“You promised me a Thursday afternoon of prolonged ecstasy”
In London in the 1930s, Gordon Comstock (Richard Grant) is a copywriter for the New Albion advertising company, but he’s also a poet with one book of published poetry. Comstock would much rather be a poet than a copywriter, so when he’s offered a pay increase, he hands in his notice on the spot and announces that he’s “leaving to write poetry.” He plans to devote himself to his poetry now that he’s a “free man.” Fiancee and co-worker Rosemary (Helena Bonham Carter) sticks by Comstock through adversity, but there are some painful lessons in store for the poet.
The film A Merry War is a faithful and delightful adaptation of George Orwell’s autobiographical book “Keep the Aspidistras Flying.” Orwell’s socialist beliefs are never far from this film. Comstock–who lacks a university education–longs for the privilege and leisure of the upper classes while he also envies and despises them. The Aspidistra is, Comstock comes to realise, a sign of middle class conformity and respectability. Being a member of the middle classes is a precarious and precious thing, and Comstock achieves it solely by his labor at the advertising company. Once he gives up his job, he also gives up his foothold into the middle class. This action sends Comstock on a downward spiral into society. When Comstock lives among the poverty of Lambeth where “even the tomcats walk in twos” he experiences freedom from the moral expectations of the middle class. Unfortunately, this has unexpected consequences.
The success of this film is due to the clever script and the tremendous acting delivered by Bonham Carter and Richard Grant. Helena Bonham Carter has a very respectable history of these sort of period dramas, and she’s simply marvelous here as the long-suffering Rosemary. Richard Grant is a truly gifted actor who remains sadly underrated. He does an outstanding job as Comstock–the poet who longs to be respected for his craft. A very talented supporting cast provide many wonderful characters–including–two vastly different landladies and Hermione–the upper-class lover of Comstock’s publisher. While the film includes many brilliantly funny scenes and lines, there’s a serious undercurrent here. A Merry War explores the idea of abandoning all to go off in search of the dream of being a poet. In the wickedly amusing tale of Comstock’s misadventures, we have the options for humanity in a nutshell.
