The Films of Pedro Almodovar - Part 4

The Skin I Live In

I cannot remember having seen the first two films at the cinema. Although released in 2011 and 2016 respectively, they do not appear on my blog, so I must have watched them on TV. The first of these, The Skin I Live In I have seen more than once. It is such a great thriller.

Julieta

Julieta is an absolutely brilliant film, moving,as it does, through time and place. Apparently it was based on three short stories from the eight in Alice Munro's collection called Runaway. (I called the book a feat of ingenuity). The older Julieta is played with aplomb by Emma Suarez and her younger self by the equally superb Adriana Ugarte. I need to watch it again.

Pain and Glory

This is what I said after seeing the film; my post of the 11th September 2019: For Pain and Glory, Pedro Almodovar has written and directed a semi-biographical movie about a director who has given up. His various ailments give him too much pain. Antonio Banderas has given the performance of his career. He called it the role of his life. It will be a travesty if he doesn't win the Oscar. He is in the picture nearly the whole time and is ably supported by a fantastic cast. The switches in time work really well. I loved his apartment and how it was furnished. So did those who enter. Almodovar is on top form.

He should have won the Oscar but only Antonio Banderas received a nomination for best actor. It was left to Time magazine to get it right and make it the best film of the year.

Not parkrun

The last time I ran Aylesbury parkrun was on 8th February. So not having been to Meadowcroft for over six months, I decided to revisit for my Saturday tempo run. This was how the start looked on a deserted Saturday morning. Although there were lots of people out walking dogs and I talked to one lady I knew from On The Run.

I thought I would run the actual parkrun course after a short warm up. It was harder running on my own, but there was the compensation of having no overcrowding for the first half mile. In the end my watch registered 3.12 miles and a time of 28 minutes 29 seconds, for which I was quite pleased. And an age grade of 65.81%.

Still stuck on 249 parkruns, I just hope I am still this fit when parkrun finally re-opens.

Reading Turgenev, A Handful of Dust and Old Filth

"Two Lives" consists of two short novels by William Trevor. I had already posted in June my review of "My House in Umbria" and waited a few weeks before starting on "Reading Turgenev". This book is about the repercussions of bad choices. Mary Louise is an innocent in rural Ireland and totally unsuited to the older man she marries. Whilst there is much melancholy in the story, it is such an emotional book, written with that warm, comfortable intelligence typical of the author. But he still knows how to wring out the depths of human feeling with characters who are out to destroy the young bride's welfare. Short listed for the Booker Prize, Trevor comes in that bracket of top novelists that includes Anne Tyler, Elizabeth Strout and Ann Patchett.

There is one particular passage that stirred a memory from my childhood. The drapery shop had an overhead network for sending money back and forth to the accounts office. I just thought of the cash carriers by pneumatic tubes in big London stores for the same purpose. I found Pontings on Kensington High Street had this system, although John Barker's next door had overhead wires.

If it wasn't for the last quarter of the book, this might have been a five star read. Before then it was a wonderful portrayal of upper middle class lives between the wars. Part satire, part farce, I found it light and jolly, occasionally funny but with an understanding that with this pathetic society there was always something darker loitering in the background. Tony and Brenda are in their early thirties but have inherited his father's Gothic mansion complete with 15 servants. But that expense has actually left them a little hard up. Brenda can only afford a third class ticket on her excursions to London.

There have already been emotional twists and turns in the story, but almost exactly half way through there is an unexpected tragedy. Tony and Brenda's relationship was already complicated but this event heralds that last section that I mostly found terribly boring. I could just about see what the author is trying to do, but I found Tony's decision to be unrealistic and totally out of character. Such a shame.

This was the best book I have read for a long time. Jane Gardam won the Whitbread/Costa prize for her "Queen of the Tambourine" that we read for book club. But I wish I had chosen this instead as it was much better. The story is about one the oldest QC's who may have invented his own nickname: Failed in London Try Hong Kong. Also referred to as Fevvers, Eddie, the Judge, Teddy and Sir Edward Feathers. It follows his childhood and teenage years alternating with him in his eighties looking back to those times. I can relate to that!

Gardam's prose has never been better. Somehow it seems as if she revels in the character and this shines through in her writing. There is some magic in the first twenty pages and this is followed by a wonderful piece in Wales at the age of eight. His wife, Betty, enters the story when Filth is looking back. I loved the passage when she goes for lunch at the National Theatre and walks along by the river. Something I have done more than a few times. "The silver wheel, high in the air, dotted with silver bullets".

Typically, Filth reprimands his elderly wife with "The toast-rack needs cleaning". But she stands no nonsense: "So do the salt-cellars. I'll get you the Silvo. You've nothing else to do today". There is a lot of humour, especially in the first half, although there is also that undercurrent of darkness we wait for ages to be explained. Even later when the mood is more somber, the emotion never lets up.

There is a tiny diversion two thirds through that I wondered what it was doing there as two new characters are introduced. But this is a splendidly clever piece as I will never forget her reaction when she finds out it was Old Filth she met. Then finally I found out what was a "parhelion". This is a staggeringly brilliant novel. I have already ordered the two sequels.

The Films of Pedro Almodovar - Part 3

Volver is Almodovar at his best. The almost totally female cast are exceptional, some of whom are regular choices of the director. Carmen Maura as Irene is terrific as is Yohana Cobo as young Paula, Chus Lampreave as her older self and the always wonderful Blanca Portillo as Augustina. But towering above them all is the brilliant Penelope Cruz in her multi award nomination performance as Raimunda. She seems almost always on the edge of tears even though this is a truly warm and funny movie. It was superb.

Here she is again in Broken Embraces, this time in flash back. Penelope Cruz plays Lena, the old love of lead actor Lluis Homar as Harry Caine who is looking back to the time he wasn't blind. A homage to film directors, Almodovar takes us backwards and forwards to a past full of surprises with a rich palette of colour. It may be melodramatic at times, but it is very well constructed and the last reel is perfect. And here again is the exceptional Blanca Portillo as Judit. There is sadness in the story, but there is also style and visual excellence, almost theatrical.

I'm not sure what Almodovar was trying to give us in I'm So Excited. Was it a farce, a black comedy, an old sitcom or a mash up of all three. For a moment I thought we were going to get stuck on board that plane for the duration, fortunately not. Did I get tired of the endless banter between the grossly over the top gay stewards? Yes. But were the few passengers in business class worth watching? Certainly. Of these I only recognised Lola Duenas from earlier Almodovar movies, and she was by far the most interesting character. We do see Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz, but only for a minute or so right at the start. In a cameo role is the stunning Blanca Suarez (soon to star in Almodovar's The Skin We Live In). Not my favourite film by this director.

Film Night - Part 4

The Man Who Knew Too Much

Strangely, this was an Alfred Hitchcock film that I had never ever seen. Starring James Stewart and Doris Day, it was an implausible but fun story without any real violence. Doris Day was particularly good, even getting the chance to sing "Que Sera, Sera" towards the end.

Chicken Run

I can't remember if I actually went to see Chicken Run when it first appeared in cinemas in the year 2000. But I must have seen all the Aardman films over the years. This was particularly unexceptional, certainly not in the same class as Farmegeddon. 

Quartet

Much better was Quartet that I first saw in January 2013. This is what I said at the time.The cinema on a Wednesday afternoon is usually very quiet, but today Screen 6 was packed for a screening of "Quartet". First of all, what we have is a great screenplay. Ronald Harwood has adapted his own successful stage play and for those of us who missed it in the theatre, what we get is such top quality actors who would never have got together on stage. It is a lighthearted and fairly trivial piece about a retirement home for musicians and singers. Surprising that given their advanced years, nobody dies, but this a pastiche about growing old, but very entertaining none the less. Billy Connolly as Wilf is surprisingly good. I know he gets some of the best lines, but his delivery is quiet and understated. Who would have guessed? Tom Courtney, Pauline Collins and Maggie Smith are great and Michael Gambon revels in his over the top performance. Dustin Hoffman directs with aplomb, but how could he go wrong? The stars are almost eclipsed by the setting. Hedsor House and Park near Taplow, Berks has been beautifully filmed.

The Akeman in Tring

We chose The Akeman in Tring for our first visit to a restaurant for over seven months. Everything was perfect from the socially distanced tables to the attentive service. We went on a Thursday, avoiding the "Eat Out to Help Out" crowds on Mondays to Wednesdays. There were many of us who thought the same as the restaurant was about 80% full. We thoroughly enjoyed our first night out.

Ascott - National Trust

Only our second excursion since lockdown, the first being to Waddesdon a couple of weeks ago. The gardens were pretty immaculate, something that could not be said about the previous NT property. 

Below is a kind of sun dial in topiary.

We sat on a bench overlooking the parkland and the main west coast train line in the distance. We saw so many trains going both ways.

One of the flower beds.

With the fountain at the end of the formal garden.

Anthurium

The Anthurium is now over 3 months old which, for an indoor plant, is unheard of in this house. It is still as perfect as the day it arrived. An amazing plant, hardly needs watering. Dobbies has a whole range of different colours for next time.

We are now in November, so six months on and the Anthurium is still going strong.

The Garden in August

This was how the bedding border looked when I planted the 70 tiny Antirrhinums in June.  This is how they look today.

The roses have started blooming again.

This was the Delphinium when it was cut down after flowering in June.

Here it is today, flowering all over again. It was upright until the storm of yesterday.

Here it is close up with the late flowering hibiscus.

I also cut down the Astrantia Roma after the flowers faded.

And now it has flowers, even if not in the same quantity.

The hibiscus always flowers in the late summer.

The rudbeckia is also a late blooming perennial.

The two pots of hostas at the side of the house have looked great.

The lawn has enjoyed the wet weather.

Tring Book Club: A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro

It's hard to describe this book without giving too much away. However, I liked the way the story was constructed, with Etsuko being visited in England (where she lives now) by her second daughter Niki and alternating with her memories of (part) of her life in Nagasaki.

SPOILER ALERT

As soon as I read that Etsuko had lived in Nagasaki, I wondered how this had effected her mentally. Then we find out that her first daughter, Keiko, who was born in Japan, committed suicide after the family moved to England, her first husband Jiro is no longer around (dead or divorced we never know)and her second husband Sheringham, who brought her to England, is dead. Her second daughter Niki (who is white and takes after her father) is partly estranged. So the complexities of Etsuko's history do not make her the most reliable of narrators.

The book actually concentrates on Etsuko's memories of a specific time when she was pregnant with Keiko and made friends with Sachiko and her young daughter Mariko. Part way into the book I was waiting to hear what happened during about the intervening years, but the author is not interested in giving us the slightest hint. It's not what the book is about.

It seemed to me to be about the struggles of memory, or more particularly a false memory that Etsuko has dreamed to make sense of the traumas she has experienced. We do learn about the formalities of family life in Japan through a visit by Jiro's father Ogato. Then there is always the clash of cultures in the background. In England Etsuko and Keiko are Oriental and Niki and her father are white. But Ishiguro never mentions any difficulties and we are left again to make up our own minds.

Then there are a couple of instances in the last ten pages that throw us a curved ball. Or do they actually let us know that we have been baffled the whole time. Whatever, reading the author's prose is always a treat. 

Philharmonia, A Deadly Union and The Last Wave

You wait years for one decent French TV series to come along, then three turn up together. Philharmonia is an over the top melodrama about an orchestra, or more crucially about their new  conductor. Something is wrong with Helene (Marie-Sophie Ferdane) despite the chic outfits and hair. Playing out over six episodes, the only slightly boring bits are when the orchestra starts to play. We just want to get back to the back biting and intrigue. Lots of twists and turns. Oh yes, and a weird young lead violinist. Superb.

Also on All 4 comes A Deadly Union, a six part crime melodrama set on the French Riviera where the sun always shines. Forget the predictable plot and just watch the scenery. Lannick Gautry plays the police detective out to solve the death of the bride. Alexia Barlier is Alice, his ex just returned for the wedding. There are secrets galore, all conspiring to thwart the investigation.

Finally The Last Wave has just started on BBC 4 is a supernatural fantasy involving some good looking surfers. Very early days, so not sure if I will stick with it.

Two weeks later, I did. Mainly because the location photography was so gorgeous. The sensational location is the Landes in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine in south western France. And notable for surfing, sand dunes and the glorious beaches. The story was just intriguing enough to keep me watching. It turns out to be a type of modern science fiction. The last part of the penultimate episode was particularly spectacular when something happens that is one of those memorable moments. Here the special effects are pretty stupid but gob smacking. I was waiting for the twist at the end of the final episode, like all good scifi should have, and thank goodness we got one. Well done France for three great series.