NOW HERE IS THE LAKE AND I STILL HAVEN'T CHANGED

When you reach a certain age, you either reconcile with who you are or dye your hair and undergo a sex change. There's no middle ground, I'm afraid—it has to be this binary (pun intended). If you're leaning toward the former, I have good news: so did Clive Wynne Candy (Roger Livesey) in Powell and Pressburger's film masterpiece, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1944).

Contrary to the advice of most screenwriting mentors, such as Robert McKee and others, who insist that all characters must undergo fundamental change or evolution, Clive Wynne Candy (Colonel Blimp) remains steadfast to his authentic self. Despite participating in three wars, falling in love three times with three similar-looking women, and forging a lifelong friendship with the German officer Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff, his innate character remains unchanged by the film's end—and we, the audience, are all the better for it.

Throughout the nearly three-hour runtime, Clive endures countless accusations of sentimentality, naivety, and excessive optimism. Yet, he remains indefatigable and true to himself. For this constancy, he is ultimately rewarded. After losing his wife and seeing his house bombed by the Germans—leaving only an emergency water tank behind—he recalls his wife's first request when they originally moved into their London home:

“Promise you’ll stay just as you are till the floods come. And this is a lake.”

Recognising that he has indeed remained unchanged, Clive quietly defies the classic Harold Macmillan quote about the greatest challenge for a statesman being “events, dear boy, events.”

Reflecting on the unchanging state of his character, he says, “Now here is the lake, and I still haven’t changed.”

So now, as midwinter melancholy threatens to come knocking at my door, bringing with it doubt and regret, I’ll try to avoid the sex change and instead channel my inner Clive Wynne Candy.