Becket Introduced by Historian Andrew Romig
Friday March 9, 2012 @ 9:30 PM
1964, US, Peter Glenville, 148 min.
Starring Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole & John Gielgud
Free with $7 bar minimum
Introduced by Historian Andrew Romig
Why this film is unforgettable:
1. A rare chance to see drinking buddies O'Toole and Burton work together
2. Filled with delicious Anouilh logic, as in:
King Henry II: Am I the strongest or am I not?
Thomas Becket: You are today, but one must never drive one's enemy to despair; it makes him strong. Gentleness is better politics, it saps virility. A good occupational force must never crush. It must corrupt.
3. O'Toole's unforgettable line: "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?"
Historian Andrew Romig is a historian of medieval culture. While he is particularly interested in the transformations of European culture and society during the Carolingian late-eighth, ninth, and early-tenth centuries, he has taught and written on such wide-ranging subjects as the history of emotion, masculinity, the history of kindness and philanthropy, travel, medieval Latin and vernacular comparative literature, spirituality, historical and literary theory, and the visual arts. Professor Romig is currently at work on a translation of an important early medieval treatise on representational art ("King Charles's Book Against the Synod") for the University of Toronto Press. He teaches at the Gallatin School of NYU.
