This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
The Grass Is Always Greener
Plot Overview
Titular Englishman Alfred
“Alfie” Elkins hopped the pond not so much to make
money as to make the birds, i.e.
chicks, which he has done big time. He's a limo driver with plenty
of opportunity to meet dames. He must avoid troubles with: VD, ED, unwanted pregnancy, clinging females,
jealous husbands, inconvenienced friend, forgetting names,
growing old, and lack of purpose. His swinging lifestyle
leaves him sadly unfulfilled. In the background plays
The Beat Goes On:
Charleston was once the rage, uh, huh. History has turned the page, uh, huh. Miniskirt's the current thing, uh, huh.
This is not a uniquely American phenomenon. Turkish writer Aziz Nesin puts it:
1925–1926–1927 is an era of change and transformation in Turkish society. Old value judgments have collapsed, but new ones have not yet been established and settled in their place. The feet of society do not touch ground … They are searching for solid ground for their feet, but are a society that is disintegrating and falling apart in a greasy pool. This disintegration appears mostly in the family. Family ties, the old closeness, has disappeared, especially in the upper classes. The woman, naturally the upper class woman, considers herself equal to a man. The truth is that she hasn't won the conditions and attributes of equality, but this has been said of her, so she considers herself equal.Call them all fanatics, conservatives, or reactionaries if you want, but their saying, “We're losing our morals!” was not entirely idle talk.
The slogan, “We shall Europeanize,” was making headway— This was a varnish. A very tragicomical situation. We have no novel that tells of this era with all its grief.
It would be fitting for us to call those days “The Charleston Era.” The Charleston had captivated all of Istanbul. From every gramophone horn arose the clamor of Charleston records. For us, Europeanation had become the Charleston. This Charleston didn't resemble the current Twist epidemic [1965]; it was something much more horrible. (129)
Ideology
At some point Alfie makes an
“oath to completely change my life.” He realizes he
needs to “think about God and death and Bible class,”
what he'd learned at St. Albon's
Secondary School. He is helped by the Christmas season with its
festive celebration (Psalm 61:8)
“So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may
daily perform my vows.” A vow to be more generous would have
been more apropos to this season of giving, but we do have the
shepherds' visit that may remind one of the Good Shepherd, in turn
applicable to many situations as, (Psalm 23:1) “The LORD is my
shepherd; I shall not want.”
He will have to “watch out, you guys;
you'll end up with a lump of coal in your stocking.” Yes, but
there's a preliminary step that needs sorting out, (Psalm 23:2) “He maketh me to lie
down in green pastures.” Manhattan is a lush pasture of
pulchritude prominently displayed on a motor tour. As for
lying down, that's his “favorite position.” The limo
needs bird droppings removed, and the wife of owner
Mr. Wing goes by “Awesome Blossom.” But there's
another pasture, as well. In Lucky's Bar Alfie a Caucasian stays
after hours with its negress proprietress Lonette (Nia Long) to try
to smooth out a rough patch between her and Alfie's friend/business
partner of color Marlon (Omar Epps.) Too much alcohol gets
consumed, and he lays her down on the pool table, its wine-red,
velvet cover being a kind of astro-turf pasture. The billiard balls
shoved out of the way evoke the picture in the doctor's office of
multiple sperms headed towards the egg. One of them might win the
lottery. Not every girl will go for an abortion, and society's
child may not let some “Euro-trash” make an honest
woman of her. A—politically
incorrect—soupçon of segregation might be the
good shepherd's order of the day.
Production Values
“” (2004) was a remake of “Alfie” (1966.) It was directed by Charles Shyer. Its screenplay was written by Elaine Pope and Charles Shyer, based on the former screenplay by Bill Naughton, which was in turn based on his Alfie play. It stars Jude Law, Sienna Miller and Susan Sarandon. Also featured are Tara Summers as Carol and Dick Latessa as Joe. Jude Law makes a credible lost lover, and the women were beautiful and interesting.
MPA rated it R for sexual content, some language and drug use. In 1966 England, “to terminate a pregnancy after 28 days is a criminal offence.” Also, “it's a crime against the unborn child.” The year after the first “Alfie” came out (1967) abortion was legalized there, and legalized in America in 1973. It has since been deferred to the states. Though Alfie's interrace indiscretion ended in disaster (“Next time think before unzipping,”) it was favorably touted (“Good for you, dating an African-American”) by the nosy neighbor. Runtime is 1¾ hours.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
I found “Alfie” a maudlin drama slightly superior to a soap opera. The moral issues never get sorted out, but in the end he is wished, “Good luck,” which is about all we can say. Note the cow embroidered on the bedding, which reminds one of the canard, “He's not going to buy the cow when the milk is free.”
Movie Ratings
Action Factor: Weak action scenes. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Better than watching TV. Suspense: A few suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture is taken from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Nesin, Aziz. Istanbul Boy. Yol (The Path,) The Autobiography of Aziz Nesin, Part II. Copyright 1979 by Center for Middle Eastern Studies. University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas: Center for Middle Eastern Studies, 1979. Middle East Monographs, No. 7.
bibles.n7nz.org