Fury

An adaptation of Lermontov's novel Vadim which must rate as one of the crassest ventures in years, so God knows how Edward Bond, respected playwright, got himself muddled up with it. Presumably the director, who also has a hand in the script, must shoulder most of the blame; if his writing is anything like his direction, then it must have represented the kiss of death to Bond's contribution. As for the film, it has Reed as an 18th century Russian landowner, given to telling his dog that he's the only one he can trust, and to fondling girls' nighties while one of his peasants is flogged half to death outside. Meanwhile, Vadim (McEnery), a strange new servant bent on avenging the death of his parents at the hands of the tyrannical Reed, incites the masses to agitate. Agitation is likely to be already rife in the audience.