I was so disappointed with this movie. At one point, early on, Vera Brittain gives an opinion on one of Roland Leighton's poems, saying she 'can't see him in it'. That's pretty much how I felt about this movie. It sort of told Vera's story but somehow I couldn't really see her in it either. Maybe it was aimed at a generation now so removed from the customs and self discipline of Vera's generation that it wasn't felt necessary to replicate it. Certainly the mud, the horror and the general bedlam of World War 1 were all present, but the characters and the story line seemed two dimensional rather than three dimensional. And whilst it would be impossible to convey the complete bitterness and anguish of a young woman who experienced the horror of losing a loved one, in the same way that the memoir did, I have seen more convincing television productions in the past. And the final insult came at the end when Vera returns to the location shown at the beginning of the movie, as Roland's poem Hédauville is recited, and even that is watered down and incomplete.
Reviews
11 Reviews
River
(2015)
A joy
5 November 2015
I missed the first episode of River, as, from a trailer, it appeared to be the bog standard detective mini-series. It was only on another well-loved, armchair TV critic show, Gogglebox, that its surprising secret and fascination were revealed as episode 1 was critiqued.
That revelation led me to quickly catch up and to become hooked on what must be one of the more unusual detective series to have ever graced our screens.
Quite apart from the plot's twist, the characters are believable and well rounded, and our hero, River, is the kind of gentle cop we thought we'd seen the last of in the 1970s. His sidekick provides the grounded, more robust cop we know today.
Sub-plots examine love and personal relationships, race relations and mental health and all are handled with equal dignity and are thought provoking.
River has become required viewing and I cannot wait to reach the climax of this intriguing story.
That revelation led me to quickly catch up and to become hooked on what must be one of the more unusual detective series to have ever graced our screens.
Quite apart from the plot's twist, the characters are believable and well rounded, and our hero, River, is the kind of gentle cop we thought we'd seen the last of in the 1970s. His sidekick provides the grounded, more robust cop we know today.
Sub-plots examine love and personal relationships, race relations and mental health and all are handled with equal dignity and are thought provoking.
River has become required viewing and I cannot wait to reach the climax of this intriguing story.
Maison close
(2010–2013)
A gritty look at life in a Paris brothel
15 October 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Most French films have an earthy and realistic feel to them and this series is absolutely no exception. It's a very frank look at the life of prostitutes working in a Paris brothel in the late (1871), 19th century. You'll either love or loathe foreign films and this series, made in the French language is, as with all subtitled films, a little more challenging to watch, unless you are fluent in French, but it makes for a much more authentic atmosphere. The plot is believable and the girls likable, but the story line is very uncompromising, and pulls no punches when it comes to the sexual scenes and the violence which the girls experience. But it's all done with such French aplomb that it was for me, impossible to take offence. It goes with the subject matter so if you are easily offended, probably best to give it a wide berth. For myself I have found it fascinating and absorbing.
Ida
(2013)
Evocative and powerful
27 September 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I'd read a lot about Ida and it has taken me until now to catch up with it. I am so glad I did.
This is the first work of director Pawel Pawlikowski that I have seen, and he has crafted a masterpiece.
It is a movie set in the very stark times of 60's Poland, and its black and white theme set the scene magnificently, as I'm pretty sure a lot of others who remember that time period will agree. (Although not familiar with Poland, I spent some time in communist East Germany in the 60s and 70s, and the scene felt very familiar to me).
I found all of the characters very real, even the most minor of them, and my only small criticism would be Ida's lack of any kind of emotion upon learning that she is Jewish, despite having spent her whole life in a Catholic convent.
The story unfolds in an unremarkable, but believable way as its two major characters meet and begin to bond, regardless of their differences, chalk and cheese, but related by blood, one of them very much of the world and scarred by events from the past, and the other young and innocent, and alive almost by chance. Together they set out to find out the whole truth.
This could and probably should, have been the most depressing of stories based as it is upon events which probably did occur from time to time during the second world war. But its intimacy draws the viewer into the heart of the story and its outcome.
For one of the characters the whole truth is too much to bear. For the other, having sampled life outside in the world for a short while, we seem to be led to believe, returns to her cloistered life, the one she has always known.
This is the first work of director Pawel Pawlikowski that I have seen, and he has crafted a masterpiece.
It is a movie set in the very stark times of 60's Poland, and its black and white theme set the scene magnificently, as I'm pretty sure a lot of others who remember that time period will agree. (Although not familiar with Poland, I spent some time in communist East Germany in the 60s and 70s, and the scene felt very familiar to me).
I found all of the characters very real, even the most minor of them, and my only small criticism would be Ida's lack of any kind of emotion upon learning that she is Jewish, despite having spent her whole life in a Catholic convent.
The story unfolds in an unremarkable, but believable way as its two major characters meet and begin to bond, regardless of their differences, chalk and cheese, but related by blood, one of them very much of the world and scarred by events from the past, and the other young and innocent, and alive almost by chance. Together they set out to find out the whole truth.
This could and probably should, have been the most depressing of stories based as it is upon events which probably did occur from time to time during the second world war. But its intimacy draws the viewer into the heart of the story and its outcome.
For one of the characters the whole truth is too much to bear. For the other, having sampled life outside in the world for a short while, we seem to be led to believe, returns to her cloistered life, the one she has always known.
Open Water
(2003)
Chilling
3 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I don't think I'd have rushed off to see this at a cinema when it was released because by description I'd probably have written it off as 'another killer sharks on the loose' horror. But when I caught up recently with this movie late at night on TV it quickly sucked me in as a real horror story. You won't see or feel the full horror unless you put yourself in the position of the two divers, because this is no action movie. The horror comes from the feeling there must be, when you surface from a wonderful, exciting vacation dive, to find you have been abandoned, alone in a seemingly endless expanse of ocean. From that point on, the movie goes through the whole range of emotions you'd feel, from initial surprise and shock, but only mild concern, right through the frustration and eventual hopelessness of realising that you were not going to be rescued. Early on it dawns on you that this couple are doomed. There is going to be no happy ending. Further, the realisation that this is essentially a two character only movie, so that if you aren't interested in their personal story as hope fades and slow death comes, it will actually be quite boring as there is little actual action. But knowing that this was based on a real story chilled me to the bone and made my mind up forever that I would never, ever willingly put myself in that situation.
Lizzie Borden Took an Ax
(2014 TV Movie)
A straightforward telling
28 June 2015
I loved it! I suppose there is nothing better than a real event that remains a mystery ever afterwards, and the story of Lizzie Borden is one of those. It never ever fails to fascinate and after all this time still excites much discussion about whether she did or she didn't! This movie is no exception. It was all the better for being a straightforward telling of the facts as they were known at the time with little added or taken away for the sake of sensationalism. What gore there was, was strictly in keeping with what happened on that fateful day. The soundtrack was an unexpected but nice surprise. Hardly contemporary with the days of the late 1800s, it nonetheless added a new dimension to the telling of the story and gave it a fresh feeling. If I have a criticism it is that Christina Ricci was a little doe-like and vulnerable as Lizzie. She acquitted herself well in the part, but by comparison with the real Lizzie she seemed a little less robust than she ought to have been.
The Inbetweeners 2
(2014)
When the poo flies through the window.........
10 August 2014
Warning: Spoilers
....... the enjoyment flies out of the door. It's so lame and predictable and added nothing to this moderately funny movie.
It had no way as many laughs as the first Inbetweeners movie or the TV series, and although I had obviously expected the same formula as always, it was really all too old hat. Plus that poo... it is always the resort of the desperate.
I know that this is to be the last Inbetweeners, and so it should be. There isn't one more joke that can be wrung out of these four fun characters and it is time for them to RIP.
To see or not to see? If you have previously enjoyed the exploits of these guys, you'll still enjoy the movie, but don't expect too much of it.
It had no way as many laughs as the first Inbetweeners movie or the TV series, and although I had obviously expected the same formula as always, it was really all too old hat. Plus that poo... it is always the resort of the desperate.
I know that this is to be the last Inbetweeners, and so it should be. There isn't one more joke that can be wrung out of these four fun characters and it is time for them to RIP.
To see or not to see? If you have previously enjoyed the exploits of these guys, you'll still enjoy the movie, but don't expect too much of it.
Becoming Jane
(2007)
Disappointing in most respects
3 May 2014
It wasn't that I expected a historically accurate film. Enough time has gone by since its release that just about everything that could have been said on that score, already has been.
No, it was the two-dimensional feel of all the characters that disappointed, as though they didn't quite believe in themselves or this story, and they seemed almost ghostly by comparison with the wonderful characters in Jane's novels. I expected much more from a BBC movie.
The scene was beautifully set and very accurately depicted, and could scarcely be faulted but because the plot was so thin and the characters so unconvincing my attention kept wandering. I even dozed off for a moment or two at one point. I was glad I was watching a DVD as I had to backtrack a couple of times.
If you like historical froth this movie is OK but I honestly think Jane Austen would have disapproved of it, and not because of its content concerning her brief involvement with Tom Lefroy but simply because she would not have recognised herself.
No, it was the two-dimensional feel of all the characters that disappointed, as though they didn't quite believe in themselves or this story, and they seemed almost ghostly by comparison with the wonderful characters in Jane's novels. I expected much more from a BBC movie.
The scene was beautifully set and very accurately depicted, and could scarcely be faulted but because the plot was so thin and the characters so unconvincing my attention kept wandering. I even dozed off for a moment or two at one point. I was glad I was watching a DVD as I had to backtrack a couple of times.
If you like historical froth this movie is OK but I honestly think Jane Austen would have disapproved of it, and not because of its content concerning her brief involvement with Tom Lefroy but simply because she would not have recognised herself.
Smuggler's Bay
(1964)
A swashbuckling smuggling tale.
22 December 2013
I'm writing this at a great distance from my viewing of "Smuggler's Bay", but I know that it did make a great impression on me, as I have never forgotten it, or that Frazer Hines was one of its lead actors.
Based on the famous novel Moonfleet, and an adventure tale with a smuggling theme, set in Dorset, England, this was a television adaptation made for children. I had already read the book, as it was a set piece at many English schools in the 1960s and I had already enjoyed that. I was not to be at all disappointed with this TV series. I guess it is highly unlikely this version of it will ever surface again, made in black and white so many years ago, but for anyone in UK who has loved the book, Sky TV are about to air a new, two-part version which promises to be equally exciting.
Based on the famous novel Moonfleet, and an adventure tale with a smuggling theme, set in Dorset, England, this was a television adaptation made for children. I had already read the book, as it was a set piece at many English schools in the 1960s and I had already enjoyed that. I was not to be at all disappointed with this TV series. I guess it is highly unlikely this version of it will ever surface again, made in black and white so many years ago, but for anyone in UK who has loved the book, Sky TV are about to air a new, two-part version which promises to be equally exciting.
Passion's Way
(1999 TV Movie)
Edith Wharton spoilt
11 February 2012
I suppose that to even attempt to enjoy this 'made for TV' production, a knowledge of Edith Wharton's works and the novel way in which she thought, given the age in which she lived, would be a great advantage. Then, if that knowledge was a given, Passion's Way, or The Reef (her novel) might have worked well had it been a British production and not an American one. The cast is OK with the exception of Timothy Dalton who plays Charles Darrow and cannot decide whether to be an American or an Englishman as his accent drifts from one side of the Atlantic to the other. For the rest, the production is very much let down by careless attention to detail. It is often the case in American productions that approximations of geographical locations are deemed to suffice and, whilst that might fool an American audience, it will not cut the mustard with the inhabitants of Europe who know full well their Paris from their Prague. These shortcomings were evident from the first few moments of the film. The novel (and this movie) explores the harm that is done when an unwise action causes ripples to spread out from it like a stone dropped in the middle of a pond, creating chaos for those who are innocently caught up in its maelstrom. This production really fails to convey that which is a pity. It does no justice to Edith Wharton's writing at all.
Lost for Words
(1999 TV Movie)
In praise of English TV Drama
9 February 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This older TV drama features two very distinguished English actors, Dame Thora Hird and Pete Postlethwaite both of whom are themselves sadly no longer with us. Their excellent and realistic performances coupled with the author's amazing insight into his subject make for a production that is as moving as it is entertaining. The subject, which is a really difficult one to handle sensitively, is the demise through a series of strokes of a much loved and rather eccentric mother. It will strike a chord with anyone who has been placed in the position of caring for a beloved older relative and is extremely moving and funny by turns. It is best watched in the company of a large box of tissues, but be prepared to mix your tears with laughter.
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