A Man for all seasons
Introduction
A Man for All Seasons is film that was produced in 1966 and it mainly focuses on the role played by Robert Bolt as Sir Thomas More. It was directed by Fred Zinnemann and Patrick Carey. Of the top 100 movies, it is ranked as number 43 in the British Film Institute. The film retells the historical events surrounding the life of Sir Thomas More. More, the Chancellor of England, had remained silent on the issue of Henry VIII divorcing his wife (Fred, 1966). The King separated himself from the Catholic Church so that he could divorce his wife but More did not acknowledge this act.
The reason King Henry VIII sought for a divorce was the inability in his wife to give him a son who indeed would be his heir. More was a devoted Catholic in that he did not (even at a single time) disobey the law of the church. His decision created a lot of conflicts between him and the King because he did not support the idea of the King to divorce (Fred, 1966). More was very faithful to the king, but he was bound by law of the church to give the king permission to divorce. The Pope refused to offer consent to the king to divorce, and this made the king to separate himself from the Rome Catholic. He made himself be the political and spiritual sovereign of England (Fred, 1966). The fact the king wanted to be the head of both the church and the state made More to step down from being the chancellor of England. It was after stepping down that false accusation were made against him by the King’s advisers.
One of the king’s advisers, Thomas Cromwell, demanded that More should take an oath to recognize the king as the head of state and church. More refused to take the oath, and this resulted in him being imprisoned. Later, Richard Rich made some false accusations against More and in the end More was beheaded. From the film “A Man for All Seasons,” it is evident that More was forthright, contemplative, witty and honest. He laid down his life in his principle in that it resulted to him being beheaded due to his principles.
The Characters of Sir Thomas More
In the film, More is portrayed as a moral man. He remained consistent in good and bad times (Fred, 1966). In the film, it is evident that he is very devoted to his friend, family, and servants. He did not give into temptations that were offered to him by his political enemies in the form of contemplates and bribes.
More had the love for law because it was an important thing for his conscience. For example, he did not grant the king the permission to divorce, as he believed that it was against the law of God. More was beheaded because he refused to take the oath. This showed that he was more existential than religious because he did not rely on any external ideal; in fact, he looked only to his internal motivation. He was a loyal subject to the king because he did not (even a single time) talk against the king (Fred, 1966).
It is in the jail that he went and interacted with other prisoners there. This was an indication that he was friendly and used to interact with anybody. He attempted to teach others about being moral, but it seemed that his friends did not respond positively to his advice. He was very strong in that he did not give in to temptations and this made him to die as a martyr and later was canonized as a saint.
The Characters of King Henry VIII
In the film, King Henry VIII has been portrayed as person with split personalities. For example, the king is regarded as a moral man in that he cared about More, who was also regarded as a man of morals. At the same time, the king was inhumane because he made false accusations against More. More was later killed for something that he had not done. He wanted to be granted the permission by Sir More to divorce his first wife. That created a situation where the king was misusing his powers. If More had granted him that permission, then the act would have been regarded right because the moral man had supported it.
The film also portrays the king as a person who believed that he could force everyone (including the Pope) to support his desires. He wanted to put his conscience at ease by forcing More to allow him to divorce his first wife. The fact that the king listened to the bad advice from his advisers also proved that he was immoral. He was influenced by Thomas Cromwell to make More take an oath that the king was the head of the state and the church, but More refused to take the oath. The king was also depicted as a corrupt person because he supported the false accusation made against More, and this made More to beheaded.
Religious Conflict
More did not support that idea of King Henry VIII separating from the church so that he could divorce. King Henry VIII wanted to separate the Church in England so that he could be the head of the church. Therefore, no one would stop him when making any decision (Fred, 1966). The main reason for wanting to separate the church was the fact that he wanted to divorce his first wife, who was unable to give him an heir and the Pope had refused to give him the permission. More was against the idea of the king separating the church, and it went further to a point that he stepped down from being a Chancellor. It did not end there but the king together with his advisers made cases against More whereby More was prosecuted and beheaded.
Conclusion
The actors of the movie had perfected their acting skills. The movie is full of thoughts that make the viewer to enjoy the movie every single time. Sir More is the strongest character in the movie. He gained the respect of the people because he did not give in to the selfish demands made by the King. More respected the law in that whatever he used to do was based on the law – whether it was the law of God or the law of the state. He died as a martyr and was later canonized as a saint. There are many moral lessons that can be extracted from the film. Indeed, more credit should be granted to the actor for the good work done.
He is regarded as a man of conscience because he always did according to what his conscience told him and he was not under the influence of other people. He was honest to his principles and faith up to the point where his principles led to his death. The events of the film highlight some of the challenges of the 16th century. There was a thin line between the Church and the State, as evidenced by the case of King Henry VII. Religion played an important part in the lives of many people because the rulers had a direct connection with the Catholic Roman church.
Reference
Fred Zinnemann. (1966). A man for All Seasons. [Motion pictures]. France. TNT - Domestic TV Distributor
