Alfie (1966)

About thirty seconds into Alfie, I couldn’t help but laugh at how it would be received if released today. I haven’t seen the 2004 remake starring Jude Law, but one would assume the treatment of women is more similar to that of 2022 than 1966. Still, it’s utterly pointless losing the plot over the way things were in 1966; we can’t rewrite history, but we can look back, analyse, and move forward. If the TV series Mad Men is as historically accurate as some would have you believe, then Alfie paints a similarly precise portrayal of the time in which it came to pass. Michael Caine’s Alfie is something of a playboy, treating women with discard but ultimately not disdain, an important distinction that comes to fruition in the closing scenes of the film. Frequently bedding different women every night, Alfie breaks the fourth wall throughout the film, explaining his behavior to his audience, and why he behaves to ‘birds’ in the way he does. After impregnating a (sort of) girlfriend early on, Alfie slowly learns what’s important to people in life, and indeed why; and by a truly shocking sequence towards the films’ end, has at the very least been able to appreciate the other end of the telescope. It’s scrappy and its titular character is a problematic individual, but the controversies that one might find with it today stem from the character himself; and analysing the film from a critical point of view (as one should) how much you enjoy the film might depend on how you take to Caine’s portrayal of the character. It’s an interesting document from a time that is so utterly different to now; I remain genuinely interested to see the newer version and assess them side-by-side. 6.8/10