Ascott in April

 

In the middle of a period of wall to wall sunshine, an early visit yesterday to the National Trust property at Ascott near Wing. Not many people there as it was quite breezy. Lots of lovely photos.

 

Movies at Home: This Beautiful Fantastic, The Motorcycle Diaries and The Man Who Never Was

 

A small film from 2016 about gardening. Luckily the garden is just flowers, hardly a vegetable in sight. This Beautiful Fantastic is superbly written and directed by Simon Aboud, there are terrific performances from Jessica Brown Findlay, Tom Wilkinson, Anna Chancellor and of course, Andrew Scott. So a cast to die for. Jessica is having to start her overgrown garden from scratch in just a few weeks or she is evicted. Tom is her neighbour who tells her "a chance to create your own masterpiece". But a little chaos is fine. But his is glorious. Then there is that supporting role from Scott, one of his best. 

I had no idea until the very end when we were told this film was based on Che Guevara's own records. Played by Gael Garcia Bernal, The Motorcycle Diaries is his memoir from the trip he took in 1952 with his friend Alberto Granado across South America. I gave up counting the number of times they crashed, one being into a herd of cows. So the journey is not without drama. Having the bike repaired more than once, being chased out of one town by the locals. So a kind of travelogue, some parts more interesting than others. There are some spectacular scenes, a mine in Chile and Machu Picchu in Peru. So many people they met on the way, the credits go on and on. Fortunately they were accompanied by the wonderful music by Gustavo Santaolalla that punctuated the film. I then find out it won the BAFTA for best film music.

This was not the 2021 remake (Operation Mincemeat) that attracted poor reviews, but the original true story from 1956. The accents in The Man Who Never Was are a little rich and the writing a little too melodramatic. But mainly jolly good fun. The plan to fool the Germans needed the right body, and this one had recently died of pneumonia so just perfect. The father who gave permission for the use of his son's body was so gracious. Everything had to be perfect from his possessions to his background when his body washes up in Spain. Especially for the second half when a German spy (played by William Boyd) is checking to see if everything was right. That's when the film ramps up the tension, especially when they nearly give the game away. 

Sight and Sound Magazine - April 2025

 

Cover

Here is Bong Joon Ho, the director of Mickey 17 - see below.

Editorial

Mike Williams lays into Trump, Bannon and Musk with this edition having a dystopian feel. Musk is "Rasputin-in-chief" and in the future becomes the 48th President. 

Opening Scenes

Dominic Lees tells us how Artificial Intelligence is now widespread in film making. He quotes examples from The Brutalist, Here, Emilia Perez and obviously Robin Williams' Better Man. Lees asks if it should be important to disclose what has been done so we are forewarned.

Festivals

Only BFI Flare.

Editor's Choice

The London Soundtrack Festival is on from 19th to the 26th March. Howard Shore receives an award. Anne Dudley conducts the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra plus vocalists  in Great Movie Songs at The Roundhouse on 25th March.

In Production

Isabelle Hupert stars as 16th century Countess Elizabeth Bathory in The Blood Countess. (There was a 2008 film Bathory: Countess of Blood that starred Anna Friel). Also Martin McDonagh's new film Wild Horse Nine has an all star cast with filming at Easter Island.

News

A piece about Amazon taking control of the Bond movies that made the news. An obituary on Gene Hackman. The writer/director Sandyha Suri talks about her new film Santosh. The BFI are to have an online archive for British videos that were just made for the internet.

Under the Influence

Four films that inspired Robert Eggers for his film Nosferatu. 

Nothing interesting in Mean Sheets or Reader's Letters.

The Long Take

Pamela Hutchinson talks about a manifesto published in 1960 that contained a prescriptive set of rules for film making called Dogme 95. It sounded quite ridiculous even with it's "scathing energy". But Hutchinson wants more from  "young and cynical" film makers. I shall avoid them.

Flick Lit

This is all about film critics becoming film directors. Nicole Flattery tells us about her favourite essay by Rainer Werner Fassbinder on the films of Douglas Sirk. I have no interest.

TV Eye

Andrew Male tells us about the TV programme Brian and Maggie. Based on that famous Brian Walden interview with Maggie Thatcher. He compares it with the original which he now prefers. Before discussing similar programmes.

The Berlin Bulletin

This film festival is summarised by Jonathon Romney. Glossing over the political introduction, we are on to Mickey 17 that he rates as "overblown". We then get a run down of all the films at the festival, nearly all of which will never get a main release here. But Richard Linklater's Blue Moon with Ethan Hawke as lyricist Lorenz Hart, Margaret Qualley as his art student crush and a supporting roe for Andrew Scott as Richard Rogers. One to look out for.

Death Becomes Him

Here is the interview with Bong Joon Ho with an eight page spread on his new film Mickey 17. He says that it is about a "hapless working class under achiever stumbling along under self serving autocratic leadership in funny weird circumstances. And repeatedly dying". A longish interview with the director reveals 80% was shot on Warner Bros sound stages at Leavesdon in Hertfordshire, and more at a huge stage at Cardington Studio in Bedford. The rest on locations in London. Including the now deserted Old City Hall. Finally a full page of "ideas and inspirations behind Bong's films". For example, The Host was inspired by M Night Shalaman's Signs.

Artist of the Floating World

A feature about Flow before it won best animated feature at this year's Oscars. Initially, to my dismay, it ribbed the BAFTA winner Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl of the award. However, watching the trailer and reading this and other  reviews  (see Mark Kermode on YouTube)  I cannot wait to see it at the cinema. There is no dialogue as cat seeks safety after a flood. The director Gints Zilbalodis is from Latvia and the article includes some of his concept art for some sea creatures and other amazing stills. Lots of fairly interesting stuff about the free to use Blender software.

Nothing is a Slam Dunk Anymore

Five pages on Steven Soderbergh's new film Black Bag includes some great photos. Phillip Concannon talks to the director. I liked the bit about the polygraph sequence "when Michael Fassbender interrogates the others", clever quick fire cuts between each scene, backwards and forwards with each of them and actually it had been "written exactly how it appears". See my review.

Singing in the Ruins

A very strange movie called The End with an all star cast in a bunker at the end of the world. Six big stars in a musical directed by Joshua Oppenheimer. A review comes later.

Reviews

These include The End (see above). A run time of 148 minutes seems too long. The French film When Autumn Falls sounds interesting. I hope Mr Burton gets a general release with Toby Jones playing Richard Burton, the schoolteacher who saw promise in Richard 17 year old Richard Jenkins. Teaching him acting craft before becoming his legal guardian. Jenkins changing his surname to Burton. Also reviewed is Flow (see above) that "feels startlingly sophisticated" and Mickey 17 less so. But Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy only gets a tiny paragraph.

DVD and Blu-Ray

Something about Douglas Sirk ??? and other equally weird releases.

Rediscovery

The 1975 film Night Moves, a crime thriller that was, perhaps too arty for it's time but now seems to have more staying power. Unfortunately at the time it soon got swallowed by Jaws.  

Lost and Found

Woman in a Hat from 1984 by Stanislaw Rozewicz. About an actress in 1980's Warsaw. Released on Blu-Ray is the first feature from Guillermo del Toro called Cronos. A kind of arty horror.  "Spectacular ideas and clever visuals". What else would you expect. 

Wider Screen

Nothing of interest, especially Jacques Rivette's thirteen hour epic Out 1. 

Books

A new series from Fordham University Press that each has a particular aspect of film making. The Prop is 176 pages that included the rope used in Hitchcock's The Rope (1948). At $70 I might give it a miss.

From the Archive

"I don't like being called a realist". So says Vittorio De Sica in an article in Sight and Sound from Spring 1950. The Italian actor who became a more famous director of films like Bicycle Thieves (1948): "the greatest film of all time2 according to Sight and Sound's poll of 1952. It's on YouTube. I only remember him as one of the Four Just Men, a tv series from 1959 to 60. I was  sixteen and at home we never missed an episode. 

This Month in ..... 1950

On the cover of Sight and Sound April 1950 is Gene Kelly and Vera Ellen in On The Town. There were features on The Blue Lamp and Kind Hearts and Coronets (see my review of the latter film).

The Tasting (La Degustation) at the Rex Berkhamsted

 

The Tasting is a wonderful French film set in the town of Troyes. All you need to know about wine is here as shop owner Jacques (played by Bernard Campan) is the expert. And who should arrive at his shop but Hortense, beautifully played by Isabelle Carre. So this is a romcom about middle age, although Hortense looks decades younger than her fifty plus years. I wondered what a twenty something was doing with this older man. She's a midwife, struggling with her childless self as time is getting short. Stood up at the altar and now looking after her mother. Jacques is an alcoholic and his wonderful doctor  played by Olivier Claveries tells him he's on borrowed time. So off to group therapy.

But what makes the film stand out is that it is so funny. The witticisms come thick and fast and we all laughed a lot despite the subtitles. Apparently this was a stage play before being adapted as a film, and all those who appeared on the stage are actually here. Director Ivan Calberac has done a fine job. His photography of the medieval city of Troyes is superb and there is not enough. So a story about people with their own histories who find a kind of unbalanced relationship. As in all these films, things go awry and the laughter fades. There are two side stories that did not work as well. The introduction of the young workshy Steve, and the bunch of homeless guys who are hosted by Hortense in her spare time. 

But the script is a little marvel, and yes, we get a tasting session or two. Apparently Isabelle Carre has.  appeared in more than seventy films since 1989 and lots on the stage. All in France. We have missed a wonderful talent. But I just loved this movie. Thank you The Rex.

Oh, and one last thing. The music is all excellent, but standing out for me was Petite Fleur, an instrumental written and performed on soprano saxophone by Sidney Bechet in 1952. But I always preferred the version played by Monty Sunshine on clarinet. The single became a huge international hit in 1959. I thought it was on my old 1956  LP The Best of Barber and Bilk but that was Monty's Hushabye featuring bandleader Chris Barber on bass, Lonnie Donegan on banjo and Ron Bowden on drums. Equally excellent. I think Monty and Lonnie had both left Chris Barber's Jazz Band by the time I saw the band at Dunmow in 1962/3. 

Inside Cinema: Shorts - Episodes 81 to 90

 

Here are the next ten episodes of Inside Cinema: Shorts starting with Episode 81 The Lord of the Wings, narrated by Catherine Bray. She tells us about the new age of digital effects (CGI) when this kind of film could not have been made before. Typically, we see the motion capture technique for Gollum. And we hear about the number of techniques employed by director Peter Jackson. Lots of clips, including how they aged Bernard Hill.

In Episode 82 Roll Credits, Michael Leader explains how end credits have a long history. Some films use outtakes, some (boringly) include scenes from the sequels. Here the Marvel cinematic universe are the masters, or should that be the worst borers?  Then Toy Story had fully realised fictional clips made just for the end credits. Or we can see how stunts were created. Does that spoil the effect? But this was a terrific episode.

There just had to be an episode (number 83) that dealt with Merry Christmas. It's James King who throws at us all those predictable recent movies. But first we go back to 1898 and the very first Santa Claus. A silent short. We fast forward to 1940's and World War 2 with Holiday Inn (1942) and post war with Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946). Then all those Dicken's movies before the more recent Love Actually and The Holiday. Although the even more recent unfestive thrillers are not the same.

Looking wistful in the picture above is David Bowie, the title of Episode 84 introduced by Rhidian Davis. I'm not sure he deserved his very own episode ahead of much more famous actors. So we get films that inspired him (why?) including A Clockwork Orange for his Ziggy Stardust. His acting never really made it above hammy, as can be seen in The Man who fell to Earth. Or just watch him in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. 

On to Episode 85 and Mike Muncer's Carry On. Thirty films, would you believe, in the 1960's and 70's, that tapped into every single genre they could find. Infantile but highly successful. That familiar ensemble cast used time and time again (well underpaid and no one star), and cheaply made at Pinewood Studios, All that innuendo. The first was Carry On Sergeant (1958) about army recruits. But in the 1970's their "outright smuttiness" was "embarrassing". But they are a "snapshot of a particular era of Britain". "Infamy, they've all got it in for me". Say no more.

It's Tom Huddleston who introduces Episode 86 Star Trek. From 1966 through to 1979 was the hey day of the TV series. We used to watch it a lot. But then, predictably, came the movies. Star Trek-The Motion Picture (1979) etc. Back to TV and The Next Generation (1987-1994) and then their films: from the thrilling First Contact (1996) to the dreadful Nemesis (2002). But then seven years later saw a new young crew in Star Trek (2009) where the original crew are shown in their younger days. Only for awful sequels.

I'm just not so keen on these episodes on just one star. How many could there be in the future? But in Episode 87, Tim Robey looks at Hugh Grant. All those leads he played in rom coms. But in his early days he played serious stuff as an upper class stuffed shirt. From Maurice (1987) to Impromptu (1991) and Remains of the Day (1993). But it was his next movie that paved the way for all those roles that followed. Four Weddings and a Funeral  (1994) made his name. After that he was everywhere. Notting Hill, Nine Months, Mickey Blue Eyes, Love Actually and Extreme Measures. However his career changed with more grown up roles. Bridget Jones Diary (2001) was followed the next year by About a Boy and Two Weeks Notice. Then the Paddington films. But his roles became serious as he aged with a more mature Grant in Florence Foster Jenkins and A Very English Scandal. Robey thinks "how much we underrated him all along". But I never did. 

Another bio is Episode 88 Olivia Colman narrated by Anna Smith. She starts by looking at her early work. From TV's That Mitchell and Webb Look (2006-2010), to the Green Wing (2004-2007) and Peep Show (2003-2015). Not forgetting Flea Bag (2016-2019). Olivia's film career took of with Tyrannosaur (2011) in Paddy Considine's "brilliant directorial debut". Then came The Lobster (2015). But stardom awaited for her next movie: she won the Oscar for best actress in The Favourite. This was followed by Mothering Sunday (2021), and The Lost Daughter (2021). That last one is on my to see list.

Episode 89 by Rhianna Dhillon is Will Smith.

The last in this batch is Episode 90 Martin Scorsese. It's Christina Newland who has so many films to get through. Starting with Italianamerican from 1974, she races through all those masterpieces at a ferocious pace. Before heading back to 1973's Mean Streets that started it all off. 

La Traviata at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre

 

Alison was convinced we had been to the opera before but I was not so sure. So when Ellen Kent's company were performing La Traviata in Aylesbury on Thursday evening, it was too good an opportunity to miss. Especially as this Ukrainian production has a full live orchestra. The tour itself, including other operas, covers thirty dates over four months. In the poster below is soprano Viktoria Melnyk who played the main role of Violetta. 

I thought that opera sopranos were meant to be big, but Viktoria is not. She is by far the best thing in this production. Which is fortunate as she has as much to do as the rest of the cast put together. In comparison with the ballet (that I prefer) it is that the orchestra only accompanies the singers. There are times when they ramp up the sound, but normally they are more restrained. Verdi's score is excellent, although the lyrics (with subtitles high above the stage) are quite repetitive. The one set is fine, especially for the party scenes.

But I shall always remember Viktoria's high class singing. She really is a star.

On a final note, I had been to the opera once before. My post of 1st December 2009 reminded me that we went to see a Glyndebourne on Tour production of Cosi Fan Tutte at Milton Keynes Theatre. But Thursday night was much better.

Power Rake to the Lawns

 

The last two years I haven't needed to rake the lawn of moss. But this year it is back with a vengeance. Maybe the worst over the last thirty years. Stage one was get out my electric raker, plug into an extension cable and run over the whole lawn, back and front.  If that isn't hard enough, raking the moss into piles is even worse.  No, collecting the moss into bags is the hardest part. Then transporting it to the brown bin. The only trouble was that this was soon filled so I still have lots in bags and even piled up at the far end.

We are not done yet. Next up is to mow the lawn. This collects the remaining moss as well as cutting the grass. Except the grass has hardly grown since the first cut. It has been so dry, not a drop of rain for well over two weeks. The photos below are after mowing, lots of bare patches and some places where the moss turned yellow underneath the dead black stuff. 

All the photos above are of the back lawn. Below is the front, equally bad, if not worse.

One last job. I had two tubs of Pro Kleen Grass Green fertilizer left over from last year. I just spread this by hand as that seemed to work last time. Needless to say, I'm glad that's all done, all in one day. All I need now is for some rain overnight to save me watering it in. I will definitely need some help next year.

As a reminder, this was the lawn after it's first cut on 6th March.

Then how it looked after the moss killer the day after.

 

The Garden in March

 

We can see the daffodils from the kitchen window, always a beautiful sight this time of year.

The forsythia has flowered again despite finding out that it's not in the right place. Full sun is, apparently, something to avoid.

Most of the crocuses have died off already, but this one is still hanging on.

The laurels at the far end have come into flower.

There are a few primroses that come up every year, these are just two.

So not a lot of colour at the moment, although there are plenty of shrubs and plants in bud. Which is always nice this time of year. Just like the iris in this pot.

What I did do this month that I have never done before is to prune the buddleia that appeared at the very end of the long border. We shall see what happens.

Over the last weekend of March I added four bags of compost to the main border. That is now I no longer make my own.

Last of all, the daffodils next to the hypericum.

And some nice hyacinths near the roses.