having successfully sold some poems, resigns from his job as a talented and successful copywriter, to the chagrin of his boss, to devote his life as a "free man" and to write poetry. His girl friend Rosemary (Helena Bonham Carter, Ari of the 2001 "Planet of the Apes"), who can hardly be called his fiancee as she continually hopes for marriage which does not come, and who also works at his former place of employment is dismayed at his quitting. Gordon begins to waste his life and alienates Rosemary as he sinks into total ruin with wild spending and drink. Rosemary discourages Gordon from having sex with her until one day in the woods she relented but changes her mind when she found he did not bring any protection. The movie takes place sometime in the late 1930's in England. My wife and I did not think this was a superior movie and give it 4 stars only because of the superb acting of the two principal characters. This review is based on a VHS rental. October 9, 2006

"...cold beef and salad."

1. What is the period of history in England the movie portrays?

2. Who and what were the cultural influences the screenplay is alluding to?

3. Who were their authors in that time, what did they write about?

4. What were the economic trends? What about reform movements and society?

5. What is the symbolism of the toiletries manufacturer New Albion?

6. What is the symbolism of George's nicotine addiction and chain smoking?

7. The class struggle of one man is followed, what is his main conflict?

8. How does the movie progress the resolutions to the dilemma?

9. What does that say about the objectives of the film makers and the times in which the movie was made and what markets it approached?

10. What was the artistic movement (to the film and its creators), its origins, duration, successes, and prevalence?

11. Regarding question 10, what was it attempting to influence, who were its audiences, and how did they participate in what those performers had achieved?

12. What guidelines to role taking behavior implicitly or explicitly define audience reaction and appropriate feedback?

13. Are there equivalent norms of cultural exchange, or is there indication of caste separatism putting on a display?

14. Try to estimate both sides of the previous question or arbitrate examples for both; if equal then in what way, if role taking inhibitive then for what exclusory purposes?

15. Why do those artists need America?

16. Why does America need those artists?

17. What is the tragedy or irony of appreciating artwork while realizing some inner misgivings or irreverence for its token of esteem?

18. Define the afferent ennui and the efferent ennui, (your previous answer will have to avoid use of the word `ennui').
The following questions focus on the practical reference resources to acquiring solutions to this research:

20. Here is a short reading list for this assignment. Which would be the more immediate encyclopedic routes to ascertaining the film's setting, its period and influences: The entry for...Bertrand Russell, Edward VIII, John Stewart Mill, English literature, or Communism?

21. How did you identify the film's time period?

22. What does your historic gauge say about your cultural literacy or fascinations?

23. Compare your impressions of the film, before you researched the question set, to your sense of its communication afterward.

24. What effect does cultural literacy have on determining the receptive complexity of the film viewer?

25. Do most films and movie going behavior stimulate a desire to read more and what to read?

Bonus Questions---

26. Give the title of the film starring William Defoe where he plays T. S. Elliot.

27. What did that film impress on its audience?

28. What does the incorrect modal logic of Cambridge's Andrew Wile's alleged proof of Fermat's Last Theorem say about the pretense regarding the last question?

29. Apart from `Brave New World', what did Aldous Huxley write about?

30. Combine questions 29 and 27 regarding `Brave New World', then translate your apprehensions or clues to the factual modern period. Since this is an essay question, be specific, account real history and it effects.

31. In what other film does Richard Grant play an art skeptic? July 27, 2006

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