When successful advertiser Gordon Comstock (Richard E. Grant) abruptly walks away from his career to pursue his dream of being a poet, his path is much more difficult than expected. Directed by Robert Bierman. Inspiring drama about a successful advertising executive who finds leaving his career behind to become a poet more challenging than he thought. A Merry War (First Look Pictures) is a handsomely mounted English romantic satire about a self-styled poet. A Merry War ★★★ Keep the Aspidistra Flying 1997Gordon Comstock (Grant) is a frustrated adman in London, circa 1935. Showing all 1 items Jump to: Summaries (1) Summaries. NapaShakes Dramaturg Dr. Philippa Kelly on the “Merry War” of Much Ado About Nothing “You must not, sir, mistake my niece. There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick and her: they never meet but there’s a skirmish of wit between them.” (Leonato, Much Ado About Nothing.) Gordon believes he is a genius, a marvelous poet and quits the ad agency, trying to live on his poems, but poverty soon comes to him. The film's newer title phrase "A Merry War" appears in the middle of the original book when Gordon & Rosemary go hiking in Chater 6, which I quote: "Each laughed with delight at the other's absurdities. Keep the Aspidistra Flying (released in the United States and New Zealand as A Merry War) is a 1997 British romantic comedy film directed by Robert Bierman and based on the novel by George Orwell.The screenplay was written by Alan Plater and was produced by Peter Shaw. He believes that his comfortable middle-class lifestyle is stifling his creativity (he is mistakenly lead to believe that he is a poet when he gets published). At first encouraged by a prior publishing of his work, Comstock has trouble finding work, and soon financial problems begin to pile up. His military metaphors can be seen as an attempt to normalise Beatrice’s behaviour by referring to a standard ‘masculine’ activity. Gordon believes he is a genius, a marvelous poet and quits the ad agency, trying to live on his poems, but poverty soon comes to him. Gordon Comstock is a copywriter at an ad agency, and his girlfriend Rosemary is a designer. Leonato has to intervene, explaining that she’s engaged in ‘a kind of merry war’ with Benedick: ‘they never meet but there’s a skirmish of wit between them’ (1.1.45–47). Gordon Comstock is a copywriter at an ad agency, and his girlfriend Rosemary is a designer. A Merry War (1997) Plot. Even as they disputed, arm in … The movie is based on an early George Orwell novel, and director Robert Bierman captures the styles and attitudes of Britain in the '30s with amused detachment. Leonardo describes the relationship between Benedict and Beatrice thusly, There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedict and her. "A Merry War" refers, among other things, to the embattled relationship between George and Rosemary, a sensible graphic artist at his advertising agency who endures George's abuse and outrageous self-dramatization with a patient tenacity. With Richard E. Grant, Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Wadham, Jim Carter. The film stars Richard E. Grant and Helena Bonham Carter. There was a merry war between them. They never …