Keep the Aspidistra Flying (film)

Keep the Aspidistra Flying (released in the United States, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe as A Merry War) is a 1997 British romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Bierman and based on the 1936 novel by George Orwell. The screenplay was written by Alan Plater and was produced by Peter Shaw. The film stars Richard E. Grant and Helena Bonham Carter.

Plot
Gordon Comstock (Grant) is a successful copywriter at a flourishing advertising firm in 1930s London. His girlfriend and co-worker, Rosemary (Bonham Carter), fears he may never settle down with her when he suddenly disavows his money-based lifestyle and quits his job for the artistic satisfaction of writing poetry.

Cast

 * Richard E. Grant as Gordon Comstock
 * Helena Bonham Carter as Rosemary
 * Julian Wadham as Ravelston
 * Jim Carter as Erskine
 * Harriet Walter as Julia Comstock
 * Lesley Vickerage as Hermione
 * Barbara Leigh-Hunt as Mrs. Wisbech (credited as Barbara Leigh Hunt)
 * Liz Smith as Mrs. Meakin
 * Dorothy Atkinson as Dora
 * John Clegg as McKechnie
 * Bill Wallis as Mr Cheeseman
 * Lill Roughley as Mrs Trilling
 * Dorothea Alexander as Old Woman
 * Peter Stockbridge as Old Man
 * Grant Parsons as Beautiful young man
 * Malcolm Sinclair as Paul doring
 * Derek Smee as Lecturer
 * Ben Miles as Waiter
 * Richard Dixon as Head Waiter
 * Eve Ferret as Barmaid

Production
The title Keep the Aspidistra Flying is a pun on the socialist anthem "Keep the Red Flag Flying" but with the aspidistra houseplant instead representing middle-class English respectability.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 83% based on reviews from 23 critics.

Derek Elley of Variety magazine called it a terrific adaptation, and a "constant, often very funny delight to the ears". Elley praised the casting but was critical of the uncinematic direction. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3 out of 4 and wrote: "For me it works not only as a reasonable adaptation of an Orwell novel I like, but also as a form of escapism, since if the truth be known I would be happy as a clerk in a London used-book store. For a time." Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave it a grade A−.