The Romantic Englishwoman (1975)

Lewis Fielding (Michael Caine) is a successful novelist. When his wife Elizabeth (Glenda Jackson) takes a trip to Baden-Baden to “find herself” and meets a thief and drug smuggler named Thomas (Helmut Berger), Lewis experiences intense jealousy. Then after Elizabeth returns to England, Thomas invites himself into the couple’s home and slowly but surely begins to interfere with various aspects of their lives. 

Directed by Joseph Losey and co-written by Tom Stoppard and Thomas Wiseman, it’s a brilliant, play-like drama focusing on the relationships between three characters. Thomas is brilliantly ambiguous. We learn almost nothing about him other than how he affects the family he moves in with. At times it felt like it could turn into a sort of horror story, but it was too subtle and nuanced for that. It’s partly about gender roles. It’s also about how the veneer of a wealthy middle-class existence can hide discontent and despair. 

Caine is as watchable as ever, while Jackson is superb as a mother and housewife who seems to have everything and yet feels hopelessly trapped in her world of luxury.

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