An Inspector Calls (2015)
This BBC production is a clever, subtle, well acted movie that is very much in the form of the play it is based on by J.B. Priestly. Some will find it too controlled and knowing, frankly-it suffers from that gift playwrights have of outsmarting a viewer while captive, but not sustaining that smartness once you head home. Another movie of this kind is "Sleuth" which is even more clever and twisty. There is a murder of sorts at hand, but not quite. There is certainly a victim, or so we think. And the perpetrators seem guilty of nothing but being self-absorbed and rich, which of course means they are guilty of all kinds of sins, directly and indirectly. Here, the effects of callousness or selfishness are front and center. Expect to be spellbound once you give it your time. Written in 1945 but set just before World War I, there are lots of embedded points about war and class difference. Priestly was a leftist, and the substance of the play is utlimately about responsibility and the idea that we are all part of a family-a global one, you might say, but certainly a national one, with rich Brits looking out for their less fortunate compatriots. Not at all pro-business, of course. Eventually you realize you are being taken for an interesting ride, and you are in the hands of the mysterious title character (named Goole). This man leads us through the discoveries that he has already made, and we are almost as astonished as the members of this unprepared family. Then there is a playwright's twist-saying there is a twist is almost unfair, because you might well cruise through most of it thinking it was about the interrogation itself. But more comes along. Fun, almost funny, and tragic as well. I thought it was great entertainment. With little plugs for human decency burrowed in.
This BBC production is a clever, subtle, well acted movie that is very much in the form of the play it is based on by J.B. Priestly. Some will find it too controlled and knowing, frankly-it suffers from that gift playwrights have of outsmarting a viewer while captive, but not sustaining that smartness once you head home. Another movie of this kind is "Sleuth" which is even more clever and twisty. There is a murder of sorts at hand, but not quite. There is certainly a victim, or so we think. And the perpetrators seem guilty of nothing but being self-absorbed and rich, which of course means they are guilty of all kinds of sins, directly and indirectly. Here, the effects of callousness or selfishness are front and center. Expect to be spellbound once you give it your time. Written in 1945 but set just before World War I, there are lots of embedded points about war and class difference. Priestly was a leftist, and the substance of the play is utlimately about responsibility and the idea that we are all part of a family-a global one, you might say, but certainly a national one, with rich Brits looking out for their less fortunate compatriots. Not at all pro-business, of course. Eventually you realize you are being taken for an interesting ride, and you are in the hands of the mysterious title character (named Goole). This man leads us through the discoveries that he has already made, and we are almost as astonished as the members of this unprepared family. Then there is a playwright's twist-saying there is a twist is almost unfair, because you might well cruise through most of it thinking it was about the interrogation itself. But more comes along. Fun, almost funny, and tragic as well. I thought it was great entertainment. With little plugs for human decency burrowed in.