O Lucky Man!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

O Lucky Man!

Directed by	Lindsay Anderson
Produced by	Lindsay Anderson
Written by	David Sherwin
Starring	Malcolm McDowell Ralph Richardson Rachel Roberts Arthur Lowe Helen Mirren Graham Crowden
Music by	Alan Price
Distributed by	EMI
Release date(s)	1973
Running time	183 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

O Lucky Man! (1973) is a surreal British film, intended as an allegory on life in a capitalist society. Directed by Lindsay Anderson, it stars Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, the schoolboy from Anderson's 1969 film If.... Some critics consider this film one of the best British films ever.^[1] ^[2] ^[3] The film has been released on LaserDisc but not on DVD. A number of different edits exist, with some American prints removing around twenty minutes including the working class parody suicide just before the conclusion of the film. Even both British VHS releases delete at least one scene present in the BBC broadcast of the film (Travis testing his status in the home of his industrialist patron) in the early eighties. The BBC broadcast of complete film in the early eighties appears to have been a strong influence on many artists in different spectrums, being incorporated into the work of Grant Morrison (The Invisibles) and the pop group The Times (sampled on "Pure").

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In O Lucky Man!, Travis progresses from coffee salesman (working for sleazy boss Mr Duff) to personal assistant to Sir James Burgess, an evil mastermind. During his journey, Travis learns the amoral lesson, reinforced by numerous songs in the soundtrack by Alan Price, that he must abandon his principles in order to succeed, but unlike the other characters he meets he must retain a detached idealism that will allow him to distance himself from the evils of the world: a fact which causes the film to often be considered a reappropriation of Candide by Voltaire. As one of the film's songs says:

Smile while you're makin' it. Laugh while you're takin' it. Even though you're fakin' it. Nobody's gonna know.

In parallel with Travis' experiences, the film shows 1960s Britain retreating from its imperial past but managing to retain some influence in the world by means of corrupt dealings with foreign dictators.

The movie originally began as a script written by McDowell about his experiences as a coffee salesman in his late teens and early 20s.

Britannia Hospital (1982) completes the trilogy of films.^[4]

[edit] Cast (partial list)

Many of the actors play several roles and Alan Price appears in several scenes — both in music video-like numbers where he is seen performing his music, but later interacting directly with Mick Travis — adding to the film's surreal air.