A Rumored City
The Dresser, a 1983 Film, Starring Albert Finney & Tom Courtney
I had a very precocious introduction to Shakespeare. There was an old "Complete Works" --a single large tome--that used to knock about my house. Where it came from no one knew. My parents were not avid readers and certainly not of Shakespeare. As a slender, shy boy of about twelve, I latched on to that book. I would drag it into the bathroom with me and read it all summer long. Now thirty years on I forget the exact chronology of the plays in that book, but I remember reading The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Tempest, Hamlet but no King Lear. I possibly didn't get far along in the complete works to reach Lear. I had to wait another six years before I would discover the glory that's Shakespeare's King Lear. Again it was a lucky and an entirely unexpected discovery. I'd picked up a used copy of a book of essays by George Orwell. It covered his days in Burma, but amongst the essays about elephants and colonial life there was a piece on King Lear.
I was mesmerized by the tale of the old King. Once absolute monarch and then reduced to a sorry old man, out in an electric storm with only his fool for company, cursing the "sulphurous pit" that are women. Here were themes of senility, ingratitude, ambition, patrimony and forgiveness. I did what any eighteen year old with literary ambitions would: I wrote a poem about it. I still hadn't read the text of the play yet. Not living at home anymore the complete works were, for the moment, lost to me. Fast forward a couple of years and I found myself enrolled in a European literature class at a University in Texas. One of the set text was--and you've guessed it--King Lear. We were lucky in the professor who taught the class. He was passionate about Shakespeare and he made the text come alive. I showed him my juvenile poem expecting derision, instead he actually liked it and had it distributed to the rest of the class. On the last day of the term he showed us the 1983 Olivier version of King Lear. What a magnificent performance! I could barely contain the hot tears that welled up at the sight of a mad and howling Lear carrying Cordelia's body. And that feeling remains with me to this day. After having seen countless performances of King Lear, from the majestic Ian McKellen and the RSC to the ridiculous Stephen Yoakam, draped with an overweight Cordelia (Isabell Monk ) around his shoulders, I'm still moved to tears.
The Dresser is a film about an old-fashioned, touring Shakespearean company, created to highlight the talents of its founder. The founder, in this case, an aging actor, nearing a one final emotional and physical breakdown, is simply known as "Sir", although there's no indication of titled nobility. The part is superbly played by a physically robust, yet fragile looking Albert Finney. The touring is through an England at war with Nazi Germany during the worst days of the blitz. Sir's life and acting career is held together by his dresser, Norman, brilliantly acted by a mincing Tom Courtney, who's a nursemaid, drama coach and physiotherapist rolled into one. Norman cajoles out one final performance of King Lear from Sir and his relationship to his master is not unlike that of the Fool to Lear. Both try and give wise council but which invariably falls on deaf ears. We learn the true depth of Norman's feelings for Sir as the movie reaches its predicted climax.
This is a wonderful film and I recommend it highly. There should have been Oscars all around but unfortunately it started life on Broadway before it became a film.
Posted at 11:36AM Aug 11, 2009 by Horatio in General | Comments[0]