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Fred Zinnemann: Man For All Seasons
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Zinnemann's own views were influenced by the ways in which civilized European countries embraced Nazism. The Seventh Cross (1944), made at the height of World War II from the best-selling novel by Anna Seghers, looks at the ways in which the civilian population in parts of Europe accommodated, even embraced, Nazism and its values. The Search (1948; Die Gezeichneten), The Men (1950), High Noon, The Member of the Wedding and From Here to Eternity (both 1953), The Nun's Story (1959), A Man for All Seasons (1966), and Julia (1977), all evolve around a moral debate on the themes of conviction and responsibility. Similar preoccupations appear in all his best work. Even seemingly light-hearted films such as Oklahoma! (1955) and The Sundowners (1960) are closely linked to Zinnemann's concerns with families that relocate themselves in new territories and try to rebuild their lives.
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Zinnemann's world is a tougher place than traditionally described and full of hard lessons. Don't expect the law to protect you (High Noon), anymore than the institution to which you've committed your life (From Here to Eternity), and certainly not government apparatchiks (Day of the Jackal). The drive to power is always prepared to murder those in its way (A Man For All Seasons), while religion works more like a cult than a realistic way to deal with the world (The Nun's Story). Life is a cycle where loved ones come and go (The Member of the Wedding), so at least be good to each other and fight the forces of darkness (Julia). If you don't, you'll regret it a lot (Act of Violence).
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Throughout his career Zinnemann favoured a protagonist morally impelled to act heroically in defence of his or her beliefs. Hepburn in The Nun's Story and Cooper in High Noon, determined to confront savage outlaws hungry for revenge, are two other prominent examples. Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More in A Man For All Seasons (1966) gave a brilliant portrayal of a man driven by conscience to his ultimate fate.
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For starters, Zinnemann featured two of Hollywood's greatest Method actors, Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando, in their screen debut: "The Search" (1948) and "The Men" (1950), respectively. Six of Zinnemann's movies were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, and two won: "From Here to Eternity" (1953), with an all-star cast, and "A Man for All Seasons" (1966), with a towering Oscar performance by Paul Scofield, who repeated his stage role.
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[N]ote that Zinnemann doesn't lecture either. And to argue that context and history are necessary isn't to argue for a documentary. It's to understand that the historical doesn't dilute, it intensifies the drama. (What would "A Man for All Seasons" be without Henry VIII?) More important, this, after all, was a significant moment in western history and though some revisionists disagree, it really fell to the Spartans to hold the Persians off while the Greeks, namely the Athenians, figured out how to beat them. (Hint: sea power). The key was unity -- the farmer and the cowman could be friends, as Zinnemann argued in "Oklahoma!" The brainy, refined Athenians and the spear-chucking Spartans understood, both of them, that they had to hang together or they would hang separately.
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Man For All Seasons