Synopsis:
A Jewish adman named Leopold Bloom (Milo O’Shea) wanders the streets of Dublin with young poet Stephen Dedalus (Maurice Roëves), reflecting on his adulterous wife (Barbara Jefford) back at home while engaging in his own adventures, both real and imagined.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Ireland
• Marital Problems

Review:
Peary isn’t a big fan of “Joseph Strick’s adaptation of James Joyce’s epic novel.” He argues that the character of Stephen Dedalus (a stand-in for Joyce) is “on screen too briefly and makes insignificant impact,” and notes that while “college lit majors and Joyce scholars will be thankful that this film was made by a devotee of Joyce,” “Strick proves — as he did with Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer [not listed in GFTFF] — that the source is unfilmable, as anyone who has read it (or carried the heavy thing in a bookbag) could have told him.” He argues that this “sleep-inducing, confusing film never sustains [the] flavor or power of [the] novel,” and that “it’s also hard to recognize Joyce’s Dublin or his colorful characters.”

He further asserts that while the “narration is from Joyce,” “Strick’s slapdash choice of images to accompany it is disconcerting.”

He concludes by noting that the “most interesting narration is by Molly as she lies in bed with the sleeping Leopold, whose feet are by her head”:

… and points out that “because the film was made back in 1967 when there were censorship problems, it’s jarring to hear her strong language,” yet “even today it’s still interesting listening to her lengthy discourse on the men in her life” (I agree).

However, I don’t quite agree with the rest of Peary’s take on this film — which is indeed super-challenging to follow, but that’s the nature of the book itself (which I’ll confess to not having read). As I’ve done more research into the storyline and structure of the novel, it seems to me that Strick admirably captures much of the flavor of the story and its characters (though maybe I would feel differently if I’d read and absorbed it first).

While I don’t fully “get” all of Joyce’s allusions, one isn’t supposed to; this is a novel meant to be explored and enjoyed over time, in conversation with others — and I can see how this film might be an interesting accompaniment to that process.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

• Milo O’Shea as Leopold Bloom
  
• Barbara Jefford as Molly Bloom
  
• Wolfgang Suschitzky’s cinematography
  
  

Must See?
No, though of course anyone interested in this novel or James Joyce more broadly will certainly want to give it a look.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review