Not too many people speak about Richard Lester, which is surprising considering he is one of cinema’s most interesting directors, but unfortunately fell victim to the fact that, despite making numerous terrific films, never quite had an authorial voice in the same way many of his contemporaries tended to throughout their own careers. The result is a man who made several astonishing films, without ever being able to have his name bolstered alongside them. These films always belonged to someone else – A Hard Day’s Night and Help! were the property of The Beatles (even though Lester’s ability to put a saddle on them and reign them in enough to make something coherent of the insane cultural zeitgeist that surrounded these films), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum was yet another Stephen Sondheim adaptation, and not even his work on two of the best Superman movies from the 1980s managed to give him the chance to overcome some of his relative obscurity. His voice was always overshadowed by something else, which gave him the status as nothing more than a director-for-hire who made solid adaptations of the work of others. However, one of the few films that give Lester the chance to take control is The Knack…and How to Get It. Despite not being his own idea, and having been brought on much later to occupy the vacant director’s chair, Lester managed to make one of the quintessential “Swinging London” films, a refreshingly unique, upbeat comedy that isn’t only a terrific time capsule of a time and place, but also a remarkable work of experimental fiction that gives the director a chance to assert his own style between broad moments, resulting in a wonderfully irreverent film that has aged far better than the majority of other films that occupy this sometimes troublesome sub-genre.

Set in a trendy part of London, Colin (Michael Crawford) is a young primary school teacher who lives a very pedantic existence – he insists everything stay in order, which often puts him at odds with his more loose-cannon friends, who dabble in a touch of disorder from time to time, as well as preventing him from finding any romantic partners, as his insistence on decorum makes him quite a polarizing figure – no one would dare spend more time than it necessary with this young man, whose entire existence hinges on his stubborn refusal to let loose from time to time. His rival and occasional friend Tolen (Ray Brooks) insists that Colin needs to start paying a bit more attention to his behaviour, and how others perceive him, as he is limiting himself from experiencing all life has to offer. He needs to learn how to act around fellow young people and attracting their attention in order to make himself known, a skill that Tolen calls “the knack”, which (if Colin were to be successful in acquiring) would make him irresistible to everyone he meets. The only problem is that Colin is a bit too much of a milquetoast to embrace this ne’er-do-well spirit, and even when he actively pursues a more reckless approach to life, he finds himself stifled by his own limitations. This somewhat changes with the arrival of Nancy (Rita Tushingham), an innocent young woman from the countryside who comes to London to find opportunities and sample of the proverbial “big city life”. She instantly gets caught up in the scheme of Colin, Tolen and their third friend, unhinged artist Tom (Donal Donnelly), and finds herself joining in on their misadventures, while slowly becoming desirable by all of them, with Colin in particular finding her idiosyncratic charms a refreshing change of pace from the faceless models and ingenues that Tolen constantly trots through their squalid apartment, with Nancy’s depth, humour and feisty nature proving to make her a perfect match for the more reserved young man, who has been anxiously anticipating the appropriate impetus to break out of his shell and enter into the intimidating world that awaits him across the doorstep.

The Knack…and How to Get It is not a film that instantly captivates the viewer – it takes some acclimation, especially in the first few sequences, where Lester is establishing both the tone and nature of the imminent proceedings, which are far more chaotic than many viewers might be accustomed to. However, it is still quite a remarkable exercise, and it takes an approach many less-daring filmmakers would dare explore. The film is an experimental work that takes the form of several short vignettes that are strewn together not by virtue of a shared storyline or set of themes, but rather a general atmosphere, which Lester uses to convey the tone of London in the 1960s, an era that those who were around think about fondly, and those who weren’t yearn to experience. The idea of the “Swinging Sixties” has its roots in the kind of trendy, breezy atmosphere that the film establishes her, with the buoyant charm, liberal sexuality that borders on elegant vulgarity and the general theme of rebellion being one of the many reasons why this is an era that so many of us look on fondly, even if we weren’t part of it. The Knack…and How to Get It is akin to the music of the era, rather than the films (which have, unfortunately, aged poorly for the most part), in capturing the spirit of the period in all its exuberant glory, with the eccentricities being a major aspect of the film’s charm, and a firm motivator for this as one of the most quintessential films of the genre. It may have some significant flaws, and be executed in a way that could not be more divisive, but its ultimately quite a fascinating foray into a kind of postmodern filmmaking that never quite took off, not for a lack of trying, but simply because it was a labour of love, with Lester going to great lengths to put together something thoroughly memorable and extraordinarily unique in its own way.

There aren’t many films that manage to capture the feeling of a time and place quite as well as The Knack…and How to Get It, which is ultimately its main selling point, and the reason why it is likely to be either adored by those with a hint of desiderium, the nostalgia for something that one hasn’t experienced themselves, or despised by those looking for something more coherent or traditional. Lester is certainly not a stranger to this kind of free-form, loose filmmaking – his magnum opus, A Hard Day’s Night, was essentially 87 minutes of The Beatles running rampant through London, so this film was very much on-brand for a director whose work always reflected a kind of scattershot narrative that dovetails into something truly compelling only based on the vigour evoked from the more unconventional avenues the story takes, rather than opting to become something more lucid. Arguably, the idea of a film being built around a group of yuppies gallivanting around London, with a large portion of the plot being the protagonist believes he isn’t desirable since he doesn’t have a bed, is not all that appealing, but under the assured direction of someone like Lester, who shepherds an otherwise basic story and turns it into something delightful is more than enough to compensate for the fact that this kind of film is representative of a particular era, one that can’t really be replicated, not only for the differences in values but also because capturing its spirit in an authentic way would just be entirely impossible.

The Knack…and How to Get It, as is evident from how it has somewhat faded into obscurity, is a film that delivers on all of its promises, and not much else. It’s a fun romp through London, made during one of the most fascinating eras in the city’s recent history and demonstrates an elegance not often found in later attempts to revisit this time. Some of its themes are outdated (especially in a contemporary context, where outright sex comedies aren’t all that vogue anymore), but it isn’t weighed down by its more archaic elements and is instead bolstered by its frank, funny and often wonderfully bizarre depiction of the period, where logic isn’t a priority and the audience is tasked with making sense of whatever it is that the film is trying to say. Stylistically and narratively, The Knack…and How to Get It is a fascinating piece of filmmaking, and certainly worth a look, whether it be for those interested in the period, either overall or in terms of the artistic works produced during the time, or simply for those who want a very different kind of comedy, one that proudly doesn’t play by the rules, and instead is more of a relic of an era that is captured with sincerity, grace and honesty by a filmmaker who quietly contributed indelible works and received much too little praise for it. It isn’t too late to realize the genius of Richard Lester, whose reliability and unconventional vision makes him, and his films, some of the most interesting experiments in twentieth-century cinema, with The Knack…and How to Get It being one of the best exemplifications of this.