Driving Madeleine at the Rex Berkhamsted

 

Having missed the wonderful A Very Long Engagement at the Rex Cinema in Berkhamsted, I made sure I had a ticket for the French movie driving Madeleine. Which was fortunate as the auditorium was packed, very unusual as foreign films normally show to a sparse audience. The vast majority were elderly ladies, not quite the age of Madeleine's ninety two. The film begins with Dany Boon's Charles driving his taxi around Paris, twelve hours a day, six days a week. What with his obvious financial troubles, he is sullen and angry man. His latest fare is obviously Madeleine played by the brilliant Line Renaud. She basically hires him for the day, visiting old haunts on her way to the first day at her retirement home. Queue beautiful images of the city, particularly later in the dark.

Madeleine tells Charles her story, well those years leading up to her late twenties. Not all sweetness and light by any means. The love of her life, a GI, leaves at the end of the war with a pregnant Madeleine.  Then a violent husband. So a life in flashback with the gorgeous Alice Isaaz as the young Madeleine. Charles eventually warms to her story, and here we are listening, like him, with no prior knowledge of who he is actually driving around Paris. 

A very different film to Driving Miss Daisy, much darker in parts. The contrast of personalities works really well, the verbosity of Madeleine and the quiet Charles. Christian Carion has directed from a script he wrote with Cyril Gely. They have produced a quite fabulous and emotional movie. There are two songs: "At Last" by Etta James and "This Bitter Earth" by Dinah Washington. 

Art of Film with Ian Nathan on Sky Arts: Episode 2 The Magic of Ealing Studios

 

Ian Nathan introduced "The Magic of Ealing Studios" with the words "there is nothing like an Ealing comedy". He talks to producer Stephen Wooley about how Michael Balcombe built teams of talented people from 1938 to 1955. Steven Armstrong told us how all the writers sat around a table and bounced ideas off each other. The films showed the British way of life after WW2. Chris Auty said that these were classics for future generations.

The programme started with some classics from the 1950's but I will start with 1942's Went The Day Well?. A very violent, very dark wartime depiction of a village in rural England invaded by a group of German soldiers in disguise. However after the war Ian Nathan says that the studio tried to "look forward to the future with optimism and trepidation". ( At present I am reading David Kynaston's A World to Build about Britain just after the war so I know why). 1947's Hue and Cry got the cameras out of the studio to look at all those bomb sites. As did 1949's Passport to Pimlico. The same year came Whisky Galore with that anti-establishment edge and Kind Hearts and Coronets. The 1950's were a highly successful period for the studio, with The Lavender Hill Mob in 1951 and The Ladykillers in 1955. 

Ian Nathan visits the old Ealing Studios and tells us it is the oldest studio in the world.  He introduces Barnaby Thomson, a director and producer Ealing Studios Partner. He says the studios were founded in 1902 in the era of silent films. Today it still thrives as can be seen on their website. We also get a potted biography of Michael Balcombe who joined Ealing in the 1930's. He was a brilliant talent spotter and wanted his people to work in the most collaborative way.  He harnessed the spirit of Britishness with films that spoke to normal people. Eccentricity was celebrated as part of the national identity.

The programme then seemed to run out of ideas as there was a lot of talk and repeats of clips of films that we had already seen. However, the last part told us about films made by Ealing that were not comedies. Such as The Cruel Sea, The Blue Lamp, Scott of the Antarctic, Dead of Night, It always rains on Sunday, and The Titfield Thunderbolt. In fact Ealing were responsible for every genre of film making except for musicals. And they are still around today.

Garden in November

 

The first two weeks of November are the best for the silver birch turning to gold. Also the dwarf crab and the maypole cherry.

There were still the odd rose in flower at the beginning of the month, the white Astrantia and the blue geranium.

The bedding dahlias have been cleared, although those in the pots are still in flower.

At the end of the month the conifers have been trimmed, as they are every two years.

But before that I had to clear the lawn of the leaves from the silver birch.

And finally, the first of the bulbs are beginning to show, but just the early crocuses for next year.

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Film Noir on Sky Arts - Episode 2 Classic Noir (1944 to 1958) Part 1

 

This was the heyday of film noir, actually a post war phenonium. Ian Nathan thought it was a response to the bleak times of WW2. Neil Norman added that these cleverly photographed black and white films had an "existential style". Derek Malcolm talked about the difficulty the censors had with some scenes, while Stephen Armstrong said everything looked so bleak.

Ian Nathan told us that maybe (but not certain) that the first of these films was 1940's Stranger on the Third Floor starring John Maguire and Peter Lorre (the man from the title). Derek Malcolm showed us "the most astonishing lighting effects, especially the shadows of this black and white movie. In 1941 came The Maltese Falcon (described elsewhere on this blog). Derek Malcolm said "you don't know what is happening half the time" and that it made a name for Lorre. Neil Norman liked the coolness of Humphrey Bogart.

In 1944 came the film that Neil Norman said is the first one you think about film noir. Double Indemnity had a screenplay by Raymond Chandler and director Billy Wilder from the original book. Starring Fred McMurray, Barbara Stanwick (a marvelous femme fatale) and Edward G Robinson.   It still looks great, the lighting, camera work and the close ups. Then in 1945 came Detour. Only an hour long and shot in six days by Edgar G Ulmer. The same year Billy Wilder directed The Lost Weekend starring Ray Milland.

We had to wait until 1950 for Wilder again directing Sunset Boulevard, maybe the funniest of all film noir. Then Fritz Lang directed 1944's The Woman in the Window, Joan Bennet another wonderful femme fatale up against Edward G Robinson. They again appeared in the same director's 1945's Scarlett Street. In 1947 Robert Mitcham and Jane Greer starred in 1947's Out of the Past that Neil Norman thought was a wonderful film. But it was 1946's The Big Sleep (see previous review on this blog) with Bogart and Bacall directed by Howard Hawks.

There was then a diversion when the presenters talked about the 1946 "Exhibition of American Film" in Paris. France was overwhelmed with what they saw. The programme then focused on British films with 1949's hugely atmospheric The Third Man (also reviewed on this blog). Written by Graham Greene and directed by Carol Reed it agin had wonderful lighting and photography. Then Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt from 1943 gets a mention (also reviewed here). There were lots of other Hitchcock movies but were they classic noir? It was left to us to decide.

Lucy by the Sea, Lessons and The Soul of Kindness

 

Very nearly a year ago I wrote a review of Elizabeth Strout's "Oh, William". This included the following:

"It is then that William takes centre stage as he invites Lucy on a road trip to trace some of his roots. Lucy's second husband has died, and she is still on reasonable terms with William as they travel around some deprived rural areas of closed down America. When Lucy talks about her marriage (to David), it is so revealing that it seems as if we are intruding in something so personal. But the story is never less than enthralling and the spare prose from this wonderful writer grips our attention. There is something unusual for me to pick on a character after reading about her a good few years ago, and in this case a real treat. I started off with Laura Linney in my head, having seen her as Lucy on stage, but that soon passed, and Strout's real Lucy took over. I will have to wait until next year to read "Lucy by the Sea"."

And so here we are in the pandemic, and William persuades Lucy to leave her apartment in New York and stay with him in a house perched on a cliff outside Crosby in Maine. Safe as houses. And it did take a lot of persuasion as Lucy has no idea how series is the situation in America. When William uses a rubber glove to hold the nozzle of the petrol pump, Lucy thinks he is totally over-reacting. However, it is Bob Burgess who has found then this house (yes, that Bob Burgess from "The Burgess Boys").

Lucy does not like the house but can put up with it for a couple of weeks. Ha ha. There is quite a lot about living in the pandemic. I didn't know that there was a problem there with the absence of toilet paper in the shops. We still have a roll of that blue decorators paper from that time. And I now know that a nightstand is actually a bedside table. Lucy has some nice (socially distanced) walks with Bob. But it's Lucy's relationship with her ex husband that is at the heart of the story, their living together in a difficult time.

There is one point in the book, among many remembering her mother, that Lucy talks about visiting her in hospital. Straight out of "My Name is Lucy Barton" and the play with Laura Linney as Lucy. Not to mention the author's Olive Kitteridge popping up now and again, and even Isabelle from "Amy and Isabelle". Gradually the vaccine allows more socialising, and Lucy is able to see her two daughters Chrissy and Becca. A late conversation with the former is the best part of the book. Lucy is now older, she must be in her late sixties? But she is still that mixture of being difficult and sensitively loving. Told superbly by one of my favourite writers.

The life story of Roland Baines whose wife Alissa leaves him literally holding the baby. So a male single parent. But as the story tracks backwards and forwards, we arrive at his boarding school when he is eleven. Here his eye test reveals a need for glasses and a revelation in vision. I was just the same. Soon we are into the crux of the story and his piano lessons with Miss Cornell. Their relationship haunts Roland for the rest of his life. A school trip to the American airbase at Lakenheath reminded me of when we went to play basketball there on a full size court.

Alongside the story of Roland's life we are treated to reams of current affairs and the authors own views. Most of these I tried to skip as they were so boring. Of course he gets to see The Rolling Stones at the Ricky-Ticky Club in Guildford and Bob Dylan at Earls Court. So awfully obvious as was when he is at the opening of the Berlin Wall and is carried through in the crowd. However, all those parts about his family and later relationships are superb as we run through the years. But in his mind, Alissa and Miss Cornell are never far away, and how this is resolved is the subject of two brilliant set pieces.

Not my favourite of the eight Elizabeth Taylor novels I have read. Although some say it is one of her best. But the first paragraph is so funny, it's a shame nothing else quite lived up to it. Why does everyone treat Flora with reverence. Just because she is tall and beautiful and just wants the best for everyone doesn't mean she should be put on a pedestal. Her husband, her family, in-laws and friends are all the same. Thank heavens for her friend Meg who, for once, sees through the perfection.

However, here are still all the trademark Taylor witticisms, if sparsely spread. "To be said to take after anyone is usually derogatory to both parties". And talking about a writer "he had all kinds of little tricks for helping him to start work. For instance leaving off in mid sentence the day before". And later "Moneys to be used up, not left behind one".

In the introduction we are told about "three marvelous novels (of hers) of the 1960's. "In Summer Season" (I rated four stars), "The Wedding Group" (four stars again) and "The Soul of Kindness". I preferred the first two.

Movies at Home: Ammonite, Eyewitness and Ran

 

Not nearly enough about fossil hunting, Ammonite is just an excuse for a portrayal of  that special relationship between Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) and Charlotte Murchison (Saoirse Ronan). Two heavyweight actresses cannot save this dismal story. The pictures of Lyme Regis were the best things in the film. Far better was the book Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier that we read for book club. (Post 14th March 2017).

William Hurt was the best thing about 1981's Eyewitness. His Daryll Deever may or may not have seen a murder. But it gives him the opportunity to get close to glamorous tv reporter Sigourney Weaver. But does that make him a target for the real killer. Director Peter Yates keeps up the suspense from an original script by Steve Tesich. Christopher Plummer also stars with just supporting roles for James Woods and Morgan Freeman.

I was really looking forward to Ran, the last film made by director Akira Kurosawa. (See Series 1 Episode 9 of The Directors on Sky Arts - posted on 2nd January 2020 and Shakespeare on Film post of 12th April 2022). I knew that it was based on King Lear, but in the end it was all too familiar. Just working out what had been kept and what was new. We do have the Fool and three sons instead of daughters. That worked quite well. The scenery was spectacular and the battle scenes well staged. But the script and dialogue (even with subtitles) was way too hammy for me. Very Japanese. 

Of course, Kurosawa does have a piece in David Thomson's the New Biographical Dictionary of Film. Here it says "The Current Awareness of Japanese cinema in the West began with Kurosawa". And at the end "The late Kurosawa films (including Ran) have enshrined the director in many Western eyes". He is a "superb handler of action". Agreed.

Revolution In The Head - The Beatles Records and The Sixties by Ian Macdonald

 

Following on from Beatles Night, published on this blog on the 30th September, I found recommendations for this study of their recordings. My copy is the Third Revised Edition which starts with a Preface to the First and Second Editions. The First includes a part about Art Schools and John Lennon at an Art College. These establishments "became incorporated into the UK gig circuit" ..... "Art school as a result became the secret ingredient in the most imaginative English pop/rock". 

The author tells us that "the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band began their career at the Royal College of Art". I was so lucky to see them at Sussex University. In the Preface to the Second Edition the author complains "the comparative vagueness of their lyrics is the price we pay for their originality".  No. We loved the lyrics and how they were vague, that was the whole point. They spoke to us older teenagers.

We are then on to Introduction: Fabled Foursome, Disappearing Decade

Unfortunately there is a lot of pretentious prose in what else is an amazing hugely detailed account of The Beatles and their recordings. I think that "disappearing decade" was the fifties when rock and roll was all American. That is what The Beatles first played. "Lennon rarely bothered to learn any instrument properly". What was he doing in Hamburg? Improvising to break the tedium of repetitive playing. The author belittles "Six Five Special" and "Juke Box Jury". You had to have been there to know how special these were to us teenagers. I don't understand his "teenagers saw it as a stifling drag against which they had to kick". Not at all. At just nineteen, the Central Estimating Dinner and Dance was a huge black tie affair at the ballroom in Derry and Toms on Kensington High Street. A  formal occasion with ballroom dancing to a large dance band. But then. An interlude with a pop group. All the dancers left the floor, leaving us youngsters the space to dance and jive.

The Beatles' Records       Three hundred and twenty three pages of every song dissected.

The author makes many references to the recordings on the Anthology albums. I was glad I had these to hand so I could listen and relate to what I was being told. I was therefore surprised when I heard Hello Little Girl, written by John Lennon in 1957 and recorded on the 1st January 1962 at the session to impress Decca. (They didn't and it was EMI who gained the benefit). I thought it sounded very derivative of American songs of the time. That same year (1957) Paul had written Like Dreamers Do that was also being tested for that Decca session. But they had to use the studio's equipment and not their own amplifiers. It did not go well.

Fortunately it all happened for The Beatles six months later on 6th June 1962 when they entered the Abbey Road studios thinking that Brian Epstein had organised an actual recording contract. Not knowing it was only another try out, this time for EMI's Parlophone label run by a certain George Martin. After their Besame Mucho failed to impress, and with Martin having disappeared to the canteen, they played an audition version of ..... Love Me Do. (Pete Best was still on drums). Martin was sent for and he supervised the recording of this unexpected original song. This was followed by P.S. I Love You and Ask Me Why. The rest is history.

Back in the studio in November, Martin tries to get them to record Mitch Murray's composition How Do You Do It. The boys were not impressed, Martin capitulates and Gerry and The Pacemakers have a number one. We get a long and detailed account of the complicated gestation of the recording of Love Me Do. The first version has Ringo on drums, the second with Andy White on drums and Ringo on tambourine. We are on to my favourite I Saw Her Standing There. An "explosive rocker" that is "now rated a rock and roll standard". "A shock of earthy rawness through the British pop scene". The Beatles played it for ten minutes live. That must have been something. The song takes up two and a half pages in the book and as a demonstration of how every song is covered, here goes. It starts with the band and what they play. When and where it was recorded, producer, engineer and when released in the UK and then in America. Who wrote it (Paul "in the front parlour of the house in Allerton") a discussion about the lyrics and how the verse and chorus were structured. There are the influences, how it was performed live "giving Harrison a modified sixteen-bar verse/chorus break in which to get his reverbed Gretsch Duo Jet into Action". See what I mean about the detail. 

In March 1963 they released their first album Please Please Me. I was eighteen as we danced to it outside at the school leaving do in the July. The last track to be recorded for the album was down to George Martin wanting one more song. "Something to send the album out with a bang". "The wildest thing in The Beatles' act was a cover of Twist and Shout. That did it.

There are references to songs recorded by other artists, for example the first from Kenny Lynch. But this was not the first hit. That was Billy J Cramer and The Dakotas Do You Want To Know A Secret that made number one in June 1963. 

Another three pages dissects the background and recording of She Loves You on 1st July 1963. The author is less kind about the B-Side of the single I'll Get You which I actually prefer. Maybe as it is less familiar. The author guesses it was written in late 1962 which does the book no favours in just guessing. 

We are then on to the tracks recorded for the album With The Beatles. It was released on 22nd November 1963. I was working for George Wimpey on Hammersmith Grove and I immediately bought the LP at a record shop at the top of King Street. Those original compositions which included You Really Got a Hold on Me, Till There Was You, I Won't Be Long, All My Loving and All I've Got To Do are surprisingly far superior to the few covers. I even forgot the album included Not a Second Time and George's Don't Bother Me. This was "unlike anything the band had done before" with it's Latin rhythm. 

Then an even longer piece about I Wanna Hold Your Hand at four and a half pages. Again I preferred the B-Side, the ballad This Boy.  It became their first release in America and it "electrified American pop". We are told about their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on 9th February 1964. The following month they released Can't Buy Me Love with the better You Can't Do That. Both songs make an appearance on the movie and album A Hard Day's Night. There is the scene from the film of the former on YouTube where the boys escape down some escape stairs. I remember taking the underground to the London Pavilion the first week of the film's release. But my favourite scene at the time was in the guards van where they sing I Should Have Known Better. 

Well, that is where I shall take a break. The story of the songs gets less interesting for me as they go on. We shall see if I come back to this. In the meantime, here are some of my other posts about The Beatles:

How I Remember The Beatles         8 September 2009

I Saw Her Standing There                27 January 2010

I Should Have Known Better           10th November 2010

Can't Buy Me Love                           18th January 2011

Jim Carter                                          20th April 2016

Eight Days A Week                            16 September 2016

Roots, Radicals and Rockers              10 March 2018

In My Life                                          11 March 2019

Beatles Night On Sky Arts                 16 October 2023

Art of Film with Ian Nathan on Sky Arts: Episode 1: The Unique Styles of Powell and Pressburger

 

The first episode in this brand new series from 3DD Productions on Sky Arts looks at the background, the collaboration and the films created by director Michael Powell and writer/producer Emerick Pressburger. Or as they were known: The Archers. Presenter Ian Nathan called them "the greatest creative partnership in British cinema". Ian talks to Chris Auty, head of producing at the National Film and Television School who gives us a short biography of the two. Simon Heffer, a historian, tells us it was "two geniuses meeting". We also hear from producer Stephen Woolley and Steven Armstrong. 

So, how did they meet? It was  producer Alexander Korda who thought that Powell's Spy in Black needed a re-write and he knew the right man. They found that they were just right for each other and that was when they decided to confirm their relationship with The Archers as their logo.

Their wartime films started with U-Boat 29 in 1939 followed by Contraband in 1940 and 49th Parallel in 1941 starring Leslie Howard and Laurence Olivier. One of our Aircraft is Missing was released in 1942 and continued those propaganda movies supported by the government. But they always had a unique subtext and subtle characterisation. Such as the important movie from 1943 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. We were told that the two main characters reflected Powell and Pressburger themselves. It was about how war had changed and what it was like being British and the identity of the nation. How to treasure eccentricities. 

A Canterbury Tale in 1944 used a Chaucer story to describe British and American unity before D Day. We see the final scene of the film in Canterbury Cathedral and a service for the troops before they leave for France. The sweeping vistas of Kent show the Englishness of the setting. In 1945 came I Know Where I'm Going and then the following year David Niven starred in the extraordinary A Matter of Lfe and Death. Steven Armstrong said it was one of their greatest films with it's novel vision of heaven. In 1947 they released Black Narcissus and the following year came the iconic movie The Red Shoes. Ian Nathan tells us that it was a hugely expensive production that combined ballet, theatre, music and drama. This was "art in the making". Some of the cinematography was unconventional and ground-breaking. 

The Small Back Room came in 1949 and The Tales of Hoffman 1951. Then followed a film I may have seen at the time. The Battle of the River Plate was released in 1956 and it seems so familiar. More of a diplomatic story than a war film. Their partnership officially ended the following year. They were called great British eccentrics, although one was certainly not British. An amazing partnership.

Film Noir on Sky Arts - Episode 1 The Origins of Noir (1922-1940)

 

Film Noir is a series from 3DD Productions and shown on Sky Arts. Ian Nathan starts by saying it is the "most cinematic of genres" and that it came after the defeat of Germany in WW1, especially in Berlin. Steven Armstrong talks about the industrial revolution which led to a loss of identity (there was a long discussion about industrialisation taking away the human spirit) and Derek Malcolm takes us through it's origins based on German expressionism. It seems that the mood for these films happened before, but the first film that came to the attention of a world wide audience was The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari in 1920. we here that cinema was borrowing from the theatre to take on this art form.

In 1922 came Nosferatu (already noted in the Dracula Unearthed programme reviewed here). Neil Norman talked about the techniques used in these early films and Derek Malcolm told us about the "wonderful black and white cinematographers". Ian Nathan then talks about a key figure who arrives from Austria and whom he calls (the father of noir). And we do get a potted biography of Fritz Lang. (See Series 1 of The Directors). In 1922 he directed Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler and then in 1927 Metropolis. This was the biggest production of all time when it was released. 

Fritz Lang went on to became one of the pioneers of sound and in 1931 he directed M with Peter Lorre. Derek Malcolm called it "an extraordinary masterpiece" and Neil Norman "an amazing film". He talks about (and we are shown) the technique of the camera moving through the window. Then in 1933 came The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. When the Nazis came to power, Lang was off to America  along with many others. Hollywood became a community for these refugees. In 1931 came the first Universal Pictures Dracula. It's cinematographer was Karl Freund who shot Metropolis. 

Frankenstein followed in the same year and the 1931 also saw the birth of the gangster movies with Little Caesar and The Public Enemy with James Cagney. Derek Malcolm said that they wanted to make the most violent movie ever. I think they succeeded. Derek Malcolm said that "film noir went against all the norms of Hollywood". In 1932 came Scarface directed by Howard Hawks and based loosely on Al Capone. This succession of films was interrupted by WW2 and the next film we hear about is 1941's  Citizen Kane. Derek Malcolm said that Orson Welles copied German expressionism which he had seen on all those earlier movies. Neil Norman said "it might as well be film noir",

Leo, The Royal Hotel and Anatomy of a Fall

Why are these films from India so LOUD. Even another on the trailers was the same. I found it strange that a film in the Tamil language (which is from the south of India) was shot in the far north in Kashmir. I guess the reason is that Leo is hiding from his gangster family and this was as far north as he could get. So here is the acknowledged plot from the superb A History of Violence ramped up several if not more notches. The best thing about the film for me was the cinematography, some of the aerial shots were outstanding, and the colour was very good. The acting would be considered extremely hammy by Western standards, (the Roger Ebert website says about Vijay who plays the lead "a former child actor - still does not have much range) that was not the point of the movie. There is too much violence for me, the fights go on far too long. The plot about Leo denying his background to the very end was ridiculous. So turning an almost believable story into something that is just a fantasy was there from the very first minute.

The most ironic film title ever. The tension is there from the start in The Royal Hotel as the two Canadian backpackers stupidly agree to supplement their dwindling savings by waitressing at a bar in the outback of Australia. The locals are not exactly hostile, but the threat is always there. The 18 certificate is not there for any kind of violence but for the language of this mining community. Only a little toned down might have got a decent 15. Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick are fine, the latter takes no nonsense which gives the film it's most realistic feel. Writer and director Kitty Green has made an intelligent drama that leaves us on the edge of something ugly. I still don't know why they just didn't turn around when they arrived. 

Catherine Wheatley in Sight and Sound Magazine December 2023: Unfolding as a quiet thriller ... the atmosphere is swampy, bilious.

This 2023 Palme d'Or winning French film is set in the Alps which is why there is so much snow. Anatomy of a Fall turns into a courtroom drama after Sandra is accused of the murder of her husband after he falls from the attic window of their chalet. Only their eleven year old son Daniel is there, but he is out walking the dog. I am no longer a fan of courtroom scenes, but here the dialogue is brilliant as we all try to work out, did he jump or was he pushed. Most of the time we think the former, but there are times we just do not believe Sandra. If he jumped why? No suicide note (but that could have been burnt) or was Samuel just trying to implicate his wife. Neither of these was ever discussed in the film. Director Justine Triet keeps you guessing till the end. We are never shown what happened apart from the police reconstruction. That was superb. But the real point of the film is about the fault lines in a relationship that comes out in the testimony. And that is what makes the film so enjoyable. although at two and a half hours I found it too long. It was interesting to see the French judicial system in action. apparently there is no beyond reasonable doubt. The cross examination of Sandra (the terrific Sandra Huller) is full of speculation that would never be allowed here. But it makes for an excellent drama.

Jessica Kiang in Sight and Sound Magazine December 2023: Jutsine Triet's gripping, sharply intelligent psychological drama.

New Bulbs

 

Why did I ignore all my notes which say no more bulbs. Just too much work for me these days. So what did I do? Three lots of bulbs were ordered and today they went into pots. So a little easier than digging holes in the borders. First of all there are six pots of Iris Reticulata, fifteen Frozen Planet (on the left of the photo above) and twenty five of Clairette.

Then below are thirty Tulip Spring Green. Although, hopefully, mainly white.

And finally some Narcissi Paperwhite. Just five in one pot that have to be kept indoors. So they are now in the conservatory and hopefully might be ready at Christmas.

Autumn Colour

 

I wondered why this autumn's colours seemed more dramatic this year. I then found this explanation at the RHS: "Autumn foliage is reaching its peak. This year, the trees have developed beautiful colourful leaves thanks to a cooler, wetter summer and chilly but not freezing start to autumn. As days shorten and temperatures drop, trees prepare for winter by withdrawing nutrients from their leaves, rewarding us with a spectacular display of autumn colour and joy!"

The silver birch at the back of the garden usually loose their leaves when they are a mixture of green and gold. This year they are all gold. 

I took the next photos on my walk along the new canal footpath.

The reflections in the water are wonderful.

Classic Literature and Cinema on Sky Arts - Adventures of a Lifetime

 

Great Adventure Novel Adaptations was the second in the new series and once again narrated by Mariella Frostrop. Again this programme, like the first, is mainly just a list with too much information about the writers for my liking. Homer's Odyssey was the first and the only film version seemed to be Ulysses with Kirk Douglas. But Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe has been the source for many and was a sensation when first published. Likewise, The Swiss Family Robinson had many film adaptations including those in 1940 and John Mills in the 1960 release. Even Castaway with Tom Hanks gets a mention. Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe from 1819 gets a film version in 1952. What was interesting (having never read the book) was that it includes Robin of Loxley that became the source for The Adventures of Robin Hood in 1938 starring Errol Flynn. And others.

Alexander Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo has been adapted many times including the 1934 film with Robert Donat. Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer had a film version in 1938. Jules Verne's Five Weeks in a Balloon was so popular he followed it with Around the World in Eighty Days.  The 1956 adaptation with David Niven won the Oscar for best picture, and we see a clip of Journey to the Centre of the Earth from 1959 with James Mason. Robert Louis Stevenson's 1881 book Treasure Island started the pirate mythology and there became so many adaptations on the screen and theatre. The 1950 version with Robert Newton was shown. 

We rush through H Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines and it's 1950 version. Only a quick mention of Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, and on to Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda with the 1937 Ronald Colman version. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness became Apocalypse Now. Rudyard Kipling gets a mention for 1975's The Man Who Would Be King (the clip that showed Michael Caine and Sean Connery together was brilliant), Captain Courageous that was published in 1896 and won Spencer Tracy the Oscar for the 1937 adaptation and finally Kim published in 1901 and starred Errol Flynn in the 1950 film version. 

The Treasure of the Sierra Nevada by the German author B. Traven published in 1927 became the 1948 film, and James Hamilton's 1933's  Lost Horizon came to cinemas in 1937 courtesy of Frank Capra. After C S Forester wrote the  Hornblower saga, there came the film Captain Hornblower in 1951 with Gregory Peck, then came Patrick O'Brien's Master and Commander with Russel Crowe in the 2003 film version. And finally Yan Martell's prizewinning 2001 novel  The Life of Pi became the 2012 Oscar winning movie. As I said, just a list.

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

 

There is so much in these stories that resonates with my past. When she is young, Ann Patchett talks about spending summers with her sister at her grandparent's house in Paradise, California. The room where she shared a bed with her sister took me right back to my grandmother's house, sharing a bed with my brother in the summer holidays (now realising this was the main bedroom that my grandparents had vacated for us. Where they slept I have no idea). Like the author's memories mine are so vivid. The ticking clock that I thought would stop me sleeping. The first time watching a TV channel with commercials. The list goes on.

In the chapter called "The First Thanksgiving", Ann says "I was a girl who always had money in her pocket" during her first year at college. (Me too). Here are four fantastic pages when she stays in her rooms for Thanksgiving, and cooks a dinner for the very first time for the other strays. Wonderful.

"To the Doghouse" describes how Snoopy was a big influence on her writing. How come? Well, Snoopy tries to be an author and that "taught me that I would be hurt and I would get over it. He walked me through the publishing process: being thrilled by acceptance, ignoring reviews, and then having the dream of best sellerdom dashed ...... Charlie Brown tells him "they've printed one copy of your novel. It says they haven't been able to sell it. They say the're sorry. You're book is now out of print". She learns "how to shape myself into who I was going to be with the guidance of a dog in the funny papers".

When Ann owns a bookstore, she says "It's a dream to hand a stranger a Jane Gardam novel". All her eleven books are at the front of my bookcase waiting to be re-read. Starting with the "Old "Filth" trilogy. The passages about the bookstore are just amazing.

Then late on we have the longest of these stories from which the book takes it's title. It's mainly about Sookie. She is Tom Hanks' assistant who Ann befriends when Tom records a reading of "The Dutch House". And later when she interviews Tom for his new book. This blossoming friendship with Sookie takes a hugely emotional turn that is unforgettable. I'm so glad I found this book.

Dracula Unearthed

 

To celebrate a hundred years since the release of Nosferatu in 1922, Sky Arts and 3DD productions brought us the definitive story of the origins of Dracula on screen. Except in this first outing for the Count, he could not be called Dracula for copyright problems. Abraham (Bram) Stoker published his book in 1897 and the only way to keep ownership of the rights was to have a theatrical reading at the Lyceum Theatre where he was the manager. So came the first film version in the guise of Nosferatu.

The programme was presented by Ian Nathan with narration by Ryan Mandrake and contributions from Neil Norman, Stephen Armstrong and horror aficionado Kim Newman. We hear about the author's early days, born in Dublin. attending university at Trinity College, Dublin, and becoming a theatre critic. That led him to meeting Henry Irving and the management of the Lyceum Theatre in London.  Here he was thinking about writing a gothic novel about the vampire myth. His sources included Lenore, an old poem by Edgar Allan Poe and Carmilla, a female vampire in an Irish story. He also visited Whitby which inspired part of the book.

When Dracula was published in 1897 it was set in a fictional version of Transylvania. Stoker had never visited the country. The three brides of Dracula were straight from the witches in Macbeth. We were told of the seminal book called "In search of Dracula" by Raymond T McNally. There is all the stuff about Vlad the Impaler. 

At last we were on to the movies. Neil Norman called Nosferatu a masterpiece. After her husband died and left his wife poor,  Florence Stoker was angry that she was denied any film rights. She wanted all the prints destroyed, but the producers had gone bust. In 1931 came the first film with the title Dracula, and it was called the most famous version of all with Bela Lugosi. Films with sound and speech had only been going for four years and it was Universal that bought the rights to the play. Lugosi had already played the part in the theatre and the rest of that cast also appear in the film version. Stephen Armstrong tells us that at the time there was no history of horror on film. It became the template for all that followed.

But it was not until 1958 that the count reappears in Hammer Films' Horror of Dracula when the studio bought the UK rights. It stars Christopher Lee in the title role and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. Stephen Armstrong told us about Lee's background and how the two same actors appear in the next Hammer production The Curse of Frankenstein. Neil Norman shows us the lurid colour and how it became a franchise with Dracula, Prince of Darkness and The Scars of Dracula from 1970. These were all so popular it created a world wide phenonium. Jack Palance appears in 1973's Dracula and in 1974 Andy Warhol presented Blood of Dracula. The 1977 film Count Dracula brought the story back to that in the novel.

Then in 1979's big hit,  Frank Langella played the count in Dracula with Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing! George Hamilton plays a comedy version in Love at first bite. Verner Herzog made a critically acclaimed remake of Nosferatu adding colour and sound to the original version. In 1992 Francis Ford Coppola made Bram Stoker's Dracula with Gary Oldman looking nothing like anyone who had played him before. Neil Norman said he did have the voice for the part but it was pretty well over the top. Ian Nathan called it an origin story. John Malkovich and Willem Defoe play the leads in 2000's Shadow of the Vampire where Neil Norman says it is actually about making a Dracula movie. He and Stephen Armstrong agree it is a really fun film. It's left to Ian Nathan to conclude how the legend of Dracula has endured over the whole world. Kim Newman had said he had thought he had seen every version, but found there were lots he had missed in South America and Mexico so the list goes on and on. 

Discovering Horror on Film - a 3DD Production on Sky Arts

This  Halloween special on Sky arts is a repeat from 2019. Ian Nathan is joined by regulars Neil Norman, Stephen Armstrong and Bonnie Greer show clips and talk about their favourite horror movies.

Number 20: The Mummy from 1932 and directed by Karl Freund. The black and white restoration looks wonderful. Boris Karloff is genuinely scary. 

Number 19: The Pit and the Pendulum from 1961 directed by Roger Corman. Ian Nathan called it a "camo wonder". A really cheap production shot in just fifteen days. Stephen Armstrong says you wonder through the whole film "where is the pit and the pendulum" until right at the very end. I may well have seen it at the cinema. 

Number 18: The Haunting from 1963 in black and white and produced and directed by Robert Wise.. Stephen Armstrong says "it's what you imagine, not what you saw" Ian Nathan adds "it's one of the greatest supernatural stories ever told".

Number 17: The Ring directed by Hideo Nakata. Far too scary to watch these days. Neil Norman called this Japanese horror "one of the scariest films ever made". I have to agree. 

Number 16: The Wicker Man directed by Robin Hardy from a script by Anthony Shaffer. A classic British horror movie that we were told has an underlying threat all the way through.

Number 15: Scream from 1996. It's Wes Craven who is to blame. He restarted mainstream horror with an all star cast. I find that, in the main, slasher movies are too manipulative these days. There are what, five sequels? 

Number 14: From Dusk Till Dawn from 1996. Directed by Robert Rodriguez from a script by Quentin Tarantino. Somehow the film made violence funny. It is so over the top and the special effects are amazing but shocking. Stephen Armstrong is struck how a standard thriller turns on it's head with the introduction of Salma Hayek as Santanico Pandemonium.

Number: Repulsion from 1965. Directed by Roman Polanski this is a film made up of pretty horrible effects. Are what we are seeing visions or nightmares for a disturbed young woman. Or is she still a girl? In any case she sees men as a threat. 

Number 12: Freaks from 1932. A Todd Browning film that Neil Norman says is hard to watch these days and everyone agrees. Far too exploitative. But it had to be included. 

 Number 11: Invasion of the Body Snatchers from 1956 and directed by Don Siegal. Ian Nathan says this film "defined an era". I preferred Bonnie Greer's take that this was a satire. Were the organisms Alien or man made?

Number 10: Halloween in 1978. Director John Carpenter started off all the slasher movies to come. I now think that jump scares are just too cheap. The one thing I didn't realise in this film was that there were so many shots from the killers' point of view. I blame Jamie Lee Curtis.

Number 9: Carrie from 1976. The Stephen Ling novel was brought to the screen by Brian de Palma. Another trail blazer that Neil Norman said was "a masterpiece of horror".

Number 8: Night of the Living Dead from 1968. A George Romero film, actually his first. A tiny budget made in his own backyard! It seemed so radical at the time, the invention of the zombie genre. The presenters wanted us to know that having a black actor (Duane Jones) in the leading role was "a radical choice". 

Number 7: Rosemary's Baby from 1968. This was an adaptation of a hugely popular book of the time. Roman Polanski cast Mia Farrow in the leading role. I watched it at the cinema, waiting for that unconventional ending.

Number 6: Nosferatu from 1922. The oldest film on the list, a silent movie of German  expressionism whatever that may be. There were legal battles as it heavily relied on the Dracula story. But Stephen Armstrong said it was "a completely different film".

Number 5: The Omen from 1976. A fine, subtlety directed Richard Donner movie with Lee Remick and Gregory Peck. The starry cast helps make it work. Ian Nathan said it was an "orchestrated melodrama" and Bonnie Greer said it shocked America. Someone said it was the least ironic movie ever made.

Number 4: The Exorcist from 1973. Was this William Friedkin film a predecessor for the previous movie? Stephen Armstrong tells us that this was a possession drama that was "unique at the time". Neil Norman said "the special effects are astonishing". Of course we were shown the point when Max von Sydow arrives at night and takes the film to another level. Ian Nathan calls it "very claustrophobic" and Bonnie Greer said she was in the queue to see it and could not believe all those sounds. 

 Number 3: The Shining from 1981. The hugely familiar Stanley Kubrick movie that "transcends Stephen King". Neil Norman said that this was "one of the classiest horror movies ever made". Bonnie Greer said "see it again" and I will. It's in my Stanley Kubrick DVD collection. 

Number 2: Psycho from 1960. That Alfred Hitchcock film that I saw not too long ago. I loved the build up but less impressed by the predictable second half. Stephen Armstrong thought it was "his masterpiece" which showed his craft and mastery despite a small budget. Janet Leigh was a big star and that close up was "a game changer" according to Bonnie Greer. 

Number 1: Frankenstein from 1931. The James Whale directed film from the Mary Shelley book. Ian Nathan starts by saying the panel had to come up with their best horror movie and all agreed on this one. It was the ultimate classical horror film that even today looks so modern. Here is a man playing God, but it is Boris Karloff as the monster and victim who makes it a classic. There is so much pathos in how he is presented to us. The make up is fantastic even today. It changed the rules for horror pictures.