A review of the six-time Academy Award-winning film.
Pictured above: Movie poster of A Man For All Seasons (1966). Image credits: Rotten Tomatoes.
What defines you as a person? Is it your job, your hobbies, or the people around you? Due to unforeseen situations, you could leave your job. You may lose interest in your hobbies or turn to other endeavors. Your loved ones could be taken from you, or you from them. All of these are subject to change, hostage to circumstance. Important as these things may be, they are, in essence, transitory. Is there anything in you that can not be compromised or changed? Is there anything that you can not bring yourself to do, no matter what price you must pay or what pressure is placed upon you? If no such thing exists, if you are capable of being molded into anything under the right conditions, are you really anyone at all?
The 1966 film A Man for All Seasons is about a man who knows who he is. Sir Thomas More, the protagonist of the film, is a man of many faces. He can effortlessly weave between the roles of a nurturing father, a loving husband, a clever politician, and a learned scholar. Contrary to what one may expect, this movie contains no mention of More’s crowning achievement, Utopia. It neglects to include More’s scholarly side and instead focuses on his true identity and the one that he dies as: the pious and conscientious martyr of the Catholic Church.
A Man for All Seasons, which won six Academy awards including Best Picture and Best Actor, is radiant in its wisdom and wit and genuine in its convictions (similar to its subject). All actors did a fine job at portraying their respective characters, specifically Paul Scofield who gave a subtle and layered performance as the leading man. It is also worth noting that Wendy Hiller’s performance as More’s wife, Alice, brought a refined dignity to her character, an uneducated woman who is by no means her husband’s intellectual equal but loves and supports him in her own way.
Now, you may be wondering how a movie from 1966 about a man who died in 1535 has any significance today. There are numerous ways to answer why this film is culturally significant, but this article will focus on two specific ones, notably the emphasis on education and individual integrity.
In a powerful scene at the start of the film, Richard Rich, an acquaintance of More, wishes to be employed in the court through his connections with More. Though More rejects his plea, he offers his young friend valuable advice: be a teacher. Of course, this was not what Rich wanted to hear because being a teacher would not bring him glory and fame. In response, More gives Rich a silver cup that he received as a bribe and says, “But Richard, that’s a little bribe. At court they offer you all sorts of things, home, manor houses, coat of arms. A man should go where he isn’t tempted.” Rich was given an opportunity to keep his soul, and he rejected it. Ultimately, Sir Thomas More was executed for his piety and is honored as a man of integrity (albeit he has his own share of controversies), while Richard Rich is remembered only for his act of perjury in a trial against the man he once called his friend.
Education is now more prevalent than ever, but the essence of education seems to have been lost. We have all heard or reiterated the complaint, “I will never use this in the real world.” But education is not simply a matter of gaining practical skills, it is the development of one’s character and values. As free rational beings, we have to shape our minds, decide what is righteous and good, and dedicate our lives to it. Even if one gets a lucrative job and has a successful career, what is the point of all those material gains if they have no identity to stand upon and no moral values to uphold? Despite Richard Rich’s eventual success in court, the only thing he left behind was a soiled name and a ruined reputation to match his character.
This is the lesson that the film leaves us: only when you have beliefs that you would die to protect can you truly become “a man for all seasons.”