Appendix 3.2: Sample films - synopses and character lists
TOM JONES UK 63
reason for them to spend sufficient time together while she
nurses him, for their true love to be convincingly developed.
But this incident is almost an afterthought to the hunt itself
which is a breathtaking display o.f equestrian and photograhic
virtuosity, culminating in a lascivious attention to the gory
torture of the stag's death offering, implicitly at least,
ammunition to the anti-blood sports lobby. The developing
romance between the hero and heroine, Tom (Albert Finney) and
Sophie (Susannah York), is given in a montage of pastoral
idylls; the hero's amorous adventures on his journey are
suggested in the justly celebrated set piece of the dinner at
the inn. As in a fairy story, the hero's true origins are
unknown till the end of the story; as in a fairy story he is
banished and on the road where he encounters various dangers;
as in a fairy story too, the audience is never in any doubt as
to the outcome. It is never a question of if, but always one
of how, our hero and heroine will be united.
Two features of the film stand out. There is a consistent and
engaging attention to pleasure. Pleasure in the appearance of
things such as the sunlit landscapes, rich interiors, the
human body both adorned and unadorned by clothes and jewels.
There is particular pleasure in surface appearances: polished
wood, glowing embers, fine lace, worn leather, healthy
animals, weathered brick and stone, and so on. There are
sensual pleasures in abundance such as eating, drinking and
lovemaking. Not least there is pleasure in the text itself.
The film is not only pleasurable in the spectacles it offers,
but it also offers pleasure in its own frequent
acknowledgement of its artifice. Thus the audience is invited
to enjoy not only the thrills and spills of the heroes and
villains but also the skill and wit of the film maker. Since
we are encouraged through the film's construction never to
forget that it is 'only a story' we are also given licence, as
it were, to empathise with the virtuousness, lasciviousness,
villainy and so on of the characters in their picturesque
settings. Frequently characters address the audience
directly, as in pantomime asides; frequently transitions from
one scene to another are made through more and more complex
optical wipes which often have a symbolic relation to the
scenes concerned and therefore function rather like decorated
capitals or page borders in a book. Freeze frames and speeded
up action are also used both to emphasise the artifice and to
direct the form of audience attention to the details of the
complex plot.
The story concerns the foundling Tom Jones, discovered as an
infant in the bed of Squire Allworthy - a good man as his name
informs us - on his return from a trip to London. He banishes
the supposed parents and raises the child. Tom is handsome,
brave and good, though given to overindulgence in pleasures of
every kind. As a young man he falls in love with the
beautiful golden haired daughter of the neighbouring Squire.
The two Squires arrange that Sophie will marry Squire
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