Sir Henry at Rawlinson End
a joy in the possibilities of word, syntax and imagery
| 12 Nov 2006
Film title:
Sir Henry at Rawlinson End
The plot - an exorcism of Sir Henry's brother's ghost from the ancestral home - is an excuse for an extended meditation on the class structure of post-war Britain and a bravura display of linguistic dexterity. Never easy, it adapts Joycean word-play into an oblique allegory, maintaining a casual, bleak humour throughout surreal episodes. A defrocked priest, a murderous Lord who finds peace when dressed as a racist vision of an African woman, German prisoners of war, a cynical spiv, an aristocratic family that has succumbed to insanity, and the decaying Rawlinson's End itself: all these are worked into a hysterical whole.
Fans of psychedelic art will adore it. Against modern Hollywood comedy, it is obscure, literate, charming and sophisticated. Like Stanshall's music, it takes a very English tradition and imbues it with a singular vision. The soundtrack, fusing folk idiom to a unique sensitivity, is a playful pleasure. The spoken narrative evinces a joy in the possibilities of word, syntax and imagery. Trevor Howard's performance as the titular Lord is a tour de force of unacknowledged insanity; the supporting cast provides exquisitely understated caricatures.
The film is a mass of contradictions, and its idiosyncratic approach ensures that it will remain a cult attraction. It is a lost gem of British cinema: an absurd, confident, witty satire. [Margaret Kirk]
digital classics dvd. Out now.