 "Photo: Paramount")
Paramount pictures has gone into the vault and dusted off a gem, breathing new life into the 1964 powerhouse: Becket.
Renaissance buffs know Thomas à Becket as the unlikely Archbishop of Canterbury who was martyred for his ideological rift with his once close confidant, King Henry II. True to the history, Becket's meteoric rise to power and subsequent fall were captured in drama by Jean Anouilh's 1959 theatrical production; a few years later Peter Glenville would go on to direct the very film version now restored, re-released and opening this weekend at the Starz FilmCenter.
I know what you're thinking. In an era where films are awash in digitally perfect special effects, impossibly thick with bullets and blood and given to flaunting the juicy splash of Paris Hilton's sex parts, why would a modern moviegoer want to watch a couple of goobers in chain mail clash wits without so much as an Uzi and car chase between them?
First, check the narrative: truth revealed as stranger than fiction. Like I said, Becket remains faithful to the history that is our European past. Thomas à Becket (in the film, Richard Burton) was indeed an uncanny companion to King Henry II (Peter O'Toole) of England; he was little more than an English commoner who found himself befriended by the invading royal, appointed to chancellor within the king's court, and a man who threw the king bone after bone until one day he threw him a curve.
Remember that this is a time right after the successful Norman campaign to invade Saxon-held England. As if Franco/English tensions weren't bad enough, ol' Henry II decides to snub the papacy and thwart the power of the Roman Catholic Church by elevating Becket (seen by his Saxon countrymen as a power whore and a sellout) to the office of Archbishop of Canterbury. Not a bad job if you can get it.
But Henry's plan to consolidate power backfires once Becket discovers his conscience and begins to shift his allegiance away from his King's designs and align himself instead with the tenets of the Christian church. Unfortunately for the King, archbishops tend to carry a lot of clout and once placed they are not easy to dislodge. It is here that the stage is set for a showdown between old allies turned enemies; only a murder can decide who will win the day.
This in itself might be reason enough to watch the film. But the acting - oh, the acting! Burton kills as the staid, self-doubting Becket. Between brooding uncertainty and a dark undercurrent of regret (after all, he does callously defect and embrace Norman occupancy when given the opportunity to serve at the King's side), Burton drives home the kind of unctuous, calculating character needed to act as a foil for O'Toole's powerfully blithe King Henry II.
O'Toole, you need to know, had just two years previous come off his commanding and Academy Award-winning performance as Lawrence of Arabia. He carries that power and that bearing to Becket, prancing across the screen and bellowing his lines and owning the role of conqueror and king like he was tapped for royalty himself.
Either one of these performances would be enough to flatten you with awe, but put together, put in opposition against each other, these two towers drop your jaw and nod your head, leaving you wishing you were born in a time before digital enhancement.
Of course you don't need to go back in time when Paramount is re-releasing this giant. To review: Why watch Becket?
Because this film is more than just a couple of fossils in period dress playing king of the hill. This film is about the old dramas - the ones that run deep within the human condition and still hold sway after you strip away the glitz and the gore of today's blockbuster mega films. It's about power and domination and the triumph of the rational over the seduction of animal greed.
Becket distinguishes itself precisely because it avoids gimmicky crutches like special effects, graphic gore and the gratuitous parade of steaming vaginas. Instead, Glenville allows the film to remain uncomplicated in both plot and theme while the raw acting prowess executed both by O'Toole and Burton delivers with stark vividness the fundamental tenets of all human conflict: the unstoppable will of the one set against the unmovable resolve of another.
Within such simplicity Becket finds an uncommon richness. It puts on display the primitive, often conflicting emotions that daily clamor for our attention. In the end Becket wins our agreement simply in how it nakedly showcases the basic interpersonal and intrapersonal dramas underwriting our most corrosive social frictions.
Sure, it's not the happiest of stories - there's blood and betrayal and heartbreak galore. What's worse, there's a distinct absence of fast cars and flashy explosions. And if you're allergic to a classical score, then Becket is just gag-o-matic. But so few films today do so well at exhibiting so much of the grandeur that defines the human spirit when pressed into maximum service. Old and crusty as this movie may seem to jaded, desensitized, 21st-century viewers, it yet shines and remains relevant because Becket's story is, after all, just a human story.
Catch Becket Apr. 13 - 19 at the Starz FilmCenter on the Auraria Campus. Visit www.denverfilm.org for showtimes and tickets. $8.75/$6.75 students.
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