This movie is sometimes brilliant, sometimes silly, sometimes surreal, sometimes tragic, sometimes wickedly satirical, and always schizophrenic (which is the whole point). It's also the only film in which Jesus Christ does the Varsity Drag. Peter O'Toole plays the paranoid schizophrenic heir to an English earldom, and as his relatives try to either cure him or commit him, what we think is being played for laughs slowly becomes something far darker.
O'Toole's performance is brilliant, bringing out this man's almost unbearable pain as he tries to hold his mind together by escaping into whatever fantasy world he can manage. Unfortunately, escaping into a world where he is God and everyone loves each other does not work for society, so his family has to snap him out of that so he can become acceptable. At its core, the film is about what kind of insanity (and what kind of god) is acceptable in upper-class British society, and it makes its points on that score very well. But unfortunately, it's far too long; there are so many supporting characters with their own subplots that it gets bogged down in many places. But if you can last through the slow parts, you'll be rewarded with some unforgettable scenes before the end. Seven stars.
O'Toole's performance is brilliant, bringing out this man's almost unbearable pain as he tries to hold his mind together by escaping into whatever fantasy world he can manage. Unfortunately, escaping into a world where he is God and everyone loves each other does not work for society, so his family has to snap him out of that so he can become acceptable. At its core, the film is about what kind of insanity (and what kind of god) is acceptable in upper-class British society, and it makes its points on that score very well. But unfortunately, it's far too long; there are so many supporting characters with their own subplots that it gets bogged down in many places. But if you can last through the slow parts, you'll be rewarded with some unforgettable scenes before the end. Seven stars.