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Comedy drama

Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1997): Cast & Plot

Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1997) movie poster

Keep the Aspidistra Flying is a 1997 comedy drama directed by Robert Bierman, starring Richard E. Grant as Gordon Comstock, Harriet Walter and Helena Bonham Carter. It runs 1 hour 41 minutes.

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Read the plot summary
Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1997) movie poster
Released
Runtime
1h 41m (101 min)
Director
Robert Bierman
Genres
Comedy , Drama , Romance
Original language
English
Studio
BBC Film
After the credits
No No extra scene
The story

What Is Keep the Aspidistra Flying About?

The premise of Keep the Aspidistra Flying without spoilers. The whole story is in the plot summary further down.

Gordon Comstock works as a copywriter for an advertising firm, while his girlfriend Rosemary designs interiors. Convinced of his literary genius, he abandons his job to pursue a career as a poet, living off his verses. However, his idealism quickly gives way to poverty and hardship.

Keep the Aspidistra Flying Themes & Keywords

· 50 tags
  • writer
  • love
  • 1930s
  • advertising
  • based on novel
  • satire comedy
  • job
  • copywriter
  • poverty
  • poet
  • vomiting
  • river thames
+38 more
  • working class
  • wedding
  • waitress
  • unemployment
  • underwear
  • undertaker
  • tea
  • tea shop
  • survival
  • spinster
  • shaving
  • sex
  • satire
  • rejection
  • reference to the queen of sheba
  • reference to oscar wilde
  • reference to george orwell
  • queen of sheba toilet paper
  • publicity
  • prostitute
  • poetry
  • orgasm
  • old woman
  • old man
  • newspaper
  • money
  • middle class
  • male female relationship
  • literature
  • lecture
  • lambeth london
  • kiss
  • jail
  • hopelessness
  • honesty
  • hearse
  • friend
  • friendship
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Cast & crew

Keep the Aspidistra Flying Cast & Characters

Richard E. Grant leads the cast as Gordon Comstock, with Harriet Walter as Julia Comstock and Helena Bonham Carter as Rosemary. Directed by Robert Bierman; 13 actors are credited in all.

Also Starring in Keep the Aspidistra Flying

· 9 more
From the director

More from Robert Bierman

More films directed by Robert Bierman, best-rated first: Vampire's Kiss, The Moonstone, Apology and The Dumb Waiter.

Full filmography
Plot

Keep the Aspidistra Flying Plot Summary

What happens in Keep the Aspidistra Flying from start to finish, spoilers included, with a timeline of 11 key events. The opening is below; the full summary is a 2-minute read.

Spoilers ahead

In 1930s London, Gordon Comstock, Richard E. Grant, is a successful copywriter at a thriving advertising firm who suddenly abandons his comfortable middle-class life to pursue the artistic satisfaction of poetry. His girlfriend and coworker, Rosemary, Helena Bonham Carter, fears this drastic shift will keep them from settling down. As Gordon drifts away from steady pay, he clashes with the bourgeois values surrounding him, openly resenting his landlady, Mrs Wisbeach, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, and the shop’s customers, while Rosemary’s insistence on restraint adds a quiet strain to their relationship.

Full summary

The whole story of Keep the Aspidistra Flying, scene by scene

Read the full summary
Quiz

How Well Do You Know Keep the Aspidistra Flying?

10 questions about the story, each with a hint if you get stuck. Pick an answer to see whether you were right.

Question 1 of 10

  1. Question 1: not answered
  2. Question 2: not answered
  3. Question 3: not answered
  4. Question 4: not answered
  5. Question 5: not answered
  6. Question 6: not answered
  7. Question 7: not answered
  8. Question 8: not answered
  9. Question 9: not answered
  10. Question 10: not answered

In which decade is the story set?
Details

Keep the Aspidistra Flying Also Known As

11 alternative titles, including “A Merry War” and “La stagione dell'aspidistra”.

Also known as
  • A Merry War
  • La stagione dell'aspidistra
  • Liebe
  • Kunst und Zimmerpflanzen
  • Prazeres Londrinos
  • Sólo por amor
  • Sotaisa rakkaus
  • Una guerra feliz
  • Vidám háború
  • Die Wonnen der Aspidistra
  • Vesela vojna

Seen Keep the Aspidistra Flying?
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Movies Like Keep the Aspidistra Flying

Films with a similar story, tone or audience, including Keep It Up Downstairs, Reaching for the Moon and The Grass Is Greener.

FAQ

Keep the Aspidistra Flying FAQ: Cast & Runtime

Runtime, release date, director, cast and post-credit scenes of Keep the Aspidistra Flying, each answered in a sentence.

How long is Keep the Aspidistra Flying?

Keep the Aspidistra Flying runs 1 hour 41 minutes (101 minutes).

When was Keep the Aspidistra Flying released?

Keep the Aspidistra Flying was released on November 20, 1997.

Who directed Keep the Aspidistra Flying?

Keep the Aspidistra Flying was directed by Robert Bierman.

More films by Robert Bierman

Who is in the cast of Keep the Aspidistra Flying?

Keep the Aspidistra Flying stars Richard E. Grant as Gordon Comstock, Harriet Walter as Julia Comstock and Helena Bonham Carter as Rosemary, among 13 credited actors.

Does Keep the Aspidistra Flying have a post-credit scene?

No. Keep the Aspidistra Flying has no extra scene during or after the credits.

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