Alfie- Scene analysis

Alfie is a 1966 British romantic comedy drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert starring Michael Caine. The narrative focuses on working class and young people along with Alfie, the main protagonist. The film was released by Paramount pictures. 'Alfie' is a typical film of this genre since the narrative takes place in London. This reinforces the idea of the capital being the cultural centre of the 'swinging sixties'. However instead of focusing on the swinging sixties, the movie focues more on the harsh reality in the 60's.

The first scene is a scene of dogs, as well as Alfie and another woman having sex in the car which shows Alfie doesn't even care if the woman is married. We can instantly assume that Alfie doesn't treat girls very well, because of the way he is talking to her. Michael Caine plays a very self centered character, he treats women with disrespect and refers to them as 'it', using them for sex and domestic purposes. The setting is very dark since its night time, and the act is carried out in a car. It's private which means that no one can catch them,and that is what Alfie wants. He's a very sly character who would find their way out of everything. If for example he gets a woman pregnant, he persuades her to have an abortion which shows that he just doesn't care. Abortion would be something frowned upon in the 60's,and it was a great hassle if anyone went to get an abortion. Alfie however see's abortion as the onl way out,so he persuades any woman he impregnates to have an abortion. He definitely enjoys the favour of women, but is avoiding any commitment. This would mean that Alfie is definitely in conflict with the traditional family values, and sex before marriage. We could also say that he is a risk to families and their traditional values.

Even though most of the women in the film are portrayed as promiscous, 'Alfie' shows us a bit of women independance. Ruby, who was one of Alfie's lovers rejected him after a while,since she wanted someone younger. We start to realise that Ruby was more dominant and in power in that moment.

The dogs, especially one particular dog is the representation of Alfie, basically always doing what he wants. Its a very clever visual metaphor.The first scene also begins with slow jazz music. It is non diegetic and it and it represents the character of Alfie and the time period. Since its slow paced, we can link it to Alfie's casual and relaxed attitude to life.

Alfies posture and the way he talks can also hint to us that Alfie doesn't really care about anything, unless its himself. He is very laid back and reckless, in the terms of the amount of women he sleeps with. He carries on the tradition of antihero's. The way he treats women is a representation of the limited gender roles. (We see this through Gilda, Lily and Annie).