The Last Romantics

The Last Romantics is a great opportunity to see Rufus - The Young & Luscious - and Alan Cumming - The Young & Innocent. A nice little film about a professor at Cambridge (Ian Holm) who has taken a student (Cumming) under his wing, as was done for him in his younger days by his mentor (Leo McKern of "Rumpole"). Through flashbacks, we see parallels between the past & present life of Holm's character.

But! Let's focus on Rufus, who is Cumming's roommate. He plays a militant, rebellious student who seems at first to be domineering and opinionated. Later we see a soft streak that is quite endearing. Think of Will Ladislaw on speed.

Some very good moments - when Rufus & Alan go to tea at Holm's house and his wife is quite put out - but the surprise is by whom! And when Alan climbs a steeple because Rufus tells him to.

A nice film with great acting by all.

Thanks to Louise for going that extra mile to obtain a copy!

From: Jenny - Philadelphia, US

This film is about a Doctor of Literature at Cambridge (the always brilliant Ian Holm) and his relationship with a pupil, played by the sublime Alan Cumming. The film is about Leavis’ (Holm) intellectual and spiritual journey through his teaching and his life’s devotion to literature.

The film is slow paced and it is not until mid-way through that Leavis articulates just what his motivation is, that he is “ … looking for ‘the moment’. There is, I think, in everyone’s life a moment where they become what they are going to be in years ahead”. But it is after this statement that it becomes evident that Leavis, who had always looked for meaning in words, questions that his dependence on literature may have insulated him from action. His major conflict is with Rufus Sewell’s character, Mike Costain, the quintessential “angry young man” who is keen on protesting, even if what he is protesting isn’t as important as the right to protest itself. Leavis’ describes this preoccupation with protest as “protective camouflage for intelligent people”. There is a wonderful gesture Ian Holm makes when talking to Rufus and the student protesters where he has a fleeting look of distaste and briefly sniffs as if he has smelled something rotten. Costain irritates Leavis greatly (“Silence unnerves you doesn’t it) because he’s based his life on the written word of the poets and romantics, whereas Costain runs his life by speech and action. Caught in the middle is Tulloch (Alan Cumming) – Leavis’ student and Costain’s roommate. Costain has such control over Tulloch (“… he does anything I say … he’s my pupil in a school of one”) that it undermines everything Leavis has been teaching him. It also causes Leavis to re-examine his own life and work.

The story is told through a series of flashbacks, interspersed with quotations from Milton, Eliot and Wordsworth, designed to show how Leavis disconnects himself from the outside world through poetry. He used Milton as a way to make sense of all he had seen as an ambulance worker in World War I. Since he was not a soldier, he was an observer rather than an active participant and therefore has a sense of detachment from the horrors of the war. This is how he goes through his life. His finally sees now that the poetry of the Romantics, especially Wordsworth, is about looking back at better times, when you are first starting out. He sees himself in Tulloch and through tutoring him, Leavis comes to realize that this is what his mentor was trying to tell him many years before. In essence Leavis is in a battle with Costain over his student. In the end, Tulloch chooses actions over words.

There is much going on in this film, and the slow pacing makes it feel longer than it is. The performances are overall good – especially Sara Kestelman as Leavis’ wife Queenie. There is a terrific scene where Costain and Tulloch are invited for tea and end up getting a lesson in poetry from Queenie. She gives a dead-on diatribe on dissecting poetry: “All writers are on trial, don’t you think, the moment they put pen to paper. Trouble is, people are frightened of making judgments and sticking to them. There’s a great spirit of cowardice abroad.”

Rufus has a relatively small but pivotal role. He looks very young (the film was made in 1991) and wonderfully scruffy (unshaven). Costain has a permanent chip on his shoulder and scowls throughout. Rufus does a good job with a character that is not well defined. His performance keeps Costain from becoming a stereotypical late-60’s student radical and instead makes him an enigma.

From Louise: Chester UK

A friend of mine whom I will be eternally grateful to sent me a copy of this tape, I had had it in my posession for weeks before I finally got a minute free to watch it.

The story is fairly simple. A middle aged English Literature lecturer - played by Ian Holm, very well - takes a shine to a student who is struggling with his studies - Tulloch, played by Alan Cummings -. Tulloch's struggle seem to mirror the inner turmoil that is affecting the lecturers own appreciation of literature.

Tulloch is also affected by sharing rooms with Costain - played by Rufus - the college rebel, who detests literature and anything associated with the middle classes. Rufus plays the role exceedingly well, managing to look like a beatnik and an intellectual rebel with aplomb! He also brings a much needed freshness to the screen which without his presence would just be people sitting around talking about poetry ....

Costain brings turmoil to both Tulloch's and the lecturers lives, causing both of them to rethink their view of the world, and it leaves you with a better appreciation of how literature affects people and their lives.

If your favourite movie of Ruf's was Dark City, you may not enjoy this, if it was A Man of No Importance, you will love it, Rufus' role is not large, but it is pivotal ...