The Final Programme (4½ Stars)

Is this a good film? Probably not, but I like it anyway. It's based on the book with the same name, written by Michael Moorcock in 1965, which is one of my favourite novels. That's the reason why I can't watch the film without bias. I have to love the film or hate it. There's no middle ground.

Today I tried to forget the book. I tried to forget everything I knew about it. That's what made me aware of the film's biggest fault: if you don't know the book the film doesn't make sense. The viewer can see that the film is taking place in a post-apocalyptic world, or rather a near-apocalyptic world, but who are the characters? What's their motivation? Why do the Cornelius brothers hate one another? Who are the men with the hats? If you want an explanation you have to read the book. And yet the film is a poor reproduction of the film. More than half of the details have been stripped away, leaving only a psychedelic roller-coaster ride. To do the book justice, the film should have been twice as long.

Jerry Cornelius is the central character of Michael Moorcock's books. All his books. He's the primary incarnation of the Eternal Champion, who has been reborn in many ages and parallel universes. His other incarnations include Elric of Melnibone, Dorian Hawkmoon and Jherek Carnelian. He is also Jesus Christ. He's a genius who solved the Unified Field Theory while he was at school. He's an international playboy. He's a rock musician. He's the man who destroyed the universe and recreated it in his own image.

None of that is apparent from the film.

This was the only one of Michael Moorcock's novels that's been filmed. I can understand why there haven't been others. The scope of Moorcock's books is so great that it would be difficult to portray them on film. Maybe computer graphics are now advanced enough to film the "Dancers at the End of Time" trilogy. That would be a good place to start. "Behold the Man" would be an easier film to make on a medium sized budget, but there might be too many cries of blasphemy. The Elric novels would be more accessible to wider audiences, since they would hardly differ from Conan on screen. I'd most like to see the first four Jerry Cornelius novels being filmed, but it would be a big headache to write a screenplay for the third and fourth books. Maybe Michael Moorcock could do the job himself.

One of the film's greatest strengths is the casting of Jon Finch as Jerry Cornelius. He was perfect for the role, which most people will recognise even if they don't understand the film. I've always considered him an underrated actor, and I asked in my review of "Frenzy" (1972) why he never received the recognition he deserved. Since then I've found the answer in an interview: he didn't want fame! His first role was probably his most famous, as Gareth Leyton, one of the main characters in the British television soap "Crossroads". That made him famous throughout the country, and he didn't like it. He was a quiet man who valued his privacy. For the following 40 years he made enough films and television appearances to make money, but not enough to be well known. He wanted to be able to walk down the street without people asking for his autograph.

That's understandable, but it's still a shame. In 2012 he passed away, and he's practically unknown except to a few fans like me. The world has missed out by not having more of his acting performances to remember him by. Rest in peace.