Peter Glenville 1964 UKJean Anouilh once said of his play ‘Becket, Or the honour of God’, on which this was based, that he was “writing drama rather than history”. That pretty much describes things here. If you’re looking for historical accuracy then this probably isn’t for you. History was never really my subject but even I know that Becket probably wasn’t King Henry II’s drinking buddy who spent his spare time chasing women and insulting priests. Still, it does feature the holy triumvirate of British theatre Peter O’Toole, Richard Burton and John Gielgud so dramatically it’s pretty amazing. I like drama. It’s also very dialogue driven with an incredible script allowing the three main stars to let loose and ensuring that even in its more frivolous moments, such as Burton hurriedly diving out of a young woman’s bedroom window with one boot on then hopping to his horse or Gielgud’s posh English Louis VII, it’s eminently watchable. I can get quite cantankerous about actors not doing accents so a film really has to be something special for me to be able to ignore it; it’s been four years and I’ve still never forgiven Adrien Brody for playing the famous matador Manolete as if he was from New York. I’ve got to think that this was also one of O’Toole’s greatest performances, his Henry is at once bitter, funny, lecherous, cruel, impatient and vain but still captures our sympathy with his genuine heartbreak over the fact that Becket loves God more than he loves him. And yet the film never judges or blames Henry for his actions, marking him more as a victim of his own unrestricted upbringing. For such a remarkable portrait of non-sexual male love it never seems to get mentioned when the modern fashion for bromance is brought up and I really can’t understand why, I’ve got to admit I’d never even heard of it until recently. It’s a shame, but here’s hoping this makes a difference, however small.
PETER O'TOOLE
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