Keep the Aspidistra Flying (released in the United States, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe as A Merry War) is a 1997 British romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Bierman and based on the 1936 novel by George Orwell.
The screenplay was written by Alan Plater and was produced by Peter Shaw. The film stars Richard E. Grant and Helena Bonham Carter.
Plot
Gordon Comstock (Grant) is a successful copywriter at a flourishing advertising firm in 1930s London. His girlfriend and co-worker, Rosemary (Bonham Carter), fears he may never settle down with her when he suddenly disavows his money-based lifestyle and quits his job for the artistic satisfaction of writing poetry.
Cast
Richard E. Grant as Gordon Comstock
Helena Bonham Carter as Rosemary
Julian Wadham as Ravelston
Jim Carter as Erskine
Harriet Walter as Julia Comstock
Lesley Vickerage as Hermione
Barbara Leigh-Hunt as Mrs. Wisbech (credited as Barbara Leigh Hunt)
Liz Smith as Mrs. Meakin
Dorothy Atkinson as Dora
John Clegg as McKechnie
Bill Wallis as Mr Cheeseman
Lill Roughley as Mrs Trilling
Dorothea Alexander as Old Woman
Peter Stockbridge as Old Man
Grant Parsons as Beautiful young man
Malcolm Sinclair as Paul doring
Derek Smee as Lecturer
Ben Miles as Waiter
Richard Dixon as Head Waiter
Eve Ferret as Barmaid
Production
The title Keep the Aspidistra Flying is a pun on the socialist anthem “Keep the Red Flag Flying” but with the aspidistra houseplant instead representing middle-class English respectability.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 69% based on reviews from 29 critics.
Derek Elley of Variety magazine called it a terrific adaptation, and a “constant, often very funny delight to the ears”. Elley praised the casting but was critical of the uncinematic direction. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3 out of 4 and wrote: “For me it works not only as a reasonable adaptation of an Orwell novel I like, but also as a form of escapism, since if the truth be known I would be happy as a clerk in a London used-book store. For a time.” Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave it a grade A−.
