"All the tins and bottles I have to throw away. What will become of them?" John McEnery plays Bartleby, a newly employed accounts clerc, who 'prefers not to' do the work demanded of him. His co-workers and boss are all puzzled by his behaviour, and his boss is determined to keep giving him more chances to redeem himself. But eventually the Accountant (Paul Scofield) has to admit defeat and sacks Bartleby, but this doesn't prevent him from turning up for work as usual.
McEnery plays Bartleby in an almost autistic way, sucking any life out of the character and scenes that he is in; an almost black hole like performance, and I don't mean this in a bad way. The direction adds to this feeling, with a wonderfully inventive view of the city and its buildings. To me its an alagory on the soullessness of the city, with a pervasive sense of sadness that corrodes all.
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