Movie Review: A Man for All Seasons

This was a good biographical sketch movie about Thomas More, and the winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1966.


It is based on a play of the same name. This was a very interesting time in English history (16th century). You have probably heard of King Henry VIII. This movie is about how Henry VIII wanted a divorce from his first wife Catherine. Thomas More, on conscience, thought that this was the Pope's decision to make.

King Henry VIII, in short, declared himself to be the Supreme Head of the Church of England. This was offensive to Thomas More's conscience, as it would be to any good Christian. The rest of the court, however, went along with King Henry out of fear.

King Henry VIII is nearly insane in the film, in a good portrayal by the actor.

The character of Thomas More is very deliberate in speech. He never says anything casual or without purpose. This would be very annoying in our present time, and I think he did annoy other characters in the film. However, his intellect and conscience were inspirational. Unfortunately, I learned in the Wikipedia article that Thomas More persecuted Christians, mainly the collaborators of William Tyndale, who published Bibles. So go figure.

A quote from the film:
God made the angels to show Him splendor, as He made animals for innocence and plants for their simplicity. But Man He made to serve Him wittily, in the tangle of his mind. If He suffers us to come to such a case that there is no escaping, then we may stand to our tackle as best we can, and, yes, Meg, then we can clamor like champions, if we have the spittle for it. But it's God's part, not our own, to bring ourselves to such a pass. Our natural business lies in escaping.