March Recommendation: A Man for all Seasons

 

                                  

                                  Well usually the season of Lent is during April, but since where technically in a sort of Leap Year the season of Lent starts in March. So, imagine again Valentine's Day being on Ash Wednesday, which to me seems funny because I never thought these two Holiday's would exist. Either way we're in the closing days of Lent also known as Holy Week, I'd finally unleash my Holy movie in the seasons of Lent. A Man for all Seasons is one of those films I remembered growing up remembered watching growing up and honestly, I don't know how it came up to me out of know where I think it was just one image that came up to me and I was surprised but also like I need to recommend this movie.

                                  When the highly respected British Statesman Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield) refuses to pressure the Pope into annulling the marriage of King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) and his Spanish-born wife, More's clashes with the monarch increases in intensity. A devout Catholic, More stands by his religious principles and moves to leave the royal court. Unfortunately, the King and his loyalists aren't appeased by this, and press forward with grave charges of treason, further testing More's resolve.

                                   I've probably told this story many times over, though I don't remember the many times I talked about movies I remember growing up with most of the time. So, if you were a young kid growing up in central Nebraska whose parents I don't recall if they really wanted to spend the money to rent movies and decided to rent movies from the library that was my generation of movies, and granted I don't know if that's true nor care because really that's decades ago and it really doesn't matter. And so, renting movies from the public library was nothing normal from a kid growing up and watching movies in fact without the public library I wouldn't have been introduced to Star Wars Trilogy or any of the John Wayne films or not of been introduced to this exceptionally great film A Man for all Seasons. A Man for all Seasons was also one of those films that my childhood priest would talk about during church and said in his own words that it was one of his favorite movies of all time, and when I was a kid I always remembered the movie well because I have a strong memory of Robert Shaw screaming at the top of his lungs in his memorable scene with Sir Thomas More aka Paul Scofield. And interesting fact was that Scofield was not the first choice for Thomas More despite the fact that he portrayed the character on Stage for the stage adaption to A Man for all Seasons, for many reasons they didn't see him as a big enough name like Richard Burton or Laurence Olivier and in fact they we're offered for the role but both men turned down the part, but director Fred Zinnermann demanded that Paul Scofield will play Sir Thomas More and even when watch the movie alone, he was exceptionally great furthermore embodied him until the final frame, I mean he won an Oscar for his performance as Sir Thomas More, so when a director demands that the Stage actor should play the title role furthermore was born for the role, that's excellent instincts from a director who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Paul Scofield was excellent as More and he does a fantastic job having the audience root for a guy like him who possessed his principles upon his fellow colleagues, but Robert Shaw who plays King Henry VIII is just outstanding furthermore feel ashamed that he didn't get an Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor and even though his screen time is short, Shaw's performance as King Henry was so great but most importantly so terrifying because event when he's yelling at More he looks like a man whose unchecked and capable of doing anything to get what he wants and Shaw so good at that type of character furthermore one of the most exceptional actors of the sixties and seventies and even though his time was cut short at the age of 51, he's still a legendary actor in my eyes. A Man for all Seasons is an exceptionally great film moreover in my list of 50 greatest films of all time, and to me is an important Christian film that needs to be an important film of always sticking to your principles and faith no matter who pressures you on what is really right for the good of your country but your faith as well and Sir Thomas More is a prime example of what it truly means to be a politician because he fought for what he believes is right even till his own death and sure things now have changed in the Church but what More was fighting for was beyond the country that he loved but most importantly his faith and his family and that's truly something I respect in, moreover Pope John Paul II declared him the patron Saint of statesman and politicians which says a lot about his character. So, for any young Catholic or Christian wanting to become a lawyer or politician I would highly recommend watch A Man for all Seasons, because it brings an important message about never allowing anyone to tell you how you should think and feel, especially in today's world.