Maureen Fry and the Angel of The North, Early Morning Riser and The Marriage Portrait

 

A short but hugely emotional book with the same sadness that percolated through the other two in the trilogy. The grief Maureen and Harold share for their dead son is never far away. But in the author's hands the story is so poignant and beautifully written. In particular, Maureen seems silent, grumpy, offhand and difficult. She finds it impossible to share her feelings, even with Harold, so not an easy person. We share the angst that Maureen feels about her life, we understand all her faults, if they are faults, we cannot judge. "She had once joined a book club but she objected to the things they read and gave up".

Like Harold before, a journey, but this time by car ten years later, as Maureen sets off for Northumberland. You would think that this would be far more straightforward than Harold's walk. But no. Things do go wrong. But there is help along the way. Her arrival in the north is so familiar, we have walked Embleton Bay a couple of times, we remember the golf course. been inside Dunstanburgh Castle. But here it's the writing that is so superior. Thanks Rachel.

What a wonderful book, clever, literate, warm and most of all funny. Lots of laugh out loud moments. It's all about Jane, first as a young woman and her relationship with serial womaniser Duncan, then jumps in time as she becomes a mother and her children grow up. All the characters, friends and family are written with great heart. I actually had to stop writing down all the great witty stuff: "Sometimes (Jane) thought being with her mother was like crossing a desert: long hard stretches of burning sand that exhausted you, but every once in a while, you happened on an oasis of kindness".

Now I did think that I would be bored with those sections that dealt with Jane's teaching her class of very young children. Not at all, these are a mine of endless fun, including all those games I had never heard of. Chutes and ladders? Where are the snakes? Then her two children Glen and Patrice. They would make another great story.

Let me start by saying I'm a huge fan of Maggie O'Farrell. I have read and enjoyed all her books, some are among my favourite novels. I even went to the Hay Literature Festival to see her interviewed and queued for her to sign "I am, I am, I am". So this well received historical novel was a huge disappointment. The book is far too long for what story there is, half as long might have been OK, or even shorter. Was this hardly known very young Duchess from Italy in the sixteenth century a suitable subject? Or was the author describing an abusive relationship that might resonate today.

Lucrezia is thirteen when her father, the Duke of Florence, marries her off to the much, much older Duke of Ferrara. All so he can have an heir. He can be respectful and loving but also nasty and abusive: "When I ask something of you, I expect you to do it, without delay, without hesitation. Do you understand me?". This is not a nice story, it's uncomfortable reading and almost unrelentingly bleak. Married life is tedious in the extreme.

Having to pick something I liked, there is an excellent letter of betrothal from the Duke. Lucrezia meets the Duke's friend Leonello on a walk and at last there is a proper conversation of what is expected of her. And her interaction with the two apprentice painters is the best part of the book.

Of course the prose is top drawer, but the long, sometimes interminable descriptions and introspection feels only like padding. It seems that Lucrezia is in a prison and the Duke is her jailer. A seedy sordid tale of a bully and his too young bride. Oh Maggie!

Ridgeway and Wendover Woods Walk

It was a beautiful sunny and fresh morning when I set out for one of my favourite walks. It starts from Wendover and follows The Ridgeway all the way up into Wendover Woods where a fairly level path arrives at the Cafe. Then along the main path to the start of Boddington Hill where a very steep path heads back down to Wendover.

The first part of the route from Wendover on The Ridgeway is of little interest, until the start of the uphill section through the woods that border the hill.

This is where it levels out. My favourite part of the walk.

Approaching the end of this section.

Just before the exit to the road, there is large open area where logs were stored after forestry operations.

Then across a road and through the gate into Wendover Woods.

There is one nasty little dip where I'm always glad I have my pole.

The path then meanders through the woods coming out near the cafe with views across to the early part of the route.

Up to this point (an hour and forty minutes) I had not seen a sole after having left Wendover.

Just after the start of Boddington Hill, there is a right hand turn and the steep path down.

Boy, do I need to hand onto those ropes on the steepest section where the path turns right in the distance.

Finally I arrive at the single track Beechwood Lane and my car is just around the corner. It took me just over two hours. In the past it was always an hour and fifty minutes. A distance of over five miles.

Looking at all my Chiltern walking books, this route is not in any. I have always thought the path up The Ridgeway from Wendover is one of the best. All the photos (except the cafe) were taken on my phone.

L'immensita (Immensity) and Wild Tales (Relatos salvajes) at the Rex, Berkhampsted

 

Now the children are all back at school, The Rex cinema in Berkhamsted has given up on the summer blockbusters and we are being treated to some classic foreign movies. Starting with L'immensita. was only released in this country in May after launching at the film festivals last year. Although an Italian film, it stars my favourite Spanish actress Penelope Cruz. It is a family drama set in Rome in the 1970's, a time when the eldest child Adriana (played sensitively by Luana Guiliani) wants to be called Andrew. She has gender issues which do not sit well in Italian society of that time. But her mother Clara (Cruz) is sympathetic and their relationship is the main thread of the film. In fact Clara acts more like a child in many ways, possibly a reaction to her cold hearted and maybe abusive husband. 

The film is superbly directed and beautifully filmed by Emanuele Crialese. The family gatherings could have come straight from The Godfather. When Adri meets Sara at a traveller's camp, the pictures there at dusk are a marvel. There are the odd black and white fantasy sequences, especially that last big production number of the song "L'immensita". Earlier there is another more familiar song, "Where do I begin (Love Story)" which sounds so similar, or is that just me?

But is Penelope Cruz who holds our attention. She has what one critic calls "a haunting beauty" and another "different, tender and unforgettable". I have probably seen her in as many films as most actresses. I have all those DVD's from Pedro Almodovar in which she appears in many. The film itself was nominated for many awards including best film at the Venice Film Festival. "Immensity" is not a literal translation of the title as it misses the point. But the film is immense.

I don't think I have ever seen a film like Wild Tales. (Why could they not keep the Spanish title as did L'immensita ?) This is an Argentine/Spanish production with six separate stories written and directed by Argentinian Damian Szifron. All the stories are set and filmed in his home country and it is the most successful movie ever from that country. Outstanding cinematography is by Javier Julia, bright and clever. I would guess they are what you would call black comedies, although in some there is nothing at all to laugh about. They could be called Dark Stories. The film was nominated for an Oscar and Palme d'Or, and won best film in a foreign language at the BAFTA's. Here they are:

Pasternak

This opening story has all the passengers on an aircraft finding out they have one thing in common. What is happening?

The Rats

A deserted diner at night. The waitress recognises a customer from her childhood. He is a gangster. Her female boss, the cook, has an idea. My second favourite piece.

The Strongest

A road rage story that does not end well. You will never insult another driver after seeing this piece.

Bombita

When a demolition expert leaves his last beautifully realised explosion, and runs into a series of setbacks, you can guess what happens at the end. Or not quite the end.

The Proposal

The aftermath of a hit and run ends up with a negotiation with the prosecutor. It was never going to end well.

Till Death Do Us Part

The best story is saved for last. A big wedding reception goes downhill after the bride (the brilliant Erica Rivas) becomes suspicious of her husband. 

Roses in September

I'm not sure if it has been this year's damp and cool July and August followed by a week when it was hot and sunny, but the roses in what is mid September are as good as ever. Here are just a few photos.

Have You Seen .... by David Thomson Part 8 - Anatomy of a Murder, The Piano and The Apartment

 

I never thought I would say this, but the black and white photography for Anatomy of a Murder is fabulous, seemed almost at times to be in almost 3D. The  film is quite theatrical in it's presentation, especially the settings. James Stewart has been fishing, and when the housekeeper opens the fridge, it is packed full of his catch. The movie itself is virtually all dialogue courtesy of Wedel Mayes adaptation of the famous novel by Justice John D Voelker about one of his murder trials. 

Otto Preminger produced and directed with some big stars in the cast including Ben Gazzara, Lee Remick and George C Scott. But I thought it was Eve Arden who was the acting class act in a smaller role. Then we have James Stewart in the nightclub playing piano alongside ......yes, Duke Ellington. I preferred the first half of the film to the following predictable and a little boring courtroom drama. I thought it petered out and that the ending was terrible. Well, we were in 1959. David Thomson enjoyed it more: "It's not going too far to call this film perfect ....". 

I had purposefully avoided this Palme d'Or award winning movie, but it's inclusion in David Thomson's book had me intrigued. Written and directed by Jane Campion, it certainly has more atmosphere than excitement. Holly Hunter is the best thing here, her mute character is all facial expression, but mainly in anger or in hostility. Arriving on the shore of new Zealand, her piano is left on the beach, too much to carry through the steep forest. Meeting her new husband Sam Neil, she is drawn back to the piano which she plays with splendour. There is little plot, just a character study that makes the film quite slow and ponderous. 

The cinematography (Stewart Dryburgh) was excellent and would have been better on a big screen. Although the ending was as bleak as most of this movie. Holly Hunter won the best actress Oscar, Anna Paquin best support as the daughter and Campion for her script. David Thomson says "I think it is a fascinating story of pride and need, solitude and alliance, on which the stark beauty of New Zealand locations offsets the perilous state of these pilgrims. It is more usefully seen as surreal than as naturalistic". Not sure what that means, but I'm not a film critic.

I had never before seen this 1960 multiple Oscar award winning movie. Now I know why. I really don't think it has stood the test of time. The whole concept of Jack Lemmon letting colleagues use his apartment for assignations with various women, just to gain promotion at work, seems these days  to be more than seedy. OK, the screenplay by Billy Wilder and his long term associate I A L Diamond is quite clever, but the acting is fairly old fashioned. The only good parts are those which involve Jack and Shirley MacLaine. Their interaction is warm and the dialogue fizzes nicely. Shame it was not just a two hander. Even David Thomson (having to include it because of all those Oscars?) says it "feels very sour, with an unconvincing happy ending tacked on. It's world is unrelievedly bleak". 

Theater Camp, Barbie and The Equalizer 111

 

Warm hearted and pacy, Theater Camp (not surprised that Google does not like the spelling) is a funny and clever mocumentary. Partly improvised with cinematography that was "naturalistic, imperfect and un-pretty". I could see that. I liked all the crew including the dance teacher (Nathan Lee Graham), costume (Owen Thiele) and particularly Alan Kim as the young agent who is never off the phone. That continuing gag is one of the best. Ben Platt and Molly Gordon are the leads as the best friends who run the camp, but it is the young members of the cast who terrific, both on and off the stage. Jimmy Tatro as the son of the hospitalised owner is the stupid counterpoint to all the gaiety. Only one gripe and that it is all musical "theatre". I guess it had to be.

After weeks of avoiding Barbie I was persuaded as an avid film fan to give it a go. And I had great respect for director Greta Gerwig after her Lady Bird and Little Women. Well, the first half hour in Barbieland was fun, but going into the real world was a big disappointment, All except for mother and daughter America Ferrara and Arriana Greenblatt, spoilt only by America's tedious monologue towards the end. 

The film has so much to say about gender inequality and I get it. But not rammed down our throats for an hour. Was making the Mattel board all male meant to be funny? It was a good joke that became tedious and monotonous as it went on. A pregnant Barbie was discontinued? I had to agree with Camilla Long in The Sunday Times (they had to parachute in a female critic) who said it was "A hot pink mess of a film ......... it's squealing, corporate and grasping". And don't get me started on the ending.

I avoided the first two in the series, but The Equalizer 111 gained much better reviews. And it was set in Sicily where we had holidayed many years ago. The pictures of the scenery were amazing, some helicopter shots made me dizzy. Denzel Washington is now 68 so I bet he was glad when an early injury meant he had to use a stick. When he was better, he was supposed to run up steep steps up a cliff side. But we only get shots at the bottom and top! So a predictable story, much like a James Bond movie but so well directed by Antoine Fuqua. There is some poetic justice at the end. Once again I was the only person in the cavernous Screen 3 at Cineworld. There were two new trailers: one for the next Poirot and Ridley Scott's Napoleon. Both look promising. 

Classic Movies: The Story of The Third Man on Sky Arts

 

The first in a brand new series on Sky Arts. These are in depth reviews of classic films, one for each episode. A 3DD Production in association with Sky Arts 6x60'. These are the same production companies who brought us series such as "The Directors" and "Great Film Composers" that are all reviewed on this blog. Their series "Art of Film" comes in October. And the same presenters are also here, this time Ian Nathan takes the main presenting role with contributions from Stephen Armstrong, Neil Norman and Derek Malcolm. The latter appears in his own garden talking to Ian Nathan. I think Derek must have been ninety when this was filmed and, sad to say, he died the following year. There is a great obituary on the Guardian website.

There are some excellent anecdotes of what happened behind the scenes of The Third Man. It was the novel's author, Graham Greene, who adapted his novel for the screenplay. Alexander Korda was the producer but it was David O Selznick back in Hollywood who tried to pull the strings. All to no avail as director Carol Reed made the film he wanted. Thank goodness. Selznick cut the American release. Angela Allen was the script supervisor on the film and here she is talking to Ian Nathan about the shooting of the picture and how the bombed out city of Vienna looked just after the war. 

I loved the way Ian Nathan was filmed in colour walking those same streets in present day Vienna , comparing the same locations shot in black and white. We see the stars of the film, Orson Welles of course, Joseph Cotton, Trevor Howard and Bernard Lee (before he became "M" in the early James Bond films). It's Neil Norman who proclaims Welles' has "one of the great entrances of any film" while Ian Nathan goes further with "in all of film history". Those first facial expressions of Welles shows what a top actor he was. Of course much is revealed about the music and the zither playing of Anton Karas. A highly influential film.