Sunday, 31 March 2013

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 189: Me and Mr Jones



Every time I come across a Best Picture winner I haven't seen before I get a little bit more excited. In theory every winner of the Best Picture award should be an outstanding film and in some cases we've seen that. However for every Casablanca there's an Around the World in 80 Days and I'm afraid that Tom Jones may fall into that latter category. The 1964 Best Picture winner was of course an adaptation of Henry Fielding's novel however I'm not sure how much writer John Osbourne stuck to the original source material. The basic story of the film sees a Squire adopt the titular hero after believing he was the result of an affair between two servants. When Tom Jones grows up, and is played by Albert Finney, he turns into a womanising hunter with no respect for the high society into which he was adopted. Tom does find love with Susannah York's Sophie however her suitor tries to keep Tom and Sophie apart. He eventually convinces the Squire that Tom is evil so the Squire sends Tom away to seek a life outside of his house. The second half of the film then sees Tom join the army and almost get murdered by a fellow officer. Sophie meanwhile runs away from home and the two keep missing each other before finally ending up in London. It is in London that Tom falls under the spell of the devious Lady Bellaston who claims she will reunite him with his beloved Sophie. Eventually Tom is falsely arrested for attempted murder and robbery with a race ensuing to save him from the gallows after certain truths are revealed.

The best way to describe Tom Jones would be as a series of set pieces tied together to make one film. I have to say I wasn't a fan of the film as a whole although certain set pieces were fairly enjoyable. I found Tony Richardson's directorial style to be fairly anarchic and he almost employed the philosophy of 'let's throw everything at the wall and see what sticks'. Therefore there are a lot of different styles employed such as a silent-film homage as an opening sequence and later a lot of characters are seen to be breaking the fourth wall. Richardson also has seemed to ask all of his cast members to ham it up as much as possible because that is the style of acting that most are employing here. I have to say Albert Finney was at least an amiable presence in the lead role and his cheekiness was endearing rather than annoying. The better members of the female cast were Joan Greenwood as the sly Lady Bellaston and Joyce Redman as the boisterous Mrs Waters. My personal favourite elements of the film had to be John Addison's lively score and Walter Lassally's sumptuous cinematography. While Tom Jones isn't the worse film to win the Best Picture Award I still found it completely unremarkable and there was never one moment like I felt that this could've been the best film in contention at the 1964 ceremony. However you'll just have to keep reading to find out what I thought deserved to win the award that year.

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