The System (The System (DVD))

Member Name: adambrown400

Product:	The System (DVD)
Date:	20/04/09 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Oliver Reed

Disadvantages: outmoded attitudes

Exuding all the charm of youth, Oliver Reed commands the screen in one of Michael Winner's early screen efforts. The System is a bit of a lost gem, showcasing Reed's early prowess, something that he seemed to lose as the years went on only to return just before his death on the set of Gladiator.

Set in and around Torquay and Brixham, 'The System' is about a group of young men who seek out women among the summer tourists to get their legs over. Tinker, the leader of the group of young men is a beach photographer who loves to use his position to pick up the girls. However, when the young well-to-do Jane Merrow turns up on the scene, the tables are turned and Reed falls in love.

As the film progresses its apparent that Tinker's 'system' has run its course. The younger men in the group are growing up and some are getting in 'the family way'. And then there's David Hemmings, who looks like he might steal Tinker's crown.

You can see how the older generation might have seen the youth of the early 60's as a threat, as they do now. The System is a great social document of the age. Full of 'beat' music and dance halls, it echoes a day and age when this attitude was seen as an acceptable way to carry on. Here, the women get the upper hand at the end of the day and the outmoded attitudes towards sex and abortion are seen as just the way things are.

The beach settings of Torquay and Brixham are a very good choice for Winner who manages to combine the seediness and bucket and spade brigade to great effect. Winner manages to come up with a film that has social relevance, and is more of a 60's film than 'Hard Day's Night' or 'Blowup', it's a shame that more people haven't seen it.
The film is very akin to other kitchen sink dramas from the same period. Its also good to see a young David Hemmings as part of the youthful brigade. Good too are the so-called 'authority' figures Guy Doleman and Harry Andrews. Doleman represents the upper classes, resoundingly berating the oafish Reed who starts to lust after his daughter. The scene when Reed plays the toffs at tennis is one of the highpoints of the film and shows the gulf that exists between the fated lovers.

The fantastic Harry Andrews here plays the owner of the photography shop that Reed works for, and hates everything that Reed stands for. He knows that when all of Reed's posturing comes to an end, he will always come back to work for him and there he will stay forever.

The System is a film that has lost none of its charm over the years. Almost fifty years later, the youthful themes are still relevant today and it shall be remembered as a film that introduced us to the commanding presence of Oliver Reed and the patchiness of the director come insurance advertiser come Question Time panellist Michael Winner.

Summary: An excellent 60's flick