Ulysses (1967)

James Joyce's masterpiece incarnated: The story of two seperated Dublin wanderers, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus, struggling to control their personal lives.

Director:

Joseph Strick

Writers:

Fred Haines (screenplay), James Joyce (novel)

Stars:

Milo O'Shea, Barbara Jefford, Maurice Roëves

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Milo O'Shea	...	Leopold Bloom
Barbara Jefford	...	Molly
Maurice Roëves	...	Stephen Dedalus
T.P. McKenna	...	Buck Mulligan
Anna Manahan	...	Bella Cohen
Chris Curran	...	Myles Crawford
Fionnula Flanagan	...	Gerty MacDowell (as Fionnuala Flanagan)
Geoffrey Golden	...	The Citizen
Martin Dempsey	...	Simon Dedalus
Eddie Golden	...	Martin Cunningham
Maire Hastings	...	Mary Driscoll
David Kelly	...	Garrett Deasy
Graham Lines	...	Haines
Desmond Perry	...	Bantam Lyons (as Des Perry)
Rosaleen Linehan	...	Nurse Callan

Storyline

Dublin; June 16, 1904. Stephen Dedalus, who fancies himself as a poet, embarks on a day of wandering about the city during which he finds friendship and a father figure in Leopold Bloom, a middle-aged Jew. Meanwhile, Bloom's day, illuminated by a funeral and an evening of drinking and revelry that stirs paternal feelings toward Stephen, ends with a rapprochement with Molly, his earthy wife.

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Plot Keywords:

stream of consciousness | scatological humor | based on novel | interior monologue | dublin ireland | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1967 (UK)

Also Known As:

Alucinação de Ulisses

Filming Locations:

Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Laser Film Corporation,Ulysses Film Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Mono 4-Track Stereo

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Peter Sellers had also wanted to film James Joyce novel with a Wolf Mankowitz screenplay, and with Peter O'toole and Diane Cilento also starring , but like many Sellers announcements of the time, it failed to get off the ground.

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Quotes

Buck Mulligan: Thus spake Zarathustra!

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Alternate Versions

The "Original Cut" has a 6-minute black-screen-with-music-only introduction, which seems to act as an overture.

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Connections

Referenced in Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001)

User Reviews

Terrific and brave adaptation of a difficult book.

Having enjoyed Joyce's complex novel so keenly I was prepared to be disappointed by Joseph Strick's and Fred Haines's screenplay, given the fabulous complexity of the original text. However, the film turned out to be very well done and a fine translation of the tone, naturalism, and levity of the book.

It certainly helps to have read the original text before viewing the film. I imagine the latter would seem disjointed, with very odd episodes apparently randomly stitched together, without a prior reading of the text to help grasp the plot.

It's amazing to see how "filthy" the film is, given that it was shot in Dublin in 1967. The Irish film censors only, finally, unbanned it for viewing by general audiences in Ireland as late as 2000 (it was shown to restricted audiences in a private cinema club, the Irish Film Theatre, in the late 1970s). Joyce's eroticism is not simply naturalistic and raunchy, it offers many wildly "perverse" episodes. Never mind that so many of these fetishes were unacceptable when the book was published in 1922 - they were still utterly taboo when the film was made in 1967.

It is astonishing and heartening to watch the cream of the Irish acting profession of the 1960s, respected players all, daring to utter and enact Joyce's hugely transgressive text with such gusto.

Bravo!