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''Confessions of a Window Cleaner'' is a 1974 British sex comedy film, directed by Val Guest.〔Leach, p.132〕 Like the other films in the ''Confessions'' series; ''Confessions of a Pop Performer'', ''Confessions of a Driving Instructor'' and ''Confessions from a Holiday Camp'', it concerns the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea, based on the novels written under that name by Christopher Wood. Each film features Robin Askwith and Antony Booth. ==Background== The film is essentially an adaptation of a sex novel printed in paperback form. It was adapted for the screen in the 1970s, when the British film industry produced a large number of film adaptations of literary works. Sian Barber cites other examples of this trend: ''Jane Eyre'' (1970), ''Wuthering Heights'', ''Black Beauty'' (1971), ''The Go-Between'' (1971), ''Kidnapped'' (1972), ''Treasure Island'' (1973), ''Gulliver's Travels'' (1977), ''The Thirty Nine Steps'' (1978), and ''The Riddle of the Sands'' (1979). 〔Barber (2013), p. 94-95〕 Sian Barber points that adaptations of highbrow material (for example, works by Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, Iris Murdoch) and Middlebrow material (for example, works by William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, D. H. Lawrence) were hardly unusual by the 1970s. But points to ''Confessions'' as an early adaptation of low brow popular literature. 〔Barber (2013), p. 94-95〕 〔Barber (2013), p. 110-124〕 The series of source novels about Timmy Lea had benefited from a literary forgery, the notion that Lea was not a fictional character but the actual author. The series was a sexual fantasy masquerading as confessional writing, a genre which tends to attract audiences. When novice film producer Greg Smith became interested in adapting the novels to screen, the hoax was maintained and Timmy Lea received credits as the author of the source material. The actual author and screenwriter, Christopher Wood, hardly resembled his creation. 〔Barber (2013), p. 110-124〕 ''Confessions'' was a low-budget film, with a budget of 100,000 pounds sterling, but not really an independent film. Producer Michael Klinger tried to secure funding from independent investors, but most of the funding actually came from Columbia Pictures. This was a fact telling for its period. The condition of the economy of the United Kingdoms in the early 1970s had left part of the British film industry dependent on American funds. 〔Barber (2013), p. 110-124〕 Being also released through Columbia, the film was the beneficiary of a marketing campaign. It was promoted through advertisements in television and tie-ins in bookstores.〔Hunt (1998), p. 31-33〕 The film benefited from changes in the Culture of the United Kingdom, with an increasingly permissive society and changes in aspects of the censorship standards. 〔Barber (2013), p. 110-124〕 Its aesthetics, themes, and characters derive in part from the then-popular genre of the British sitcom. The working class family, as depicted by the Leas, is not much different from its counterparts in ''On the Buses'' (1969–1973) and ''Bless This House'' (1971–1976). Timmy's father has the habit of collecting discarded items and bringing them home, making him reminiscent of Albert Steptoe from ''Steptoe and Son'' (1962–1974). His mother has the habit of buying consumer items on credit, making her reminiscent of Mrs Butler from ''On the Buses''.〔Barber (2013), p. 110-124〕 This film series also made a point of casting actors already familiar to television audiences. The idea was probably to attract said audience to the cinema. There was a trend at the time for successful sitcoms to be adapted in film, which produced hits such as ''Dad's Army'' (1971), ''On the Buses'' (1971), ''Up Pompeii'' (1971), ''Steptoe and Son'' (1972). The sitcom-like ''Confessions'' could probably appeal to the same audience. 〔Barber (2013), p. 110-124〕 Leon Hunt, when examining the success of these films, notes their positions in the Top Twenty of the British box office. In 1971, ''On the Buses'' was the 2nd greatest hit of the year, following ''The Aristocats'' (1970). ''Up Pompeii'' was 8th and ''Dad's Army'' was 10th. The only other British comedies which surpassed them were There's a Girl in My Soup (1970, 4th in its year) and ''Percy'' (5th). 〔Hunt (1998), p. 31-33〕 Hunt argues that the ''Confessions'' films combined the style of the "sitcom films" with sexploitation. He suggests the terms "sexcom" as the result of this blending of genres. 〔Hunt (1998), p. 31-33〕 The interior of the Lea house was depicted as brightly lit and filled with eccentric items of doubtful use, such as a moose head and a gorilla suit. The characters are confined to the "cramped" space of every depicted room, again reminiscent of the sets of a sitcom. The confinement itself suggests claustrophobia, and Sian Barber suggests a connection to another low-budget genre of the time with cramped locations and gaudy scenery: the British horror film. 〔Barber (2013), p. 110-124〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Confessions of a Window Cleaner」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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