Sebastian

Sebastian is one of those movies you see once and remember for a long time. I saw it back in the seventies, and didn't get to enjoy it again until I caught it on TV in the nineties. Still, I remembered its groovy sixties-London atmosphere, its intellectually stimulating plot about codebreaking, Susannah York's breezy, mini-skirted, somewhat flighty Rebecca who is actually quite smart, Bogarde's coldly academic Sebastian with passion seething underneath, and Jerry Goldsmith's right-on soundtrack.

Like a lighter LeCarre story, you get Cold War tension, but with a post-war British self-deprecating viewpoint. They may not be the Empire they once were, but they do have a bit of expertise in cryptography that the Yanks would be willing to compensate them for. Donald Sutherland plays an NSA type at Fylingdale Moor who turns Sebastian on (literally) to the latest intercepts from a Russian satellite. He's immediately impressed when Sebastian hears the embedded signal that carries classified data piggy-back with the normal Sputnik beeps. Mixed in with this main West versus East plot is the late-sixties go-go scene, with Sebastian's former paramour a pop singer a little past her prime, with his right-hand girl a bit of a leftist sympathizer, and with his new girlfriend, Rebecca, a pre-hippy free spirit determined to pry him out of his Oxford Don shell. Susannah York's Rebecca is fun-loving but has a flame-hot temper that reacts explosively to Sebastian's unemotional pomposity. Her true depth is shone later when she quietly removes herself to care for her baby, without the assistance of its father, Sebastian, who has dropped out of her life. I feel it's the best role of York's uneven career.

What really takes the movie a step above, is Jerry Goldsmith's score. His instrumental "First Day at Work" catches just the right combination of urban excitement and spritly spirit that accompanies Rebecca and a bevy of beautiful and brainy girls as they make their way in to begin their work as cryptanalysts working in Sebastian's high-tech sweatshop. While the rest of the soundtrack is not up to his Blue Max or Wind and the Lion standards, this one tune alone puts Goldsmith's soundtrack above most movie music.

I would put this one in my list of top 100 movies for its cast, its atmosphere, its music, and its re-watchability. I hope it comes out on DVD soon.

I am sure that my summary above is confusing and I'll need to decode what I am talking about here. If you are looking for a quintessential 1970s film that is completely soaked in what the 70s looked like and sounded like, it's hard to find that better represents it than "Saturday Night Fever". And, when it comes to the 60s, I think "Sebastian" is THE quintessential film of that decade as well-- beginning with the weird opening credits and continuing throughout. Whatever you think of these sorts of films, they are all style, music, glitz, attitude, morals and pizazz--like films created less by scriptwriters and more by fashion designers and pop artists. This isn't at all a complaint--just an observation about style. In "Sebastian", you get all of what made the late 60s so goofy--the clothing, the colors, the sounds, the editing...everything. I think the film looks like a joint project by Peter Max and Twiggy!

Sebastian (Dirk Bogarde) is a mathematical genius. He spends the beginning of the film recruiting more ladies to join his giant government think tank--ladies who can think outside the box and have quick minds. Throughout this process and once they begin their jobs, it soon becomes obvious that Sebastian just ain't normal--he lacks many social skills and is a very independent thinker. This ends up causing problems with the government, as he resists their attempts to control his department and rid it of 'undesirables'. Oddly, however, a new woman to the department, Rebecca (Susanna York) is intrigued by Sebastian and decides very quickly she wants to seduce him--even though his personality is seriously quirky and flawed to say the lest (he shows some signs of Asperger's). The film is about this affair as well as Sebastian's frustrations dealing with folks outside his department who are meddlers...and along the way is another plot, more sinister, involving an old mistress.

So is all this any good? Well, I'd say that the setup for the story is quite good and very intriguing. However, over time the film seemed to lose momentum. Part of it was because occasionally the film showed a bit of a misogyny--such as when Sebastian slapped his new girlfriend across the face. Overall, it's not a bad film but promised to be so much more at the start.

A rather inconsequential film with some rather now dated cinematic ideas is saved by the top line of British acting talent. You can't argue with the cast which includes Dirk Bogarde, Susannah York, Nigel Davenport and John Gieldgud in main roles. 'Sebastian' is also blessed with such an array of acting quality there's no wonder a lot of people really rate the film. The character players include a young Donald Sutherland, the always magnetic and taken from us too soon Janet Munroe (See The Day The Earth Caught Fire), the underrated Ann Beach, and the totally spiffing Ronald Fraser (if you know nothing else by this latter two then try to them together in the excellent Armchair Theatre TV presentation 'A Bit Of A Lift').

For these and other brilliant screen stars to be attracted to this film must mean that there was something in the script that I missed or was missed by the director, or I suppose arguably I just came upon in after it's view by date.

I found the film dated (although I do like British films from the 1960s) and lacking in any real story. I think Bogarde was wrong to say he was not right for the part, he performs well enough but I think a writer such as Le Carre would have fleshed out and nuanced the character and the film as a whole better. My view is that it falls between too many stools not knowing whether it wants to be a hip and happening psychedelic 60s movie, a tale of espionage, a romantic story involving the breaking down of walls, or a comedy farce much beloved of the time.

Despite all these factors I would still recommend a night in with the film if for nothing else than to see brilliant actors tackling greater or lesser roles.

This is a good film to watch if you like British films from the era and especially ones with Dirk Bogarde. It's made with some style but the script is a problem. Though it starts out intriguingly, in the end this espionage film is rather much ado about nothing. The main point of interest in this rarely seen movie now is the equally rarely heard Jerry Goldsmith score, which I rather like. I believe it got an LP release back in 1968, but has never been issued on CD. Perhaps one of the reasons for that, as I've recently read, is that Goldsmith didn't have a good experience doing the score and never had much to say about it or simply didn't want to discuss it at all. Unfortunate, because the score, though minor Goldsmith, does have merit. I hope someday to read just what Goldsmith's problems were with it.

The list of excellent actors and actresses in the film is endless and includes Dirk Bogarde, Susannah York, Sir John Gielgud, Lili Palmer and Nigel Davenport, with many more first-rate performers besides. Add to this the musical talents of Jerry Goldsmith and it is quite an achievement by the Director to create this piece of utter nonsense, especially as some of the screenplay is worthy and the settings very 60's and good. Is this meant to be a serious film? It could only have merit if it was a total send-up of it's decade and spy-films generally, but as Dirk Bogarde later described it as a "non-event," the meaning and intent was obviously lost on him; a big disadvantage as he was the star. This film must have begun with promise and potential for why else would such an array of talent include themselves in it's making? Something after that went radically wrong, but like your other contributors I would gladly purchase a DVD if only, in my case, for curiosity value.