How about
this for an abrupt swerve from last week: the stories of Thomas A Becket and
St. Thomas More, as told in “Becket” and “A Man For All Seasons.”
“Becket” (1964). Peter O’Toole plays English King Henry II;
Richard Burton plays Saxon Thomas Becket, an old drinking and whoring buddy of
the King’s. Becket warns his friend that
the Church in England
Conflict arises almost
immediately: a priest is accused of
molesting a young girl (some things never change). The church insists that its priests are
subject to canon law and courts, not garden variety civil law. But the local noble takes the matter into his
own hands and has his men murder the priest without even a trial – civil OR
canon. Becket’s reaction, as appropriate for his position, is to excommunicate
the noble. In retaliation, Henry then
has his own goons murder Becket in his own cathedral. Bad move.
Becket was essentially murdered for following his conscience and acting
as the Archbishop should have.
[Getting back to Oscar issues: the film won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, although it had been nominated for eleven other awards.]
[Getting back to Oscar issues: the film won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, although it had been nominated for eleven other awards.]
“A Man For All Seasons” (1966). Fast forward a few centuries – same country,
though – and a few Henry’s. Now it’s
Henry VIII’s turn to behave badly. England
[Perhas the competition at the Oscars was less two years later, as this film won six Oscars, including best picture and best actor.]
[Perhas the competition at the Oscars was less two years later, as this film won six Oscars, including best picture and best actor.]
Adjusting
the audience’s attention to the “chick flick” factors, “The Other Boleyn Girl”,
with Eric Bana as H8, and Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, was a juicier
take on the same topic – indeed, with Thomas More completely absent from that
film.
In the
battle of Henry vs. Thomas, the Henrys are 2-0.
Each Thomas was motivated by his conscience, and took down just
himself. H8 at least went through due
process, as farcical as the trial was. I
would imagine the distinction was due to a major event between the two. Becket was executed in 1170, More in 1535 –
and More himself cites the intervening factor, the Magna Carta, signed in 1215.
In “The
Meaning of Life”, Graham Chapman plays a Protestant man who explains to his
wife that the difference between the Catholic and Protestant churches is that
the latter allows him to put a condom on his “willie”. The more accurate difference is that the
Protestant church not only allows vicars to marry, but also for couples to
divorce. The church’s origin stems from
H8’s need for a male heir.
