Jot!

[toysdream]

So very tired... Lots more page pencils to finish up... groan. In the meantime, I'll take a moment to jot down a couple of very very random observations.

Atlantic blogger Ross Douthat, the nice young conservative you could take home and introduce to your parents, may just have identified a grand unified theory of John McCain's policy stands:

Comments

[mazal_]

I am thrilled to find another fan of O Lucky Man. I've always thought of it as a brilliant update of the classic French novel Candide (I saw it back when I was studying French literature). I would love to see the other films by the same director (whose name I can't recall).

[toysdream]

The director, I think, was Lindsay Anderson (who actually appears as himself during the casting sequence at the end of the movie). Apparently he did a series of these films with McDowell and screenwriter David Sherwin, and O Lucky Man! sits right in the middle of the sequence between If... and Britannia Hospital.

According to the production features on the DVD, McDowell came up with the plot of O Lucky Man! based largely on his own life story, which is why Anderson suggested that he end it with his own lucky break of getting cast in If.... But I see what you mean about the resemblance to Candide - I've never read the book itself, but from what I've heard about the story, there does seem to be a strong similarity. At any rate, this kind of absurdist satire really seems to suit me, and now I'm eager to check out the rest of the Anderson-McDowell teamups. :-)