Movies at Home: Amarcord, The Infernal Macine and Or Man in Havana

 

Frederico Fellini's AMARCORD won the Oscar in 1974 for the best film in a foreign language. I don't know why. Some of the exterior cinematography was excellent; at times it almost looked as if it was captured in 3D. There was a carriage ride that was particularly exceptional. However, there is no plot, just a series of scenes from the life of a town. It starts at night with the inhabitants of the town gathering for a firework display. With a band. There are multiple characters, but it cuts from one domestic scene to another. Including multiple classrooms. The film does look great but that's it.

Fortunately, The Infernal Machine does have a story. It stars Guy Pearce as Bruce Cogburn, who is in just about every scene. He lives alone far from anywhere. Almost hiding, but from what? His claim to fame is that notorious book called The Infernal Machine. The fact that his book is to blame for a shooter killing thirteen people from a rooftop. He has no phone or TV. He has to drive to a phone box to make a call. So it's no surprise when he starts receiving letters from someone who knows more about the book than Bruce would like. 

Paranoia sets in as Bruce tries to figure out who is persecuting him. Alice Eve in a tiny role as a police officer is no help. Eventually we find out who is behind the letters and come to realise that he might know who actually wrote the book. All pretty unusual, but fortunately Pearce may be at a career high since his lead in Christopher Nolan's Memento. 

If only the 1959 film of Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana had been in colour. Then the sights of Cuba would have been exceptional. Greene has also adapted his own book and directed the film. I thought that his screenplay was brilliant. There is an amazing cast. Alec Guiness plays James Wormold, a vacumm cleaner retailer who somehow becomes a spy for the British secret service. His daughter Milly is seventeen and has expensive tastes. I thought Jo Morrow was perfect in the role. 

Then Noel Coward and Ralph Richardson play the spies who are impressed with the information gathered by Wormold. Even though it is all fake, including the vacuum cleaner adapted as military hardware. Add in the very attractive but serious and severe Maureen O'Hara as a secretary foisted on Wormold. But Wormaold is getting in too deep with the authorities, and his life is in peril. Will he survive that luncheon party? And who should turn up as a waiter but John Le Mesurier, who looks very suspicious but is not the real murderer. There is a subplot that involves the chief of police, who is after Milly. However, it all turns out well in what is a brilliant ending.

Carthanus tinctorous or safflower

 

Nestled within this bunch of sunflowers are these tiny spots of red. There is no mention on the packaging of what they are, and nothing on the M&S website. However, using PlantNet, I found they were safflower. Apparently one of the world's oldest crops, harvested for the vegetable oil from the seeds. Who knew?

Desert Island Discs - 70 Years of Castaways - The 1970's and 1980's

 

THE 1970's

The introduction was the best so far, a decade full of interest. In popular music there was glam rock, prog rock and punk. The UK joins the EEC in 1972, and then there are referendums on whether we should stay. Twice we said yes and a third time no. But the economy "slid into chaos" with inflation reaching 26.9% in 1975 and having to be rescued by the IMF.

Ivy Benson 16th October 1971 

I have to confess I have no memory of Ivy Benson, despite her forming a girls' band in the 1940's. Ivy was a very talented musician from an early age. Her band played at the Royal Opera House, which was a dance hall during the war. Ivy's favourite band was Count Basie. Hurrah! And while working in Hamburg, who did she meet? The Beatles, of course. 

Philip Larkin 17th July 1976

Larkin was a big jazz fan. His first choice was Dallas Blues, by Louis Armstrong.

THE 1980's

A mention at the beginning of the appearance on the show of royalty on three occasions. Princess Margaret (see below), Princess Grace of Monaco (1981 but not described in the book) and Princess Michael of Kent (1984). There is a mention in the introduction of the episode with Otto Preminger which shows what an awful man he was. 

Roy Plomley died suddenly of a heart attack on 28th May 1985. His last castaway was Sheila Steafal, which was recorded only seventeen days before. On 5th January 1986, Michael Parkinson took over and his first castaway was Alan Parker, the film director. Subsequent guests included violinst Nigel Kennedy and fashion designer Bruce Oldfield. Then only two years later, Parkinson is replaced by Sue Lawley.

HRH Princess Margaret 17th January 1981

A strange selection of record choices and an interview that was less than interesting.

Paul McCartney 30th January 1982

It was on the fortieth anniversary of the programme that the guest was the only Beatle to appear. McCartney tried to be funny but was just embarrassing.

Elton John  1st June 1986

My favourite interview is a precis of his life so far. His first band, success, and then burnout. And, of course, his love of Watford FC. One of his record choices was the Chuck Berry song 'Let It Rock' by The Rolling Stones. 

The next castaway in the book, but a year later, was ..... Robert Maxwell.

Kenneth Williams 26th July 1987

Twenty-six years after his last time on the programme (May 1961), Williams was here again

I skipped Arthur Scargill, obviously. Even though Sue Lawley is now the host. Also straight past Enoch Powell.

Alfred Wainwright 4th September 1988

It took long and protracted negotiations to get him on the programme. But it was worth it.

Diana Mosley 26th November 1989

One of the Mitford sisters, but it "was to become the most notorious episode in the history of Desert Island Discs". All because she was the wife of Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the party of British Fascists. Her appearance caused a major rumpus, with the programme being delayed more than once.

The Last Viking, The Invite and The Odyssey

 

A terrific black comedy which I thought compared favourably with a Coen Brothers movie. A Danish production written and directed by Anders Thomas Jensen. I only knew he co-wrote The Duchess a few years ago. The cast was excellent. I had not seen Sophie Grabol since those forty episodes of The Killing (2007-2012); Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Anker was not familiar to me even though he had appeared in a couple of films I had seen, and Mads Mikkelsen was great in Another Round and a James Bond film. 

The cinematography was outstanding; a huge widescreen (2.39:1) showed the backwoods of Denmark to great effect. It was funny how Anker was so angry all the time, being released from prison and cajoling his brother (Mikkelsen) to find where he buried the loot. He only smiles at the very end when his brother plays in the band. I was amazed that Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian was not impressed; however, Katherine McLauchlin in Sight and Sound Magazine says, "the narrative concludes in a hopeful and moving way." I thought it was brilliant. 

Was The Invite "the funniest movie of the year"? It was certainly not laugh-out-loud funny but more a witty drama about getting to know your neighbours. A four-hander that seemed much more like a visit to the theatre. It all depended on the script by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones from a Spanish film, The People Upstairs, and the direction by Olivia Wilde, who also plays the hostess of the dinner party. I would normally avoid any film that included Seth Rogen, but here he plays to type as her uncouth husband. Their visiting neighbours are a hugely unusual casting of Penelope Cruz (one of my favourite actresses, whom I would go to see in any movie, but here she seems almost bored) and, even more strange casting, her partner, an uptight Edward Norton. 

Rogen seems so angry all the time, while Olivia is even more unhappy. The apartment (that her parents left her), which she has converted, furnished and decorated by knocking through to the one next door, is absolutely a dream. We soon realise this is, for her, a substitute for a loving marriage. Olivia is horrified by the thought of her young daughter growing up and leaving home. Because she would be alone with him. But it's those neighbours who are like some acid in the mix. They will never be the same again.

For the first time, let me start with the five-star reviews. Tom Shone in the Sunday Times said, "This is popular filmmaking at an exalted pitch: rich, strange, dense, and rewarding." Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian tells us, "This is a film with thrilling ambition, boldness, seriousness, generosity and flair."

So why was I so underwhelmed? It might be that Homer's classic is the daddy of all fantasy stories, and fantasy is just not for me anymore. I knew little about the story before I saw the film, only about the Trojan horse and how they entered the city of Troy. This is quite early on in the movie, and its depiction felt awkward. There seemed to be no explanation why the army of Odysseus (Matt Damon in the lead) was there at all or for how long. And a story that is nearly all about the trials on the voyage home seemed to have no context. It makes for spectacular filmmaking if this is all you want. 

On the plus side, for a film getting on for three hours, I was never bored. The final forty-five minutes were more of a story of when Odysseus returns home. Except for the interminable fight at the end. The acting also seemed strange. I could never get away from recognising the actors instead of their characters. I guess the script was always going to take second place. 

The cygnets at Weston Turville Reservoir

 

I had not seen the cygnets at Weston Turville reservoir since my post of the 13th June. But this week here they are. Fortunately all six are fine. The parents have done a great job; notice how they take up positions on either side of the group of youngsters. They have certainly grown in the last six weeks. This was how they looked back then.

I wondered why they had stuck to the far side of the reservoir and thought that all those feathers near this spot might have been the reason. I'm just glad they are all fine. I just wish I had taken my camera instead of the rubbish photos on my mobile phone.

Garden in late July

Starting these photos from the garden in late July is my favourite flower: the delphinium, sky blue and white. I could have done with a more dramatic colour, but the fact that it is flowering better this second time around is amazing.

The same goes for the rose blue for you, now blooming again.

Other roses are also blooming again.

Next is the brand new salvia "amistad".

I think I made a mistake in chopping the heads off the antirrhinum bedding plants. I hoped this would reduce their height when they flowered, but no such luck. And now they are taking so long to come into full flower.

At last the hostas by the side of the house have started to flower. 

The impatiens in the pots at the front have been a success.

Although these tiger lilies have struggled. 

Last of all, the rudbeckia in the far round border has revived after not being watered for so long. There are even signs of some flowers.

Jackson Browne on the Old Grey Whistle Test at The Sheperd's Bush Empire

The BBC has some old concerts on iPlayer, including this one with Jackson Browne. Recorded live on 7th December 1976, so that is nearly fifty years ago! We were both a lot younger then. The performance was at the BBC Television Centre (previously known before and since as the Shepherds Bush Empire). See my post of 23rd March 2010. So I had been on the same stage as Jackson. And seen him live at Hammersmith in 1986 and at the Royal Albert Hall in 1996, 2003 and 2009. (See post of 29th May 2009). But this recorded concert was far better than those others I remembered. Songs such as Fountain of Sorrow from the album Late for the Sky were perfect for this intimate setting. As was my favourite, For a Dancer. 

The Shepherd's Bush Empire opened in 1903 and became the BBC Television Centre in 1953. That was where I was chosen as a contestant for Crackerjack in 1957 when I was just fourteen. See post 17th February 2010. The theatre was again refurbished in 1993 after the BBC left and reverted to its old name. I had been to a couple of concerts there, including Paul Heaton and Jacki Abbott in 2014. See post 28th May 2014. 

This is the set list from the Old Grey Whistle Test:

01 talk (Jackson Browne)
02 Something Fine (Jackson Browne)
03 talk (Jackson Browne)
04 For Everyman (Jackson Browne)
05 talk (Jackson Browne)
06 Fountain of Sorrow (Jackson Browne)
07 talk (Jackson Browne)
08 The Only Child (Jackson Browne)
09 talk (Jackson Browne)
10 For a Dancer (Jackson Browne)
11 talk (Jackson Browne)
12 Mohammed's Radio (Warren Zevon & Jackson Browne)
13 talk (Jackson Browne)
14 The Pretender [Edit] (Jackson Browne)

Here is the band:

Jackson Browne: Vocals, guitar, piano

David Lindley: Guitars, violin

Mark Jordan: Piano, guitar

Bryan Garofolo: Bass

John Mauceri: Drums

David Mason: Organ

Warren Zevon: Guest vocals and piano on "Mohammed's Radio"