A Man for All Seasons Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.5

A Man for All Seasons Blu-ray Movie Review

A film for all time.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 23, 2015

In some of the breathless news coverage attending the recent birth of Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, a reporter mentioned that the little princess’ great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, a queen whose namesake was herself at the center of one of the most contentious succession dramas in all of recorded history, had issued some sort of dictum which revised salient succession rules so that Charlotte would still retain her current place as fourth in line to the throne even if William and Kate have another, later, male heir come along. If only some level headed monarch had been around during the reign of Henry VIII, instead of the forceful if pig headed leader who, as was the custom in that era, simply assumed only a male could replace him once the time came. There's sometimes a curious similarity in listening to royalists rationalize the reasons for Henry VIII's break from the Catholic Church and how some diehard Confederate sympathizers tend to "remember" the causes of the Civil War. On one hand, there's a huge, undeniable elephant standing in the room, whether that be the "need" for a male heir, or in fact the abhorrent practice of slavery, but surrounding those core issues are a whole host of other, tangential, elements which apologists sometimes like to use to color the context of the story in their own particular ways. One of the best things about Robert Bolt's immaculately literate screenplay for A Man For All Seaons is that it more than adequately explores the sidebars while resolutely refusing to shy away from what was in essence the driving force behind all the brouhaha, namely Henry's obsession with producing a male heir.

One of my earliest memories in my admittedly almost absurdly eclectic religious upbringing was my mother dragging me along to some seminar at the Episcopalian parochial school I attended for several years, a seminar which had both a Catholic Priest and an Episcopalian one discussing the Anglican church’s break from the Vatican. I frankly didn’t understand much of what was being talked about (I was probably only four or five), but I was entranced by a passel of huge painted portraits on easels assembled on the dais which included depictions of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. The irony is that while Anne Boleyn (portrayed by Vanessa Redgrave in what amounts to a cameo in A Man for All Seasons) is regularly cited as a proximate “cause” to the brouhaha involving Henry (an incredibly dashing Robert Shaw), the fact remains if it hadn’t have been Anne, it would have been someone else—as subsequent events (not to mention several subsequent wives) admirably proved.

As A Man for All Seasons opens, though, Anne and Henry are already an “item” and in fact Henry has decided he must divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne, sure that his new lover will provide him with the male heir he so deeply desires. Cardinal Wolsey (Orson Welles), the Lord Chancellor (kind of—kind of—like our Attorney General) of England summons Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield) to a hush hush meeting where Wolsey upbraids More for not “going with the flow” and adding his name to the government officials already “approving” of the King’s desire to obtain a divorce, something that needs the Pope’s dispensation. More is not only certain the Pope won’t grant such dispensation (especially since the previous Pope had granted special dispensation so that Henry could marry Catherine, the widow of Henry’s brother), he’s also worried about the King’s end run around Papal authority, something that becomes the fulcrum upon which most of the rest of the conflict of the story rests.

More never really has a “crisis of conscience,” for he is absolutely sure that spiritual authority rests with the Pope and so matters of marriage are inarguably within the pontiff’s purview. Other, more craven, politicians surrounding the King are more concerned with earthly, temporal power and therefore simply become willing “yes men” to the monarch in order to further their own ambitions. Chief among these are the scheming Thomas Cromwell (Leo McKern) and his acolyte Richard Rich (John Hurt), a pair which ultimately succeed in branding More a traitor. Interestingly, it isn’t Henry’s marriage per se that leads to More’s trials, but More’s refusal to acknowledge Henry as the supreme leader of the Church of England, a kind of procedural sidebar Henry insisted on in order to cut the Pope out of any future power struggles.

It might seem on the face of this brief summary that A Man for All Seasons might be an incredibly dry, overly intellectual, affair (no pun intended), but in fact Bolt’s screenplay, while beautifully articulate (even poetic) and at least generally historically accurate (yes, there are nitpicks one can make) provides an unusually visceral experience. Part of this is due to the wonderful interplay between More and his no nonsense wife Alice (a wonderful Wendy Hiller) and lovely daughter Margaret (Susannah York), something that instantly humanizes this famous Humanist, providing a baseline of emotional resonance once things begin to tip over into legal arguments and court intrigue.

This is a film that is blessed not just with an incredibly cultivated and even scholarly screenplay, but with a bevy of actors able to bring these characters fully to life in an unforgettable way. It seems almost incredible that Scofield was not thought capable of delivering audiences to the movie houses of the day, despite having essayed the role of More both on Broadway and in the West End. His calm, deliberate but steely spined demeanor is the anchor of this film, and he provides an almost immutable moral center around which various competing elements dash and thrash in a more florid fashion. Chief among these is, of course, Shaw as Henry VIII, in a completely bracing, athletic, swaggering but at times bullying performance that is certainly among the finest, if not the finest, cinematic depictions of this iconic monarch. Supporting performances up and down the line are simply unimpeachable, as is Fred Zinnemann’s assured, unobtrusive direction.

A Man for All Seasons Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A Man for All Seasons is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. I kind of wish I hadn't seen reports that this was sourced off a sparkling new 4K scan done at the typically picture perfect behest of Grover Crisp at Sony-Columbia, for it would make overlooking a couple of anomalies perhaps a bit easier to achieve. But first, the good news: this is often an immaculately well detailed and beautifully organic looking transfer, one that preserves the deeply burnished Academy Award winning cinematography of Ted Moore, one which emphasizes the burnt umber interiors of court and other residences, while also offering fantastic pops of color in some of the ornate costumes and furniture (see screenshot 13). The increase in detail and fine detail over the DVD is almost palpable at times, especially in elements like fabrics and even wall paneling. Increased resolution does tend to point out things like the heavy makeup Welles wears as Wolsey. Contrast is strong and consistent, and the film's sometimes shrouded interior scenes still provide natural looking shadow detail. For the bulk of the transfer grain is also natural and organic looking. Now, on to some less pleasing aspects. While generally sharpness and clarity are excellent, there are sudden moments of fuzziness and a somewhat unkempt grain field (see screenshot 2). Colors can tend to tip toward brown at times, making flesh tones a little muddy looking (see screenshots 1 and 8). The biggest issues, though, and ones that are evident on the DVD as well, are rather noticeable halos. These first occur in the optically printed credits sequence, where they're perhaps more understandable (I've included two extra screenshots from the credits sequence in positions 21 and 22 for perusal). What is perhaps less understandable (given the fact of a 4K restoration which presumably was sourced off of original elements) are scenes like those shown in screenshots 9 and 11. These halos were more than evident even on a 60+" screen, but I actually took the disc to a friend's house who has a projection system and they were unignorable on a large format system. I'm sure some may accuse me of "nitpicking," but I calls 'em as I sees 'em, and in this case, while the bulk of this transfer is aces, there are a few issues that videophiles will want to be aware of.

A Man for All Seasons Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Man for All Seasons features a repurposed DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 which places discrete ambient environmental effects in the surrounds in a generally unshowy manner, leaving the bulk of the dialogue anchored firmly front and center. Prioritization is fine, with Bolt's nuanced dialogue sounding clear and clean throughout the presentation. The wonderful score Georges Delerue spreads through the surrounds effectively. (Delerue would return to this same subject matter three years later and provide one of his most memorable scores in Anne of the Thousand Days). Fidelity is fine, though dynamic range is rather limited in this pretty talky enterprise.

A Man for All Seasons Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Original Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 3:19) is the post-Oscars trailer.


• The Life of St. Thomas More (480i; 18:17) has been ported over from the DVD, offering a brief but very informative aggregation of talking heads speaking to More and his historical impact.


• Audio Commentary features Lem Dobbs hosted by Twilight Time's Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman.


• Isolated Score Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.

A Man for All Seasons Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A Man for All Seasons has had a rather unfortunate life on home video, especially for such an iconic, well regarded film, not to mention one that won Best Picture at the Academy Awards (one might perhaps have to defer only to Marty to find a similarly disrespected item). While there are some issues persnickety videophiles (and you know who you are) will want to be aware of, this new Blu-ray of A Man for All Seasons is a generally very pleasing release which offers this beautiful, provocative and challenging film in an appealingly organic looking presentation. Highly recommended.