Royal Flash (1975)

the lighter side of Barry Lyndon and the cousin of Tom Jones. La vremea lor au crezut ca pot face o serie din aventurile capitanului Harry Flashman, bazate pe seria de carti celebre in Anglia si azi si mai si, ale lui George MacDonald Fraser ! Dar timpurile nu mai erau potrivite si Royal Flash a fost un mare esec ! Si Flashman a ramas pina azi doar eroul acestui film royal !

respectiv a doua carte, din 1970. Se pare ca azi romanele cu Flashman ale lui Fraser sunt la fel de celebre ca cele cu Bond ale lui Ian Fleming. personajul sau este un aventurier fara scrupule, un las de mare calibru si ticalos de ocazie, afemeiat si betiv, care trece prin istorie ca printr-un svaitzer, dar mereu cade in picioare si e la timpul potrivit la locul potrivit. Asfel Fraser da un comentariu istoric istoriei imperiului britanic. Iar Lester in monologul de opening citeaza Patton pe invers !

-E interseant ca filmul lui Richard Lester Royal Flash si Lisztomania lui Ken Russell au iesit in sali in aceiasi zi, 10 Oct.1975. Desi extrem de diferite, filmele sunt inrudite si reprezinta ceea ce s-a numit the last gasp of the British Invasion film era ! Aceasta a inceput cu filmul Beatles al lui Richard Lester, A Hard Day’s Night in 1964.

(The roots were very much in American silent film, the comedies of the 1930s and the French New Wave, and had already been in evidence in Lester’s first feature, It’s Trad, Dad, in 1962, and in Russell’s first feature, French Dressing, in 1963—but A Hard Day’s Night placed the style on the world stage.) Lester and Russell’s films were the end of a rich era of filmmaking. In Russell’s case, that era ended with a bang—with a film that’s still ahead of its time 32 years later. Lester’s Royal Flash, on the other hand, wasn’t especially adventurous. It was, in fact, a clear attempt to recreate the success of his The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974). However, it was—and is—a good attempt, his final outburst of the style of filmmaking he was largely responsible for creating.

pe linga Malcolm McDowell care e against type aici (Michale caine sau Connery ar fi mai usor de inghitit, probabil ca i-am vizualizat impreuna din cauza lui The man Who Would Be King), apar Alan Bates (Rudi Von Sternberg) , Oliver Reed (Otto Von Bismark), Michael Hordern, Lionel Jeffries (Krafstein), Tom Bell (De Gautet), Alastair Sim, Joss Ackland, Christopher Cazanove
si doua femei minunate, Florinda Bolkan as Lola Montez si Britt Eklund as ducesa Irma !

—plotul e in fapt o trimitere parodica la clasciul Prizonierul din Zenda de Anthony Hope ! De fapt duelul din final seamana cu cel din Marea Cursa/The Great Race, care in actul 3 are acelasi send-off.

Lester treats it all with his signature playfulness, placing it firmly in the realm of his world of damnable machines (if a mechanical device in a Lester film can go wrong, it will) and a kind of casual slapstick. Clever visuals abound (catch the shot of Oliver Reed apparently riding past what turns out to be mural being carried past him). It’s all cheerful and fun and as nice a farewell to the era as could be hoped for.

-Bob Hoskins are un rolisor mic, de inspector de politie!
DOP Geoffrey Unsworth
muzica Ken Thorne cu adaptari dupa Wagner si Mozart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Flash_(film)
4 din 5/8 din 10 !

DVD 20th Century Fox zona 1 -in mod curios in Anglia n-a aparut !
format: 1.661. anamorfic
Extras:
• Commentary with Malcolm McDowell and Film Historian Nick Redman
• Inside Royal Flash
• Meet Harry Flashman
• Isolated Score and F/X Track
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Still Gallery