More of a thriller than the dramas I normally choose. But it is not a crime thriller. The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Simon Mawer is a homage to the thirty-nine women of the French Section of the Special Operations Executive who went on missions to France between May 1941 and September 1944. Marian Sutro is half French and half English and is recruited to go undercover to what she considers is her homeland. Her training takes her to many interesting places, and she makes friendships that materialise later in the story. We do get to know her intimately as the story moves with pace to occupied France. Marian's character is well drawn, she is young, brave and beautiful. And we get a great feeling of what is was like on both sides of the channel during those dark days. The writing is smooth and intelligent and the action flows from the page. This is a gripping tale of subterfuge, but more than that, it is Marian's story. And one that is so very well told. I have the author's The Glass Room on my shelves ready to read.
I'm afraid that Michael Frayn's farce Skios is not my sort of book. This story of mistaken identity will make many people laugh, but not me. I have to admit it was amusing in places, but the whole plot was far too silly. It will, however, make a brilliant movie, it actually reads like a film script, right up to the blockbuster ending. The author is far more suited to the stage and film, "Noises Off" and "Clockwise" show he is a master of this particular form. His best novel is "Spies" which won the Whitbread (now Costa) novel of the year in 2002.
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy is a strange little book. The setting is a holiday villa in the south of France. Two couples and one teenager arrive to find a young woman who says she stays there sometimes. And yes, she is invited to stay. What happens during the week is somewhat elusive. Not in a material sense, but just what the author is trying to say. The writing certainly captures the tense atmosphere that develops but I am surprised it was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Unsettling.
Tuesday 25 June 2013
Wednesday 12 June 2013
Star Trek - Into Darkness, Byzantium and The Great Gatsby
Three great directors, one outstanding movie. And it wasn't the new J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie. Perhaps I should have seen it in 3D, there were just too many times the special effects got in the way of the story. What story there was ended up a bit of a mess. It's just not good enough to pack it with fantasy action. Even Simon Pegg's Scotty cannot save it from being just another mindless blockbuster. Which is a shame as the special effects are very well done, just not enough when you are watching in 2D.
Byzantium probably had a fraction of budget of the previous film, But Neil Jordan has done a reasonable job with this vampire drama. I thought it had similarities with the well received Let The Right One In as the director concentrates on the drama instead of the gore. The mother and daughter pairing of Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan works very well, these two fine actresses give it all they've got. The visuals are high class, the cinematography first rate. I completely forgot this is a British production.
This was a first, reading the book just before seeing the movie. Unlike most of the critics, I was hugely impressed with Baz Lurman's The Great Gatsby. I was amazed it was so faithful to the novel, and the director's interpretation of this classic I felt was spot on. First of all, I was glad that this time I did see it in 2D. Those times you could feel that the effects were there for 3D were quite limited, and did not detract from the story. And it is the story that this movie does best. OK, the atmosphere of the 1920's decadence is there in the big parties, but it never overshadows the plot. Like the book, we have Nick Carraway as our narrator, and he is as unreliable as the novel portrays him to be. When he tells us at the end that Gatsby has revealed the truth about his life, it is only before his rise to riches. Lurman borrows so much from Fitzgerald's words, and I liked the fact that there were little nuances of the story that I missed reading the book. When Nick speaks the following words, they balance the fact that everything (the mansion, the parties, the cars) was done for one person.
The lawn and drive had been crowded with the faces of those who guessed at his corruption — and he had stood on those steps, concealing his incorruptible dream, as he waved them good-bye.
I thought that the casting was superb, at least for the male characters. Leonardo DiCaprio epitomised the sleazy romantic, Tobey Maguire was suitably pathetic as Nick and Joel Edgerton was a suitably tough and despicable as Tom Buchanan. However I never felt that Carey Mulligan was the right Daisy, nor was Elizabeth Debicki my idea of Jordan Baker.
When Baz Lurman commented that novellas make good movies, I now understand why. You hardly have to leave anything out. The drama of the book's last third was played out exactly so on the screen. My film of the year so far.
Byzantium probably had a fraction of budget of the previous film, But Neil Jordan has done a reasonable job with this vampire drama. I thought it had similarities with the well received Let The Right One In as the director concentrates on the drama instead of the gore. The mother and daughter pairing of Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan works very well, these two fine actresses give it all they've got. The visuals are high class, the cinematography first rate. I completely forgot this is a British production.
This was a first, reading the book just before seeing the movie. Unlike most of the critics, I was hugely impressed with Baz Lurman's The Great Gatsby. I was amazed it was so faithful to the novel, and the director's interpretation of this classic I felt was spot on. First of all, I was glad that this time I did see it in 2D. Those times you could feel that the effects were there for 3D were quite limited, and did not detract from the story. And it is the story that this movie does best. OK, the atmosphere of the 1920's decadence is there in the big parties, but it never overshadows the plot. Like the book, we have Nick Carraway as our narrator, and he is as unreliable as the novel portrays him to be. When he tells us at the end that Gatsby has revealed the truth about his life, it is only before his rise to riches. Lurman borrows so much from Fitzgerald's words, and I liked the fact that there were little nuances of the story that I missed reading the book. When Nick speaks the following words, they balance the fact that everything (the mansion, the parties, the cars) was done for one person.
The lawn and drive had been crowded with the faces of those who guessed at his corruption — and he had stood on those steps, concealing his incorruptible dream, as he waved them good-bye.
I thought that the casting was superb, at least for the male characters. Leonardo DiCaprio epitomised the sleazy romantic, Tobey Maguire was suitably pathetic as Nick and Joel Edgerton was a suitably tough and despicable as Tom Buchanan. However I never felt that Carey Mulligan was the right Daisy, nor was Elizabeth Debicki my idea of Jordan Baker.
When Baz Lurman commented that novellas make good movies, I now understand why. You hardly have to leave anything out. The drama of the book's last third was played out exactly so on the screen. My film of the year so far.
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