Movie satires are tricky things. Sometimes the medicine is too strong and they get banned or shamed \u2014 see Life of Brian and Man Bites Dog. Sometimes they flop, such as Terry Gilliam\u2019s Brazil or Mike Judge\u2019s Idiocracy. Occasionally they just need a little space, as is the case with this humdinger starring Peter Sellers. Time has been kind to the Boulting brothers\u2019 savage religious satire. Few people could stomach it on release, with The Times describing it as \u201ca serious film comedy gone wrong\u201d.<\/p>\n
And it is serious, for its subject is the impossibility of Christian living in a world gone mad. Sellers plays one of his most impressively muted and winningly sweet characters, the Rev John Smallwood. He\u2019s a Brummie vicar and committed socialist who is accidentally sequestered to the odious Surrey parish of Orbiston Parva. There, money-grabbing Little Englanders, venal snobs and working-class layabouts are essentially governed by the Despard family, evil owners of a pharmaceuticals company that makes \u201cTranquilax\u201d \u2014 a combined sedative, stimulant and laxative.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Read more film reviews,<\/b> guides about what to watch and interviews<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Smallwood\u2019s ideals of earthly asceticism somehow appeal to the lonely Lady Despard (a fabulous Isabel Jeans), who initiates a monstrous charity giveaway of local produce and possessions that torpedoes the town\u2019s commercial ecosystem and reveals the intense greed that motivates all citizens.<\/p>\n No, it\u2019s not a laugh riot, but it\u2019s brilliantly persistent in its line of attack. The script from Frank Harvey (I\u2019m All Right Jack) has some beautiful zingers, including one, expertly delivered by Cecil Parker\u2019s slimy archdeacon, that is very Triangle of Sadness: \u201cAnd lying there on the deck of Lord Butler\u2019s yacht, with the sun pouring down on my naked body, I suddenly realised how much easier it is for the rich to lead that truly simple life that our Lord advocated.\u201d Two-for-one cinema tickets at Everyman<\/p>\n Times+ members can enjoy two-for-one cinema tickets at Everyman each Wednesday. Visit thetimes.com\/timesplus<\/a> to find out more.<\/p>\n Which films have you enjoyed at the cinema recently? Let us know in the comments and follow @timesculture<\/a> to read the latest reviews<\/p>\n
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PG, 114min<\/b>
Blu-ray and digital. In Character: The Films of Peter Sellers, BFI Southbank, London SE1, to Aug 30 <\/b><\/p>\n