The Artist (2011)

The Artist was a triumph at the 2012 Academy Awards, winning five Oscars, including Best Actor for Jean Dujardin.  It perhaps was not an obvious candidate for success, being a black and white silent movie.  Or maybe that was part of the charm….either way, it was a deserving winner, for showing that excellent films do not always require huge budgets – this was comparatively cheap to make, but provided top-notch entertainment!

The film starts in 1927, and Jean Dujardin plays George Valentin, a hugely popular silent movie star.  Berenice Bejo plays Peppy Miller, a young starlet, just starting out in the movies, who meets Valentin and stars with him briefly in one film.  Two years later, and talking films are the new craze, while Valentin is seen as a has-been.  Meanwhile, Peppy is finding ever more success in the movie industry.  As Valentin falls on hard times, he grows depressed and bitter.  But there may be someone who can help him….

Sometimes when films are a novelty of sorts – which a black and white silent film certainly is these days – once the novelty has worn off, there is not much underneath.  I’m happy to say that I did not think this was the case whatsoever in this film.  Dujardin and Bejo both sparkle in their roles, and have great chemistry and charisma.  Peppy (by name and by nature) is adorable, but in the hands of a lesser actress, could easily have just been annoying.  Dujardin perfectly captures the fall from grace of George Valentin – adored and revered at first, but he soon becomes yesterday’s news, and he really struggles to cope.  And of course, his beloved and loyal dog Uggy, is just adorable!

I did find it quite a strange experience watching a film with no dialogue – it’s just not something that we are used to today, where often snappy and witty dialogue is required.  However, The Artist illustrates that you can tell a charming story without speaking – the expressions and movements of the actors, together with the sets, tell the story perfectly.

There are shades of Singin’ In The Rain in this film, dealing as it does with a similar theme – that of talking movies causing problems for silent actors.  In fact, in some scenes, Dujardin really does resemble Gene Kelly, and while I don’t know for sure, I am sure that some scenes were a direct nod to the Kelly classic.

Anyway, it’s the kind of film that I think needs to be seen to be appreciated.  I would certainly recommend it, and have no doubt that I will be watching it again in the future.

Year of release: 2011

Director: Michel Hazanavicius

Producer: Antoine de Cazotte, Daniel Delume, Richard Middleton, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Jeremy Burdek, Nadia Khamlichi, Thomas Langmann, Emmanuel Montamat, Adrian Politowski, Gilles Waterkeyn, Jean Dujardin

Writer: Michel Hazanavicius

Main cast: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell

Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)

Julie Andrews plays Millie Dillmount, a young woman who comes to New York in 1922, with the sole intention of getting a job and marrying her (rich) boss.  However, when she meets happy-go-lucky Jimmy Smith (James Fox), she has to decide where her priorities lie.  And then there’s the issue of the women at Millie’s hotel being captured and forced into slavery.

While I had some doubts about the tastefulness of using sex slavery as a comedic plot point, I must admit that I very much enjoyed this film.  There are a couple of scenes showing some of the girls who have been sold into slavery, and they did cause a bit of a jolt, as it is so unexpected in a frothy musical comedy.

The film is intentionally farcical, and did cause me to dissolve into giggles on occasion.  In a nod to earlier silent films, Andrews often breaks the fourth wall by looking directly into the camera at the viewer, and her thoughts are then shown on screen in the form of title cards.  There are also some very funny musical interludes (such as the ‘Haaaaaallelujah!’ when Millie first lays eyes on her handsome boss Trevor Graydon).  As it set in the 1920s, the costumes are as lovely as you might imagine, and Andrews herself is just adorable.  Equally endearing is Mary Tyler Moore as Millie’s friend Miss Dorothy, and James Fox and John Gavin provided excellent support as Jimmy and Trevor respectively.  Carol Channing pops up as a rich widow who befriends Millie, and certainly makes her mark with a hilarious song and dance routine!  It is only because the cast as a whole is so strong, that Beatrice Lillie did not steal the entire film as the evil Mrs Meers, manageress of the hotel, and the main villain behind the slavery business.

This kind of film isn’t for everyone and I can imagine that some people might find it an irritant, but I really enjoyed it.  As long as you can abandon all sense of logic and realism (and the film is really not meant to be realistic), I would say that this is a treat for fans of musicals.  Needless to say, Julie Andrews is in excellent voice.  Recommended.

Year of release: 1962

Director: George Roy Hill

Producer: Ross Hunter

Writers: Richard Morris

Main cast: Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore, James Fox, John Gavin, Beatrice Lillie, Carol Channing

‘The Dinner’ by Herman Koch (minor spoilers)

Paul and Claire Lohman are meeting Paul’s brother Serge and Serge’s wife Babette at an expensive restaurant.  The evening starts off normally enough, but it becomes clear that the meeting is more than just a social engagement.  The teenage sons of the two couples have been caught on CCTV, committing a horrific offence, and while they have not yet been publicly identified, their parents have recognised their children as the perpetrators, and have met to decide what to do.  Serge is concerned about the effect it will have on his own future, as he is a popular candidate to be the next Prime Minister, and all four are concerned about the futures of their sons.

The premise of this book fascinated me, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I felt that some parts were somewhat unrealistic.  The story is narrated by Paul, who, it becomes clear, has significant anger management problems, which may be genetic, and which he may have passed on to their son Michel.  As he described the restaurant with disdain (understandable at times), he also described the events that had led up to the discovery of his son’s crime, and talks about things in the family’s past.

All four characters, with the possible exception of Babette, were to me, extremely unlikeable.  Initially I liked Claire a lot, but towards the end of the book her actions become perhaps unbelievable, and certainly inexcusable.  Neither she nor Paul seems particularly horrified by their son’s actions, and in fact seem determined to cover them up and excuse them by any means necessary.

The over-riding thing that I noticed about the story was how many secrets the characters kept from each other, and even from the reader.  This became clearer the further I read.  The writing was insidious – it got under my skin and I genuinely found this book hard to put down; there is a kind of sinister undertone running through it.  At first, the narration is innocuous – you might even say banal – with Paul talking about the things that irritated him about the pretentious restaurant they are eating in, but then things take a turn, and we are plunged into something much more shocking.

I’m not sure that the ending was one I liked, but it was certainly one that I didn’t expect, and it is a book which I continue to think about.  I can imagine that it may polarise readers, but I would certainly recommend it.

Some Like It Hot (1959)

In Chicago in 1929, musicians Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) witness a mob hit, and decide to get out of town described as women in an all-female music group, where they meet singer and ukelele player Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe).  Romance, complications and comedy ensue!

Some Like It Hot was voted number 1 on the AFI’s list of the top 100 comedies of all time.  In the past, I have sometimes been disappointed by films which have been so hyped up, so I wasn’t sure what I would make of this.  However, I absolutely adored it.  The three leads are all wonderful – Marilyn was made for this role – she absolutely sizzles – and Curtis and Lemmon play perfectly off each other.  (My personal favourite was Jack Lemmon, who was so utterly endearing, and laugh-out-loud funny, both as Jerry and his female alter-ego, Daphne.)

Naturally two men posing as women, in the company of young and pretty actual women gives rise to plenty of opportunity for comedy and romance, and Curtis was so funny as both ‘Geraldine’ and Junior – a third identity which he adopts in order to woo Sugar!  Meanwhile, ‘Daphne’ has caught the eye of millionaire yacht owner Osgood Fielding III, who decides he wants to make her his eighth wife (or ninth – he can’t really remember how many times he has been married).

This film is one that really is worth all the hype.  It’s sexy and sweet, and really, truly, incredibly funny.  Billy Wilder was a legendary director, and films like this, Sunset Blvd and Stalag 17 show us exactly why.  Watch it whenever you need a good belly laugh!

Year of release: 1959

Director: Billy Wilder

Producers: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond, Doane Harrison

Writers: Billy wilder, I.A.L. Diamond, Robert Thoeren, Michael Logan

Main cast: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee,

The Great Gatsby (2000) (spoilers)

With all the hype surrounding Baz Luhrmann’s big-screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s incredible novel, it seemed like a good time to check out another adaptation – not the famous Redford/Farrow version from 1974; rather this one stars British actor Toby Stephens as Gatsby, Paul Rudd (usually better known for his comedic roles) as Nick Carraway, Mira Sorvino as Daisy, and Martin Donovan as Tom Buchanan.

This version was made for tv, and clearly had a much smaller budget that the lavish 1974 version.  In addition, some of the casting choices seem unusual, but somehow it all works and I think I actually got more out of this than it’s more famous predecessor. (There were actually two much earlier adaptations starring respectively, Warner Baxter and Alan Ladd as Gatsby, and I would certainly be interested in seeing these.)

Tony Stephens did a good job in the titular role.  His American accent was convincing and he certainly possesses the enigmatic beauty of Gatsby.  I was not so sure of Mira Sorvino as Daisy.  Basically Daisy is a shallow, self-absorbed woman who places far too much emphasis on the importance of money – this being the reason that she and Gatsby did not end up together after they first fell in love, because at the time he simply did not have enough money to keep her.  Sorvino’s portrayal is a lot softer around the edges, and had I not read the novel, I probably would have felt a fair amount of sympathy for Daisy (well, until the end of the film anyway, when she lets Gatsby take the blame for the death of a woman in a road accident, and then didn’t turn up or even send flowers to Gatsby’s funeral when the grief-stricken husband of the dead woman shoots him dead, believing him to responsible for his wife’s death).  Mia Farrow made Daisy too shrill and annoying; Sorvino makes her almost too likeable, but it’s a different interpretation, which is interesting to watch.

For me however, the two stand-out cast members were Rudd as Carraway, who is by far the most decent character of the lot, and Donovan as the brutish Tom.  Both played their roles extremely well, which in Rudd’s case particularly was important, as Nick narrates the story.

The sets are not as lavish and extravagant as some might expect (I know without having seen it, that Luhrmann is bound to go the other way, and have sets that are completely OTT), but they certainly served their purpose well enough.

As an accompaniment to the novel, this version is probably an excellent one to see – it is faithful to the story, and impressed me.  I wouldn’t call it brilliant, but I would say that it is certainly worth a watch.  The funeral of Gatsby at the end genuinely made me sad to just three mourners; just one of the hundreds of people who were happy to attend Gatsby’s house, enjoy his hospitality and consume his food and drink could be bothered to turn up.

Overall, I would recommend this.  It’s not a perfect adaptation, but it’s a faithful one, and there was plenty to enjoy.

Year of release: 2000

Director: Robert Markowitz

Producers: Delia Fine, Antony Root, Jane Tanyer, Tom Thayer, Manon Bougie, Craig McNeil, David Roessell

Writers: F. Scott Fitzgerald (novel), John McLaughlin

Main cast: Toby Stephens, Paul Rudd, Mira Sorvino, Martin Donovan, Francie Swift

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Click here for my review of the novel.

Click here for my review of the 1974 film adaptation.

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‘Annabel’ by Kathleen Winter

In 1968, in a small town in Labrador, Canada, Treadway and Jacinta Blake have a child.  But they find that their baby has both male and female genetalia, and make the difficult decision that their child should have surgery.  They raise him as their son and call him Wayne.  Only Treadway, Jacinta and a friend named Thomasina know the truth and Wayne is not told.  However, as Wayne grows, he discovers an emotional part of himself – his female character, who he calls Annabel, after Thomasina’s deceased daughter.

As Wayne grows older, he and the three adults who share the secret are all affected in different ways, and each faces their own struggle to come to terms with the truth.

When I started this book, I was not sure whether I would like it or not, but as I read on, it pulled me in, and I found compelled to read more about Wayne and his family.  The writing is spare, and very beautiful in parts, with the loneliness that the four main characters each feel reflected in the remote and sparsely populated land where they live.

Each character’s struggle manifests itself in different ways, as the book takes us through Wayne’s childhood, school years and beyond.  In many ways, very little happens, but there is so much strangeness in the normalcy of their lives, contrasted with the unusualness of Wayne’s body.  The story is haunting in parts, and I really felt that all of the characters were realistically and believably drawn; sometimes their behaviour seems questionable, but it’s hard not to wonder what any other ordinary person would do in their situation.

It’s hard to believe that this was a debut novel – it was so emotive and yet under-stated, and treated Wayne’s condition (for want of a better word) with delicacy and compassion.  A book which I would definitely recommend.

 

Amazing Grace (2006)

Well.  You know how sometimes you watch a film, expecting that you will quite enjoy it – it might be a nice way to pass a couple of hours – and it totally exceeds your expectations, and eats into far more than a couple of hours, because you can’t stop thinking about it?  This is what happened to me when I watched this film.

It tells the story of politician William Wilberforce as he moved through Parliament in a determined effort to get the British slave trade abolished.  While he had some loyal friends and colleagues, they faced an uphill struggle as many politicians favoured the slave trade and considered it a necessity.  Together with his friend, prime minister William Pitt the Younger, Wilberforce never gives up in his efforts.

I cried throughout much of this film, because it was so incredibly moving, and ultimately uplifting to see people determined to create a kinder and better world.  Wilberforce was played brilliantly by Ioan Gruffudd, who perfectly captured the man’s intelligence and integrity.  Benedict Cumberbatch was also excellent as Pitt, and the supporting cast contained many acclaimed actors.  I liked Rufus Sewell as abolitionist Thomas Clarkson, and Albert Finney and Michael Gambon both showed off their extensive skills as respectively, John Newton who used to be involved with the slave trade himself, and was now filled with guilt; and Charles Fox, a politician who initially disagreed with Wilberforce, but subsequently came to support the abolition.  Romola Garai played Wilberforce’s wife Barbara, and was lovely in the role.

I keep finding myself thinking about this film – it was beautifully filmed and very emotional.  The scene when former slave Olaudah Equiano, played by Youssou n’Dour, shows Wilberforce around a slave ship, and Wilberforce sees with his own eyes the mistreatment and abuse that the slaves suffer, stunned me.  Although I knew about Wilberforce’s campaign, and the eventual outcome prior to watching, I still found myself on the edge of my seat at parts of the story.

I would highly recommend this film (in fact I almost want to insist that you watch it!)  It tells such an important story, and if anyone ever doubts that they can make a difference, or thinks that their efforts aren’t worth it, this film tells the story of a man who can remind us just what can be achieved with hard work and determination.  Wonderful.  (And I have ordered an autobiography of Wilberforce – this is the kind of film that makes me want to learn more.)

Year of release: 2006

Director: Michael Apted

Producers: James Clayton, Jeanney Kim, Duncan Reid, Patricia Heaton, David Hunt, Terrence Malick, Ken Wales, Edward Pressman, Mark Cooper

Writer: Steven Knight

Main cast: Ioan Gruffudd, Romola Garai, Benedict Cumberbatch, Youssou D’Nour, Albert Finney, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon, Nicholas Farrell