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Actors: Richard E. Grant, Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Wadham, Harriet Walker
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about A Merry War |
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Convinced that he is a gifted poet, Gordon Comstock (Grant) quits his job at a London ad agency. His girlfriend Rosemary, an art designer at the firm, is entirely supportive, but it's the middle of the Depression in London, and Gordon quickly finds himself facing dire poverty. He "goes working class," takes a job in a used book store working for a man who hates books, and tries to keep moving forward. When Rosemary agrees to have sex (one of the most truthfully clumsy and laughably unerotic sex scenes in film), she of course gets pregnant. So what should Gordon do now? This is a pleasant, not terribly compelling 1997 film of George Orwell's semi-autobiographical novel. The "merry war" of the title was Orwell's term for the battle of the sexes, but there's very little of that here, and his original sarcastic title, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, would have been more appropriate.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of A Merry War |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1930's-1950's
Romance/Love/Hugging
Yes
Kind of romance:
- Unprepared for birthing/child rearing
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- writer
Poverty story?
Yes
Poverty plotlets:
- coping with poverty (general)
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- writer
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- deluded
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) very skinny
Unclothed?
- Chest
Events of movie makes character more...
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Body type
- (woman) average
Unclothed?
- buttocks and chest
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Main Adversary
Identity:
- general circumstances
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
City?
Yes
City:
- London
- dirty, grimy (like New York)
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- concerned
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
- actual description of sex
- seeing breasts
- seeing nude female butt
Non-American film?
Yes
What language?
- English
Subtitles?
- No
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 David Loftus
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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