Much of this film is terrific, but it started too late into the plot, and then ended too abruptly.
The problem is that this film tried too hard to be faithful to the novel on which it is based. But books and film are entirely different modes of communication. What works in a novel does not always work on the screen. This film is a good example.
This film's message seems to be that insane people can be happier than sane ones, using the Alan Bates character as proof. Yet the film gives only 1 or 2 minutes to his pre-illness life, and only a few seconds to him supposedly being sane again. I say "supposedly" because all we see is a few seconds of him walking across a lawn. There is no evidence whatsoever that he is now unhappy again.
This film would have been much more effective if additional scenes had been added: e.g. A more extended pre-illness scene showing an unhappy Alan Bates; and then a new scene at the end showing him unhappy. These two scenes would have much more effectively bracketed the happier but insane part of his life.
The problem is that this film tried too hard to be faithful to the novel on which it is based. But books and film are entirely different modes of communication. What works in a novel does not always work on the screen. This film is a good example.
This film's message seems to be that insane people can be happier than sane ones, using the Alan Bates character as proof. Yet the film gives only 1 or 2 minutes to his pre-illness life, and only a few seconds to him supposedly being sane again. I say "supposedly" because all we see is a few seconds of him walking across a lawn. There is no evidence whatsoever that he is now unhappy again.
This film would have been much more effective if additional scenes had been added: e.g. A more extended pre-illness scene showing an unhappy Alan Bates; and then a new scene at the end showing him unhappy. These two scenes would have much more effectively bracketed the happier but insane part of his life.