The Ruling Class
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Ruling Class |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1972 |
| length | 154 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Peter Medak |
| script | Peter Barnes |
| production |
Jack Hawkins , Jules Buck |
| music | John Cameron |
| camera | Ken Hodges |
| cut | Ray Lovejoy |
| occupation | |
| |
The Ruling Class is a British comedy film from 1972 by Peter Medak , screenwriter Peter Barnes adapted his play of the same name.
action
Ralph Gurney, the 13th Earl of Gurney, dies playing with breath control . His successor, the 14th Earl of Gurney, becomes Jack Gurney, who sees himself as God and shocks family and friends with his talk about love and mercy. Jack also develops a tendency towards spontaneous singing and dancing and likes to sleep upright on a cross. He ignores the unpleasant facts that identify him as an earl, for example.
Jack's unscrupulous uncle Sir Charles marries him to his lover Grace. Charles hopes that Jack will beget a successor and then be sent to a home. However, Grace falls in love with Jack. He finds another friend in Lady Claire, his uncle's wife, who hates her husband. Claire begins an affair with Jack's psychiatrist Dr. Herder to get him to heal Jack faster. Herder's intensive psychotherapies, however, are unsuccessful. Jack is so convinced of being the God of love that he dismisses claims to the contrary as statements made by madmen.
Grace becomes pregnant and is about to give birth. Herder wants to try another therapy and introduces Jack to another patient. McKyle believes he is the "electrical messiah" and convinces Jack to undergo electroshock therapy. The therapy is supposed to get Jack out of his illusion and make it clear to him that two men cannot be God. The plan works and when Grace gives birth to a healthy son, Jack returns home and shouts, "I'm Jack, I'm Jack". However, he now believes that he is Jack the Ripper . Sir Charles sends Jack to another psychiatrist, Dr. Truscott, investigate so he can go to an institution afterward. But Truscott cannot find any mental illness; on the contrary, he recognizes Jack as an old classmate from Eton College .
Jack turns into a brutal psychopath full of misogyny, but who behaves normally in society. When Lady Claire tries to seduce Jack, he feels so disgusted that he kills her. He's pegging the murder to Tucker, the family butler. With a sharp speech in which he advocates the death penalty and corporal punishment, he demands his entry into the House of Lords , the upper house of the British Parliament. His speech is enthusiastically received by the Lords. At night, Grace tells him how much she loves him. Jack then murders his wife.
The end of the film remains open.
Reviews
“A wonderful, wild ride. Peter O'Toole is extraordinary. "
"Daring, brilliant, and disrespectful, with what could be what could be Peter O'Toole's best performance."
Awards
The film was the British entry for the 1972 Cannes International Film Festival and was nominated for a Palme d'Or . In 1972 Peter O'Toole received the NBR Award for Best Actor . The following year he was also nominated for an Oscar in the same category .
background
Shortly after filming, Nigel Green committed suicide.
O'Toole had secured the film rights, but the project was postponed due to his obligations. There was also a hospital stay after an alcohol binge. After a drinking tour with Peter Medak, O'Toole called his manager who was supposed to start the project. The next day Medak was informed that United Artists would take over the production.
Web links
- The Ruling Class in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ "A wonderful, wild ride. Peter O'Toole is outstanding. ”- Reviews on RottenTomatoes, accessed on November 24, 2011.
- ↑ "Bold, brilliant and wildly irreverent, with what may well be the finest performance Peter O'Toole ever gave." - Review of the Mountain XPress, accessed on November 24, 2011.
- ↑ Paul Tatara on TCM (Eng.)