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Butley (1974) This comes from a short-lived plays-on-film project of the mid-70s,
which adapted stage works faithfully but on real sets rather than shot-from-the-back-of-the-stalls.
It exists to preserve Simon Gray's bitter tale of a miserable academic,
Harold Pinter's direction of same (it's his only film in that job) and,
best of all, Alan Bates's terrific turn as the nasty, self-hating, self-destructive,
viciously funny Ben Butley. It's not 'opened out', though we get tiny
bits on a tube train and in a pub to preface or provide an act-break,
and we spend the film in Butley's concrete mess of a room in a London
college as he fends off students, sabotages colleagues, alienates friends
and family and makes desperate attacks on all concerned in order to
avoid being left alone even as his attitude assures this is what will
happen. In theatrical fashion, the set is visited by various folk who
prompt crises and confrontations - a fellow teacher (Jessica Tandy)
upset because Butley has drunkenly encouraged a student to lodge a complaint
about her stuffiness, a wife (Susan Engel) on the point of getting a
divorce and marrying an ex-student who has just sold a novel, and a
gay Norther publisher (Michael Byrne) to whom Butley's flat-mate/protégé/office
sidekick (Richard O'Callaghan) is about to flee. It's a funny-grim piece,
which even plays with the conventions of the get-the-guests genre as
O'Callaghan early makes fun of Byrne's background to give Butley ammunition
for a hilarious 'oop North' tirade designed to make Byrne drop his boyfriend
only for it to turn out that O'Callaghan has invented a working class
bad taste world designed to play on Butley's prejudices. The central
theme - whether or not Butley is himself gay - is a tad old-fashioned
now, especially since it is never settled, but Bates is still worth
price of admission. First published in this form here. Visit Kim's Official Website at www.johnnyalucard.com
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