MovieChat Forums > Alfie (2004) Discussion > Abortion (spoiler)

Abortion (spoiler)

posted 12 years ago by funky_dunc
2 replies | jump to latest

I think this film was brilliant and stands up well against the 1966 version.

But one plot point did bug me. In 1966, when abortion was illegal in the UK, the wife of his friend that Alfie impregnates goes through with the procedure, and the result is one of the most amazing pieces of acting in Michael Caine's career. In 2004 this film fudged the issue, despite the fact that abortion is legal in the USA and does have an affect on real people.

I really think they missed an opportunity here.

[–] hurricane_greg86-596-716877 10 years ago

It's because the minute they show that the idea of abortion not being just a procedure is gone. The fact us that with some people (I said some) who do have one or in the case of Alfie men who feel guilt ridden over the fact that they see the fetus as a living being that they have allowed to be killed.

[–] IMDB_Vits 8 years ago

I disagree. I don't think it was about tackling or not a controversial issue. The point of this remake was to make the character more sympathetic and the makers wanted to achieve that by showing his guilt. ALFIE offers his help but LONETTE replies "What could you do?". That made the situation more dramatic: It made him feel worthless.

There's another possible reason: The makers didn't want every plot twist to be exactly the same as they were in the original.