A Haunting in Venice, Past Lives and The Lesson

 

The first shock was that here was Ariadne Oliver, but not the Zoe Wanamaker we know and love, but an American! Now Tina Fey is a great actress but should have had another name in the film. I recognised Kelly Reilly and Michelle Yeo but hardly anyone else. A Haunting in Venice  was a cheap production. I thought we would get lots of exteriors but no. It's mostly filmed on a set made to look like the inside of a Venetian villa. But not a lot to say. Kenneth Branagh was OK. Just.

Past Lives is an intimate portrait of, not a love affair but, a relationship that springs from a childhood friendship between  Na Young (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo). At first a long distance communication between Seoul and New York, and then, years later,  when Hae visits New York to see her. But in the intervening years, Na has become more westernised and changed her name to Nora. And this contrasts to how Korean she finds Hae to be. We hear almost nothing about their real lives, parents, family, friends (bar one), work or outside interests. This is just about a relationship between two people who have grown apart.  But brilliant all the same.

You could call The Lesson a literary thriller but I thought more of a drama. It is almost entirely filmed at the beautiful mansion owned by the famous writer J.M. Sinclair played by the wonderful Richard E Grant, and his wife Helene played by Julie Delpy. Here comes the tutor Liam Sommers (Daryl McCormack) to help their son Bertie. This is a real slow burner, nothing much happens but the dialogue is exceptional. The original screenplay by Alex MacKeith is so clever as the story finally ramps up.  Although the film is almost theatrical in it's presentation, it does look marvellous on the big screen, the interiors, the huge garden and the  lake. Director Alice Troughton has done masses of TV but this is her first feature film, and a very good one. I remembered Julie Delpy from the Three Colours trilogy as well many other movies. Helene only smiles once and that was when her son finally jumps into the lake, that has a lot to answer for. 

The Story of British Cinema - The Pioneer Years

 

Sky Arts in association with 3DD Productions continue to present terrific documentaries about movies. Their latest looks at the early days of British films. Ian Nathan, in his introduction, said these were "so varied and so exciting". Derek Malcolm wondered "did Hollywood copy us?" It was William Friese-Greene who patented celluloid for a moving picture camera, although it was the Lumiere brothers who managed to project this onto a screen. We hear about other pioneers including Robert William Paul and his special effects. Ian Nathan tells us that Cecil Hepworth developed a studio system that made Alice in Wonderland in 1903.

By 1913 there were 4,000 cinemas in the UK with three big exhibitors. After the first world war came the first big director. Alfred Hitchcock made The Lodger in 1927 where Ivor Novello became a star. But with Hollywood beginning to monopolise the industry, an Act of Parliament was passed that addressed these concerns by making a quota of films that had to be British made.  Then in 1929 Hitchcock made the first British talkie. Blackmail started life as silent movie but halfway through was adapted for sound. It's Czech female star had her words spoken off camera 

We hear about the movie moguls and the story of Alexander Korda and his brother targeting American audiences with films such as The Private Lives of Henry V111. Hitchcock was gaining international recognition with The Man Who Knew Too much and in 1935's The 39 Steps. Producers such as Michael Balcom and Carol Reed were discussed. Then in 1937 J Arthur Rank bought up studios and cinemas to create the Rank Organisation. During WW2 they made films such as David Lean's In Which we Serve. There were pro-Britich propaganda films such as Went The Day Well, a Graham Greene story that neil Norman said was a "fabulous piece of work". 

Rank became the strongest studio after the war. They ignored the international market and made very Britich films that were actually very successful. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were making popular films as was David Lean with Brief Encounter and Great Expectations that gained worldwide recognition and Derek Malcolm thought was the best ever adaptation of Dickens for the big screen. Producer Alexander Korda brought together writer Graham Greene and director Carol Reed to make two hugely successful films: The Fallen Idol and The Third Man that Ian Nathan called "among the greatest British films of all time" and Neil Norman thought the latter "arguably the greatest British film ever made".

We were on to the Ealing Comedies in 1949 with Whisky Galore, Kind Hearts and Coronets and Passport to Pimlico. Then Alec Guinness appearing in The Man in the White Suit and Ladykillers. And mentions for Brighton Rock and Our Man in Havana. But there then came a huge change in British cinema with a new wave of social realistic movies that started with 1959's Room at the Top, with that seedy picture of suburbs from the window of Laurence Harvey's train. The film was nominated for six Oscars and won two. We might have to wait to hear how this changed the British film industry.

The Garden on one late September Day

 

I have never tried this before, a photo trip around the garden, a snapshot of one day. We are in the last few days of September and there is still a lot to see. So yesterday I started with two pictures from outside of the back door. At the front of the first is the Euphorbia Martini that grows through the stones I put down next to the path.

The flowers nearest to the camera on the right above are the Asters and the white  Astrantia. In close up below.

Then turning round from the far end. Some blue Geraniums in the foreground.

And then across to the bedding border with the Dahlia Figaro. In the distance is the Viburnum I grow as a small tree that has come into flower again. 

Walking to the end of the bedding border I reach the junction of the rose border and the wildflower bed.

Not much to see in the side patio except for the Spiraea Japonica that has flowered for the second time this year and then the dwarf crab apple tree 

However I forgot to photograph my favourite rose and had to dash out in the rain this morning. At the front are more Asters.

Then the rose Blue for You. On it's right is a huge stalk that has buds on the top. Not sure what's happened there. "Maybe a sucker from the rootstock". Will investigate later.

These are Asters at the end of the side patio and then the blue Aubretia that first flowered in May.

Now looking to the far end of the garden. In the distance (then in close up below) are the Cosmos I grew from seed.

Going down this border this is the pink Achilea in flower. The forget me nots are leafing like mad in this border.

Some more white Astrantia.

And at the end more Asters. And of course the forget me nots.

Looking across to the hot bed, only the Rudbeckia are in flower.

Then a picture from behind the hot bed across to the long border.

And finally back to where I started.

Another Walk from Home

 

On the 25th January I posted photos of this same four mile plus circular walk from home. Yesterday I wanted to see if Church Lane was flooded after the very heavy rain of the day before. There was this deep large puddle but the footpath was dry. The paths across the field and the tow path next to the canal were fine.

Coming back from Halton and passing over the bridge to the canal, the next field was heavily populated by sheep, many the grown lambs from the spring. The photo does not do justice to how many there were there. 

On the way back I stopped at the reservoir. With the sun out there were nice views over to the Chiltern ridge. 

Classic Movies: The Story of Brighton Rock on Sky Arts

 

This film was released in 1947 and was set between the wars in 1935. Brighton Rock was filmed in startling black and white, contrasting with presenter Ian Nathan caught on camera in brilliant colour moving about the same locations. A movie about gangsters and the cover up of a murder". He starts in The Lanes, (so familiar to me having been five years at college there from 1963) and on to Palace Pier where a great deal was filmed. "A good place for a murder". 

Nathan talks to Derek Malcolm who tells us that this is "one of the darkest" films that "caused a lot of trouble" when it opened. It was banned in Australia and the Daily Mirror told everyone to avoid it. Ian Nathan says it's about "the nature of evil" and what Britain was like between the wars. We hear a lot about Graham Greene who wrote the novel and who ended up adapting it for the screenplay. This is credited to Terrence Rattigan but Greene took over even though he doesn't have a credit. He wrote the story after hearing on the news about a gang from London making a fortune at the Brighton Racetrack. 

Then about the brothers, John and Roy Boulting, the brothers who were the director and producers. After hearing about their background, it is revealed that they met Richard Attenborough white telling documentary type stories during WW2. (In fact the film has a partly documentary type feel with all the crowd scenes in the resort). Dickie was 24 when he played the 17 year old Pinkie Brown but looked the part of the young psychopathic gang leader. A study in evil and violence. Neil Norman says it is "the first and greatest British film noir" and one of the "landmarks of cinema villainy". Derek Malcolm said "each time seeing it gets better and better". 

After that early documentary style, later on we get to the seedy boarding house contrasting with the plush hotel. The film made Brighton so unappealing, too crowded, too hot, too much crime,  that the opening credits had to point out it was made to look that way. Graham Greene was very pleased with the result and thought everything worked so well. His trilogy of screenplays, Brighton Rock, The Fallen Idol and The Third Man all came, amazingly, in just three years.  

I saw the 2011 film that Roland Joffe planted in 1964, and the play at Watford Palace Theatre in 2018. They were both fine but not a patch on the original.

Garden in September

 

I have already posted about the Cosmos I grew from seed. But here are a couple of recent photos. They seem to be better than ever and nice to see in vases in the kitchen.

The Asters below are actually a lilac colour. They are now in four places in the borders. All doing well.

The Rudbeckia get better and better.

The Astrantia are flowering again.

As are the Geraniums.

Below is the Spiraea Japonica in the side border. I left the faded flowers from late spring/early summer and low and behold it has flowered again. 

The honeysuckle at the back of the main border struggles to flower every year. But this time it has tried it's best. And it does cover the fence.

Disturbing Disappearances, Beck Series 9, DNA Series 2 and Rig 45 - Murder at Sea

 Disturbing Disappearances

Disturbing Disappearances is a five part French detective drama, from Walter Presents, each episode being a separate case for the four different police women. The first two (L'Evaporation and Instincts Maternels) are lead by Sara Forestier as young Commissioner Maya Rosetti, the first episode from 2019 and the second and remaining episodes from 2021. Just shown here on Channel 4. The series is set around Montclair on the eastern edge of France. All episodes are written by Johanne Rigoulet.

The series begins with the murder of a local schoolteacher and a desperate search for nine schoolchildren who seemed to have vanished without a trace sending shockwaves through the town and leaving their parents distraught. After the attack, the investigating team race against time to find the children before they come to any harm. From missing persons to unexplained abductions, the detectives use their expertise and intuition to uncover dark secrets lurking beneath the surface of a seemingly tranquil town. As the series progresses, the personal lives of the detectives begin to intertwine with the cases, further complicating the investigations. With each new case, the stakes heighten, which puts the lives of those involved at risk. Will they find the victims before it’s too late?

Above, in the third episode Une Affaire Personelle, is Alix Poisson as Esther Lewanski.

Next comes Julie Depardieu as Leonore Etchgarray in Sour Pression. 

And finally, and in my opinion the best, comes Julie Gayet as Gabrielle Perez in Retour Aux Sources.

Beck - Series 9 

Yes, the picture above is for Series 9 of Beck. The absence of  Peter Haber as Martin Beck is not surprising as his screen time gets less and less. However we do have his grandson Wilhelm Beck in the first episode of the new series. It's so funny that his grandfather has not been pensioned off. Perhaps Wilhelm is there to continue the name of the title.

I last posted about earlier series of Beck in May 2021 and August 2022. This Swedish series is now getting a little tired, so like Martin, it should be pensioned off. But that was after Episode 1 "Deathtrap" and Episode 2 "Quid Pro Quo". Even The Killing Times website said "it can sometimes be as slow and plodding as the old man himself but (Episode 3) is a cracker". And it was. With "Inferno" the series was back to it's best. It's very different and all about the suspended Joseph (Beck and Stiener think that his suspension will be permanent). But we know that Joseph is searching for answers and getting into more and more trouble. It happens over just one night with a great conclusion.

The final episode in this series is "Deadlock" where Beck's rookie grandson goes missing and Beck himself loses the plot. A hostage situation, a missing hidden hoard from an ancient bank robbery, roadblocks and slanging matches. All predictable stuff. Not great and someone added " is it time to put Beck out to pasture"?  We need more one offs like "Inferno". 

DNA -Series 2

I posted about the Danish first series of DNA in February 2021, and here we are for more. Detective Rolf Larsen is played by Anders W Berthelsen and Charlotte Rampling is Claire Bobain, a friend in the police in France.  Olivia Joof  Lewerissa plays his partner Neel. Six episodes that start with a search for an organ donor. The first episode was a bit nasty, dealing with botched harvesting of human organs and lots of dead bodies. 

I nearly deleted the whole series but the second episode was much better. And when Rolf goes off to France to meet up with Claire, the detective work takes a positive step. There is still too much about the family crisis left over from the first series. This idea of making a big deal of this tedious human drama just doesn't work alongside the police procedural. Then the final episode is far too contrived and the big guns who head the organised crime are hardly wrapped up. The programme is far more interested in the co-operation of  the police in Denmark, France and Romania but the result is far to messy.

Rig 45: Murder at Sea - Season 2

I think I missed out on the first series of Rig 45, but I guess they still had the set to be able to shoot season 2. And yes, it all takes place within the claustrophobic confines of below deck. Going outside is a very rare option. For six episodes it is very repetitive and I really don't know how I have kept watching. But that is a serial for you, you just want to know what happens next. The script seems to be all over the place, organised so that the characters are constantly moving about the rig searching for someone or something. Then escaping the rig and onto the rescue ship, and yes, more searching the decks, this time for the crew. And being chased. Lots of spooky music. Very little story. The worst ending ever!