So you're a fan of B. S. Johnson's novel 'Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry', you admire his experimentation and playfulness with the literary form, you enjoy the black humour and anti-capitalist message, and, most importantly, the manner in which Johnson never allows his reader to forget that this is a work of fiction, using such devices as Christie himself talking directly to the author?
Then on no account watch this film.
You'll spend the whole time shouting at the screen wondering how they could have missed the point so comprehensively. In an interview on the DVD the screenwriter claims to have stayed faithful to the book, which is laughable. I won't go into too much detail, but here's two key point for you to think about:
1) The biggest debit recorded by Christie is that socialism has not been given a chance. This is essentially the political message of the novel, but not mentioned in the film.
2) In the film, Christie en-route to Westminster when his own bomb destroys the bus he is riding on. The implication is that he causes his own downfall, is responsible for his own death. In the book, he dies from cancer, randomly. So the complexity and open-endedness of the book (Johnson refuses to tell us if he destroys parliament or not) is lost is the cause of a nice understandable ending that will not tax the brains of the audience.
All in all, enormously disappointing. B. S. Johnson subversively refuses to to describe Christie, saying we must create him in our own way (like God). So I suppose all sorts of interpretations are acceptable, but this is a very, very poor one.
Luke Haines's soundtrack is excellent, though.
Then on no account watch this film.
You'll spend the whole time shouting at the screen wondering how they could have missed the point so comprehensively. In an interview on the DVD the screenwriter claims to have stayed faithful to the book, which is laughable. I won't go into too much detail, but here's two key point for you to think about:
1) The biggest debit recorded by Christie is that socialism has not been given a chance. This is essentially the political message of the novel, but not mentioned in the film.
2) In the film, Christie en-route to Westminster when his own bomb destroys the bus he is riding on. The implication is that he causes his own downfall, is responsible for his own death. In the book, he dies from cancer, randomly. So the complexity and open-endedness of the book (Johnson refuses to tell us if he destroys parliament or not) is lost is the cause of a nice understandable ending that will not tax the brains of the audience.
All in all, enormously disappointing. B. S. Johnson subversively refuses to to describe Christie, saying we must create him in our own way (like God). So I suppose all sorts of interpretations are acceptable, but this is a very, very poor one.
Luke Haines's soundtrack is excellent, though.