Paddy-49

The British Empire as we have seen in post war times left some detritus that we didn't know what to do with. This story is about a long forgotten Pacific island that the Foreign Office discovers it needs to be rid of but doesn't know how. They send Mr Edgehill, a man so lowly graded in the Diplomatic service that he barely registers. A failed businessman who is available to fly the flag. Ian Holm plays him with sympathy and pathos. Judi Dench plays his wife with a resigned air of another fine mess her silly, but much loved, spouse has got her in.

Noel Coward had a love/hate relationship with Empire admiring much of it but seeing with clarity the "Mad Dogs and Englishmen". We wrote a kindly, sad tale full of pathos and subtlety. The film portrays the story well.

1970 in Britain is a foreign country where they did things differently - I know, I was there! It was the year I graduated and started work and the year after I got married. No escaping the reality of adulthood. The "Swinging Sixties" might technically have ended, but the carry over went on a long time. Murray Head's character is my exact contemporary, Glenda Jackson's the older woman we all lusted over and Peter Finch's the symbol of the sexual revolution that decriminalising homosexuality had legitimised. Actually the ménage a trois is also a mirror of change. It's presented by Schlesinger openly but in no way intrusively. Jackson would prefer to have Head for herself, as would Finch but they both reluctantly settle for sharing him.

If sex is at the heart of the film other emotions are very visible. Loneliness. Ambition. Fear. Sadness. This is a tour de force. These are three bright intelligent people living in an imperfect world. When Jackson has a one night stand with a troubled client it's not just kindness that drives her - there's a rather sad urgency to her decision. It's actually rather caring and almost matter of fact.

The family portrayed is truly ghastly - modern parenting of those times leading to noisy, spoiled brats. You sense that the three principals are very relieved that they avoided that ! The direction and performances are impeccable as is the cinematography. The print I saw recently on television was perfect. So fifty years on has the movie relevance for us today - and not just for aging juveniles like me? I think so. It is an accurate portrait of morality and priorities in a time of change. For the movie buff it's a reminder of how good in particular Jackson and Finch were. A truly fine film.