{"id":952,"date":"2008-08-22T01:30:36","date_gmt":"2008-08-22T06:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=952"},"modified":"2022-10-14T18:42:42","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T22:42:42","slug":"o-lucky-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/o-lucky-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Malcolm McDowell tries not to die like a dog in Lindsay Anderson’s O Lucky Man!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the course of its truly epic length of 177 minutes, Lindsay Anderson<\/a>‘s O Lucky Man!<\/em> (1973) picks up the continuing saga of Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell) from If…<\/em><\/a>. While If….<\/em> used a British public school as a metaphorical microcosm with which to satirize British class culture, O Lucky Man!<\/em> widens its lens to take in all of England for its bleak portrait of capitalism triumphant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travis appears to have matured out of his schoolboy fantasy of perpetrating a school massacre and has since joined the corporate world. Because of McDowell’s inherently impish persona, one might not expect his character here to be sincere, but Travis is now ruthless and genuinely willing to endure anything to climb the ladder of profit and social advancement. Early on, he is urged by a senior colleague to “try not to die like a dog,” but it’s a warning he is never equipped to quite comprehend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"O
“When do we live?”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

His journey is so long and involved that it would hardly count as a spoiler to recount it here: Travis is promoted from the lowest rung on the corporate ladder all the way up to a high-level mission, yet he has been set up to fail. As he is ordered around the English countryside by his officebound superiors, he becomes lost on the way to Scotland, is arrested and tortured by the army, survives a military strike by an unseen enemy, stumbles into an idyll, is nursed back to health (er, literally<\/em>), donates his body to medical research, falls in with Alan Price<\/a>‘s touring band (including groupie Patricia (Helen Mirren), talks his way into the employ of the most venal businessman in England after his previous assistant’s timely suicide (a prime example of Travis’ alleged “luck”), becomes party to illegal chemical weapons sales in a corporate-funded civil war in a third-world nation, takes the fall for his boss, is imprisoned to five years of hard labor, is evidently reformed, tries and fails to talk a poor woman out of suicide with a hilarious litany of trite platitudes, is robbed and becomes homeless, tries to proselytize like Jesus and is, finally and fittingly, stoned by his peers. But in the the end, he is discovered as a future movie star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"O
So long and thanks for the milk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An early form of David Sherwin’s script was written by McDowell himself, based on his own experiences as a coffee salesman. I think it’s fair to presume that the beginning and ending are drawn directly from McDowell’s life story. At opposite ends of the film, the fortunate Travis is chosen from the masses for higher callings. The young man at the beginning is all too eager to commence his journey, but the beaten-down and disillusioned man at the end is no longer able to take any pleasure out of his unlucky luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Must read: everything you could possibly want to know about O Lucky Man<\/em><\/a>, from MalcolmMcDowell.net<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the course of its truly epic length of 177 minutes, Lindsay Anderson‘s O Lucky Man! (1973) picks up the continuing saga of Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell) from If…. While If…. used a British public school as a metaphorical microcosm with which to satirize British class culture, O Lucky Man! widens its lens to take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16,2],"tags":[903,77,363,905,904,902,156,155,152,901,153,906],"class_list":["post-952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-4-stars","category-movies","tag-alan-price","tag-comedy","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-helen-mirren","tag-if","tag-lindsay-anderson","tag-malcolm-mcdowell","tag-mick-travis","tag-o-lucky-man","tag-satire","tag-united-kingdom"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/o-lucky-man-feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-fm","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":976,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/britannia-hospital\/","url_meta":{"origin":952,"position":0},"title":"Malcolm McDowell checks in to Lindsay Anderson’s Britannia Hospital","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"August 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Since we've last seen Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell) in O Lucky Man!, he's moved to America and rediscovered his lust for power and profiteering. Now a member of the media (with no less than Luke Skywalker - Mark Hammill - on his crew), he has returned to his homeland on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Britannia Hospital","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/britannia-hospital-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/britannia-hospital-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/britannia-hospital-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/britannia-hospital-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/britannia-hospital-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":923,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/malcolm-mcdowell-plays-public-school-war-games-in-lindsay-andersons-if\/","url_meta":{"origin":952,"position":1},"title":"Malcolm McDowell plays public school war-games in Lindsay Anderson’s If….","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"July 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"If.... is the first in director Lindsay Anderson's trilogy of films featuring Malcolm McDowell as the Mick Travis, whose misadventures continue in O Lucky Man! and Britannia Hospital. Everything I read about the trilogy repeats the same word to descibe Travis: \"everyman.\" On the evidence, I take this instance particular\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5210,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/darren-aronofsky-mother-2017-movie-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":952,"position":2},"title":"Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!” earns its exclamation point","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"December 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Darren Aronofsky's mother! is an allegory so undisguised that it barely qualifies as one. It's more like a cinematic smoothie: blend one (1) King James Bible, the Big Bang \/ Big Crunch Wikipedia article, a heavy splash of Lars Von Trier-esque literal-as-metaphorical torture of a beautiful woman, season to taste\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jennifer Lawrence in mother!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/mother.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/mother.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/mother.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/mother.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/mother.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":906,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/vantage-point\/","url_meta":{"origin":952,"position":3},"title":"The Rashomon effect in Pete Travis’ Vantage Point","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"July 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Vantage Point is an awesome technical achievement, and I don't mean that to damn it with faint praise. Director Pete Travis and writer Barry Levy demonstrate excellent plotting, spatial sense, editing, logistics, and continuity. As a thriller it moves forward relentlessly, and feels comprehensible, self-contained, and very satisfying. It is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Vantage Point","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/vantage-point-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/vantage-point-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/vantage-point-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/vantage-point-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/vantage-point-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1721,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/happy-go-lucky\/","url_meta":{"origin":952,"position":4},"title":"Sally Hawkins Finds a New Opportunity in Every Setback in Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"April 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a creature rarely encountered in movies and even less often in real life: someone genuinely happy. She's not bothered by others' life goals; at 30, she doesn't have a baby or a boyfriend, own a house, or know how to drive, and none of these concerns\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sally Hawkins in Happy Go Lucky","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/happy-go-lucky-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/happy-go-lucky-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/happy-go-lucky-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/happy-go-lucky-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/happy-go-lucky-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1687,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/bottle-rocket\/","url_meta":{"origin":952,"position":5},"title":"On the Run from Johnny Law in Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"March 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Wes Anderson and co-writer Owen Wilson's feature debut Bottle Rocket is based on their 1992 short film of the same name. Like Kevin Smith's Clerks and Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, Bottle Rocket may not have turned the world upside down, but is now viewed as a key filmmaker's ur text.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bottle Rocket","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/bottle-rocket-field.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/bottle-rocket-field.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/bottle-rocket-field.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/bottle-rocket-field.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/bottle-rocket-field.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6396,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions\/6396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}