nunia [个人文集]
加入时间: 2005/11/04 文章: 2184
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作者:nunia 在 寒山小径 发贴, 来自 http://www.hjclub.org
watched 'A Man for All Season'(1966) on DVD last night. Winner of 6 Academy Awards (1966) was based on a play by Robert Bolt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bolt
Excerption from Wikipedia:
Bolt himself was an agnostic and a socialist, and thus he presumably admired More not because he identified with More's religious beliefs, but rather with his refusal to bend to the will of the king.
A Man for All Seasons struggles with ideas of identity and conscience. More argues repeatedly that a person is defined by his conscience. His own position is depicted as almost indefensible; the Pope is described as a "bad" and corrupt individual, forced by the Emperor to act according to his will. But as More says to Norfolk, "What matters is not that it's true, but that I believe it; or no, not that I believe it, but that I believe it." More fears that if he breaks with his conscience, he will be damned to hell, while his associates and friends are more concerned with holding onto their own temporal power.
At another key point of the play, More testifies before an inquiry committee and Norfolk attempts to persuade him to sign the Act of Succession:
"Norfolk: Look, I'm not a scholar, and frankly I don't know whether the marriage was lawful or not — but Thomas, look at these names! You know these men! Can't you do as I did and come along with us for fellowship?
More: And when we stand before God, and you are sent to Heaven for doing according to your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing according to mine, will you come along with me — for fellowship?"
More's persecution is made to seem even more unjust by the inclusion of Eustace Chapuys, the long-time Spanish ambassador to England, into the story. Chapuys recognizes More as a stout man of the church, and in Act II, after More's resignation from the Chancellorship, he informs More of a planned rebellion along the Scottish border, expecting More to be sympathetic. Instead, More informs Norfolk of the plot, showing him to be patriotic and loyal to the King. This, along with More's refusal to actually speak out against the King, shows him to be a loyal subject, and thus Cromwell appears to prosecute him out of personal spite and because he disagrees with the King's divorce.
Bolt also establishes an anti-authoritarian theme which recurs throughout his works. All people in positions of power — King Henry, Cromwell, Wolsey, Cranmer, Chapuys, even Norfolk — are depicted as being either corrupt, evil, or at best expedient and power-hungry. Bolt's later plays and film screenplays also delve into this theme. The theme of corruption is also illustrated, in Rich's rise to power, the Common Man being drawn into the events of the storyline, and in the (deliberately) anachronistic portrayal of Henry as a younger, athletic man (in 1530 he would have been in his forties and already putting on weight).
Some historians and critics have criticized the play's portrayal of More as a saintly character, noting that Bolt excises mentions of More's more negative activities, such as his campaign against William Tyndale and his persecution of Lutherans while serving as Chancellor. The depictions of Thomas Cromwell, the Duke of Norfolk, and Richard Rich are also historically suspect. (Also, in real life More had three paternal daughters, a son, and an adoptive daughter, but only his eldest, Margaret, appears in the play.) Bolt's decision to portray More through his relations with family and friends, and not the broader political context of the time period, has also been criticized.
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Sir Thomas More's Controversy with Tyndale ...
http://www.williamtyndale.com/0sirthomasmore.htm
作者:nunia 在 寒山小径 发贴, 来自 http://www.hjclub.org |
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