Sight and Sound Magazine - November 2026

 

Editorial

Mike Williams has his pick of the London Film Festival: Clio Barnard's I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning. How different lives "are written most clearly into the buildings they occupy." There is a building site where there is the financier, the builder's director, the site manager, and all the way down to the labourer. But why does he then have to compare this film with Ken Russell's The Devils? Only because this is the main feature this month. But back to Barnard's film, where the characters do sound interesting.

Opening Scenes

David Thomson's obituary of Jeremy Thomas, who had a long career as a producer, notably for The Last Emperor (1987), which won nine Oscars. With director Bernard Bertolucci, their visit to China resulted in permission to film in the Forbidden City. And how they secured thousands of extras. That is what top producers do. Thomas also produced the controversial film Crash. He was chairman of the BFI 1992-1997 and was awarded a CBE. I had never heard of him.

Editor's Choice

Recommendations for the London Film Festival include The Blood Countess, starring Isabelle Hupert, one of my favourite actresses. Also on my list is All of a Sudden, Hamaguchi Ryusuche's new film, as well as the must-see (for me) The History of Concrete from John Wilson. 

In Conversation

B Ruby Rich talks to Marie Kreutzer about her new film Gentle Monster, her next after the wonderful Corsage. But what a change to a film about a paedophile ring. Lea Seydoux, as the wife "doesn't want to believe the police woman who shows up at her door with a warrant" to arrest her husband.

In Production

Hope Rangaswani talks about Tom Hanks playing Abraham Lincoln in an adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo. Also Renate Reinsve (another favourite actress) is playing Mary Wollstonecraft in the film If Love Should Die that also stars Vicky Krieps and Johnny Flyn.

News in Brief 

Nothing of interest.

Restoration: The Curse of the Censor

The re-release in UK cinemas and a definitive 4K Blu-Ray box set of ....... Dracula (1958). Made by the same team that made The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). Jimmy Sangster (writer), Terence Fisher (director) and Jack Asher (cinematography), as well as the stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. We hear a lot about the so-familiar plot. But far more interesting is the sequence about the various prints found in unlikely places and their meticulous restoration. "Presenting Jack Asher's cinematography with a clarity, a richness and a detail that proves a revelation". Hope I can get to see it. 

Festival

J A Hopkin has attended the annual Krzysztof Kieslowski Festival in Poland. He of the brilliant Three Colours trilogy. The 30th anniversary of his death. This is the 15th annual "Homage a Kieslowski Festival"

Mean Sheets

Four posters about rebellious nuns. The main poster was for Benedetta (2021), but it seemed to be a foreign one. It said the director was Paula Verhoven and not Paul. Thanks to cinematerial.com, I found one similar there, clicked on the image, and brought up nineteen of the same poster but in different languages. The magazine had the one from the Czech Republic. How great is the internet.

The Long Take

Pamela Hutchinson describes Jeanie Finlay's new documentary, All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea. She compares it to John Grierson's 1929 film Drifters. Both are ultimately about people. Some shots were underwater. A hard life is not getting any easier. 

Flick Lit

Nicole Flattery considers the fantasy childhoods created by Steven Spielberg, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and ET. She thinks these are obvious inspirations for summer blockbusters such as David Robert Mitchell's The End of Oak Street, "that feels genuinely odd and unsettling." In fact, "nostalgia is big business." Then a comparison to Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (see my review) that is also into nostalgia, "enthralled by the past." But Nicole is worried about the message "we live in turbulent times."

TV Eye 

When I realised that Andrew Male's introduction was about an Apple TV series of Cape Fear, I almost stopped reading. Nick Antosca's adaptation has apparently made so many changes.

The Venice Bulletin

Sam Wigley starts with the fact that of the twenty-one films on show, only two were directed by women. Jury President Maggie Gylenall was not impressed. Especially as those two actually won prizes and some of the others did not even deserve to be shown. However, there were award-winning features from Danny Boyle (Ink) and Martin McDonagh (Wild Horse Nine). But these were shown and gone in the first couple of days. 

But it's Werner Herzog's Bucking Fastard that gets the longest review about two identical Yorkshire sisters (not twins). Among the many others was Florian Zeller's Bunker, following his successful The Father (2020). Here are Javier Barden and Penelope Cruz in a "London based family drama". I was going to skip the part on documentaries until I found that one was seven hours long, one five and a half hours and another six hours. But mostly it's about the four-hour Musk.

The Devil You Don't Know

Mark Kermode looks at the story behind Ken Russell's 1971 film The Devils. It has a new restoration and is being shown in cinemas. The article includes pictures from the BFI National Archive. There is a very long review of everything that went on with the making and the cuts it needed before it was shown. The editor of the film was Michael Bradsell, and he tells us he was "being guided by an unseen hand". We also hear about the alarm felt by those actresses who played the nuns and found themselves haunted by the production and becoming upset with the frenzy.

My One Political Film

Ken Russell describes the background to the movie to Mark Kermode in 1995. His inspiration was from Aldous Huxley's The Devils of Loudun, which made a huge impression. Ken had made three films for United Artists, but this one they turned down. It was Warner Bros who picked it up. Ken said he had great respect for John Trevelyan, the chief sensor at the BBFC. But it was not surprising that there were scenes that he could not tolerate or went on too long. We hear about the reception at the Venice Film Festival. There were upsets over the torture, nudity, hanging, etc., but Ken says they were all in the book. The studio had no idea what they had taken on, and the American censors cut out so much, it left it "disjointed and inconprehensible". 

Sick and Kinky Linda Ruth Williams tells us more about what happened with The Devils at the BBFC (The British Board of Film Censors) and the long list of cuts they required. On and on, the story of the cuts seems never-ending. Even after it was awarded its "X" certificate, a Christian fundamentalist organisation attacked local licensing authorities, and the film was still banned in certain towns. But now, on its new release, it "has a stark new relevance for our times".

The Devils in (the) Detail

Subtitled "A view from the set, with exclusive imagery" (the relics in the BFI National Archive). Ann Skinner, who was The Devils continuity supervisor, talks to Isabel Stevens about her experience. This article told me a lot more about what a continuity supervisor does. Ann says, "I would always be there with my script so Ken would have access to it." She goes on, "I was at the centre of everything, but with less clout". There was one particular scene she felt was too much, and she told Ken, "If you need me while doing this shot, I'm in the unit office."

The Devils Advocate

Guillermo del Toro on the film's darkness and light. "In his best films, Russell's exuberance is always tampered with by a key, more subdued collaborator." He continues, "The camera work has a dizzy intoxication." About the new restoration, he says, "Prepare yourself for a full frontal punch in the mouth."

The Descent of Mann

In his new film Fatherland, Pavel Pawlikowski explores the writer Thomas Mann. Jonathan Romney compares Mann's very long novels, 752 pages for Doctor Faustus, to that of Death in Venice (1912) and that film's brief 82 minutes. Director Hanns Zischler has cleverly set the film over just five days as the Nobel prize-winner travels for yet another award. Best of all is his daughter, Erika, played by Sandra Huller.

I Come Here with a Mission

The new film I Love Boosters is by Boots Riley. He is interviewed by Arjun Sajip. Apparently based on a track from the director's hip hop outfit about "law breaking rapscallians". Does he not mean criminals? Not my kind of stuff.

Faust Reformed – "The Faust Bible: The Making of F W Murau's masterpiece"

This new book is the subject of Robert Hanks' article about the film Faust from exactly a hundred years ago. There is a Murnau retrospective at the BFI Southbank. The article included drawings by Robert Herith and Walter Rohrig. All a bit scary.

Reviews

I skipped through the documentary Remake, the South Korean film Possible Love, and Boots Riley's I Love Boosters.

The Dog Stars

Kim Newman says, "The star performances are easy and charming." And Ridley Scott at eighty-eight "is still regularly tackling large-scale projects". Kim goes on, "Action sequences are well staged," but he tells us too much of the plot. (See my review).

Sense and Sensibility

I had to look up what the title meant in Jane Austen's 1811 novel. It's the rational Elinor Dashwood (Daisy Edgar-Jones) compared with her emotional sister Marianne (Esme Creed-Miles). Both were very good. Francis Bradbury Rance reviews and compares this new film with that from Ang Lee in 1995. She thinks the new film is "at it's best when it celebrates their sorority" and that it's "thoughful and moving". Fiona Shaw "is irresistable" as the matchmaking Mrs Jennings. (See my review).

Heart of the Beast

Jonathon Romney reviews. But it's nearly all Brad Pitt and a dog in several near-death experiences. "With touches of aesthetic rapture." But not a drama. Maybe not.

The Portuguese House

Megan Feeney reviews Avelina Pratt's film which is "a lovely place to pass the time". It is about "migrantions of the 20th and 21st century that are shaping the Iberian soul2.

The Yellow Tie

Leigh Singer reviews a film about the famous conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, Sergiu Celibidache from Romania. He is played by John Malkovic. "A perfectionist who denied any recording of his concerts". This interesting biopic "skips backwards and forwards through his life". "Thers a nostalgic sense of old school filmaking here". But at two and a half hours it might seem a little repetitve. Sean Bean and Miranda Richardson co star.

I skipped past Animal (sounded brutal) and Shadows of Beirut (childhood trauma). Also skipped past Kate Stables review of Gentle Monster about child pornography, even though it did star Lea Seydoux as the wife.

Fatherland

Nicolas Rpaolo reviews this eightyone minute movie "casually demonstrating intelligence in cinematic beauty". Although it is in black and white. Hans Zischler plays Thomas Mann (keeps his cards close) and Sandra Huller is the daughter, translater and manager. She "brings clipped brilliance" to the role. There is a good comparison between West and East germany in 1949 as the two travel for that prize giving. Guess which country had "intimidating checkpoints, deserted squares and cafes". 

Case 137

This French movie is reviewed by Ginette Vincendau as a "police proceedural with a social consience". We are in Paris in 2018/19 and the riots. Dominic Moll writes and directs. There is a shooting and police inspector Stephanie Bertrand (Lea Drucker winning a Cesar best actress award)  investigates. "A superb performance". It's about the "gilets jaunes" movement and "an investigation of police malpractice". 

Hope

(See my review). Kim newman talks about "the relentless action" with "an epic running time". I thought the second half was far less succesful on the "forested mountains and rural roads). 

I passed on Marama and Cotton Queen, and also the documentaries Boorman and the Devil and The Lost Children of Tuam. Also passed All Rivers Spill their Stories to the Sea and Idiots.

Winter of the Crow

Alex ramon reviews this Polish drama that stars Lesley Manville. She arrives in a freezing Warsaw in December 1981 for a conference. But thiungs do not go as planned. The communist regime is the subject of a student protest and martial law is imposed. She is a physchiatry professor who is out of her depth as "the resistance is bruttaly clamped down", The film is directed by Kasia Adamik and she also contrubuted to the screenplay. But how can it be "an entertaining film", although it does have powerful message.

DVD and Blu-Ray

Reap the Whirlwind

Four films by Angela Mao, A Hong Kong studio making martial arts films in the 1970's.

Sexy Beast

Now on 4K UHD but too familiar for me.

Little Odessa 

James grey's film from 1994 in a "superb 4K restoration". New York in one of their coldest ever winters. Tim Roth as hitman and also starring Maximillian Schell and Vanessa Redgrave. Looks interesting.

Then six more releases of old films now restored, but none I would want to see.

Wider Screen

An exhibition at Tate Britain features an Algerian artist Zineb Sedira.

Books

Just a Shot Away is mark Minelli's biography of Martin Scorcese who he calls "our greatest living film maker". Well he would. Catherine Wheatley in a long review tells us how the book is structured around his movies. well it would.

From the Archive

Billy Wilder X Saul Bass. Back in Sight and Sounds June 1995's Edition, Pat Kirkham interviewed these two Hollywood stalwarts  over a liesurely lunch. The former was eighty eight and the latter seventy four who was known for his title sequences of the 1950's and 60's. We see pictures of four of them: The Seven Year Itch (1955), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959) and Phsycho (1960). They reminice over five pages.

This Month in ...... 1993

Mike Leigh is on the cover for his controversial film Naked. Reviews included John Woo's Hard Target, Jane Campion's The Piano and Kristov Kizlowski's Three Colours Blue. This received a poor review but deservedly won many prizes.

Hope, Sense and Sensibility and Digger

We are in a coastal community called Hope near the Korean Demilitarised Zone. The first hour goes in a flash as all we see is the devastation caused by what? We don't see a monster for 45 minutes. We are at first following the chief of police of Hope Harbour as clueless as we are as to what is going on. It's when we meet a rookie female officer that things get interesting as she bursts onto the screen, a dab hand with her multiple firearms that brings down the creature. This first part of the movie is incredible, as we see the battered township, worth seeing just for the set.

So the first half is great, but then it changes into three separate plots set in a forest and on a mountain road. I know we needed a rest after the chaos of the first hour, but the search for any other monsters is not so good. There is a lot of CGI, and I was disappointed by the final part. But I was impressed by the huge widescreen at the Hemel Hempstead Cineworld to accommodate the 2.35:1 ratio. The look of the film was spectacular. 

I was thinking about leaving during the first half of Sense and Sensibility; it was all pretty boring. But I'm glad I stayed as the story begins to get better and better. I didn't know the story from the book, but there is no guessing what is going to happen. Georgia Oakley has made a decent attempt at giving Jane Austen's 1811 novel a modern interpretation. The two sisters are well played by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esme Creed-Miles, but the star of the show is Fiona Shaw as Mrs Jennings. Her performance deserves an Oscar nomination at the very least. She was the only one of the actors whose speech I could clearly hear. The rest may be only fifty per cent. Obviously, the costumes and sets are fine, but I just hate these films that veer towards arthouse movies with shots of wildlife and fauna punctuatiing  important scenes.

Hadley Freeman in the Sunday Times was not impressed; she thought it looked too dark, as the sun never shone. I found that there was a lot of sunshine and blue skies. It was just the way it was shot, with a natural look rather than cinematic lighting. Apparently it was all shot on film (not digital) with "an emphasis on natural lighting, candlelit scenes, and on location shhooting". So nothing in the studio. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian refers to Ang Lee's "celebrated 1995 movie" with that all-star cast. Emma Thomson and Kate Winslett played Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. Here is "a more downbeat, ruminative version". 

Where do I start with Digger? I haven't seen all of Alejandro Inarritu's films, but these are all memorable: Ameros Peros, 21 Grams, Babel (my favourite), Birdman and The Revenant. We have been asked not to reveal any details of the plot, and I can understand why. There are lots of spoilers in many online reviews, but I won't join them. Someone said, "You can't talk about it without spoiling what makes it, in my eyes, a masterpiece. Or completely terrible". Take your pick.

Let's talk about the cast. I guess it has to start with Tom Cruise in the title role. He has the most to say, but it seems like one long rant, for one reason or another. A better actor would have made more of the script. So Tom, leave drama to the grown-ups. Like Riz Ahmed as Ganesh, his chief scientist. A shoe-in for at least an Oscar nomination. John Goodman is fine as the president; better is Sandra Huller as Digger's sister. Almost a quieter counterpoint to Cruise's Digger, but not quite. And a shout-out for Jesse Plumons as the producer, and he does well with his big speech at the end.

Back to the story, it isn't that far in when we understand why the first part seems so weird. However, this is, in its own way, an interesting take on the climate crisis. There are also elements of Dr Strangelove. I thought I might be the only one who thought that, but no. There is a feeling of an attack on America and its love of oil. Are you watching Donald? The film itself has, apparently, bombed at the box office, but maybe in the future it could be recognised as an important film. But yes, it's too loud and too long, and the speech is too fast. But there is a method in all of that, even if it's not an easy watch. I found it gripping, as it won't let you go. But I thought that it could have been cut by twenty minutes.

The director has said, "It's a disaster movie where the disaster is us." One review said it had "an insidiously clever method to the madness". But Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian called it "labourious" in his two-star review. Hadley Freeman in the Sunday Times said, "It takes cojones to make an environmental disaster comedy, but the constant jumps between storylines are irksome rather than illuminating."

The Predicament, Paradise City and What We Can Know

 

We are in 1963 (and I'm just finishing sixth form), and here again is Gabriel Dax. We met him first in Gabriel's Moon, which I thought was the writer-on-top form. Gabriel is now a double agent, which seems very tiring, given that he is trying to finish writing his book on Rivers. He has not only to listen to instructions from his boss, Faith Green, but also the Russian agents that seem to monitor his every move.

However, in The Predicament, Gabriel is off to Guatemala (typical of the writer, exploring all these different countries). Apparently, the possible new leader will only talk to him. But things do not go to plan, and Gabrile is soon back home before leaving for Berlin. The story moves along at a decent pace; all the cities are very well described in their sixties setting. The book is entirely written from the view of Gabriel, the closest to the first person that you can get. In Berlin, it's all about a visit by President Kennedy (note 1963), and Gabriel is on the task force to make sure it all goes to plan. MI6 are on the trail of possible assassins, but they have all disappeared. Should we be worried?

A few years ago I read Elizabeth Day's novel "The Party" and was quite impressed. But her latest book, Paradise City, was a disappointment. I had hoped it would include a lot more about London, but it concentrated instead on the stories of the four main characters. I guess the writer didn't properly research the locations. It's Sir Howard Pink (formerly Fink), who is central to the story, a self-made man maybe loosely based on Sir Philip Green. In the first chapters he comes across as pretty obnoxious.

The second character is Esme, who lives in a Shepherd's Bush that I barely recognize. Although it was sixty odd years ago when I changed buses on my way to school. Esme works on Kensington High Street (where my father managed the one large grocer's shop) and passes Kensington Church Street, where my brother went to school. Older Carol and immigrant Beatrice have shorter introductions.

Obviously we start to find out about connections between the four, starting, obviously, between journalist Esme and Sir Howard. What could have been a fraught meeting they instead bond over her father's death and his daughter's disappearance. Their interview is, for me, the best part of the book; their conversation is so well written. Sir Howard then comes across Beatrice, a cleaner in his hotel room, and there is an unsavory occurrence where there are obviously repercussions.

Carol, a solitary widow, is visited by her daughter and grandson, and they are off to Barnes Wetlands Center. (We used to go to Barnes Common most Sundays in the fifties, but things do change). Carol has strange Alan as a neighbour. Their story is central to the second half of the book, which turns into a mystery as Alan disappears and Carol discovers something that puts her into the limelight. There is quite an emotional ending as it all comes to a satisfactory conclusion.

It's 2119, and Tom Metcalfe, our narrator, is at the Bodleian, now in Snowdonia, looking through the journals of Vivienne Blundy. She was married to the famous poet Francis Blundy, and Tom is interested in finding the missing corona of fifteen sonnets that Francis could recite from memory. But that was over a hundred years ago, and a lot has changed in the landscape since then. In What We Can Know, the UK is now just a series of islands. It all happened in the 2030s following the warnings of global warming.

Vivienne's journals include a dinner party where she does all the work, not grudgingly but "irritated by his (Francis) certainty, his entitlement, and his capacity for repetition. A brilliant man, but such a fool". Back to Tom, and there are hints about the state of the environment (not good) and that life expectancy is now sixty-two. There is a discussion about the merits and preference of poetry or prose. It's time I mentioned that this is a pretty highbrow novel; for example, in Chapter 9 there are three pages of highly intellectual stuff, a précis of all that has happened in the intervening years.

We hear from Vivienne's journal all about her first husband, Percy, a genius at making violins, but his descent into Alzheimer's is such a strain on his wife. But in 2120, to find that missing corona involves an expedition to the Cotswolds that involves travelling across inland seas and results in an unexpected find. Then Part 2 is a massive change of direction; saying anything would be too much. But its prose is far easier than what went before. 

Football Crazy!

 

The Sunday Times Magazine included an extract from David Kynaston's book Deep into the Sixties: Britain 1965-66. I believe this is the seventh in his series of books (Tales of New Jerusalem) that chronicles life in Britain from the end of the Second World War. He raids memoirs, newspapers, and diaries to recall key moments in British life. These four pages concentrate on one day, Saturday, 30th July 1966, when England won the World Cup. 

He starts with some predictions from various newspapers and then the coverage of the game on TV. There is a selection of what people were doing on the day. "At 2.48pm a sharp burst of rain at Hampstead Cricket Club has the players gratefully racing for the pavilion and the TV there." He includes who is not watching: "Dennis Law (Scottish football legend) opts to play golf. "And Max Wall is starting his matinee performance of Ubu Roi." While "Sir Stanley Mathews in hospital recovering from an operation falls asleep." 

As for the match, Kenneth Wolstenholme for the BBC describes the "torrential rain as England start the second half." (I was undercover in the top tier behind that controversial goal). I was amazed that only fifteen minutes after the final whistle, the next programme on the BBC starts: Juke Box Jury. Then all the regular Saturday evening programmes. 

"On a busy evening, the police find time to arrest the gangster Charlie Richardson and his accomplices some four months after the murder of their associate George Cornell by Ronnie Kray at the Blind Beggar pub in Whitechapell". But people found it difficult to get inside any pub for a celebration drink. (I went down to the Royal Garden Hotel, but the team had already been out on the balcony). We hear lots about what was happening in London, Union Jacks everywhere on the streets. 

There were highlights of the match on BBC at 10.20pm. There is so much more about what people were doing on the day, but I must include the final paragraph. The Kinks were due to be playing at an outdoor event at Pinhoe in Devon. "But having delayed leaving London until after the afternoon's drama is over, they fail to arrive until 11.45pm, two hours late. The show has to end at midnight, so they play for just ten minutes to a visibly angry crowd of some 6000, booing them loudly."  

The author was fifteen. I was twenty-one.

Dear David (if I may). Many apologies for such a delayed response, but I did want to drop a line to say that I much enjoyed reading ‘The Lost Tickets.'

And of course, I envy you being there!

Best wishes,

David (Kynaston)

Pressure, Sean the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom and Verity

 

Of course, Pressure is a Working Title production. Andrew Scott is excellent as the real-life uptight Group Captain James Stagg, an RAF weather man. The film is based on the stage play written, directed and starring David Haig (mainly known in our house for playing Inspector Grim in The Thin Blue Line opposite Rowan Atkinson). Anthony Maras has taken over directing duties for the film and has co-written the screenplay with Haig. What could have been a boring story, it maintains the drama of forecasting the weather for the D-Day landings all the way through. From potential disaster if they had not listened to Stagg to that crucial window in the stormy weather. We could have cheered.

I have to say I was less impressed with Brendan Fraser as Eisenhower, completely overshadowed by his British secretary Kay Summersby, played by the superb Kerry Condon. But it's Andrew Scott who should pick up some awards. It was interesting that the main location was Mentmore Towers (not far away from us), which is now unoccupied and facing major repairs. The poster above is strange in that Brendan Fraser seems to be edging out Andrew Scott. So I have included the photo below.

Henry K. Miller in September's Sight and Sound magazine was less impressed. "Historically dubious theatrics" and "on the surface contrivance after contrivance". But I preferred Peter Bradshaw's review, where he says, "It's a slick presentation and earnestly performed with an important story to tell."

The latest film from Aardman Animations is a follow-up to their Sean the Sheep film, this time introducing The Beast of Mossy Bottom. It's "all about horror films and English village life". From Frankenstein to Jurassic Park, Psycho to The Shining and all those British Hammer movies. Well, the film is based all around Halloween, so lots of pumpkins. Then how do you pack in everything about modern life? I liked the parcel deliveries where it's even photographed on the doorstep. And Sean texting the vet for help using emojis. I missed remembering so much, but I did see the top of a multiplex in the corner of one frame when they visited a town. And all those solar panels.

Sean and his mates are brilliant; even the older female never lost her rollers after their fast escape. I liked the female vet and the farmer. All those chases, the mob with pitchforks and other common implements. Then it's all about the dangers of untested substances. And what were all those mathematical equations on the blackboard? For us older viewers there were lots of mentions I cannot now remember. Except for a sudden blast of the theme tune from The Archers. Well done, Aardman. 

The new film critic in The Sunday Times, Hadley Freeman, gave the film her first five-star review. "I hoped it would never end."

I had not realised Verity was an adaptation of a Colleen Hoover book, it's just there are so few dramas at the cinema these days. But why is Anne Hathaway the main focus of the poster when it's Dakota Johnson who has the larger role? But I have to say that, along with Josh Hartnett, the three stars, surprisingly, hold our interest throughout. The screenplay by Nick Ancosta is fine. OK, the story is pretty silly, and there are many crazy holes in the plot. But when the theme of the story revolves around a famous author who is wheelchair-bound and comatose, you know things are not as they seem. We are surprised, as Dakota does when she arrives and finds this situation. Of course the setting of this luxury mansion in deep winter looks fantastic. Peter Bradshaw, in his two-star review in The Guardian, tells us, "The nation is crying out for a really enjoyable erotic mystery-thriller," but that this isn't it. 

Holiday in Chichester

FRIDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER 

Leaving home just after 10am, we arrived at Cowdray Park at 12.15pm. We had lunch in their lovely cafe, sharing a BLT and some smoked salmon. A nice walk around the polo fields; it started off misty but soon cleared to lovely sunshine. A tour of the shop, and then, because it was so nice and we were in no hurry, we sat outside the cafe for tea and biscuits.

It's not far to Chichester, but we were held up in Midhurst before it was clear all the way to our destination. Arriving at 4pm to unpack. The weather had been mostly sunny and a pleasant 20C.

SATURDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER

While Alison went off to Brighton to see Carolyn and Jem, I had a quiet time watching Mark Kermode's film reviews before walking into town. Outside the cathedral was a poster advertising tours to the top of the spire. In reply to my question to the lady on reception, she told me there were 185 steps. In the past I went on every possible climb to the tops of buildings, but unfortunately this is no longer the case. I always wanted to do the climb over the top of the O2 but should have done that years ago.

I was left with going to the visitor centre and a walk around the town. Two premier rugby matches to watch in the afternoon before Alison arrived back for the England vs Spain game in the evening. The weather had been great and a pleasant 20C.

SUNDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER

A quick walk to the shops for a Sunday paper, and we were off for the Chichester Walls Walk, this time the opposite direction to that of last year. Lots of stops along the way, including Priory Park and The Guildhall.

We ended up at the Bishops Palace Garden at the cathedral, where we found a nice bench or three.

An early lunch at the Cloister's Kitchen in the cathedral grounds. No queue to order our food, unlike how busy it was when we left. Alison stayed in town while I walked back to watch the third ODI against Sri Lanka. Another lovely sunny day, except for a short shower while we were in the cafe. Warm at 21C.

MONDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER

Our day in Brighton. This time we took the car and parked at the Withdean Stadium outside the town. Here there is a park and ride with a regular bus service to the seafront. The only problem is the number of stops along the way, so it's not such a good idea in the end. But the parking in Brighton is astronomic, and there is too long a walk to the front from the station.

We were meeting Caroline at the pier. She is Alison's sister's husband's sister. We wandered down to pick up the Volks Electric Railway for a ride all the way to the end. It's on its 143rd year and closes for the winter at the end of this week; that was lucky: volksrailway.org.

At the end of the line and on the opposite side of the road is The Reading Room cafe, where we had a marvellous lunch, up a level with great views overlooking the seafront.

It was still quite a long walk to Brighton Marina, which was our final destination. I had heard a lot about its construction and had always wanted to see it. Construction only started in 1971, long after I left college in Brighton. Wikipedia has a great history of how it came to be. Was it worth the effort? Definitely, especially since I had no idea what it would be like having done no research beforehand. It is far larger than I imagined.

I found this aerial shot.

We sat on one of the benches that line the new perimeter overlooking the boats.

On the Volks Railway back, we were the only passengers. 

We found our bus stop near the seafront; the bus arrived quickly for that too long journey back to Withdean. Even the car journey back was awful; we should have gone by train! But the weather had been great, bright, sunny, and a mild 20°C.

TUESDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER

I was due a rest first thing while Alison went out for a run. By midmorning we were off for a visit to Chichester Cathedral.

While we had been before, we found so much more of interest than on previous visits.

In one of the chapels we were looking at some graffiti, and one of the clergy came and talked to us about it. See the website of English Cathedral's: Chichester's Ancient Graffiti Brought To Life. But I preferred the odd remaining piece of a fresco.

We left at about one, just before an organ recital where the audience was already packing the seats. We picked up things for our lunch and dinner at M&S Food. Then in the afternoon we were off to Bosham, one of our favourite places. The tide was only just starting to go out, so the tiny road along the front was submerged.

Instead, we went into Holy Trinity Church after I sat on one of their many benches to take this photo.

Again, we found things we had never seen on our previous visits. The bell tower dates from Anglo-Saxon times, with the top completed in early Norman. Unfortunately there is no access for visitors, but we could see the ropes for ringing the bells. 

There is a detailed description of the six bells next to the tower door, but not on the internet. Here it is.

A few steps down to the crypt below is Allhallows Chapel. The Crypt was built in the fourteenth century and somewhere else we had not seen before.

A very short walk to the estuary and benches along the green. They were all free, probably because the breeze had become stronger, although it was mild.

A look around the shop and back to the big, now empty, car park. Interestingly, it is not signposted in the route through the village. Dinner at home with England beating Croatia in the Nation's League. Quite a cloudy day, very muggy, and at 21°C it felt much warmer.

WEDNESDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER

A quiet morning meant I was this far with my post for the holiday. Tried to transfer photos from the camera to my laptop and failed. Many times. (Fortunately back home they transferred instantly). Posted three film reviews on my blog. In the evening, dinner at The Ivy in town. Quite a reasonable bill for such a nice place, super food, and great service. A bright day with some sun and a warm 20°C.

THURSDAY 1ST OCTOBER

We had saved our big day in Portsmouth for our last. We parked in the multi-story near Chichester station, and we took the train to Portsmouth Harbour. 

We walked along the seafront all the way to Southsea Castle. This was where we usually parked the car, so we were going in the opposite direction. Lots of stops along the brand-new promenade. It was all closed off last year as the works were in progress. The £185 million scheme is really quite something.

I found this photo of the sea protection works.

Southsea Castle is where we turn round, but not before we sat outside for tea and cake.

A wander back to Gunwharf Keys for a late lunch at Bella Italia. We always seem to find a table next to the seafront. Overlooking the harbour and looking up from my seat to Spinnaker Tower.

The shopping centre is next door, but this time only for some chocolates at the Lindor store. Back at the station we found that trains to Chichester had been cancelled. We decided on taking the bus instead. The number 700 coastliner sounded promising, and we didn't have to wait long. However, it might have been a mistake, as the journey took far longer than the scheduled hour and a quarter. Ours took an hour and forty-five minutes, and there were 55 stops! Back at the car park at 6pm. But we only had to pack, as we had brought our tea with us. It had been a lovely day, sunny, warm and 21C again. 

FRIDAY 2ND OCTOBER

A good journey home via the A3 and M25 with only a short delay on the motorway. That was very lucky.