Bravo David Warner for his exuberant and unrestrained performance. He is desperate, driven, selfish, sensitive all at once. His affinity with animals symbolizes his continual acting on instinct. Bravo too to Vanessa Redgrave who believably shows that whackiness can co-exist with poshness.
Sadly, the movie makes Morgan an earnest communist, and this has the effect of dating the film terribly. I strove hard to see the communism not as literal but as symbolic of Morgan's "rebel" nature, but doing this was an uphill climb. Within just a few years after this film was made, it became clear that communism could never mix with the gleeful artistic spirit that Morgan embodies, that in real life communism was soul-deadening and drab.
But a movie need not be wholly believable or wholly good. Warner's performance alone makes this film a ride worth taking.
Sadly, the movie makes Morgan an earnest communist, and this has the effect of dating the film terribly. I strove hard to see the communism not as literal but as symbolic of Morgan's "rebel" nature, but doing this was an uphill climb. Within just a few years after this film was made, it became clear that communism could never mix with the gleeful artistic spirit that Morgan embodies, that in real life communism was soul-deadening and drab.
But a movie need not be wholly believable or wholly good. Warner's performance alone makes this film a ride worth taking.