O Lucky Man!

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O Lucky Man!
Directed by Lindsay Anderson
Produced by Lindsay Anderson
Written by David Sherwin and Malcolm McDowell (Story)
Starring Malcolm McDowell
Ralph Richardson
Rachel Roberts
Arthur Lowe
Helen Mirren
Graham Crowden
Dandy Nichols
Music by Alan Price
Cinematography Miroslav Ondříček
Editing by David Gladwell
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) 1973
Running time 183 min.
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Preceded by if....
Followed by Britannia Hospital

O Lucky Man! is a 1973 British comedy film, intended as an allegory on life in a capitalist society. Directed by Lindsay Anderson, it stars Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, whom McDowell had first played as a disaffected public schoolboy in his first film performance in Anderson's film if.... (1968). The film was entered into the 1973 Cannes Film Festival.[1]

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

During his journey, Travis learns the amoral lesson, reinforced by numerous songs in the soundtrack by Alan Price, that he must abandon his principles in order to succeed, but unlike the other characters he meets he must retain a detached idealism that will allow him to distance himself from the evils of the world: a fact which causes the film to often be considered a reappropriation of Candide by Voltaire. As one of the film's songs says:

Smile while you're makin' it, Laugh while you're takin' it, Even though you're fakin' it, Nobody's gonna know.

In O Lucky Man!, Travis progresses from coffee salesman (working for Imperial Coffee in the North East of England and Scotland), a victim of torture in a government installation and a medical research subject, under the supervision of Dr Millar (Crowden), where he is almost turned into a sheep.

In parallel with Travis' experiences, the film shows 1960s Britain retreating from its imperial past, but managing to retain some influence in the world by means of corrupt dealings with foreign dictators. After finding out his girlfriend is the daughter of Sir James Burgess (Richardson), an evil industrialist, he is appointed Burgess' personal assistant.

With Dr Munda, the dictator of the fictitious Zingara, a brutal police state which nevertheless manages to be a playground for wealthy people from the developed world, Burgess sells the regime a chemical called PL45 'Honey' for spraying on rebel areas (the effects resemble those of Napalm). Burgess connives at having Travis found guilty of fraud, and he is imprisoned for five years.

The final scene of the film shows him becoming involved in a casting call for a film, with Lindsay Anderson himself playing the director of the film. He is given various props to handle, including a stack of school books and a machine gun. When asked to smile Mick continually asks why. The director slaps Travis with his script book after he fails to understand what is being asked of him. After a cut to black (a device used throughout the film) a slow look of understanding crosses Mick's face. The scene then cuts to a party with dancing which includes all of the cast celebrating.

[edit] Background and production

The film originally began as a script written by McDowell about his experiences as a coffee salesman in his late teens and early 20s. Anderson was unhappy with this treatment, and David Sherwin worked on the script. Sherwin though was undergoing personal problems at the time, which necessitated Anderson writing a few scenes himself, a skill he did not feel he had. Anderson found working with Czech cinematographer Miroslav Ondříček much less rewarding than he had on if..... He also doubted his own skills as a director during the film's making, and felt that the film had insufficient preparation. The role of Patricia was recast during production. Originally, Fiona Lewis, best known for appearing in several Horror films around this time, played the role.[2]

Britannia Hospital (1982) completes the trilogy of films featuring Mick Travis,[3] which also sees the return of Dr Millar.

[edit] Score

According to Alan Price, Lindsay Anderson had been frustrated in his efforts to make a documentary featuring Price and his band about touring in England because of the prohibitive cost to license the cover songs they frequently performed. As David Sherwin and Malcolm McDowell developed the script, Anderson decided Price should write the score and sent him the script, indicating where he would like songs to appear; nearly all the songs were written in advance of filming[4]. Anderson conceived of Price's role as a kind of Greek Chorus, both commenting on and finally appearing as part of the action.

[edit] Cast

Many of the actors play several roles and Alan Price appears in several scenes — both in music video-like numbers where he is seen performing his music, but later interacting directly with Mick Travis — adding to the film's surreal air.

[edit] Versions and video releases

A number of different edits exist, with some American prints removing around twenty minutes including the working class parody suicide just before the conclusion of the film. Even both British VHS releases delete at least one scene present in the BBC broadcast of the film (Travis testing his status in the home of his industrialist patron) in the early eighties.

A two disc special edition Region 1 DVD of O Lucky Man! was released October 30, 2007.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Festival de Cannes: O Lucky Man!". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2292/year/1973.html. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  2. ^ The preceding paragraph is drawn from Paul Sutton (ed) Lindsay Anderson: The Diaries, 2004, London: Methuen, p256-306
  3. ^ "allmovie.com O Lucky Man! overview". http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:35868. Retrieved 2007-02-09. 
  4. ^ Price, Alan (score). (2007-10-30). O Lucky Man!. [DVD audio commentary track]. Burbank, CA: Warner Bros.. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070464/. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Lucky_Man!"