Accident

Adapted from the novel by Nicholas Mosley, and with a screenplay by Harold Pinter, this intense psychological drama boasts a stellar cast and bravura performances by its key cast. As a result, the film won the 1967 Grand Jury Prize at Cannes, and was nominated for four BAFTAS.

The film begins with a fatal car accident outside the home of Stephen (Dirk Bogarde), a married Oxford don and a man going through a midlife crisis. Via flashback scenes, we find out how it came to the accident, for its victims played a key part in Stephen’s life. The drunk young driver, William, (Michael Yorke in his screen debut) is killed – as it turns out, he was one of Stephen’s artistocratic students. Survivor of the accident is the beautiful and mysterious Anna (Jaqueline Sassard), a foreign student and William’s fiancée. Stephen has been secretly longing for an affair with Anna and now sees his chance – but he is a married man and an affair with her could be doing him as much harm and it could do him good.

To worsen the situation, Stephen feels threatened by his colleague Charley (Stanley Baker), a man full of sexual prowess and with a budding career in TV ahead of him. During a picnic in his garden, Stephen makes subtle advances to Anna, hoping that neither his wife Rosalind (Vivien Merchant) nor William realise his longing for Anna. However, Charley sees through the scenario and exposes his friend is a playful manner, putting him into a slightly embarrassing situation.
It doesn’t stop Stephen from pursuing Anna, however, as it turns out she is someone with her own agenda – not really feeling strongly for one not the other man.
This is actually made clear during the film’s opening scene, during which we see an injured Anna curiously stepping on the face of her dead and blood-soaked fiancé with her stiletto heels, before Stephen – having heard the car crash from inside his house – rushes to the scene and helps Anna out of the wrecked vehicle. Anna’s behaviour raises the question whether the crash was an accident or a collectively willed catastrophe.

The 1967 film is now available restored on DVD and Blu-ray, with the following, rather wordy bonus material:
• ‘Talking About Accident’ docu featuring an interview with Harold Pinter
• Joseph Losey and Harold Pinter discuss ‘Accident’
• Bogarde biographer John Coldstream discusses Dirk Bogarde
• Pinter expert Harry Burton discusses Harold Pinter
• Interview with feminist author and academic Melanie Williams
• Interview with film critic Tim Robey