Whether it is accurate in all its details or not, A Man for All Seasons is an attempt to
             present the historical conflict between Thomas More and Henry VIII. The conflict
             could be viewed as merely a political one but neither history nor the filmmakers have
             viewed More's conduct purely in that light, although Henry followed a policy which
             advanced his personal power while it diminished the power of the Church of Rome. Sir
             Thomas More was a moral intellectual who adhered to principles that transcended
             political expediency.. There was a point beyond which he was unwilling to
             compromise his personal convictions.
             Robert Bolt borrows some of Brecht's devices in creating his remarkable play, A Man for
             All Seasons. "I tried then for a bold and beautiful verbal architecture, a story rather than a
             plot, and overtly theatrical means of switching from one locale to another. I also used the
             most notorious of alienation devices, an actor who addresses the audience and comments
             on the action. He is intended to draw the audience into the play." Bolt's
             narrator/participant is a brilliant creation in a tale about "Kings and Cardinals." Playing a
             half dozen parts as functionaries (e.g., servant, boatman, jailer, publican, etc.), The
             Common Man sets the scenes and constantly reminds us that we are watching a play. He
             also, and perhaps most importantly, adds his perspective on all these proceedings, forever
             reinforcing that he is the quintessential man on the street. Occasionally, he jumps right out
             of character, time, and period to give us an historical perspective. He's tricky, loquacious,
             charming, amusing and opinionated, and he most often speaks in the commonsense tones
             And yet as persuasive and amusing as The Common Man is, I think his true function is to
             keep the focus on the one uncommon man in the entire play-Sir Thomas More. In a play
             ripe with religious and political ideas, kings and princes, cardinals ...