Petulia

This is, for many, Lester’s masterpiece, and certainly the work that confirmed him as a mature filmmaker. After a decade of helming mod British films, American Lester delivered a stinging portrait of his homeland in the late 1960s, where trends and mores change faster than people can adjust to them. A recently divorced, burned-out San Francisco surgeon, Archie Bollen (a magnificent George C. Scott), is captivated by the young, free-spirited Petulia (Julie Christie). Married to psychotic David (Richard Chamberlain), she’s drawn to the stable Archie and his gentle hands. Dazzlingly shot by Nicolas Roeg (who would later direct Don’t Look Now), Petulia marries Lester’s cinematic techniques with a study of discontent worthy of Antonioni.