Ulysses movie storyline. Dublin; June 16, 1904. Stephen Dedalus, who fancies himself as a poet, embarks on a day of wandering about the city during which he finds friendship and a father figure in Leopold Bloom, a middle-aged Jew. Meanwhile, Bloom’s day, illuminated by a funeral and an evening of drinking and revelry that stirs paternal feelings toward Stephen, ends with a rapprochement with Molly, his earthy wife.
Ulysses is a 1967 drama film loosely based on James Joyce’s 1922 novel Ulysses. It concerns the meeting of two Irishmen, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus, in 1904 Dublin. Starring Milo O’Shea as Leopold Bloom, Barbara Jefford as Molly Bloom, Maurice Roëves as Stephen Dedalus, T. P. McKenna as Buck Mulligan, and Sheila O’Sullivan as May Golding Dedalus, it was adapted by Fred Haines and Joseph Strick and directed by Strick. Haines and Strick shared an Oscar nomination for the screenplay.
This was the first film adaptation of the novel, 45 years after its publication. The film was shot on location in Dublin on a modest budget. Although the novel is set in 1904, the film portrays the city as it was in the 1960s.
Ulysses was originally rated “X” in the UK after extensive cuts were demanded by BBFC censor John Trevelyan. However, director Joseph Strick replaced the offending dialogue with a series of screeches and sounds, thus rendering the scenes unintelligible. Eventually the film was released uncut in 1970, and the rating was reduced to “15” for the video release in 1996.
In New Zealand, the film was originally restricted to adults over 21 in gender-segregated audiences. The rating was reduced to “M” (suitable for mature audiences over 16) in the 1990s. In 1967, the film was banned in Ireland for being “subversive to public morality”. The ban was upheld by the Films Appeal Board and placed on the film a second time in 1975.
It was eventually lifted in September 2000 at the request of director Strick, although it was screened at the Irish Film Theatre (a private club cinema) in the late 1970s. The first public screening of the film in the country was held in February 2001, with then-censor Sheamus Smith and Strick both in attendance. It went on general release at the IFI from 8 February 2001.
Ulysses (1967)
Directed by: Joseph Strick
Starring: Milo O’Shea, Barbara Jefford, Maurice Roëves, T.P. McKenn, Anna Manahan, Chris Curran, Geoffrey Golden, Maire Hastings, Rosaleen Linehan, Martin Dempsey, Joe Lynch
Screenplay by: Fred Haines, Joseph Strick
Production Design by: Pat Green
Cinematography by: Wolfgang Suschitzky
Film Editing by: Reginald Mills
Art Direction by: Graham Probst
Music by: Stanley Myers
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Continental Distributing (US), British Lion Films (UK)
Release Date: March 14, 1967 (US), June 1967 (UK)
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