A Man for All Seasons (1966)

"A Man for All Seasons" was the big winner at the 1966's Oscars. It won 6, Picture, Actor (Paul Scofield), director (Fred Zinnemann, who had also won the double film/director in 1953 with "From Here to Eternity"), writing, costume design and cinematography. Looking at other contenders of that year, it appears as no surprise, even if the movie was worse than it was. This is much more a movie of ideas and ideals than a movie of action, its acting is presented as the most powerful feature, and there is a certain delicacy in the dialogues. Based on the stage play of the same name (which also won the Tony for Best Play and Actor for Scofield), it tells of the last years of Sir Thomas Moore's life, after he fails to recognize King Henry VIII's right to marry Ann Boleyn and the institution of the church of England. A philosopher and a great thinker, Moore never gives in to pressures, and very wittingly holds his ground until he is arrested and ultimately tried for high treason. Zinemman gives some continuity to the scenes notably taken straight from the play by introducing some transitions, some changing in settings and one or two amusing details (such as the court following the king around). But he is very unobtrusive in his directing, leaving the actors to give the essence to the picture, but also taking exquisite account of the detail, the clothes, the accessories, the buildings and the art of the 16th century. Scofield is superb as Moore, giving him an almost zen-like quality in his soft voice, which only fails him at the end. Ever the righteous man, ever the utopianist, but also very human in his convictions. His greatest adversary, Cromwell, the man who tries him, is played by bulldog-like Leo McKern, a menacing presence. Other supporting cast include Robert Shaw as the king, playing him as an joyous fellow without much interest in affairs except his own, John Hurt in his first role as the man who sells Moore out, Wendy Hiller, always the icy emotional lady as Moore's wife and notably Orson Wells, in one single scene at the beginning, powerful off course, completely in command, a presence that stays with you until the end. The movie gains by Moore's way of being, never being portrait as a martyr but as a man of convictions, a visionary ahead of its time, and a Christian to the full sense of the word. If the real man had any doubts... well, one assumes that he may have had, but the movie carefully avoids that. He is portrayed as immaculate, but that doesn't take the power of the moral the movie presents, neither of the fascination of the main character, who never does anything fancy nor challenging, except to talk. Fantastic screenplay which moves the movie and never makes it dull, whose heart is Paul Scoffield's performance, and which has great details of the epoch. To know the legend of Thomas Moore, and also to give a moral about fighting for your convictions till the end. Ultimately, it is about the power of the word that makes the law. Are laws just words or are they something more? A scholar movie which can have many parallels in current affairs.