Now having not seen the film (either the Michael Caine or the Jude Law version), I didn't really know what I was expecting, but this certainly wasn't it. I thought it would be a bit light, a bit cheeky, and it was in places – but underneath Alfie's cocky swagger and the women on high-rotation, there was something a bit sad as he deals with TB, loses his son because of his inability to grow up and stop being such a cad, and deals with the consequences of getting his mate's wife into 'trouble'. Despite the fact that he referred to every woman he was with as 'bird', or worse, 'it', I liked him enough to feel sorry for him. And thankfully, there was no convenient redemption at the end - he was still the same shameless, selfish Lothario as he was in the beginning.Still, I can't imagine how slimy Jude Law was picked for the part in the remake of the movie – he would have been nowhere near rough enough.
Apologies if I have already posted this - had a glitch.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree about Dream Angus - where did that come from?! But for someone who produces quality fiction at such a prodigious rate we can surely forgive him the occasional lapse ...? To be brutal his latest book about La's Orchestra set in WW2 is a bit weaker than his usual high standard but still very readable.
Alfie was written quite a while ago now (early sixties?) and was considered quite shocking at the time. It was part of the 'kitchen sink' school of gritty (for then) realism along with Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Alan Silitoes) and Room at the Top (John Braine). The original movie made Michael Caine a star overnight, by the way. But I can't see Jude Law in the part ...
Cayman
Yes Alfie was 1966 - and I can imagine it stirred things up at the time.
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