the audience applauded

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I am sure that my summary above is confusing and I'll need to decode what I am talking about here. If you are looking for a quintessential 1970s film that is completely soaked in what the 70s looked like and sounded like, it's hard to find that better represents it than "Saturday Night Fever". And, when it comes to the 60s, I think "Sebastian" is THE quintessential film of that decade as well-- beginning with the weird opening credits and continuing throughout. Whatever you think of these sorts of films, they are all style, music, glitz, attitude, morals and pizazz--like films created less by scriptwriters and more by fashion designers and pop artists. This isn't at all a complaint--just an observation about style. In "Sebastian", you get all of what made the late 60s so goofy--the clothing, the colors, the sounds, the editing...everything. I think the film looks like a joint project by Peter Max and Twiggy!Sebastian (Dirk Bogarde) is a mathematical genius. He spends the beginning of the film recruiting more ladies to join his giant government think tank--ladies who can think outside the box and have quick minds. Throughout this process and once they begin their jobs, it soon becomes obvious that Sebastian just ain't normal--he lacks many social skills and is a very independent thinker. This ends up causing problems with the government, as he resists their attempts to control his department and rid it of 'undesirables'. Oddly, however, a new woman to the department, Rebecca (Susanna York) is intrigued by Sebastian and decides very quickly she wants to seduce him--even though his personality is seriously quirky and flawed to say the lest (he shows some signs of Asperger's). The film is about this affair as well as Sebastian's frustrations dealing with folks outside his department who are meddlers...and along the way is another plot, more sinister, involving an old mistress.So is all this any good? Well, I'd say that the setup for the story is quite good and very intriguing. However, over time the film seemed to lose momentum. Part of it was because occasionally the film showed a bit of a misogyny--such as when Sebastian slapped his new girlfriend across the face. Overall, it's not a bad film but promised to be so much more at the start.

I haven't seen this movie for at least 25 years so my rating is obviously a shot from the hip. I do recollect enjoying its slightly quirky idea at the time.Featuring Dirk Bogarde, Britain's prettiest closet gay, as yet another handsome heterosexual; he gives his usual competent turn as a cryptologist-par-excellence who is so obsessed with his craft that he can't even concentrate on sexy Susannah York (though we all know the real reason).The movie is an interesting and light-hearted take on the business of code-breaking. Bletchley Park meets swinging sixties. Groovy, baby. It's an unpretentious little relic that seems to have been largely forgotten. Which is a shame, because it deserves an airing from time to time. It makes a great contrast with the coolly laconic and rather more serious 'Ipcress File'.Its cast is really quite amazing for such a 'lost' movie. As well as Bogarde and York there's the irreplaceable John Gielgud, Nigel Davenport, Donald Sutherland, and Ronald Fraser. Even the late Alan Freeman, one of the most enduring pirate/BBC DJ's of the late 20th century plays the part - of a DJ. What more can a movie ask?Worth a watch, if only for such an excellent cast.

This is a good film to watch if you like British films from the era and especially ones with Dirk Bogarde. It's made with some style but the script is a problem. Though it starts out intriguingly, in the end this espionage film is rather much ado about nothing. The main point of interest in this rarely seen movie now is the equally rarely heard Jerry Goldsmith score, which I rather like. I believe it got an LP release back in 1968, but has never been issued on CD. Perhaps one of the reasons for that, as I've recently read, is that Goldsmith didn't have a good experience doing the score and never had much to say about it or simply didn't want to discuss it at all. Unfortunate, because the score, though minor Goldsmith, does have merit. I hope someday to read just what Goldsmith's problems were with it.

The Coolest Of Them All...I have strong reasons to believe that is one of the best movies ever made, for it has achieved an accomplishment that was never achieved by any other so - called classics of the late 60s, like 'Blow-Up!' or even the hideously uneven 'Casino Royale'. It succeeds in exposing London's hypnotic late60s atmosphere as well as telling us, viewers, an interesting and rewarding story. It basically consists on the love story between Sebastian, a counter-intelligence agent that works on deciphering codes for England that recruits to work for him - while recruiting girls for his office, he encounters flashy, fashionable, London chick Becky Howard - played to perfection by Susannah York - who becomes one of his employees as well as his lover. She finds terribly hard to keep up with his cold, uninteresting, unappealing life-style, and of not at all being a priority to the man she loves. She leaves him - and it's his turn to find how difficult life is without her. He beguins to fail on his job, to the point of almost been killed by an enemy agent. He decides to leave his pride and go after her - only to find her living alone with a baby, who turns out to be his! He asks her to come back and events lead to a jolly happy ending.Trust me, this is the most exciting journey into 60s popculture that ever was. The coolest of them all, only topped by the also wonderful 'The President's Analyst', featuring great performances by both leads and for co-starring seniors as Lilli Palmer and Sir John Gielgud, and a beguiling soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith - Listen closely to the tune 'Comes The Night', sung by Anita Harris. Do not, I repeat, do not, miss this one! Yours Truly - Ismar