Alicia I love this movie so much

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

gab-14712 My blunt response for 1966's A Man for All Seasons is that it's a great movie. The Academy voters seemed to agree with me back then because it was the Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards that year. The movie appealed to me because of a variety of reasons. I love the history background, and I learned some things about a time period I'm not too familiar with. Quite frankly, not many people know much about the events during the 15th and 16th centuries, and the topic of this movie is a major event. The film is about a man named Sir Thomas More who died because he believed in his principles on how to live a Catholic life, and unfortunately those principles clashed with the ideas of England's ruling figure, King Henry VIII. I also loved the performances in the film, especially from Paul Scofield who delivered an immense, emotional performance as More. Like all films trying to recapture the time period, I loved the look of the film. They seemed to have caught the basic grasp of what England looked like in the 1500's. Finally, the themes are worth watching this movie. It shows that a person should not be afraid to speak their beliefs, even if that results in persecution. The theme has always existed in reality and even more so in today's world with political beliefs, racial beliefs, and even sexual beliefs.To delve into the historical background of the movie is the same as describing the plot of the film so here goes. Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield) is a very popular figure in England. The chancellor has a loving family which includes his wife, Alice (Wendy Hiller) and his daughter, Margaret (Susannah York). His king, King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) is determined to break from the Roman Catholic Church because he wants to divorce his wife and remarry a different woman. More disagrees with the king's decision, and he respectfully resigns his chancellor post in hopes to live his life out as a private citizen. But the King has other ideas, and he wants a public announcement from More saying he agrees with the King. But More refuses, and his silence may be his biggest punishment of all. But also his silence shows that it can sometimes be louder than words.Fred Zinnemann's feature has excellent performances all across the board. In researching the making of the film, I discovered that the director, Zinnemann had to fight to get Paul Scofield to play Sir Thomas More. The producers originally feared he wasn't a big enough name for the general audience. It is a good thing they changed their mind because Scofield delivered the performance of the decade, and he had previous acting experience as the chancellor. He originally played More in plays at London's West End and on Broadway, earning him the Tony Award. Scofield went on to win an Academy Award for his portrayal of More. I enjoyed Robert Shaw's colorful performance as King Henry VIII. Some people say he overacts at time by screaming. It's true that Shaw screamed often in his limited screen time, but that was how the King acted in real life. Wendy Hiller does a fine job as More's loving wife who is also suffering due to her husband's silence. This film also opened the eyes of the pubic to John Hurt, who was an unknown at the time. Hurt played Rich, an assistant of Thomas More but later on double-crossed him. Orson Welles delivers a brief, but good performance as Cardinal Wolsey, the head cardinal of England.I really enjoyed watching the film and see all these fine performances take shape. The second half of the film is emotional. Those who knows their history knows that More was executed for his beliefs. His execution doesn't take place on the screen, but the persecution More faces due to his silence is heartbreaking. Back then, people were not given the freedom of speech or expression as we are lucky to have it today. More never objected to the king's actions. He just never said a word and he paid the price. In a sense, he was seen as a martyr. He could be one of the main influences on why humans today have the right to speak their mind.A Man for All Seasons is an excellent film for all the reasons I have mentioned in the review. The movie is more of a character-driven film thanks to the snappy screenplay adaptation by Robert Bolt, so do not expect much in the way of action. The screenplay is dialogue-driven, and I loved the words or in some cases, no words at all. It delivered a fresh breath of air to More and it informed modern audiences what happened 500 years ago and why it's important to know what happen. It's full of wonderful performances, especially the much-heralded performance of Scofield. The movie looks great, sounds great, and is just overall a great movie. Remember, never be afraid to speak your beliefs. You can believe whatever you want to believe, and that is what Sir Thomas More told the world in 1530.My Grade: A

Kirpianuscus maybe, it is far to be the right word. because its meanings are too complex for define this definition. sure, script, performances, atmosphere, cinematography, costumes, values are impeccable. but it is not a real new thing in the context of historical films from the same period. maybe, the fact than, in my childhood, Thomas Morus was one of my heroes is not real significant too. the best part of this extraordinary film is the message. clear, powerful, precise. about duty. and about conscience. about the decision who defines yourself . about the clash between moral and politic. about one word who change everything. this is all. sure, it is tempting to do a parallel with "Beckett". but, maybe only for me, "A man for all the seasons" is more than the story between a king and his friend. and more than a glamorous Hollywood super production. it is a huge remember of what you must be. against the pressures. against the context.

Lee Eisenberg Sir Thomas More was Lord Chancellor of England in the early 1500s. He opposed King Henry VIII's decision to break off from the Catholic Church and divorce his wife. This story gets dramatized in "A Man for All Seasons", showing the moral dilemma that More faced. Paul Scofield plays More as a man who simply did what he thought was right in the face of insurmountable odds.To my knowledge, this was the second time that Fred Zinnemann had directed a movie about a person who is forced to follow his conscience in a desperate situation (the other was "High Noon"). Both are examples of some of the best that cinema has to offer. It's a shame that Zinnemann isn't a more well known director; he also gave us "From Here to Eternity" and "Julia". Even if you don't know much about England's history, this is still a fascinating story. Along with Scofield, we get outstanding performances from Robert Shaw as Henry, Leo McKern (the cult leader in "Help!") as Cromwell, and Susannah York as More's wife Margaret.And yes, I think that John Hurt's character looks like Ringo Starr.

Bryan Kluger One of the greatest film directors of all time is Fred Zinnemann, and the shocking thing is, most people wouldn't know who that is, let alone even heard the name. He has a whopping 65 Oscar nominations under his belt with a great 24 wins. His films have stood the test of time and continue to be debated and discussed to this day. Perhaps Zinnemann is most known for 'High Noon', 'Oklahoma', 'The Nun's Story', and 1977's 'Julia'. All of those movies are excellent and have each earned their own numerous awards in filmmaking.But there is another film from 1966, which was one of Zinnemann's last films that not only took home Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor, but it is the best film ever made according to The Vatican. Needless to say, that's a pretty high honor, considering the film isn't 100% about religion. The film centers around the time where King Henry VIII was wanting to marry Anne Boleyn, and right before the King became the chaotic leader he is known for. But this story does not follow around King Henry (Robert 'Jaws' Shaw), but rather 'A Man for All Season' focuses on Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield), a family man who was the right hand man to King Henry VIII, at least for a little while.Based on the 1960 stage play by Robert Bolt with Bolt writing the screenplay, 'A Man for All Seasons' can be seen as an accurate portrayal of the downfall of one of the most infamous kings in England, not to mention the intense and brilliant dialogue that occurs. As the film starts out, King Henry is already wanting to marry Boleyn and leave Lady Aragon, because she cannot bear children, specifically a son to take the reigns someday, which is something King Henry is obsessed about. He has his lord chancellor Wolsey (Orson Welles) ask Sir Thomas More, Henry's right hand man to attend a secret meeting to convince the Pope to allow Henry to divorce his wife and marry another.If you're Catholic, you have been told this a big "no-no" in the religion. Already knowing that the Pope will not agree to this, Sir Thomas More, declines to help. You see, back then, almost everything had to be approved before the Pope and the church, and if it wasn't "kosher", it would be considered illegal. When More declines, King Henry tries to bribe More with power and riches. When that doesn't work, King Henry takes a more violent approach. All the while, Sir Thomas More sticks to his religious convictions and does what's right by his family and God. He never bows down or takes the low road. Instead, he takes the righteous path, always standing up to what he believes him, no matter what the obstacle is to overcome.Well, we all know what happened, King Henry overthrew the Pope basically, making it law that the church had no say on people's lives. He went on to marry five more women, some of whom he had killed. But what works so well with 'A Man for All Seasons' is the attention to detail of the time period, and the incredible performances by each actor. These actors just throw themselves into these roles and make you believe every single action and emotion, especially Paul Scofield, who is one of the best Shakespearean actors to have ever lived. He fully immersed himself into these roles and there are stories of how intense he was on set in character. It definitely shows here as he won Best Actor at the Oscars for his role here. 'A Man for All Seasons' is smart, beautiful, and well-acted, and remains one of the best adaptations of King Henry VIII's life out there today.