Annoying things about Ciao, No. 368: you are taken to a page for the specific purpose of writing a c...
Annoying things about Ciao, No. 368: you are taken to a page for the specific purpose of writing a comment, and the cursor goes automatically not to the comment box, but the the search box at the top of the page.
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Ever had one of those days that starts badly and gets worse? You know: you cut yourself shaving; later your wife turns up at the office to tell you she's marrying someone else. Your boss is gunning for you; your colleagues rub their successes in your face. Then to top it all, your boyfriend announces he's leaving you for a publisher called Reg.
OK, I probably lost some of you towards the end there. But that, in essence, is the story of Ben Butley, a disillusioned English lecturer at a London University college. In the space of one day his life falls apart. We watch in compelling close-up as he smokes, snipes and sneers throughout. It's all hysterically sad and bitterly funny.
Butley is the filmed version of the tragi-comic play by Simon Gray. The 1974 film was one of 14 acclaimed stage productions captured on celluloid by the American Film Theatre (AFT) and released on DVD in 2004. This worthy venture set out to preserve for posterity some of the most brilliant plays of the 20th century.
This makes it hard to judge Butley as a pure piece of film-making. Unlike most movie versions of stage plays, its purpose was to immortalise a specific performance - in this case, mainly that of Alan Bates in the title role. But I think it must be assessed as a film in its own right. And as such it stands up very well indeed.
Like the successful stage original, Butley is directed by the playwright Harold Pinter. Given that it was his first stint behind the camera, he does a superb job. Even though nearly all the action is confined to our hero's cramped, grubby office, you rarely feel claustrophobic or bored.
Pinter uses the whole of the space
and every conceivable camera angle. He cuts, pans and zooms. Occasionally he breaks out of the main set, for instance to witness Ben's silent pub lunch, or in the opening scenes to show us Butley's bathroom and his Tube journey to work.
The actors, too adapt their performances to the new medium. One of the producers, interviewed for the DVD extras, distinguishes between theatrical performances and cinematic ones. That's never more evident than in the close-ups on Alan Bates's face during moments of emotional turmoil. You feel you're seeing far more into the character and the role than you ever would from a seat in the theatre.
From behind Butley's flippant facade, Bates allows us glimpses of the character's true feelings. He hints that, beneath the barrage of barbed wit ("A man is bound to be judged by his wife's husband"), is a lost and wounded creature. Yet by making the character less than sympathetic, Gray and Bates entertain you without plunging you into despair. Like a dog with a bone, Butley returns to his betrayal by his lover and protégé Joey, with whom he shares the office, their desks facing each other across the chaotic set.
For Butley knows that Joey's weekend with the bluff Yorkshire publisher Reg has kicked away the one prop holding up his crumbling life. We watch, appalled yet fascinated, as he clings, now reflective, then hurt, then weary, to the last thing between him and a solitary drunken future.
As playwright Simon Gray explains in an excellent interview on the DVD, beneath Butley's defensive exterior is a talented man, who can still quote poetry (and not just the Beatrix Potter nursery rhymes he carries round with him). He can rouse himself from a boozy doze in the middle of a tutorial with a quip like "a bit fishmongery, that," after an earnest student, reading her essay, uses the phrase "the frozen soul."
Gray sums up Butley's "self-destructive vanity" in his DVD commentary, saying that he's "Got a lot of passion, but it hasn't got a focus. He's a lost soul. He's full of a sort of energy that's become demonic. He's not sure that teaching is of any use; he's feasting off the dregs of his relationships. The other characters all have something in their lives that mean something to them. He clearly doesn't."
So we have Richard O'Callaghan as the prissy, but slimily ambitious Joey. He's clearly still attracted to Butley's bitchy snobbery, whilst tiring of the endless cynicism. Eventually he has to decide between this and the straightforward honesty of Reg.
The other outstanding performance comes from Jessica Tandy (later famed for 'Driving Miss Daisy'). She plays Edna Shaft, a prim lecturer of the old school. She acts as a comic foil to Butley's impertinences, alternately frustrated and amused by his feigned innocence.
The only jarring presence is the character of Butley's wife, played by an oddly impassive Susan Engel (whose most recent roles have been small parts in 'Dalziel and Pascoe' and 'Midsomer Murders').
Aside from the acting there's still much to enjoy in the playful language, the jokes and the sly references. For instance, a teasing mention of "a Lawrentian-style wrestle" is a nod to the notorious fireside grapple between Bates and Oliver Reed in Ken Russell's 'Women In Love' five years earlier.
The main weakness of this production is an unavoidable one. The very act of immortalising a play on film fixes it in its time. So while the play could easily work in a contemporary setting and thus be timeless, the film becomes a period piece. Some of the clipped diction and voluptuous hair can be a distraction (although the most startling evidence of its era is the sight of an Underground carriage filled with cigarette smoke).
Simon Gray himself thought that the film's two-hour duration was too long to spend in a room with two men. I can see his point: the film would have benefited from losing the odd 10 minutes. The DVD transfer is not perfect either: the picture wobbles slightly in some of the scenes.
When Alan Bates died in December 2003, the Guardian's obituary called Butley "a perfect marriage between actor and writer". Harold Pinter came, like Bates, to be one of Simon Gray's closest friends. So it's also a fine monument to the relationship between writer and director.
The film will never appeal to those seeking special effects and blazing action. But for those who savour an impeccably-acted study of a compelling character, Butley is a stellar seminar in self-destruction. And who could ask for more than that?
DVD EXTRAS ***************** As mentioned, the highlight of the DVD extras is the interview with Simon Gray. He gives thoughtful insights into the play's autobiographical sources (he too was an English lecturer at a London University college for 20 years).
As with the other interviews on this disk, the one with Alan Bates suffers from the fact that it was a generic piece for all the AFT titles in which he appeared. Sir Alan - as he then was - nevertheless gives a diverting analysis of actors' relationships with directors.
The interviews with the producers are, again, not specifically about Butley, but contain a lot about the AFT series in general. Although of passing interest, they don't add much to your enjoyment of the film. And they use the same clips from the same films over and over again until you know them off by heart.
Aside from the interviews, the other extras comprise posters, publicity material and a reasonably useful critical appreciation of the play. But they are hardly likely to bear repeated viewing.
The film is certificate 15, presumably for the sexual references and brief violence, although it's unlikely to give major offence on either count.
I found the DVD in a Virgin Megastore clearance sale for £3.99. Less fortunate buyers will probably have to fork out at least £13.49 plus p&p, which is what it costs from the Amazon marketplace, or £14.99 inc p&p from Play.com. It is available to rent though, and turns up on TV now and then.
Pictures of Butley (DVD)
Alan Bates on set with Harold Pinter
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1997 - Drama - Director: Gillian Armstrong - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Cate Blanchett, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Wilkinson, Richard Roxburgh
Fantastic! You sold this to me by the end of the first paragraph! x
allmodcons 10.02.2007 18:10
Great review, this sounds excellent to me. I usually keep an eye out for anything with Alan Bates, but I don't recall this one. I'll have to rectify that.
The American Film Theatre Collection is an exceptional series of feature films based on ... more
some of the most celebrated plays of the 20th Century. Brainchild of Hollywood producer Ely Landau, the aim was to combine the excitement of live theatre with the a...
![Butley [1976] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78507568.jpg "Butley [1976] [DVD]")
exceptional by (23%):
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