Recension: Cromwell (1970) med Timothy Dalton i en biroll

Av: Eoghan Lyng

Publicerad:
2020-07-07

Cromwell (1970) Timothy Dalton review recension

Beroende på din definition av mannen var Oliver Cromwell antingen befriaren för de blivande klasserna eller mannen som kastade de irländska medborgarna i floden från sina egna dödande fält. Den här filmen fokuserar klokt på den förra punkten och avslöjar en impasto färgad av girighet, medkänsla och ögonblick med skuggat självtvivel. Draman - eftersom det är mer drama än historiskt drama - blir inte bättre eftersom den exceptionella ensemblen samlar sina talanger för att demonstrera sökandet i ett fallande England med maximal ansträngning av deras avundsvärda förmågor.

Timothy Dalton, den Wales-födda tragikern som hade funnit att 1970-talets Bond var för kryddad för hans unga jag, accepterade rollen som prins Rupert av Rhen. I stället för att kämpa sig igenom citat, underkläder och Walther PPK-pistoler, accepterade Dalton istället ett manus som ifrågasatte nödvändigheten, giltigheten och benägenheten att dela upp människor i klasser. Hans var en föreställning som gäst mot Richard Harris och kanaliserade de röster som fortfarande talar på de motsatta sidorna av monarkins existens. Mer än så visade det hur sakkunnigt Dalton - fortfarande bara i tjugoårsåldern - kunde föra sig i en bataljon av trogna anhängare.

Officiell trailer för 1970 års film Cromwell från Columbia Pictures

Gripping to his venerable, veritable existence, the Prince finds himself the slavish victim to the imperious, impatient King Charles (an excellent Alec Guinness). Asked to opine his failures, Rupert finds his failings, feelings, and fixtures less forgiving of a king than God. Speaking to the man whom he swore to defend, Rupert creates bites out of boasts unbecoming of a royal man. His is the actions of a pawn, powerless to defend his king, while a threat greater than any Queen piece comes marching to dethrone these men.

Timothy Dalton as Prince Rupert of the Rhine in Cromwell

Timothy Dalton as Prince Rupert of the Rhine in the 1970 film Cromwell directed by Ken Hughes.

Beneath these imperial trappings, comes two men leaving inhumanity to face humanity. Across from them marches Oliver Cromwell, a bastion of freedom, peace and equality, determined to liberate England from the elevated. Harris, a real-life Irish Republican, gives an oddly compassionate performance to a man few in his native Limerick would have toasted. And yet, Harris could find great solace in the man. channelling an emotionally sophisticated portrayal of a warrior searching for a steadfast, singular purpose. Harris, a bastion of story, delivers the most assured performance of his illustrative career, striking a real-life friendship with Dalton in the process. And yet the two men find themselves on opposing fields in the film, as the garrulous Cromwell fights against the monarchy, while the insolent Prince Rupert does everything to fight in the name of King, God, and country.

Cromwell (1970) remains one of Ken Hughes' lushest, most detailed works. Every scene is impeccably cast and constructed, capturing a Catholic Kingdom divided by its commitment to uphold pride, beauty and morals. Hughes, who had worked with Albert R. Broccoli on the explosive Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang chugs along with showy-even flamboyant-passages of whimsy. More than that, the tone, timbre and tempo of the film changes from jaunty to jaundiced in seconds. Flamboyant, the costumes parade the set pieces, showy and supercilious they hang on the men's towering shoulders. Cromwell is evidence of a time when the 'Historical Drama' was (unforgivable pun) king, capturing a luminosity rarely felt in the more modern 'Period Pieces' of the twenty first century ilk.

The clothes, settings and dialogue suits Dalton - an actor who soon embraced the exacting challenges of the theatre for the rest of the decade. Caught in the confines of youth, Dalton's eagerness to extract truth, meaning and subtext from a script paid dividends on the laudatory, London stages. By the time he'd come to star in The Living Daylights, he could expertly capture the catholic out of Michael G.Wilson's customary screenplay.

Redaktörens anmärkning:
Bland skådespelare i andra bärande roller finns Bond-alumner Charles Gray (Henderson i Man lever bara två gånger + Blofeld i Diamantfeber), Geoffrey Keen (Sir Frederick Gray i Älskade spion och Moonraker + försvarsministern i Ur dödlig synvinkel, Octopussy, Levande måltavla och Iskallt uppdrag), samt Douglas Wilmer (Fanning i Octopussy).

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Recension: Cromwell (1970) med Timothy Dalton i en biroll

Officiell trailer för 1970 års film Cromwell från Columbia Pictures

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