Worth Reviving – “Becket”
Review by Ray Schillaci
Tired of watching the same old shit blow up? Do you find the glut of reboots, retreads and regurgitated crap wearing your patience thin? Are you bored of the lame dick and fart jokes over and over again? Well, farts can still be funny, depending where they’re coming from. If they are out of Melissa McCarthy or Channing’s Taint’m and the timing is right it can be a gas. Sorry, it was the juvenile in me. Back to my point. If you are hungry for something really different, that will fulfill your entertainment for the evening then welcome to “Worth Reviving”.
Back in June of 2008 I developed this semi-regular article for another website. It was a simple pitch about the loss of so many wonderful revival theaters due to the introduction of “bottom-dollar cinema”: Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and the other ilk of there kind. It was fast and easy entertainment for the masses. These rental chains provided a glut of newer titles and were scarce on classics, foreign and independents. They were mostly run by kids that had little knowledge of films before the mid-70s and cared less about anything that could be deemed enlightening as entertainment.
The revival theaters were just the opposite. They excelled in promoting little known films and giving them a cult following (i.e. “Harold and Maude” “Eraserhead” “Greaser’s Palace”), they developed the “midnight movies” that brought huge dedicated crowds to movies like “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” and they offered exciting presentations of classics boasting that it was time to see them again on the BIG screen (i.e. “Bad Day at Black Rock” “Easy Rider” “Children of Paradise”). It was an experience shared and talked about by many film enthusiasts and is still reminisced with fond memories to this day. But with the advent of videotape, DVD and the convenience of rental chains, the revival theaters experienced lower and lower attendance and generations of film lovers would eventually find themselves on the losing end with little or no information about so many great films available.
With technology growing at an exponential rate, Blockbuster and all of the big rental chains ended up in the same tar pit that they placed the revival theaters in. But even with today’s streaming and Redbox, the experience and service does not come close to what the revival theaters provided us with. The streaming services libraries are bigger, but unless somebody really takes the time to look, there is so much that is being missed. This is why I felt compelled to bring my recommendations to “Worth Reviving,” reveling in the artistry of Francois Truffaut, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Ken Russell and so many other classics worth a viewing.
Now, the difficult choice of what I would recommend first. I stayed away from the obvious, the films of David Lynch or Robert Downey (Sr. – yes R.D. Jr’s father), and I refrained from repeating myself from the other website by citing “Night of the Hunter” or “A Boy and His Dog”. I finally came around to a film I had heard so much about, but never had the chance to see until recently on Netflix, and I must warn the reader that you will be doing yourself a disservice if you watch it streaming for this is a film meant to be seen on Blu-ray.
Nominated for twelve Oscars including Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and both Actors, Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton, “Becket” is a powerhouse of a film on the grandest of scales, yet it also remains an intimate tale of the love and respect men can have for one another. It is a film that has been skipped over by many generations that have no idea what a great experience it can be and how shaken and touched one will find themselves with viewing these two brilliant performances by O’Toole and Burton.
For anyone caught up in “Game of Thrones” frenzy, “Becket” will definitely fill the void for the time being. Not that it has the fantasy, but it contains the pageantry and the characters that you cannot help but get wrapped up in. The dialogue crackles and those that utter the lines breathe a life that is rarely caught on screen. There is also a fascinating history lesson behind all the theatrics as well.
Peter O’Toole embodies King Henry II as the man who refuses to grow up, always at odds with the Church (demanding funds to invade France), bored with life, disdain for the vapid noblemen that claim allegiance to him and the arranged marriage to an equally dull wife who has happened to bear him four obnoxious children. But believe it or not, the flamboyant O’Toole starts off as sympathetic, a man who thirsts for knowledge and the finer things in life, surrounded by brutes and an aristocracy that appears to suffocate the sane. Enter Thomas Becket, played with wonderful constraint by Richard Burton, a Saxon commoner in the 12th century whose people are now ruled by the Normans and overseen by the bad boy King Henry II.
Henry befriends Becket, much to the chagrin of all his court, and revels in the man’s knowledge and friendship. They not only carouse the brothels together, but enjoy one another in decision making while raising the ire of King Henry’s court. An unusual bond is formed that has Henry rapidly promote his best friend and confidant from Chancellor to Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry is confident that with Becket by his side, he will have no further problems with the Church. Becket proves him wrong, not as a Saxon turning against his ruler, but as a man who has suddenly recognized his duties to God.
It is a woeful tale of love lost or never having it to begin with (for Henry). The power struggle that ensues between the two men becomes monumental before the land, Henry with his disappointment with Becket’s new found honor and Becket looking for absolution with not one regret for the man he claimed friend. This tears Henry apart and brings him to a desperate decision that only he can make while threatening anyone who attempts to defile his friend’s honor. Henry’s love for the man is a very complicated and schizophrenic one at best. That’s what makes this film so fascinating.
Henry is further torn knowing everyone around him warned of Becket’s eventual deceit. But what makes the accusations worse is that no one except for Henry realizes that Becket never had any intention of turning on his King, he has only taken on the duty that was thrust upon him by his good friend. Henry unintentionally created his greatest foe. Burton creates a wondrous slow burn for the character of Becket. We have fun with the early rabble rouser and get glimpses of a man who tries to put his once noble past behind him and thankfully live the new life provided him. We eventually feel his regrets for his alliance, but hold no malice for the man or his King.
The entire production is breathtaking from the exquisite set design and Geoffrey Unsworth’s (“2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Cabaret”, “Superman” I & II) cinematography to the rousing music score provided by Laurence Rosenthal. There are also a few surprises for the uninitiated. John Gielgud (“Arthur” “Gandhi”) provides another one of his magnificent understated turns as King Louis VII of France and Edward Woodward (for all of you “Equalizer” fans) has an uncredited part as Clement. With all of this splendor available to you, it’s not worth wasting your viewing pleasure on a less than adequate streaming version on Netflix. It’s not always like that, but I believe the streaming companies do not have the remastered version available to them.
Check out Amazon, EBay or any used Blu-ray dealer and treat yourself to a night of rich cinema for less than the price of two movie tickets.
Directed by: Peter Glenville
Release Date: March 11, 1964
Run Time: 148 Minutes
Rated: PG-13
Country: UK/USA
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
