tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26635182385666991022024-03-05T15:22:55.727+00:00fifteen minutes of mantra-filled oompahReviews of narrative in film, TV, theatre, literature and comicsTom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.comBlogger234125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-86819616214205220262012-10-25T15:41:00.000+01:002012-10-25T17:25:03.531+01:00London Film Festival: Ginger and Rosa (w&d Sally Potter)<b>The films I saw at the LFF are already beginning to fade out of my noddle, like ghostly images of some antediluvian past, so I'd better try to scratch down my last few memories of them before they drain out of the holes provided.</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Z7KKXFeVErpNcE8MXMdIwnI53zA9aeM0gqdgdRNbYTn48MzfpmU0V1u5WvkvPfEFAIBmS__Huf-p5Vsu8zZVgVH039uQ1kgq1RYnKWqB1fsUcl1A6WKWpMyNZ9bOQu87nqVrXGyrqavx/s1600/gingerandrosa_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Z7KKXFeVErpNcE8MXMdIwnI53zA9aeM0gqdgdRNbYTn48MzfpmU0V1u5WvkvPfEFAIBmS__Huf-p5Vsu8zZVgVH039uQ1kgq1RYnKWqB1fsUcl1A6WKWpMyNZ9bOQu87nqVrXGyrqavx/s400/gingerandrosa_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I was very impressed with Sally Potter when we saw her a couple of years ago at <a href="http://tom-writer.blogspot.com/2009/09/barefoot-filmmaking-rage-and-q-sally.html" target="_blank"><b>the slightly overcooked 'interactive première' of <i>Rage</i></b></a> at the BFI, so <i>Ginger and Rosa</i> was a film I was really looking forward to.<br />
<br />
It's the story of two adolescent girls taking their first troubled steps into adulthood in 1962 London, under the shadow of the Cuban Missile Crisis and what seems to be certain and impending nuclear obliteration. The film even opens with a little overture of footage from the devastated city of Hiroshima.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
The girls' status as a double act is established from the start, as their mothers give birth simultaneously in 1945. And while they're still inseparable on the cusp of womanhood, there are signs of a rift. While Rosa (Alice Englert) is more assertive and exploratory in her relationships with boys, Ginger (Elle Fanning) is altogether more thoughtful and concerned.<br />
<br />
The girls' intense relationship is put under further strain when Rosa drifts into a sexual relationship with Ginger's "cool" academic dad, Roland (Alessandro Nivola).<br />
<br />
Roland's grand statements about individuality and free thinking sound impressive, but at heart he's clearly a dick; I was nicely reassured when the cinema hooted with derisive laughter at Ginger's earnest revelation that he always cries while listening to Schubert on his yacht.<br />
<br />
Despite having been imprisoned during the war as a conscientious objector, Rowland's plummy rejection of 'normality' and 'mindless obedience' seems little more than a basis for him to mess around on boats and shag his daughter's friend. He can afford to break 'all the rules', safe in the knowledge that his wife Natalie (Christina Hendricks) will be there to pick up the pieces.<br />
<br />
But while we could easily dismiss Roland as a self-regarding mouthpiece for pretentious claptrap, there's a more serious argument that the trendy and academic upbringing - programming, even - he has imposed on Ginger has left her undeveloped emotionally and unsupported. Her emotional confusion and fear of nuclear annihilation compound each other, sending her to the verge of breakdown. <br />
<br />
The film is shot through the lens of Robbie Ryan, who was also the cinematographer on Andrea Arnold's buffeting, visceral <a href="http://tom-writer.blogspot.com/2012/03/wuthering-heights-wr-olivia-hetreed.html" target="_blank"><b><i>Wuthering Heights</i></b></a>, and I can't think of a recent performance as photogenic as that of Fanning; the enduring image of the film is her hurt, pale little face peering out from her mane of red hair. Her heartrending performance is particularly noteworthy given that she was only 14 at the time of the shoot (despite playing a 16-year-old). <br />
<br />
Some of the supporting cast seem a little underemployed. It's always a pleasure to see Christina Hendricks (complete with the Now Obligatory accordion-playing scene), but it's hard to swallow – even in the early scenes – that she'd ever be downtrodden. Similarly Timothy Spall and Oliver Platt don't get much to do as cuddly gay family friends Mark and Mark, while Annette Bening has an even more functional cameo as their psychoanalytical house guest.<br />
<br />
As engaging as <i>Ginger and Rosa</i> is, I think its sense of universality is diminished a bit by its focus on a very particular upper-middle-class academic/bohemian milieu. This is where seeing more of Rosa would help; it's clearly suggested that her home life is a bit more down at heel than Ginger's, and Jodhi May is criminally underused as her tense single mother.<br />
<br />
However, that's a bit of a churlish quibble. The film works best in the way it makes the political personal; the intensely believable characters, especially Ginger, carry the weight of the film's themes without too many flashing-arrow declamatory scenes. The poverty of choices facing young women at the time is made clear, and the film invites us to consider the extent to which things have or have not moved on over 50 years.<br />
<br />
<i>Ginger and Rosa</i> can seem a bit elliptical and detached in its style, but I found it compelling and convincing, and Elle Fanning's performance is worthy of celebration.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="225" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/49270728?badge=0" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="400"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/49270728">Ginger & Rosa Official Trailer</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user12847153">Adventure Pictures</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-26352705606615838622012-10-20T18:11:00.003+01:002012-10-22T14:02:04.861+01:00London Film Festival: Midnight's Children (d. Deepa Mehta)<br />
<b>Despite its exalted status in the literary canon, I'm ashamed to say I still* haven't read <i>Midnight's Children</i> by Salman Rushdie. So I came into this film, scripted by Rushdie and directed by Deepa Mehta, with high expectations but no baggage. However, there were times during this epic when I wished I'd brought a good book...</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYbdYZ0aB5fKd8EIqKb4_3q1dQA6E-zQofSXYlHilL47F7C-22qBKxujode67tEi637hDm0ISxMDaXtnle8juvvRCq1k4BaS0LD4j69lXuZZRkr2dG6T4nJb3VJ6SEYTieJBEbZHo6nRM/s1600/Midnights-Children-008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYbdYZ0aB5fKd8EIqKb4_3q1dQA6E-zQofSXYlHilL47F7C-22qBKxujode67tEi637hDm0ISxMDaXtnle8juvvRCq1k4BaS0LD4j69lXuZZRkr2dG6T4nJb3VJ6SEYTieJBEbZHo6nRM/s400/Midnights-Children-008.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="plainTextContent">
<br />
Speaking after the screening, Salman Rushdie said that he'd taken on the adaptation - his first screenplay - because another writer mght have been too reverential to the source material. However, given the film's strange lack of dramatic whoompf, maybe a more experienced screenwriter would have been the answer.<br />
<br />
(And the muted round of applause the film received indicated that I wasn't the only member of the audience to be underwhelmed.)<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>The central conceit of the book - published in 1981 and a prime example of 'magic realism' - is that the babies born around the hour of India's independence (midnight on 15th August 1947) were endowed with special abilities.<br />
<br />
The film focuses on one in particular - Saleem Sinai (Satya Bhabha) - who has the power to summon the rest of 'Midnight's Children' to a psychic conference in his brain. However, the children and their powers are largely shunted to the side of the stage, and instead we focus on Saleem's misadventures as he drifts through the formative events of India's first 30 years of nationhood.<br />
<br />
And the fact that he 'drifts' highlights one of the biggest problems with this film: Saleem is what the screenwriting manuals would damn as a 'passive protagonist'. Rather than taking control of his destiny, he is swept around the subcontinent by the tides of history and narrative expedience.<br />
<br />
It even takes a while for him to appear, as the first part of the film focuses on events that took place long before he was born. Even though these are delivered with quite a bit of charm (and narrated fruitily by Rushdie himself), we still get the sense that we're drumming our fingers while we wait for the 'real' story to start.<br />
<br />
When Saleem finally pops out, we get to what should be another defining incident: in a moment of revolutionary zeal, a nurse at the hospital (Seema Biswas) swaps him, the son of a poor itinerant musician whose mother had died in childbirth, with Shiva, the simultaneously born son of a wealthy doctor.<br />
<br />
However, that also fails to have much effect on the story, other than pushing at the open door of showing that we're born into a lottery of inequality. The two meet up sporadically at key moments of the story, but there isn't much of an examination of the nature vs nurture issue.<br />
<br />
Any of the three main story engines - the presence of the gifted children, the baby switch and the central love story between Saleem and Parvati "the witch" (Shriya Saran), another of the gifted children - could have driven a powerful film, especially against the backdrop of India's tumultuous history.<br />
<br />
However, <i>Midnight's Children</i> remains a low-energy experience that never got me sitting forward in my seat or holding my breath. Instead I felt that, like Saleem, I was just being taken for a ride by events.<br />
<br />
The biggest problem with the adaptation could be the fact that magic realism flourishes better in the metaphorical/poetic environment of the printed page. A more literal on-screen depiction - such as 'the darkness' that falls across India during the two-year suspension of democracy during the 1970s - sits uneasily with the inclusion of historical events and figures.<br />
<br />
The film looks and sounds fine, if a little by-the-book in its exoticism, but the seductive design and photography can't make up for a lack of dramatic energy that becomes particularly yawning over a 149-minute running time. <i> </i><br />
<br />
Despite the breadth of the film's vision and the provenance of Rushdie and Mehta, I still felt that I'd got a deeper and much more visceral sense of India's complexity and sectarian tensions from <i>Slumdog Millionaire.</i> All in all, <i>Midnight's Children </i>was my biggest disappointment of the festival.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="plainTextContent">
</div>
<div class="plainTextContent">
* Note the skilled bullshitter's use of the word 'still', to give the impression that I might read it one day.</div>
Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-85886408914056148872012-10-17T12:56:00.001+01:002012-10-17T12:56:30.219+01:00London Film Festival: Reality (d. Matteo Garrone)<b>Our second night of the festival, and after the brusque security slabs and barking BFI drones at the Odeon West End (“KEEP MOVING!!!”), it was off to the altogether more pleasant and relaxed Renoir for <i>Reality</i>, the winner of this year's Grand Prix at Cannes, co-written and directed by Matteo Garrone (<i>Gomorrah</i>).</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcxdIfZby6dqMjVA3GYC91logBR4YeQFSnC3llKXYmZhKEFIXTgB-aeH5pFeEOok6gkjg509WsnEcikFfpSajtRGmWl-486uMofALfjgPgHvUp9MMXZXJlEaqBuUXua4WiWWeykrgUZr7/s1600/Reality.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcxdIfZby6dqMjVA3GYC91logBR4YeQFSnC3llKXYmZhKEFIXTgB-aeH5pFeEOok6gkjg509WsnEcikFfpSajtRGmWl-486uMofALfjgPgHvUp9MMXZXJlEaqBuUXua4WiWWeykrgUZr7/s400/Reality.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
While as firmly rooted in Naples as its predecessor, <i>Reality </i>is considerably lighter in tone – a dark but gentle comedy (based on a true story) about a fishmonger, Luciano (Aniello Arena), whose dream of appearing on the Italian version of <i>Big Brother</i>* starts to turn into an obsession. <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Encouraged by his family and dazzled after an encounter with Enzo (an awful former contestant turned helicopter-hopping celebrity, played by Raffaele Ferrante), Luciano talks his way into a local audition. When he's invited to Rome for the next stage of the selection process, he becomes convinced that his place in the house is assured.<br /><br />However, the arrival of two chic Roman women at his down-at-heel shop puts a notion in his mind: he begins to think that the <i>BB</i> producers are spying on him to see what he's really like, and he starts to change his behaviour accordingly. <br /><br />Part of the film's attractive light touch is the subtlety with which Luciano's delusions are presented; as he starts to sense he's under surveillance, we get a little sucked into it, spotting 'suspicious' figures who seem to be paying close attention to the fishmonger.<br /><br /><i>Reality </i>is a beautifully ironic title for the film, as Luciano's loosening grip on it starts to affect his work and family life. The theme of reality versus fantasy is introduced from the first minute, with a fairy-tale carriage rolling through the grimy Neapolitan streets to deliver a bride and groom to a ludicrous Regency-style wedding venue. <br /><br />Arena carries the film well, being utterly convincing in his wonder and blank-eyed certainty that getting on the show would solve all of his problems. Astonishingly, the director revealed in a brief Q&A after the film that his leading man is currently 12 years into a prison sentence: he's part of a prison-based theatre company that Garrone has seen several times with his father, a theatre critic. <br /><br />Finding out Arena's status threw a new light on his very natural and affecting performance – especially his scenes as a devoted father with his young family. I guess it would have also fuelled some of Luciano's wide-eyed wonder at the world of celebrity and riches awaiting him (embodied in one trippy appearance by Enzo in an infernal nightclub). <br /><br />Luciano is surrounded by a wide supporting cast of friends and extended family, torn between not wanting to shatter his illusion and realising that he's slipped too far into his fantasy world. Loredana Simioli particularly shines as Maria, his feisty but increasingly exasperated wife. <br /><br />As you'd expect, <i>Reality </i>exudes a strong sense of place, starting with a lengthy helicopter shot over the sprawling low-rise city in the shadow of Vesuvius. Luciano and his family live in an incredibly photogenic old apartment building – supporting what Garrone described as the 'fairy-tale' tone of the film – and the square in which his shop is located is similarly characterful.<br /><br />The climactic – and virtually wordless – final few minutes of the film finally take Luciano through the looking glass, as he enters mesmerised into a place where his fantasy meets reality. It marks the conclusion of Garrone's humorous but moving play with the dramatic irony between what Luciano thinks and what we can see.<br /><br />And it's fitting that this film – dark, warming and a little bitter, like an expensive bar of chilli chocolate – ends with the sound of laughter. <br /><br />* The Italian version of <i>Big Brother</i>. Just think about that for a moment. Brrr. <br /><br />
<br />
<br />Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-51229500233454485172012-10-16T21:58:00.001+01:002012-12-12T16:59:58.828+00:00London Film Festival: Spike Island (d. Mat Whitecross)<b>Although a bit older than the main characters in Spike Island, I was also a Stone Roses fan in 1990, putting in the hours loitering around Affleck's Palace and seldom parted from the Waterfall t-shirt I got from Piccadilly Records. So maybe this was going to be the film for me…</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEU6hmhNrCf5_MJuYKvNViTyaJ_XFqQtPsNitGSiUvzYFrzhqQGYPpQhyPSgV94MTiBZvuJ8oRRZzyZeHCZgNbrjtBZ8EzHl2uS3O0GNJyNGJAIecidLk5tGrVrPv6LC7TjEGRpyL_4eEw/s1600/Spike-Island-008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEU6hmhNrCf5_MJuYKvNViTyaJ_XFqQtPsNitGSiUvzYFrzhqQGYPpQhyPSgV94MTiBZvuJ8oRRZzyZeHCZgNbrjtBZ8EzHl2uS3O0GNJyNGJAIecidLk5tGrVrPv6LC7TjEGRpyL_4eEw/s400/Spike-Island-008.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Written by actor Chris Coghill (who has a supporting role here and played Bez in <i>24-Hour Party People</i>) and directed by Mat Whitecross, the film focuses on five Manchester lads who are prepared to do whatever's necessary to get into the Roses' now legendary gig on the contaminated bank of the Mersey. As members of a band (Shadow Caster), they're also desperate to get their demo tape into the hands of their musical heroes. <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
However, as you'd expect, they've got to contend with The Man putting them down and a certain amount of tick-the-box personal baggage, from a dying father to, erm, a bullying father. <br />
<br />
The script is generally OK, sketching out the characters in <i>just </i>enough detail and providing a few <i>Inbetweeners</i>/<i>Shameless</i>-style funnies. Actually, there are probably more jokes than I registered, but sadly quite a bit of the dialogue disappears into the murky sound mix – especially when the lads are on the road. <br />
<br />
The biggest eye-roller is the degree to which it unquestioningly swallows its "the kids are alright" theme. The Manc swagger act had become a laughable self-parody even before Richard Ashcroft (from Wigan) buried it in the 'Bittersweet Symphony' video; the film would have offered an interesting opportunity to have a look what goes on behind all that front. <br />
<br />
(I always think films like this should have a present-day coda in which the adult versions of the characters cringe at what tiresome little scrotes they were – like every single generation of 16-year-olds before or since.)<br />
<br />
The young cast work pretty well, with Elliott Tittensor (<i>Shameless</i>) holding centre stage as band frontman and leader of the gang Tits. Nico Mirallegro provides the best support as Dodge, the slightly dim but fully committed musical driving force in the band. <br />
<br />
The core group is surrounded by a talented group of supporting actors, although, given the film's focus on youth, we don't get to see enough of Steve Evets as Tits' terminally ill dad or the wonderfully wounded Lesley Manville as his careworn mum.<br />
<br />
The age and place are evoked pretty well (although some of the budget-restricted art direction is a bit <i>Life on Mars</i>) and the film is nicely shot. It fully bursts into life during two brilliantly edited gig scenes that display Whitecross's music video chops – particularly the first, featuring Shadow Caster's local rivals The Palaver in a local pub. <br />
<br />
The other provides a stirring climax to the Spike Island gig sequence - and that stage of the lads' lives - as as a change in the direction of the wind brings 'I Am the Resurrection' surging over the perimeter walls to the excluded fans outside.<br />
<br />
Despite a few shortcomings, the script thankfully holds back from anything like a fairy-tale ending; the band breaks up, the next generation moves into the makeshift recording studio and the lads from the Redbricks estate face an uncertain journey into adulthood. So it goes.<br />
<br />
<i>Spike Island</i> hits a few predictable yoof-drama notes, but it's not a bad film. However, with its themes of youthful frustration and male friendship, it's hard not to wonder what a filmmaker like Shane Meadows (who's working on a doc about the Stone Roses reunion) would have made of the story*. <br />
<br />
But despite its imperfections and rosy-tinted viewpoint, <i>Spike Island</i> still offers a powerful reminder of how and why we fall in love with pop music at the time in our lives when we don't have much else.<br />
<br />
* Actually, having said that, <a href="http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a430387/this-is-england-1990-to-shoot-in-2013-says-star-stephen-graham.html" target="_blank"><i>This is England</i> <i>1990</i></a> will probably cover fairly similar ground... Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-49203729178302347652012-09-27T15:54:00.001+01:002012-09-27T15:54:34.305+01:00Hitchcock's antiheroes (Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder)<p>As promised <a href="http://tom-writer.blogspot.com/2012/09/rear-window-1954-wr-john-michael-hayes.html" target="_blank"><b>yesterday</b></a>, here's another golden oldie. I published this originally on Mid-Summer Day 2010 - back when the world was young and all things seemed possible. As before sorry if any of the links have gone kaput in the intervening time.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
-------------------------------------------------------
</div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoG0Vwpb8qPPuhXp3rMsYlqXSZV6S-F1vjpzhEgh3XV-QRbdIcHqfmzv12zU3TtYYLsx9XLI0-bN5x9pA0Ex8eKshcay4iuEVbZbSKIhExcqxbEp2yuk8bJ7DZqAaxKgwWhuj0HjuSVDCu/s1600/hitch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoG0Vwpb8qPPuhXp3rMsYlqXSZV6S-F1vjpzhEgh3XV-QRbdIcHqfmzv12zU3TtYYLsx9XLI0-bN5x9pA0Ex8eKshcay4iuEVbZbSKIhExcqxbEp2yuk8bJ7DZqAaxKgwWhuj0HjuSVDCu/s200/hitch.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
Over the past few weeks we've seen <i>Strangers on a Train</i> (1951) and <i>Dial M for Murder </i>(1954) at the BFI. They were part of two separate seasons, but seeing them together raised an interesting issue: antiheroes – central characters who we should want to fail in their (usually criminal) objectives, but who at least a little bit of us wants to succeed. <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
The set-up of <i>Strangers on a Train</i>, adapted from a novel by Patricia Highsmith, is well known: when tennis star Guy Haines (Farley Grainger) meets charming psychopath Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) on a train, the latter concocts a plan for each of them to commit a murder on behalf of the other.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtnGBGbtxP74NiEZvz7UNPWqxHq9Cf3Aaj_zPftdCjNDCMwHNBV6ERonZ3HnUWoHXMAGX4rgkrKK7L9tXmAqYkUq9_WrAxZDxPlQDCCpZdY3tWClOLcAX5HnAdGDq2uLeOGu9kzoVyq44/s1600/strangers250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtnGBGbtxP74NiEZvz7UNPWqxHq9Cf3Aaj_zPftdCjNDCMwHNBV6ERonZ3HnUWoHXMAGX4rgkrKK7L9tXmAqYkUq9_WrAxZDxPlQDCCpZdY3tWClOLcAX5HnAdGDq2uLeOGu9kzoVyq44/s200/strangers250.jpg" width="133" /></a>Haines makes his excuses and leaves, but Anthony thinks they've agreed on the deal and subsequently murders Haines' estranged wife Miriam, who won't grant him a divorce. When Haines fails to kill Anthony's father "as agreed", Anthony decides to plant evidence that will incriminate Haines for the murder. The film then becomes a race against time to stop Anthony.<br />
<br />
The film covers classic Hitchcock themes and has a number of famous visual flourishes, but what I found most interesting was that the ostensible 'hero', Haines, is a dull as dishwater. The screen only comes alive when the charismatic and imaginative Anthony takes centre stage. And as the world isn't really any poorer without the unpleasant Miriam, do we end up rooting for him?<br />
<br />
In the scene where a crowd gathers to help Anthony retrieve the incriminating lighter from a drain, I wondered if the passers-by drawn into helping the murderer (albeit unwittingly) represent us – the audience, drawn into complicity with the smooth criminal. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizVyeFu5n7w89gs9sT0xXJmoaDWWBGCPm13cxPXLUnI2DgJ0pB_IR44Apl8ehyphenhyphen0Tnv9PPwUpbLOgfczIqFqR3XP417b1Cyz8PeA2qBxphLZd8r5YQNmcxtohtOht3_n3iS0mLrRShvNFlf/s1600/dial250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizVyeFu5n7w89gs9sT0xXJmoaDWWBGCPm13cxPXLUnI2DgJ0pB_IR44Apl8ehyphenhyphen0Tnv9PPwUpbLOgfczIqFqR3XP417b1Cyz8PeA2qBxphLZd8r5YQNmcxtohtOht3_n3iS0mLrRShvNFlf/s200/dial250.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
Anyway, while <i>Dial M for Murder</i> doesn't have quite the same cinematic panache as Strangers (reflecting its origin as a stage play), it has a very similar theme. Former tennis pro Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) wants to get rid of his insipid and adulterous wife Margot (Grace Kelly) to get his hands on her inheritance. <br />
<br />
As in <i>Strangers</i>, the suave Wendice gains our admiration by the cool way he constructs his plot. There's something undeniably attractive about the cleverness of his plan, which he lovingly outlines in advance, enabling the audience to anticipate (with guilty pleasure) seeing it played out. <br />
<br />
However, obviously Crime Does Not Pay: both men fail in their plots and the 'natural' order of the universe is restored at the end of each film. However, there's little doubt along the way that Hitchcock finds the villains more attractive and fascinating – and so, vicariously, do we.<br />
<br />
As screenwriters, we're always told that the audience should root for our protagonists - or at least empathise with them. Last week I spent quite a bit of time devising a 'pat the dog' moment for the main character in a script I'm currently rewriting. <br />
<br />
But can that also extend to antagonists/anti-heroes? What if their personal charm and possible justification for their egregious acts outweigh our natural desire for 'right' to triumph over 'wrong'? Robert Walker and Ray Milland are clearly the stars of their respective films, but can we legitimately root for a murderer to get away with it?<br />
<br />
Why we're drawn to antiheroes is a much bigger subject than I could hope to cover here, but one interesting theory comes from William Indick's very useful book <b><a href="http://shop.mwp.com/products/psychology-for-screenwriters"><i>Psychology for Screenwriters</i></a></b>. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAs1-G3t_9SZl6tUhXeRKHEeTDZjqOSOh62KZMWscYhzTSZxh02usdRVFq0yThac1YGLSokDZ3T9jyeHHfNdaM2VJ5al9G_zws-CfsXIAbiQDqKZA21JvRjydZf-6_HlO0oHse0mDaF34m/s1600/psych.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAs1-G3t_9SZl6tUhXeRKHEeTDZjqOSOh62KZMWscYhzTSZxh02usdRVFq0yThac1YGLSokDZ3T9jyeHHfNdaM2VJ5al9G_zws-CfsXIAbiQDqKZA21JvRjydZf-6_HlO0oHse0mDaF34m/s200/psych.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
Looking at character in terms of Freud's model of the unconscious, Indick claims that antagonists in films are often a representation of the id – "the primal, animalistic drives" that are present in our unconscious mind from birth. <br />
<br />
<i>"Whether a villain is out to destroy the world or just one person, the villain is usually the character who is the most fun to write. Immune from all inhibitions, morals, guilt or regret, the villain is free to express his id desires completely. Audiences secretly love the villain because they can release their own inhibitions and satisfy their own id desires vicariously through him.</i><br />
<br />
<i>"The secret to writing a good villain is to get in touch with your inner id. Lose control, drop your inhibitions, let all of your primal impulses flow out onto the page, and express your darkest fears, dreams, drives and desires through your villain character…Typically, the entertainment level in a film is not based on how good the hero is, but on how bad the villain is."</i><br />
<br />
Something to think about when you're constructing your main characters…<br />
<br />
PS. I know Hitchcock wasn't credited as a writer on the two films, and I'm generally loth even to acknowledge the auteur theory, but there's little doubt that in his careful choice of source material and close working relationships with the screenwriters, he maintained close control over the script.<br />
<br />
<b>Links:</b><br />
<i>Strangers on a Train</i>: <b><a href="http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/Strangers_On_A_Train.pdf">script (PDF)</a></b>, by Raymond Chandler and Czenzi Ormonde<br />
Roger Ebert on <b><a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040101/REVIEWS08/40802009/1023"><i>Strangers on a Train</i></a></b>
Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-26291105050660700472012-09-26T15:18:00.002+01:002012-09-27T15:48:38.743+01:00Rear Window (1954, wr John Michael Hayes, dir Alfred Hitchcock)As the BFI is in the middle of its Hitchcock celebration, I thought I might as well re-post a couple of things I did a while ago on his films. Here's <i>Rear Window</i>, from July 2010; I'll do my thing about anti-heroes in <i>Dial M for Murder</i> and <i>Strangers on a Train</i> tomorrow.<br />
<br />
(I haven't checked the links at the bottom, so apologies if any of them have died.) <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
===============================</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAV4pp4ttoho2IIClds9xoKV8U1ojoWXood-NOg-2te_81wmdvGk7ftVOxuA6yKfdxXNRo200haFZ_UsJuippVpux0DS3vyqnjhflJjuEyT2qruHpq1QpC0wIXtV-6uJvRzBKe8ubL7n4W/s1600/rear-window.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAV4pp4ttoho2IIClds9xoKV8U1ojoWXood-NOg-2te_81wmdvGk7ftVOxuA6yKfdxXNRo200haFZ_UsJuippVpux0DS3vyqnjhflJjuEyT2qruHpq1QpC0wIXtV-6uJvRzBKe8ubL7n4W/s320/rear-window.jpg" width="225" /></a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Last week we went to see <i>Rear Window</i> at the BFI, as part of the Grace Kelly season. It was – shamefully - the first time I'd seen the film, and although it didn't grip me on first viewing as much as some of Hitchcock's other films, a repeat viewing the following morning revealed what an impressive bit of work it is. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">(NB - Even if you can't be arsed reading all this, there are some useful links at the end.)</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Even if you haven't seen the film, you're probably familiar with the set-up. James Stewart plays LB 'Jeff' Jeffries, a photo-journalist who is recovering impatiently in his New York apartment after breaking his leg on a dangerous assignment. To pass the time he observes the people who live in the apartments across the rear courtyard from his building.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Together with his girlfriend Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly), Jeff becomes suspicious of one of his neighbours, 'the salesman' (Raymond Burr), eventually deducing that he must have murdered his wife. When the police find nothing suspicious about the situation, Jeff and Lisa decide to investigate the woman's disappearance themselves. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The script was written by John Michael Hayes, in the first of his collaborations with Hitchcock. The development of the script is covered in some detail in Steven DeRosa's excellent book <b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Hitchcock-Collaboration-Alfred-Michael/dp/0571199909"><i>Writing with Hitchcock</i></a></b>, which covers the four films the writer and director made together (<i>Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Trouble with Harry and The Man Who Knew Too Much</i>). </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXc5o8AS-qAU5hwEOnxxcDdJiVQhm-WjV4_u65tZ19gBKghdPS7yqjiG121NcZMWjRJ3FCHb6l4QWgRvz6pdk-836TutbmsF5o7HAdEljVPHUxAO1E9wnQxKZJzkd5lWR2_cmcxnzhZsqZ/s1600/Hitchcock+Hayes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXc5o8AS-qAU5hwEOnxxcDdJiVQhm-WjV4_u65tZ19gBKghdPS7yqjiG121NcZMWjRJ3FCHb6l4QWgRvz6pdk-836TutbmsF5o7HAdEljVPHUxAO1E9wnQxKZJzkd5lWR2_cmcxnzhZsqZ/s320/Hitchcock+Hayes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Anyway, the following struck me after seeing the film (not all script-based, but worth thinking about when 'seeing' and 'hearing' your script in your mind):</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">1. <b>The importance of arena</b>. This was drilled into us during the MA at Bournemouth; we even had a unit devoted to writing a script based on <b><a href="http://tom-writer.blogspot.com/2009/04/ma-screenwriting-unit-three.html">extensive observational research of a location</a></b>. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The film takes place entirely around the rear courtyard, and the cast of characters Hayes created sheds light from a variety of angles on the themes of the film – particularly the problems of romantic relationships, reflecting the difficulties Jeff and Lisa are facing in their own relationship.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The diverse cast of economically but richly drawn characters also creates a rich sense of verisimilitude. It may not seem the most natural comparison, but it brought to mind the secondary characters whose lives revolve around the crossroads in <i>Watchmen </i>(the book, not the film). </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">2. I haven't read the original story (by Cornell Woolrich) on which the film was based, but Hayes's script seems to be <b>an interesting study in adaptation </b>– particularly the inflation of a simple story into a rich feature-length script. Lisa Fremont doesn't appear in the original, but her creation allows Hayes to generate the whole romantic subplot that is interwoven with the mystery.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It's also worth noting the skill with which Lisa is created; she's not just a random collection of traits. Her outlook and lifestyle naturally generate conflict with Jeff, while her skills and insights come in handy and push forward the story (eg her statement that Mrs Thorwald wouldn't have left voluntarily without taking her wedding ring or best handbag.)</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">3. <b>Voyeurism and complicity</b>. Hitchcock makes very precise use of subjective camerawork, thus dragging the viewer into complicity with Jeff's voyeurism. When Jeff and Lisa start to feel uncomfortable about their prurient prying, the viewer also questions their desire for dark doings. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">It's no coincidence that most of the windows we look through in the film are the same dimensions as the cinema screen, and the most chilling moment is when the murderer, Thorwald, realises “we” are on to him and looks up to meet our gaze.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Roger Ebert has referred to this aspect of the film:</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<i><span style="font-size: small;">The experience is not so much like watching a movie, as like ... well, like spying on your neighbors. Hitchcock traps us right from the first. As [Jeff] idly picks up a camera with a telephoto lens and begins to scan the open windows on the other side of the courtyard, we look too. And because Hitchcock makes us accomplices in Stewart's voyeurism, we're along for the ride. When an enraged man comes bursting through the door to kill Stewart, we can't detach ourselves, because we looked too, and so we share the guilt and in a way we deserve what's coming to him. </span></i></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">4. <b>Cracking dialogue</b>. Hayes had written hundreds of hours of wise-cracking radio drama before teaming up with Hitchcock, and the dialogue sparks with wit throughout the film, giving life to otherwise static scenes and creating vivid and memorable characters – especially Jeff's straight-talking nurse, Stella (Thelma Ritter).</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">5. <b>Sound design</b>. As far as I could tell, every bit of sound in the film was digetic (ie, it came from a source within the film, rather than being layered on as an external soundtrack). Not only that, but we hear it as it would be heard from from Jeff's apartment, so things aren't always clear. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This heightens the subjectivity of the film and our identification with Jeff; we experience everything from his perspective rather than an omniscient “third-person” point of view.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">As Roger Ebert alludes to above, this really pays off when we share Jeff's terror at Thorwald's ominous footsteps approaching the apartment at the climax of the film.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Links</u>: </span></b></div>
<ul style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Rear Window</i>: <a href="http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/rearwindow.pdf"><b>Script</b> </a>(PDF, via Daily Script)<b> </b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Mystery Man on Film: <b><a href="http://mysterymanonfilm.blogspot.com/2008/11/john-michael-hayes-lucky-bastard.html">John Michael Hayes, Lucky Bastard</a> </b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Go Into The Story: <b><a href="http://www.gointothestory.com/2010/07/how-they-write-script-john-michael.html">How They Write a Script: John Michael Hayes</a></b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Screenwriter's Utopia: <b><a href="http://www.screenwritersutopia.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=33">Interview with John Michael Hayes</a></b> (2002)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Roger Ebert: <a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19831007/REVIEWS/310070302/1023"><b>Review of </b><i><b>Rear Window</b> </i></a>(1983)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Steven DeRosa: <b><a href="http://www.writingwithhitchcock.com/">Writing with Hitchock site</a></b> (includes additional material) </span></li>
</ul>
Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-14249100504414452402012-08-15T10:54:00.000+01:002012-08-15T12:49:58.989+01:00Doctor Who: Asylum of the Daleks (preview, BFI)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibj5I60lvqNCBQCC5Ex1AIDjGazQ6J9OgJWd_z-FSBR8q4aWnFLU2gkD4H4gZkB9YomygAgf39LJ8N5GxHsYgdsiTO8U3E2KwzqC7Emv-ijgZVPfiQXtctf13yURedXUgyB9rUIIbuvUSi/s1600/doctor_who_series_7_big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibj5I60lvqNCBQCC5Ex1AIDjGazQ6J9OgJWd_z-FSBR8q4aWnFLU2gkD4H4gZkB9YomygAgf39LJ8N5GxHsYgdsiTO8U3E2KwzqC7Emv-ijgZVPfiQXtctf13yURedXUgyB9rUIIbuvUSi/s400/doctor_who_series_7_big.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Last night
we were lucky enough to be at the BFI for a preview of <i>Asylum of the Daleks</i>,
the first episode in the upcoming series of <i>Doctor Who</i>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I don't
want to give too much away, but I think there are a few points I can make:</span><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It's a very accessible episode,
although I think there are a couple of easter eggs for more knowledgeable
fans.</span></li>
<br />
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It starts off at a much more measured pace than some previous series openers, but doesn't take long to
plunge our characters into the heart of the story.</span></li>
<br />
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The Daleks have evolved a very
nice/nasty new trick (revealed in the opening scene).</span></li>
<br />
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There's plenty in it for fans
of the Ponds, including a moment in the pre-title sequence that'll have
you wondering what's been going on since we last saw them.</span></li>
<br />
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The episode isn't a classic but plays out nicely enough, building to an ending that lands a genuine emotional punch.</span></li>
<br />
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There are plenty of one-liners
and humour – especially involving Rory (and some chucklesome Dalek body
language, which always cracks me up).</span></li>
<br />
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It manages to achieve a nice
blend of claustrophobia and scale: props to director Nick Hurran and the production
design and SFX teams.</span></li>
<br />
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">***SOMETHING ELSE WE WERE
ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN FROM REVEALING***</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The
Q&A, hosted energetically by Richard Bacon and featuring Matt Smith, Steven
Moffat, exec producer Caroline Skinner, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darville,
wasn't *very* informative, and mostly served as an opportunity for middle-class
children to 'enchant' us with their precocity. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The guests
were all open and charming though, and couldn't say enough nice things about each
other, although Moffat did seem to get a bit tetchy at Bacon's persistent
questioning about a multi-Doctor 50th<sup></sup> anniversary episode. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The most interesting
revelation (for me) is that of all his episodes, Moffat's most proud of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Eleventh Hour</i> because of how much
he had to achieve with it (ie, starting with a new cast but trying to retain a
sense of continuity with what had gone before.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The one
he's least happy with is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Beast Below</i>:
he feels the ideas he put in it didn't coalesce successfully into a whole
(although Matt Smith was keen to reassure him that the script was perfect and
it just lost something in the execution).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So there
you have it. There's still no official broadcast date for <i>Asylum of the Daleks</i>,
although Saturday 1<sup>st</sup> September seems to be the current favourite. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In the
meantime, here's the BBC's latest trailer for the series. Geronimo!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qrEUBl2pacU" width="400"></iframe>Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-20777631859573482532012-08-13T09:43:00.000+01:002012-08-13T09:43:18.912+01:00Repost: Glorious 39 plus Q&A with Stephen PoliakoffDuring last night's Olympic closing ceremony, BBC Two took a punt on showing Stephen Poliakoff's <i>Glorious 39</i> (which is still available on iPlayer until <span>12:04am on Monday 20 Aug).</span><br />
<br />
<span></span>When the film came out we saw it at the BFI, followed by a Q&A with the writer/director, so I thought it might be worth reposting that:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5CE6W-LHg65NrXMwNyoX7I1B96Z__ktlEBl_r_Zkyng96ghiuWNHgde4zt69ImArfv2qs-DZ0tc-Bnhuv3bwiRsbAFbtDzpldkLWp7fRTbja9fl2qzBwtooJ4TjQwJW49y8P9RYtuyty0/s1600/glorious_39_stephen_poliakoff.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407448448604002322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5CE6W-LHg65NrXMwNyoX7I1B96Z__ktlEBl_r_Zkyng96ghiuWNHgde4zt69ImArfv2qs-DZ0tc-Bnhuv3bwiRsbAFbtDzpldkLWp7fRTbja9fl2qzBwtooJ4TjQwJW49y8P9RYtuyty0/s400/glorious_39_stephen_poliakoff.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 299px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><b>(Originally posted November 2009)</b> <br />
<br />
This is a bit after the event, but the other week we saw Stephen Poliakoff’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Glorious 39</span> at the BFI, followed by a Q&A with the writer/director, as well as cast members Romola Garai and Bill Nighy.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>(I’ve since lost the notebook in which I was furiously scribbling during the Q&A, so unfortunately I’ll have to rely on my addled memory for what was said.)<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Glorious 39</span> is Poliakoff’s first film for the cinema in more than a decade. He said he hadn’t planned to stay away that long, but enjoyed the creative control he was given while working in TV. Since the success of recent work like <span style="font-style: italic;">Gideon’s Daughter</span>, he’s been waiting for the right story to come along for his return to cinema.<br />
<br />
The film is an atmospheric thriller set around an upper-class family – headed by MP Alexander Keyes (Nighy) – on the eve of World War II. Anne (Garai), the family’s adopted daughter, finds her life threatened when she stumbles upon what seems to be a conspiracy by pro-appeasement activists to prevent Britain being drawn into the war.<br />
<br />
However, the mystery deepens when Poliakoff raises the possibility that Anne could be an ‘unreliable narrator’ and imagining the whole thing. The events of the film are seen almost entirely from her perspective, which takes on a nightmarish quality that suggests she could be suffering from paranoia.<br />
<br />
A few things in the script don’t quite add up, but it’s a complex and cinematically rewarding film. It’s more than a little Hitchcockian in the way it draws an ‘innocent’ into a world of danger they struggle to comprehend. While there aren’t many thrills and spills, the atmosphere and imagery are effective and the outcome remains uncertain to the very end.<br />
<br />
Afterwards, Poliakoff spoke about how he came up with the Keyes family’s story to embody the vital struggle that was taking place in political circles as war approached. Even though we know the appeasers failed, he sought to create tension by dropping us into history and making us identify with a character at the heart of the mystery who doesn’t know how it’s going to turn out.<br />
<br />
He also uses the theme of being betrayed by one’s family to reflect what happened to those who were suddenly persecuted by the Nazis in communities where they had previously felt secure. Throughout the film, imagery evocative of the Holocaust raises the spectre of what is about to happen across Europe.<br />
<br />
Naturally, Poliakoff’s Jewish heritage makes this an even more vital theme; he claimed that most people remain unaware of how close the UK came to reaching an agreement with Germany that would almost certainly have led to the creation of a Vichy-style government in the UK and the eventual application of the Nazis’ murderous agenda.<br />
<br />
From a screenwriting point of view, Anne also offers a useful lesson in how you can give your characters aspects that allow you to explore the theme of your script in a dramatic but natural way. She is seen throughout as something of an outsider; as well as being adopted, she’s also a film actress – a less-than-respectable profession that marks her out as the black sheep of the seemingly upright family. This makes her increasingly vulnerable when it seems the rest of the family is closing ranks against her.<br />
<br />
In terms of structure, Poliakoff also stressed the importance of the present-day framing section that bookends the film. He included it to remind the viewer that this vital moment in our history occurred within living memory. He also wanted to draw a link to the 1930s as a living period, rather than the cosy fictional ‘Jeeves and Wooster’ world that drama set in the period often defaults into.<br />
<br />
I’d never really engaged with Poliakoff’s work before, so I can’t judge <span style="font-style: italic;">Glorious 39</span> in the light of what came before it. However, despite a few glitches and a slightly bum-numbing running time (129 minutes), I enjoyed it as a fairly engrossing if slow-moving thriller - thanks in no small part to Romola Garai's performance.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.writersandartists.co.uk/inside-publishing/the-writers/stephen-poliakoff/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Interview with Stephen Poliakoff (</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Writers and Artists)</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.screendaily.com/home/film-hub/paths-of-glory/5003876.article"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Preview of </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Glorious 39, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">focusing mostly on production (</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Screendaily</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">)</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/features/glorious_39_set_visit"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Set visit (4-min video, BBC)</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/features/glorious_39_red_carpet" style="font-weight: bold;">Cast and crew interviews (6-min video, BBC)</a><br />
<br />
<br />Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-43707423841993965202012-07-27T13:35:00.000+01:002012-07-27T14:13:30.981+01:00Play Without Words (Sadler's Wells)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOlCicgvUL7tUmlR3NBJKnU7OTK4ugTx8yUy3VeH3if6tRjmaVMme1jFEWfPDOjkrNZDSWj6ISOuJjFkwyBERi5iqeBFR2HHE1HkfSQiW7upivGuE1-bat5SaDaUP1pN_JMl4GEGKaSS49/s1600/pww+top+banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOlCicgvUL7tUmlR3NBJKnU7OTK4ugTx8yUy3VeH3if6tRjmaVMme1jFEWfPDOjkrNZDSWj6ISOuJjFkwyBERi5iqeBFR2HHE1HkfSQiW7upivGuE1-bat5SaDaUP1pN_JMl4GEGKaSS49/s400/pww+top+banner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">With visions of Mr Alternative Car Park in mind, we've
traditionally steered clear of 'dance theatre' down the years. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB">So however
qualified I might be to comment on drama, I really lack the critical vocabulary
to say much about dance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">However, I
was so intrigued by Matthew Bourne's <a href="http://www.new-adventures.net/productions/play_without_words/about" target="_blank"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Play Without Words</i></b></a>, currently enjoying a revival at Sadler's Wells, that I
thought I'd make the effort.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNSDKrHPQAWII-rWdN8OAzvrmLngkhFsIy8I6qJJLq_UZVcQ7MFXjq2KwqxEpkEEI7a-p1_kLTxwU35gAPX42qjghl-wcYNNJSjmowsbbs3gqwaG-8PfnR9bjLpQNZs8K4_PfDMVTPx6o/s1600/servant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNSDKrHPQAWII-rWdN8OAzvrmLngkhFsIy8I6qJJLq_UZVcQ7MFXjq2KwqxEpkEEI7a-p1_kLTxwU35gAPX42qjghl-wcYNNJSjmowsbbs3gqwaG-8PfnR9bjLpQNZs8K4_PfDMVTPx6o/s320/servant.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB">The play, originally commissioned in 2002 by the National Theatre, draws
heavily on the 1962 film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Servant </i>(written
by Harold Pinter and directed by Joseph Losey), in which a wealthy young Londoner
(James Fox) has his world turned upside-down by the machinations of his new
manservant (Dirk Bogarde). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Bourne's
version largely follows the original, as dapper Chelsea chap Anthony hires the dourly
malevolent Prentice, who brings with him a housemaid, Sheila. Anthony also has a sophisticated
but snotty fiancée, Glenda, who finds herself drawn into the conflict.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">However, in
tackling the story for a wordless dance piece, Bourne introduces one amazing
idea that totally defines the production. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB">Instead of one actor/dancer playing
each part, there are two or often three in most scenes. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">As the
action plays out, we therefore see simultaneous variations, some subtle and
some more dramatic, that lead to a range of outcomes – a kind of 4D narrative
cubism.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Sometimes
the parallel selves seem aware of each other. During a very steamy scene on the
kitchen table between Anthony and Sheila, their doppelgangers look on in shock
through a nearby window.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVEpOfzVlzXN4QvRy3rq01TpSW57Ujx6kJj4A7aVHAalB3a6SnQDQhQ2a87W7CZlEpcxrOgYO6idDjdk8HGClkevC7ssXu3z-aBz89JXBCje42BLO-4K9CzN8U-t7TMDWIDtWnPP0U2oj/s1600/pww+dressing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVEpOfzVlzXN4QvRy3rq01TpSW57Ujx6kJj4A7aVHAalB3a6SnQDQhQ2a87W7CZlEpcxrOgYO6idDjdk8HGClkevC7ssXu3z-aBz89JXBCje42BLO-4K9CzN8U-t7TMDWIDtWnPP0U2oj/s400/pww+dressing.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The device
is also used humorously, as when one Prentice dresses one Anthony for the day,
while another undresses his boss in parallel. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It comes to
its natural conclusion at the clanging climax of the play, when the power shift
between Anthony and Prentice plays out in three very different ways.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">As I said
above, I'm no dance expert. However, even I could tell that the show was stolen
by Jonathan Ollivier, who flung himself around impressively as Speight, an edgy
Angry-Young-Man friend of Anthony who also plays a part in the destruction of
the status quo. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The cool
jazzy score by Terry Davies is also variously evocative and electrifying, while
Lez Brotherston's versatile set creates a host of locations, including Anthony's
home, a swinging jazz club and the then-seediness of the famous Salisbury pub on St Martin's
Lane.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I usually
find dance – or 'physical theatre' more generally – a bit off-putting, but
Matthew Bourne and his company deliver <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Play
Without Words</i> with such verve and vision that it's impossible to resist. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lpa3izOeu-k" width="420"></iframe>Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-46826423694116715052012-07-25T12:33:00.000+01:002012-07-25T16:06:11.946+01:00The Doctor's Dilemma (National Theatre)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaBq5KSbRgeqFnjZr7f_TI14WBfm9SdL-8jhtuuFtWm-AXO1N7uOTh3aK2cC6CE_u3hZzU5bBMPNW3VbIMSWMjEIInVaM0DKKVCGsG_4jwBc3-WrDy7_5W_TZ-y866sNC7UupeDoKtXz2H/s1600/doc's+dilemma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaBq5KSbRgeqFnjZr7f_TI14WBfm9SdL-8jhtuuFtWm-AXO1N7uOTh3aK2cC6CE_u3hZzU5bBMPNW3VbIMSWMjEIInVaM0DKKVCGsG_4jwBc3-WrDy7_5W_TZ-y866sNC7UupeDoKtXz2H/s400/doc's+dilemma.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">George Bernard Shaw's play is an
interesting choice to put on at the moment, as the economics of healthcare are
probably under closer scrutiny than they have been for nearly 70 years.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">However, the NT – mercifully – isn't
pressing as hard to make <i>The Doctor's Dilemma</i> as contemporary as its
current production of <a href="http://tom-writer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/timon-of-athens-national-theatre.html" target="_blank"><i>Timon of Athens</i></a>, even though it involves medics
having to decide which lives are worth saving when demand for treatment
outstrips resources.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The doctor in the title is Sir Colenso
Ridgeon (Aden Gillett), whose cure for tuberculosis has propelled him to the
top of his profession.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And his dilemma? With only one place
remaining for his treatment, Sir Colenso must decide whether to give it to an
ailing but brilliant young artist, Dubedat (Tom Burke), or a kind but poor
fellow doctor, Blenkinsop (Derek Hutchison).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">He decides that Dubedat's youth and talent make
him the winner, but things become complicated when the doctor meets the artist,
who turns out to be not only an amoral and opportunistic scrounger but also a
bigamist. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And there's more: Ridgeon develops the hots
for Dubedat's (second) wife, Jennifer (Genevieve O'Reilly, <i>Episodes</i>),
and begins to consider the possibility of marrying her were Dubedat – by some
terrible event – to die. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8jG2hCdPkDkkyofezNkIjVlXe10eaHmsuyL_rS-VSW54gz4jza6QvDdSxCSmGoTyGJYQi2Z_tO0dcxCIvFoG9UGflJesV30s1ZrAhmV_XeVvN6bsCXlBQT2RQH_h9tE9P4SHD0xM33M_/s1600/docs+dilemma+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8jG2hCdPkDkkyofezNkIjVlXe10eaHmsuyL_rS-VSW54gz4jza6QvDdSxCSmGoTyGJYQi2Z_tO0dcxCIvFoG9UGflJesV30s1ZrAhmV_XeVvN6bsCXlBQT2RQH_h9tE9P4SHD0xM33M_/s400/docs+dilemma+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB">Directed by Nadia Fall, this is an
energetic production of a play that bears all Shaw's hallmarks: a vigorous
debate about social issues dressed immaculately in strong characterisation and
stage-craft.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The gaggle of eminent doctors in Ridgeon's
circle each cling to their own dogmatic approach to treatment with a
white-knuckle grip, putting financial gain and reputation ahead of any genuine
care for their </span><s><span lang="EN-GB">patients</span></s><span lang="EN-GB"> customers. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In their blank-eyed self-belief and
arrogant disregard for the 'little people', they anticipate one of Shaw's later
and more widely known characters: Henry Higgins in <i>Pygmalion</i>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">As one of the plays most quotable lines has
it, medicine "isn't a profession, it's a conspiracy" – a charge that
Shaw levelled at all the professions, which he saw as working for their own benefit
and against the public interest.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The cast brings the cabal to life with
gusto – especially Robert Portal as the dapper Mr Cutler Walpole and Malcolm
Sinclair as the obsequious Sir Ralph Bloomfield Bonnington, eager to flaunt his
royal credentials but ready to play 'clinical roulette' with his patients'
lives. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5lLnH0yCPJ9BSet_hEdCO6Ngzy6JNdXhbhw6q4YTCf6rmzAi_gYnL98q9HcS-h_pv7n10Fi0SBEHygboZoFGlirZ6eo4HlOEk1o5TvUYr3bi56lrXZR26D5tnKL3eKyzTAZX3Zhdoqhy/s1600/docs+dilemma+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5lLnH0yCPJ9BSet_hEdCO6Ngzy6JNdXhbhw6q4YTCf6rmzAi_gYnL98q9HcS-h_pv7n10Fi0SBEHygboZoFGlirZ6eo4HlOEk1o5TvUYr3bi56lrXZR26D5tnKL3eKyzTAZX3Zhdoqhy/s400/docs+dilemma+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB">A special mention should also go to
designer Peter McKintosh, who makes the most of the Lyttleton stage and even
won a ripple of applause during one scene transition. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The production requires moderate powers of
endurance (2 hours and 50 minutes at the preview we attended), but it's
incisive, entertaining and another powerful reminder of why we'll miss the NHS
when it's gone.</span></div>Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-3118459465594401722012-07-18T20:39:00.004+01:002012-07-20T09:48:34.872+01:00Timon of Athens (National Theatre)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysWJISv8ENSA-nqaPoxzwjyxTkJUlS3tmjK5_gVggD7tLzSqfOUMlgMXUR5HLIHUXqYRXlSHRHWJ6BmWvrQVnUzaQgCdgLB3gBZuuQmUTfsGa9Rv1u5IX1QhYjzJkuhKTMXFDRffXwgPW/s1600/timon+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysWJISv8ENSA-nqaPoxzwjyxTkJUlS3tmjK5_gVggD7tLzSqfOUMlgMXUR5HLIHUXqYRXlSHRHWJ6BmWvrQVnUzaQgCdgLB3gBZuuQmUTfsGa9Rv1u5IX1QhYjzJkuhKTMXFDRffXwgPW/s400/timon+image.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In the
programme notes for Nicholas Hytner's modern-dress production of <i>Timon of
Athens </i><span style="font-style: normal;">at the National Theatre,
Shakespearean scholar Peter Holland reveals that the little-performed play only just escaped disappearing altogether.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Shoehorned
into the First Folio (1623) </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">at the last moment</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> to plug a gap, the
play was unfinished, probably never performed and believed to have
been co-written with Thomas Middleton. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">So
if it only just made it onto the ark, is it worth a
revival in 2012?</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Simon
Russell Beale plays the title character, an Athenian noble renowned
for his generosity. However, when he realises too late that he's
mortgaged up to the hilt and his philanthropy is founded on crippling
debt, his friends soon scatter. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
production stops </span><i>just</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
short of overcooking the reflections of the current financial
situation. It opens with Athenian protesters as an Occupy camp,
before we see Timon splashing his benevolence by sponsoring a room at
a gallery - dominated, </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">tellingly, </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">by a painting of Christ driving the
money-lenders from the temple. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">His
parties for poets, painters, jewellers and actors conjure up images of
glittering gatherings at Chequers. Later, when it's all going tits-up for Timon,
his aide visits the offices of Lucullus Capital - with a
picture-window view of Canary Wharf - in a vain effort to extend his
credit. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMl_i-VSBOpaaYWK6CMgkf0Tl6OAVdfPXC2LEFyJ2wdxZvJeOhwU-WY1JlxOBCwOaBEYQzA97jfWxBt1T_w49_dXzoioV6lCs2WTRw8Kg1ub82XUhT8cN5evKgGPwueOcWC2fLc3hBDUWf/s1600/timon+toast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMl_i-VSBOpaaYWK6CMgkf0Tl6OAVdfPXC2LEFyJ2wdxZvJeOhwU-WY1JlxOBCwOaBEYQzA97jfWxBt1T_w49_dXzoioV6lCs2WTRw8Kg1ub82XUhT8cN5evKgGPwueOcWC2fLc3hBDUWf/s400/timon+toast.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
first half of the play ends with him turning his back on Athens and
what he sees as hateful humanity, and sadly there isn't much in the
second half to match the fulminating invective with which he curses
Athens in particular and mankind in general. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">In
fact, the rest of the play gets a bit repetitive as Timon, holed up
in a derelict building (a cave in the original) with just his
shopping trolley full of junk, finds his solitude
shattered after he uncovers a stash of gold. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">In
rapid succession he gets turned over by bandits; hurls a bit more
ugly abuse at the rebel Alcibiades and two women; has an
mutual insult-a-thon with the cynical philosopher Apemantus; and rebuffs the
urgings of the senators and his steward/PA Flavia for him to return
to the city (with his stash).</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Probably
reflecting its unfinished status, the play doesn't offer any kind of
tragic catharsis, as Timon's ambigious death is reported after the
event by Alcibiades and the senators, who have reached a political
compromise that will largely preserve the status quo.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Simon
Russell Beale gives a suitably weighty performance as Timon, eager to
flaunt his benefaction in the first half and then plumbing the depths
of roaring misanthropy when he realises the true nature of the 'friendship'
in which he'd felt himself so rich earlier. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The standout performances from the rest of the cast are from Hilton MacRae as the sour-faced
Apemantus and Tom Robertson as Ventidius, a Hooray Henry who is
bailed out of prison by Timon but then drops his benefactor like
a hot potato once the tables are turned. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
NT has done the best it could with the patched-up text - around 250
lines were cut or amended and small portions transplanted from other
Shakespeare plays - and Tim Hatley's design is simple but effective. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">And thanks to the NT's excellent Travelex £12 scheme, you can take a punt on a decent seat in the Olivier without breaking the bank yourself. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">However,
if you're pressed for time you could probably hop off at half time -
sorry, the interval - with a good grasp of the play's message and
Timon's thundering curses rattling in your ears. </span></span> </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
(There'll also be a global <b><a href="http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/70224/productions/timon-of-athens.html" target="_blank">National Theatre Live cinema broadcast</a></b> of the play on 1 November 2012)</div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/timon" target="_blank"><b>National Theatre: <i>Timon of Athens</i></b> </a></li>
</ul>Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-11209573252710870332012-07-17T13:25:00.004+01:002013-01-06T18:29:08.028+00:00Gerry Anderson's walk for Alzheimer's(If you want to avoid my self-indulgent flapdoodle, the important bit about sponsoring Gerry and his son Jamie is at the bottom.)<br />
<br />
W<span lang="EN-GB">ithout wanting to get all John-Boy Walton about it, one day from my childhood remains particularly vivid in my mind and still gives me a wave of pleasure whenever I think of it. </span><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2663518238566699102" name="more"></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">One summer day in 1976 or 1977 when I was 8 or 9, my dad, my brother and I took the short train ride from Chorley to Blackpool for a day out (my mum must have been working).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The destination itself was exciting enough: our seaside trips were usually at sedate Morecambe, where I'd be shoved behind the counter of my uncle's seafood stall while he and my dad stole off to the Palatine or the Queens Hotel for a few hours' froth-blowing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But it wasn't just the glorious sunshine or the brilliant picnic my mum had packed for us that made the trip so memorable. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh24rh6-liEYXfPzVyyYvrFS_rUIzY7YU2KrFmupjz5LcXEQKVqOIOnR32ijfroXxalUHOb1Xd9D2EAnd-a8YymOYS7TKaZ4yXuvdmTOFCcswqPodqZb1Pz2b9aNJZV3NqEpFTe4ikhbZvO/s1600/space+city.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh24rh6-liEYXfPzVyyYvrFS_rUIzY7YU2KrFmupjz5LcXEQKVqOIOnR32ijfroXxalUHOb1Xd9D2EAnd-a8YymOYS7TKaZ4yXuvdmTOFCcswqPodqZb1Pz2b9aNJZV3NqEpFTe4ikhbZvO/s200/space+city.jpg" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-GB">While strolling along the Golden Mile we stumbled across Gerry Anderson's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Space City</i> exhibition, somewhere underneath the Tower. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I can't even begin to describe how much I loved his series, and as I wandered through what seemed to be room after room filled with costumes, props and beautifulmodels, I was in absolute heaven. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Even now, 30-odd years later, the opening bars of a Barry Gray theme tune still get my heart beating a little faster.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Sadly, Gerry Anderson announced recently that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease 18 months ago. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOABl5y9iII1QMk47Vi7-7BZKFBPKcsGs-cr_VXiMWeq67sxlC_M7t5z65bwQ1mwOE8h17dXou7MzEvw0TEZ1_NyJb3eB0NFV9EsPAedaUS_NeMT5VCC0LiGEkyz7-ZmqTey61FdrWM-c9/s1600/gerry+and+jamie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOABl5y9iII1QMk47Vi7-7BZKFBPKcsGs-cr_VXiMWeq67sxlC_M7t5z65bwQ1mwOE8h17dXou7MzEvw0TEZ1_NyJb3eB0NFV9EsPAedaUS_NeMT5VCC0LiGEkyz7-ZmqTey61FdrWM-c9/s320/gerry+and+jamie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">However, together with his son Jamie, he's taking part in a Memory Walk in October to raise funds for the Alzheimer's Society. (Jamie is also doing all three 'marathon' Memory Walks in September)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It's not often you get the opportunity to do something to repay one of your heroes even a little for the pleasure they've given you down the years.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">If you've <i>ever</i> enjoyed one of Gerry Anderson's series, please go to<b><a href="http://www.justgiving.com/Gerry-Anderson-Memorywalk" target="_blank"> Jamie's JustGiving page</a></b> and make a donation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcbLsj9CHqVfVtGYRNCY91MBtC8bE7bjqHOmBniPV4b-qGUtXSE4lIdY_id4z8WM5jZQJf2Boq9AZjnlDHzlGjKmrFJai-oEOJadi6PStHSFZiyDN3bDqB0ej5FDHvwyV6W0PFow-fVaM1/s1600/gerry+and+virgil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcbLsj9CHqVfVtGYRNCY91MBtC8bE7bjqHOmBniPV4b-qGUtXSE4lIdY_id4z8WM5jZQJf2Boq9AZjnlDHzlGjKmrFJai-oEOJadi6PStHSFZiyDN3bDqB0ej5FDHvwyV6W0PFow-fVaM1/s320/gerry+and+virgil.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-82866297841448263142012-07-13T23:57:00.003+01:002012-07-19T13:24:59.277+01:00The Newsroom (HBO, Sky Atlantic)<style type="text/css">
<!--
@page { margin: 2cm }
P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm }
-->
</style>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Now here's a thing for a supposedly
avid TV watcher to admit: I've never seen an episode of <i>The West
Wing</i>. Not even five minutes, in the background, while I'm waiting
for the kettle to boil.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But, of course, I'm fully aware of the
status of Aaron Sorkin. I was even <span style="font-style: normal;">lucky enough to see him interviewed at the BFI alongside a
screening of </span><i>The Social Network</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
which was a bravura piece of screenwriting that deserved the Bafta
and Oscar it won.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">So,
like a lot of people, I was looking forward to </span><i>The
Newsroom</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, his new series about
the crisis facing US TV journalism in recent years. (The opener is
set in 2010, as the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, er, came to the
surface.)</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLAFjLiomiap1lW80-YniR-SE5FwDT-7GUKIEAmHyWV3mjFtUgMu-l6KYyoggDfff4roB_T8M0YagGqg25pdUoeSxAOrWrW-q7ljjCvCgERt4LQVM1KFD8-NHF6WGUSU8nQVY0adT20tl0/s1600/the-newsroom-jeff-daniels-emily-mortimer-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLAFjLiomiap1lW80-YniR-SE5FwDT-7GUKIEAmHyWV3mjFtUgMu-l6KYyoggDfff4roB_T8M0YagGqg25pdUoeSxAOrWrW-q7ljjCvCgERt4LQVM1KFD8-NHF6WGUSU8nQVY0adT20tl0/s400/the-newsroom-jeff-daniels-emily-mortimer-image.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">It
stars Jeff Daniels as Will McEvoy, an anodyne news anchor who flips
out at a student journalism event when asked why the US is the best country in
the world. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">“It isn't” is his shock reply, and he goes on to reel
off a litany of poor social indicators and reminisce how the nation
was a much healthier place when it had better news coverage. “It
isn't. But it could be.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">His
outburst makes him </span><i>persona non grata</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
at his network, and most of his production team follow his executive
producer to another gig. His big hope is the new producer parachuted
onto his show: veteran war reporter - and, apparently, Will's former
lover - Mackenzie MacHale (Emily Mortimer). </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">However,
while her dramatic role as Will's potential saviour is pretty clear,
a lot about Mackenzie's character just doesn't add up. Everything about her, from her name to her stirring patriotism, is American, but for some
reason she's played by a plummy British actress.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">And
while Jeff's boss (Sam Waterson) also says that she's burnt out after
spending too much time in warzones and just wants a quiet life, she seems pretty fresh and breezy
by the time she arrives in the newsroom. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
While the first
episode was full of Sorkin's trademark ping-pong dialogue,
it felt very static and linear; there was little in the way of visual
storytelling or the structural mastery that made <i>The Social
Network </i>so compelling. It could have played just as well on the
radio without losing much. </div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
That characteristic
<i>tiki-taka</i> chatter itself was problematic. While it's undoubtedly pleasing to
encounter characters who are smarter than us (Steven Moffat has made
a fortune from it), it gets a bit tiring when every statement is
instantly met with what sounds like the zingiest thing the respondent
could possibly say. </div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A lot of it was also totally on-the-nose (characters saying exactly what they mean)
and often felt shoehorned in to make a point – such as the moment
when Mackenzie turns back from the office door and launches into an
unprompted oration to remind Will why it's important that the US has
a politically literate electorate.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There's clearly an
interesting discussion to be had about the fact that people can now immerse themselves in news coverage that just
reinforces their own beliefs without cross-examining them at all.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Will claims in the
episode that the US is the most polarised it's ever been, and it's
probably the same over here, epitomised by the identical, unquestioning, blank-eyed
certainty of the <i>Guardian</i> and the <i>Daily Mail </i>– like
the two factions of Lilliputians arguing in <i>Gulliver's</i> <i>Travels</i>
about which end to open their eggs.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
However, Sorkin's
apparent yearning back to a pre-multichannel, pre-Internet age when a
broadcaster like Walter Cronkite could convincingly claim to speak to
and for a nation seems a little redundant.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There was enough craft in the opener to make me want to tune in again, but I
hope the series finds a bit more drama and imagination once it shakes
off its pilot and – hopefully – hits its stride.</div>Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-15646345654032503972012-07-12T22:38:00.003+01:002012-07-16T12:09:10.789+01:00It's Dark in London (Festival Village; Oscar Zarate, Iain Sinclair, Stella Duffy, Alexei Sayle)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3TebgfcJsjUHD5EdRXiyH5Lv5rR0UUmbXIRt4PXR9xPn3IAnuVXQBhqGI8UeRrqwgvSzWtFpz7sxbgSY-mdefxtz33yEWCNEFcdf7IGfgaEh4TwJvbOXqoA_j8t_r3oTYSj1r_FW0OGt/s1600/dark+in+london.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3TebgfcJsjUHD5EdRXiyH5Lv5rR0UUmbXIRt4PXR9xPn3IAnuVXQBhqGI8UeRrqwgvSzWtFpz7sxbgSY-mdefxtz33yEWCNEFcdf7IGfgaEh4TwJvbOXqoA_j8t_r3oTYSj1r_FW0OGt/s320/dark+in+london.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The other night we went to an event at
the South Bank Centre to mark the recent publication of <i>It's Dark in London</i> by indie comics powerhouse SelfMadeHero.<br />
<br />
The book is an expanded reissue of a very solid anthology originally published in 1996 (gulp), featuring strips from independent comic
luminaries Woodrow Phoenix, Ed 'Ilya' Hillier and Carol Swain, as
well as creative teams including Neil Gaiman and Warren Pleece; Iain
Sinclair and Dave McKean; Chris Petit and Garry Marshall; and Alan
Moore and the book's editor, Oscar Zarate.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Zarate led the
event and was joined on stage by Sinclair, as well as Stella Duffy
and Alexei Sayle, fellow contributors to the book, which now
includes a few additional pieces of prose and poetry.</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
However, the nature
of the event meant that apart from slides of various pages projected
on the stage before the start, the core identity of the book as
'comics' wasn't really explored (or, at least, not until Woodrow
Phoenix hijacked the mic from the audience during the Q&A to
redress the balance).</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The event was the
first to take place in the 'Festival Village' – a new space cobbled
together under the concrete mass of the SBC that was very hot and
stuffy, despite London's current meteorological filth.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Iain Sinclair
picked up rapidly on the 'underground car park' ambience, and soon
began to riff characteristically on its nature as a place that has no
history but still absorbs a 'generic' history from its nature and
surroundings. Before long he was reminiscing about JG Ballard and speculating about multi-storey car
parks "leaking their psychosis" into their users.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9b_iaaQNJudM6i_5-9gT1GI17evC5Jhm26WoKTWqLc43NNG86eAIys5HvEKEF8UW77NMfST8gxVNJOv378fU6N-mrDSQo9VbhSGhVdhNGMh_sJT2Ohjhbr3Jxk7Ez2qAqVI2mGeQ7PYy/s1600/south+bank+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9b_iaaQNJudM6i_5-9gT1GI17evC5Jhm26WoKTWqLc43NNG86eAIys5HvEKEF8UW77NMfST8gxVNJOv378fU6N-mrDSQo9VbhSGhVdhNGMh_sJT2Ohjhbr3Jxk7Ez2qAqVI2mGeQ7PYy/s320/south+bank+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Nicked from Woodrow Phoenix's Twitter stream: @MrPhoenix)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Zarate,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">probably</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">one</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">most</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">undervalued</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">cartoonists</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">I</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">can</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">think</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">opened</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">evening</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">with</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">quote</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">from</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Italo</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Calvino</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">that</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">reveals</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">way</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">individuals</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">construct</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">nature</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">city</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">around</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">them:</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
“</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Cities,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">like</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">dreams,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">are</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">made</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">desires</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">and</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">fears,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">even</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">if</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">thread</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">their</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">discourse</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">is</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">secret,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">their</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">rules</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">are</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">absurd,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">their</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">perspectives</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">deceitful,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">and</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">everything</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">conceals</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">something</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">else.</span><span style="font-style: normal;">”
</span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
He linked this to
his aim with the book: London conceals its information – it doesn't
want to give anything away and if you have to work hard to get
beneath the surface. He hoped that drawing in collaborators from a
number of artistic fields would enable them to unveil and understand
London's unique 'darkness'.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Sinclair elaborated
on this, saying that darkness has always been an element of London;
as its buildings cast their physical shadows, they also cast psychic
shadows over those living beneath them – a 'topography of
darkness' familiar to anyone who's seen Hawksmoor's ominous Christ Church Spitalfields looming over the unfortunate characters in Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's <i>From Hell</i>.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">He</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">also</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">outlined</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">attraction</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">comic</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">form</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">to</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">him,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">using</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">quote</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">from</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><i>The</i><i> Griffin's </i><i>Egg</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">his</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">collaboration</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">with</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Dave</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">McKean:</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><i>Stick any </i><i>two</i><i> </i><i>postcards</i><i> on a
wall and you've got </i><i>a</i><i> </i><i>narrative. </i>He cited material like Ballard's <i>The Atrocity Exhibition</i> and the work of William Burroughs as examples of clashing images and concepts producing a narrative.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">His
first reading was </span><span style="font-style: normal;">from</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">one</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
new </span><span style="font-style: normal;">prose</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">sections</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
in the book, </span><span style="font-style: normal;">describing</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">how</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">he</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">picked</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">up</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">phrase</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">'Ghost</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Milk'</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">from</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">two</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">adjacent</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">bits</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">graffiti,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">and</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">how</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">it</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">suggested</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">notion</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">fluid</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">that</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">surrounds</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">city's</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">inhabitants</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
– </span><span style="font-style: normal;">part</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">amniotic</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">and</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">part</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">embalming.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Even</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">though</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">I</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">find</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">his</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">prose</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">bit</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">dense</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">to</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">be</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">really</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">enjoyable</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">(as</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">playfully</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">parodied</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">by</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Alan</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Moore</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">recently</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">in</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><i>League</i><i> </i><i>of</i><i> </i><i>Extraordinary</i><i>
</i><i>Gentlemen:</i><i> </i><i>Century</i><span style="font-style: normal;">),</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">he's</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">very</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">strong</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">reader</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">his</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">work,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">giving</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">it</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">muscular</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">sense</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">rhythm. He may now be more
associated with Hackney than his native Wales, but he's still
retained something of his homeland's </span><i>hwyl</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Next</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">up</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">was</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Stella</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Duffy,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">who</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">took</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">unusual</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">step</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">almost</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">disowning</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">story</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">she'd</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">written</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">(illustrated</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">by</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Melinda</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Gebbie)</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">for</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">original</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">volume.</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">She</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">then</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">outlined</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">her</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">biographical</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">link</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">with</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">city</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">and</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">read</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">two</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">pieces:</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">section</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">from</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">her</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">South</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">London</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">novel</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><i>Empire</i><i> </i><i>of</i><i> </i><i>Lost</i><i> </i><i>Things</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">and</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">poetic</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">narration</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">she</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">wrote</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">for</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Radio</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">4,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><i>From</i><i> </i><i>the</i><i> </i><i>River's</i><i> </i><i>Mouth</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">in</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">which</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">personified</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Thames</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">berates</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">those</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">who</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">refuse</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">to</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">cross</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">her</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">and</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">recalls</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">those</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">who</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">have</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">fallen</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">beneath</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">surface</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">into</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">her</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">'care'.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Finally, Alexei
Sayle introduced 'his' London. As the son of Communist parents, the
city was first and foremost to him a place of protest; he said that
he struggled to find his way around when he wasn't walking down the
middle of the road and shouting.
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
He also read two
pieces: the first was an extract - probably a bit of a tall tale -
from the in-progress second volume of his memoirs, recalling the
chaotic flat in South Kensington that he moved into when he arrived
in London to study at the Chelsea College of Art.
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">second</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">was</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><i>The</i><i> </i><i>Catwoman</i><i> </i><i>of</i><i> </i><i>Crouch</i><i>
</i><i>End</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">slight</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">piece</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">from</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">new</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">edition</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><i>It's</i><i> </i><i>Dark</i><i> </i><i>in</i><i> </i><i>London</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">about</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">woman</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">who</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">decides</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">to</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">stop</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">worrying</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">about</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">human</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">concerns</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">and</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">to</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">start</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">living</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">more</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">spontaneously,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">like</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">local</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">cat.</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
After a stuttering
start, the audience questions were the usual mixed bag, leading the
panel to offer their thoughts on great London films, to what extent
there are two (or more) Londons, divided by wealth and class, and
their favourite parts of the city (Sinclair – Bunhill Field; Duffy
– Brixton Market; Sayle – Westfield (!); Zarate
– Highgate village).</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">All</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">in</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">all</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">it</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">was</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">an</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
enjoyable </span><span style="font-style: normal;">event,</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">but</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">I</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">couldn't</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">help</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">but</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">feel</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">that</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">opportunity</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">to</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">promote</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">comics</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">to</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">broader</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">literary</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">audience</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">wasn't</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">really</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">seized</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">(despite</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Woodrow</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Phoenix's</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">valiant</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">effort).</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Hopefully</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">few</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">audience</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">will</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">have</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">had</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">good</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">look</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">through</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">exciting</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span>SelfMadeHero<span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">catalogues</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">left</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">on</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">seats.</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/apr/10/dark-in-london-zarate-review" target="_blank">(Brief) <i>Guardian </i>review</a> </span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.selfmadehero.com/title.php?isbn=9781906838447" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: normal;">SelfMadeHero: <i>It's Dark in London</i></span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2012/in-the-dark-in-london/" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: normal;">Forbidden Planet review<i> </i></span></a><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-5525862224012503442012-07-09T19:34:00.002+01:002012-07-09T19:34:46.501+01:00David Bailey's East End (Compressor House, East London)<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
Yesterday we took a long trip down the
DLR to have a look at <i>David Bailey's East End</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
an exhibition that opened last week at Compressor House, opposite
Royal Albert station.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZBSB33n3jpGfdpeKKPa3AfLUpCrBY60Acu8EnSwN71lLsYcIDJS8wBrB_3NfuFGlwEt1HRDoX0rpXusTqT60sExq_1dxXEzDcRAC_21mL7o-rMbYY-PoMq_fxJoNkDUNMM7DVOElCZmM/s1600/bailey+-+pint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZBSB33n3jpGfdpeKKPa3AfLUpCrBY60Acu8EnSwN71lLsYcIDJS8wBrB_3NfuFGlwEt1HRDoX0rpXusTqT60sExq_1dxXEzDcRAC_21mL7o-rMbYY-PoMq_fxJoNkDUNMM7DVOElCZmM/s320/bailey+-+pint.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
70+ photos displayed range between the early 1960s and the past few
years, and fall into what Bailey describes in his notes as three
“bursts of photographic energy”.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
first grouping covers the 60s, from grainy black-and-white street
photography at the start of the decade to larger evocative colour
shots of the working-class social scene towards the end of the
decade.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
grainy, richly textured shots taken around Shoreditch and Whitechapel
were the most astonishing, reminiscent of reportage from a war zone.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">They
reminded me of Robert Krasker's Oscar-winning photography of Vienna
in </span><i>The Third Man</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
showing the ragged survivors of a city shattered by a devastating war
as recent to them as the mid-90s were to us. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FMZE5tVhjt0ag01Xb-9MVtgLadPyJN07XguDYyCO0DHp48v5-dgq59LBKmfulZ_npWhTZ9zB2D0_MvtwOgJMZE0oXHBYHz3Mx5gTCPXN_ES_QRhUQdxZOpBgAl8Pf-d1GkKFCkHrbgBZ/s1600/bailey+-+spitalfields.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FMZE5tVhjt0ag01Xb-9MVtgLadPyJN07XguDYyCO0DHp48v5-dgq59LBKmfulZ_npWhTZ9zB2D0_MvtwOgJMZE0oXHBYHz3Mx5gTCPXN_ES_QRhUQdxZOpBgAl8Pf-d1GkKFCkHrbgBZ/s320/bailey+-+spitalfields.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">One
shot in particular threw up an amazing contrast, looking down the
now-vibrant Brushfield Street towards Hawksmoor's imposing Christ
Church at Spitalfields. While it's now hipster heaven, 50 years ago
it looked like a scene from a post-apocalyptic disaster film.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
next section focused on Docklands in the 1980s, in the hiatus between
the closure of the docks and the frenzied redevelopment anticipated
by </span><i>The Long Good Friday</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
</span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">As
attractive as these photos are, their sharpness and artful
composition, often including fashion models, lack a bit of the
documentary edge and dramatic urgency of the earlier work. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">However,
with their recurring motifs of redundant cranes and barriers (barbed
wire, chainlink, corrugated iron walls, bricked-up doorways), they're
still evocative of the time I moved from Lancashire to East London
(1986) – a time when it seemed that the best use for a lot of the
area was for Stanley Kubrick to dress it up as Vietnam and blow lumps
out of it. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Bailey
moves the story into the 21st century with a batch of colour street
photography taken digitally between 2005 and 2010. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGW-UewkaRdGNkKf8_Fxy3ueA0hXtx9kNvqY9fa_kUjsrb2939S9DDQoC3aQzBn1JrTX0jDdVmpfPmouC4CE38FHphezrkm15iQZh54zRP0A-tj9ei5iKw7ztcA2E4qYDuOnlw194YaWSW/s1600/bailey+-+sarees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGW-UewkaRdGNkKf8_Fxy3ueA0hXtx9kNvqY9fa_kUjsrb2939S9DDQoC3aQzBn1JrTX0jDdVmpfPmouC4CE38FHphezrkm15iQZh54zRP0A-tj9ei5iKw7ztcA2E4qYDuOnlw194YaWSW/s200/bailey+-+sarees.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">These
lack the historical interest of the earlier shots, but mix the
expected (colourful sarees contrasted with drab surroundings) with
more sharply observed moments, like a child's horse-drawn funeral in
the snow or a kid posing with a toy gun and a dead pigeon.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">It
might be a bit remote if you're not already in East London, but the
Compressor House is a nice space, and the exhibition's well worth a
visit for anyone with an interest in the changing face of London. It
runs until 5th August.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
</div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_550325830"><b><span style="font-style: normal;">Create
London: </span></b></a><i><a href="http://createlondon.org/events/david-baileys-east-end.html" target="_blank"><b>David Bailey's East End</b></a> </i></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_550325834"><b>Interview with
David Bailey (</b></a><i><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/london/9381514/David-Bailey-the-photographer-on-life-London-and-celebrity.html" target="_blank"><b>Daily Telegraph) </b></a></i></li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
</div>Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-22926239897488410872012-07-07T08:50:00.000+01:002012-07-07T09:22:23.328+01:00Hit and Miss (Sky Atlantic)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-g0clJ27kZquhHtGjBXAQ3GI_ea-q83hhpA0fVXjlyK-_ShcGDsUK3b5W7A7V8bescJCEbY3TmQI-5azU2OjxCGSfPUtgYe5F3tjMJZoFJfUNGqWdPFIw5m0mjqNh7z9RhXYBEcQTvNT/s1600/hit+and+miss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-g0clJ27kZquhHtGjBXAQ3GI_ea-q83hhpA0fVXjlyK-_ShcGDsUK3b5W7A7V8bescJCEbY3TmQI-5azU2OjxCGSfPUtgYe5F3tjMJZoFJfUNGqWdPFIw5m0mjqNh7z9RhXYBEcQTvNT/s320/hit+and+miss.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">Having achieved a
bit of a catch-up on the Sky+ box, we turned our attention earlier in
the week to </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Hit and Miss</i></span><span lang="en-GB">
– Sky Atlantic's recent six-parter starring Chloe Sevigny as a
pre-op transsexual assassin (now out on Blu-Ray and DVD).</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">Ever since </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Pulp
Fiction </i></span><span lang="en-GB">I've been a bit ambivalent
about drama involving hitmen; there seems something a bit
uncomfortable about the (usual) equation of 'cool' with a total
disregard for the value of human life. </span>
</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">And while the
'Created by Paul Abbott' factor was enough to entice me towards
'series link' (it was written by Sean Conway), for some reason
I was still expecting a reheated version of some </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Nikita</i></span><span lang="en-GB">-style
toot. </span>
</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
However, I was pleasantly
surprised by the first two eps. For a start, it had totally eluded me
that the series was set in Manchester and the surrounding moors, rather than the US.
<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
The show started
predictably enough, as we saw Mia (Sevigny) nail one of her
assignments on the sodium-lit roof of a car park. However, the big
moment came when her 'agent' (Peter Wight) passed on a letter he'd
received from an ex-girlfriend of Mia's.</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
Before long we learned
that not only did Mia have a nine-year-old son she never knew about,
Ryan, but the ex had died recently and had named Mia as the guardian
of all four of her kids, living on a farmstead out on the bleak moors.</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">Once </span><span lang="en-GB">Mia
hooked up with her wards, we were much back in familiar Paul Abbott
territory: a chaotic but fiercely independent family trying its best
to survive without any parental guidance.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
And pretty soon we found ourselves in even more familiar Western territory, with Mia as the
lone gunman trying to protect her hapless new family from the
villainous landowner (Vincent Regan) trying to drive them out. </div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
The two elder kids (Reece Noi and Karla Crome) felt they didn't need any help and did everything they can to turn Mia away, but before long she started to impose her quiet authority on the family.</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
To lapse into crass writing-manual-speak for a moment, it's clear that Mia has two big 'transformative arcs': not only is she undergoing her sex change process (as illustrated by her almost fetishistic dependence on her hormone pills), but she has to deal with suddenly having to abandon her totally self-sufficient 'lone wolf' lifestyle to settle into a more domestic scene - another Western trope. </div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">The role of Mia is a
bold choice for an actress, but despite everyone's efforts Chloe
Sevigny never really looked liked she'd been a man at any stage (even
with her prosthetic todger). It also took me a while to realise that
her accent was supposed to be Irish. </span>
</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">Still, she does give a good
bit of 'glower', and subtly depicts the inner struggle of
someone trying to inhibit their violent urges. And the story creates
a nice bit of ambivalence about what she does. </span>
</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
At the end of the first
episode we might have an initial urge to cheer when she pastes the bullying
landlord into the dirt. However, it's immediately apparent that
rather than ending the confrontation, it's actually escalated the
conflict to the point of no return.</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
As Ryan bonds with Mia and
starts to train with her, it also raises the question of to what
extent he's going to get dragged into his parent's world of violence
– especially after Mia involved him in the beating of the landlord
and his bullying son.
</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
The two episodes, directed with restraint and compassion by Hettie Macdonald, were very nicely shot and paced, and take time out from the core story to look also at the chilling effect of grief on the children and Mia's unhappiness at remaining trapped in the male body she sees as a prison. </div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
At six episodes, I think the series is going to be just long enough not to outstay its welcome, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops.</div>
<ul>
<li><b><a href="http://skyatlantic.sky.com/shows/hit-and-miss" target="_blank"><i>Hit and Miss</i> on Sky Atlantic</a></b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2012-06/11/paul-abbott-interview-chloe-sevigny-and-hit-and-miss" target="_blank">GQ: Interview with Paul Abbott</a></b></li>
</ul>Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-20463152659153401392012-07-06T10:47:00.000+01:002012-07-06T12:57:03.462+01:00Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth (Chris Ware)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIF8Rz58GSah6_uISG85CSORUJ3FqOYqp3cyLGEi4Z5ruTj-Xik39olaj_qb-ir_lbEU8vpBfla0LGuJbmAMcMlhnsUjLHNXnIXlDu6SW9A9a6Mw8Xhsev-0dYKhwZTzCn6M5ivarFdgg/s1600/corrigan+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIF8Rz58GSah6_uISG85CSORUJ3FqOYqp3cyLGEi4Z5ruTj-Xik39olaj_qb-ir_lbEU8vpBfla0LGuJbmAMcMlhnsUjLHNXnIXlDu6SW9A9a6Mw8Xhsev-0dYKhwZTzCn6M5ivarFdgg/s320/corrigan+cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
<span lang="en-GB">For
a few years either side of the millennium I drifted away from comics,
meaning that I missed the rise of Chris Ware as possibly the m</span><span lang="en-GB">ost
acclaimed living cartoonist.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">I've
come across brief examples of his strips in various anthologies (such
as </span><b><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2004/jul/24/comics" target="_blank"><span lang="en-GB"><i>McSweeney's 13: The Comics Issue</i></span></a></b><span lang="en-GB">,
which he edited)</span><span lang="en-GB">,
but until this week I'd never tackled his 380-page landmark work,
</span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on
Earth</i></span><span lang="en-GB">, which in 2001 became the first
'graphic novel' to win a major literary prize – the £10,000
</span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Guardian </i></span><span lang="en-GB">First
Book Award.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">And
even though I was familiar with his very distinctive illustration
style, the emotional wallop of the book and its constant narrative
invention left me breathless – and almost intimidated by the scale
of its creator's talent and vision.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">An
outline of </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Jimmy Corrigan</i></span><span lang="en-GB">
sounds fairly low-key: Jimmy, an awkward and isolated middle-aged
office worker, is thrown into turmoil when his absent father contacts
him out of the blue and invites him to visit for Thanksgiving.
Interwoven with this, we also have the childhood recollections of
Jimmy's grandfather, growing up in Chicago before and during the
World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">However,
what propels the book into the stratosphere is Ware's incredible
design-led cartooning style. Within a semi-rigid framework of largely static panels,
each page </span><span lang="en-GB">weaves a blend of familiar
'cinematic' present-tense narrative and a variety of flashbacks
and other stream-of-consciousness inserts, using the form to
create effects that would be impossible in any medium other than
comics (click to enlarge).</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGQU9Kyf21mV9w5HG0STgvtJ5NWsUzyMhOOH7ALntZsFW77Ap1dcOSh6PtiUF4J7ZsSoh_8j1x3-E9WT7T1eSwTvpOkhoiW5x3U6GhKfDseDCsQnuN1-SRNR1EarWCgemcq6waRjuF-4e/s1600/ware+jimmy+clinic+page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGQU9Kyf21mV9w5HG0STgvtJ5NWsUzyMhOOH7ALntZsFW77Ap1dcOSh6PtiUF4J7ZsSoh_8j1x3-E9WT7T1eSwTvpOkhoiW5x3U6GhKfDseDCsQnuN1-SRNR1EarWCgemcq6waRjuF-4e/s320/ware+jimmy+clinic+page.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB"></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">On occasion it also veers away from traditional sequential/narrative art
altogether, not just becoming non-linear and non-diegetic, but
creating diagrammatic pages that require a wholly different approach
to reading them.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsvgHYUsYMamJKKM0_eayKTUjqhyD_uuIUzbN4KhkJ90XCUy15o772Qx8xbM-Bvw2i-D0cd4gjDpQEXK1qMagMQoZE3KEdVRTBY89Q3ZWt3swUQsyC3azN6lljM0BTqEaJmZ8u9hDp_BV/s1600/jimmy+ancestry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsvgHYUsYMamJKKM0_eayKTUjqhyD_uuIUzbN4KhkJ90XCUy15o772Qx8xbM-Bvw2i-D0cd4gjDpQEXK1qMagMQoZE3KEdVRTBY89Q3ZWt3swUQsyC3azN6lljM0BTqEaJmZ8u9hDp_BV/s320/jimmy+ancestry.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">That
leads to a degree of complexity that may prove a little hard to
digest for readers who aren't conversant with the visual grammar of
comics: poet Tom Paulin famously had a bit of a meltdown on the </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Late
Review </i></span><span lang="en-GB">(BBC Two) when trying to deal
with </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Jimmy Corrigan</i></span><span lang="en-GB">. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="en-GB">However, for all this formal innovation, the book is far from just a graphic design showcase: in its calm and measured way, it's a timeless and heart-rending tale of the difficulties of childhood and the way people can find themselves disconnected from the world around them. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">The work isn't without flaws. It </span><span lang="en-GB">was originally serialised in Ware's </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Acme
Novelty Library</i></span><span lang="en-GB"> comic series between 1995 and 2000, and the author takes a while to realise fully his preferred style. Many of the early sections are too easily
derailed by their creator's tireless invention and their characters' flights of
fancy, including protracted dream sequences and
other diversions.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="en-GB">But
by</span><span lang="en-GB"> the time we get into the main body of
the story – particularly the sequences dealing with Jimmy's grandfather's
reminiscences of his own childhood – the work absolutely
sings. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
<span lang="en-GB">As
much as we can empathise with Jimmy's abandonment and loneliness, by
the end of the book I found it hard to feel much more sympathy for
his passive victimhood – especially when his altogether more
vibrant half-sister Amy enters the story. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="en-GB">However, the virtuosity of
the narrative, both technical and emotional, makes it impossible to turn him away completely, and the reader is rewarded at the end with a coda that offers at least a glimmer of hope for Jimmy's future.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="en-GB">The
serialised nature of </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Jimmy Corrigan</i></span><span lang="en-GB">
means that it might lack the unity of form required to make it an
unequivocal masterpiece, but the way in which Ware comes close to
reinventing the medium makes it as near to a work of genius as I think
I've come across in nearly 30 years of reading comics.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><b><i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_66533315">Guardian First Book Award 2011: Special Report</a></i><span lang="en-GB"><a href="http://books.guardian.co.uk/firstbook2001/0,,506971,00.html" target="_blank"> </a></span></b></li>
<li><b><span lang="en-GB"><a href="http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/jimmy-corrigan/9780224063975" target="_blank"><i>Jimmy Corrigan</i> at Random House (UK) - includes 46-page preview</a></span></b></li>
</ul>
</div>Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-36372738525341739322012-04-24T15:39:00.000+01:002012-04-24T15:41:10.417+01:00The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)Obviously I haven't been posting much on here for a while.<br />
<br />
However, we finally saw <i>The Artist</i> at the BFI the other week, and it was prefaced by<b> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2012/apr/04/bad-and-the-beautiful-trailer-video" target="_blank">the rip-roaring trailer</a></b> for <i>The Bad and the Beautiful</i>, which is being shown until May 3rd as part of the <b><a href="http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/bfi_southbank/film_programme/april_seasons/vincente_minnelli" target="_blank">Vincente Minelli season</a></b> they're running.<br />
<br />
I posted a quickie about the film when we first saw it in 2009, so I thought I might as well repost it here.<br />
<br />
-----------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofiidUPMNwElp4JbLE0PXrnOOsFoKfCJtwi2b-kBQVU0yGzq5lftsJW-yuEo5rb3soK7qWbMkIb_DR6BQ-u_meKYFtzBSJOYZQicdnT6WvKLk7xHZO0gMnqiBFNT9ze65nbxD6ajqBJRN/s1600/200px-bad_and_the_beautifulmovieposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofiidUPMNwElp4JbLE0PXrnOOsFoKfCJtwi2b-kBQVU0yGzq5lftsJW-yuEo5rb3soK7qWbMkIb_DR6BQ-u_meKYFtzBSJOYZQicdnT6WvKLk7xHZO0gMnqiBFNT9ze65nbxD6ajqBJRN/s1600/200px-bad_and_the_beautifulmovieposter.jpg" /></a></div>
We saw <span style="font-style: italic;">The Bad and The Beautiful </span>the
other night, as part of the 'Passport to Cinema' series, run by the BFI
and NFTS. Written by Charles Schnee (who won the Oscar for Best
Screenplay) and directed by Vincente Minelli, it's a portrait of
Jonathan Shields, a monstrous but charming Hollywood producer, played by
Kirk Douglas.<br />
<br />
It's got an interesting flashback structure, with
Shields never appearing in 'real time'. A director (Barry Sullivan),
film star (Lana Turner) and screenwriter (Dick Powell) are summoned to
the office of Shields' assistant and offered the opportunity to work
with him again. Then, each of them recalls their experiences at his
hands that made them swear never to go near him again.<br />
<br />
However,
Shields is a complex character. Despite his selfish deeds, it's clear
that he's a man of considerable ability and charm - not quite the
typically monstrous blowhard you might expect.<br />
<br />
Ironically, his
ruthlessness made their various collaborations successful and paved the
way for all three to enjoy future prosperity. As the film ends, it's
clear that he retains sufficient charisma for the trio to find
themselves being drawn in to his proposed project.<br />
<br />
I'd never
heard of the film before seeing it in the BFI brochure, but it's an
entertaining look at the dark side of Hollywood, with quite a bit of
edge. And any film with a screenwriter as one of the main characters has
got to be worth a look.Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-39885421325395487802012-03-01T11:49:00.002+00:002012-03-01T17:41:48.901+00:00Wuthering Heights (wr. Olivia Hetreed & Andrea Arnold)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN1qWKIgTyb6mvM47TitD-r8NLKWUH6rm63dh7zEdmD5xCJz0eXYQOiP_rBMekYWy_FOu8i8oT-CMfi9fpZtPIw_BEODlE6PSMLdluQrstwNmLDKC_GtTBM7RtUYmMwSg2hZsNydYPaKvA/s1600/wh1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN1qWKIgTyb6mvM47TitD-r8NLKWUH6rm63dh7zEdmD5xCJz0eXYQOiP_rBMekYWy_FOu8i8oT-CMfi9fpZtPIw_BEODlE6PSMLdluQrstwNmLDKC_GtTBM7RtUYmMwSg2hZsNydYPaKvA/s320/wh1.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div><b>Last night we saw the recent adaptation of <i>Wuthering Heights</i>, directed by Andrea Arnold, at the BFI, and its primal approach gripped and affected me more than any film I've seen for a while.</b><br />
<br />
Arnold shares the screenplay credit, but as her co-writer <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0381757/" target="_blank">Olivia Hetreed</a> also gains a 'story' credit, it seems that the latter was probably behind most of the choices for the structure and focus of the adaptation.<br />
<br />
It's interesting that Hetreed used to be a film editor: I've yakked on before about <a href="http://tom-writer.blogspot.com/2009/06/screenwriting-and-editing.html" target="_blank">the parallels between screenwriting and editing</a>, and it's clear from the start that she's taken a very bold approach to recutting the raw material.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
In keeping with the rest of the film, it's a very stripped-down narrative. The framing sequence involving the new tenant Lockwood is done away with, as is the second half of the novel, featuring Cathy and Heathcliff's children.<br />
<br />
Instead, the film is seen almost entirely from Heathcliff's point of view, starting with the moment he arrives at Wuthering Heights - here, a ramshackle farmhouse - having been rescued from living on the streets of Liverpool by Catherine's father.<br />
<br />
However, I felt the film ends at a slightly unsatisfactory point (Catherine dies and Heathcliff – after a brief and oblique haunting – walks out onto the moor). It offers nothing like the sense of eternity and resolution you get from the book's famous closing paragraphs.<br />
<br />
Anyway, that stripping-down extends to the dialogue; it really is a lesson in the 'show, don't tell' maxim. Indeed, the one or two occasions where someone issues a bit of 'regular' expositionary dialogue stick out like a sore thumb <superscript>*</superscript> (as did the Mumford and Sons song that suddenly and incongruously strikes up over the very end of the film).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGwveKYI34p-NdJgtxtqyc1Hichqs-OXbVpAaFqMQFQfF9f8G6o-xJZNliniI7CuZ_f8lluoJFyBfFmluZkrN64Z7esNLsJlPWoDOjBsMWq88CUTBWJIzO5HI2p0tVjjt3GBIXhJxUupM/s1600/wh3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGwveKYI34p-NdJgtxtqyc1Hichqs-OXbVpAaFqMQFQfF9f8G6o-xJZNliniI7CuZ_f8lluoJFyBfFmluZkrN64Z7esNLsJlPWoDOjBsMWq88CUTBWJIzO5HI2p0tVjjt3GBIXhJxUupM/s320/wh3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
That minimalism gives full rein to the film's strongest impression: the unsentimental ferocity of the natural environment and – by extension – the human behaviour it moulds. Wuthering Heights is a visceral film that's often savage and even disturbing, especially for animal lovers.<br />
<br />
Arnold said in <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/31/andrea-arnold-wuthering-heights-interview" target="_blank">a <i>Guardian </i>interview</a>: “The sense I get is that people have quite a physical experience with [my films]”, and that was certainly the case here: even sitting in a cosy cinema, it was hard not to feel buffeted by the wind that keeps blasting across the moor.<br />
<br />
In fact, that kind of almost synaesthetic sensory overload is something that characterises <i>Wuthering Heights</i>: I can't remember a film that's so preoccupied with texture and the depiction of how things <i>feel. </i>(A reminder that screenwriters should be thinking with all their senses as they create their scenes.) <br />
<br />
In terms of writing, imagery, editing and photography, I found there were interesting choices in just about every scene of the film.<br />
<br />
She might not be a crowd-pleaser, and <i>Wuthering Heights</i> isn't without its flaws, but I think Andrea Arnold is a fascinating film-maker who needs to be watched.<br />
<br />
* Sadly, the near-purging of dialogue means that the most famous passages from the book have been jettisoned, including my probable fave - Heathcliff's chilling invocation after the death of Catherine.<br />
<blockquote>'And I pray one prayer—I repeat it till my tongue stiffens—Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you—haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always—take any form—drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!'</blockquote>PS. An unhappy coda to the film: James Howson, the non-professional actor who was found in a Leeds Job Centre and paid £8,000 for his leading role as the older Heathcliff, has been sectioned after admitting racially abusing his ex-partner.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">PPS. On a slightly brighter note, here's my other favourite treatment of the book:</span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="223" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FF0VaBxb27w" width="400"></iframe>Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-78596944794509348312012-01-03T20:17:00.001+00:002012-01-03T20:17:49.456+00:00What Makes a Masterpiece? Stories and FilmThis looks like it might be of interest to anyone who thinks about the art, craft and science of creating stories.<br />
<br />
It's on More4 at 9pm on Saturday 7 January, but I'm guessing it'll be on the <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/4od">4oD on-demand service</a> afterwards.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYzbala934LoFEqQBwFas32T_3e3FLzCKQbTdBcVkpewUUXZdlLw5KJ7gvMoVreVasf00YH1DJwPZBQEXJKyknVj8ijn_sHAKyKCvZbULKqmk4eKhfp7yxVx_B7hS8l8VFBh-jhyphenhyphenwo_2Zw/s1600/masterpiece.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYzbala934LoFEqQBwFas32T_3e3FLzCKQbTdBcVkpewUUXZdlLw5KJ7gvMoVreVasf00YH1DJwPZBQEXJKyknVj8ijn_sHAKyKCvZbULKqmk4eKhfp7yxVx_B7hS8l8VFBh-jhyphenhyphenwo_2Zw/s320/masterpiece.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<b>WHAT MAKES A MASTERPIECE? 1/3: Stories and Film</b> <br />
<br />
<b>We have always thought that the power of great art lies in its mysterious ability to move us. But now science is claiming to have discovered the secret to why we like what we like, and is challenging some of our most deeply held beliefs about the arts. </b><br />
<br />
<b>Presented by Matthew Cain, Culture Editor of Channel 4 News, this three-part series explores the world of art through the prism of 'neuro-aesthetics': a field of scientific research that looks at how the human brain processes art. </b><br />
<br />
<b>Each episode focuses on a different art form, as Cain explores some surprising theories about how art affects us and asks if neuroscience could radically change our attitudes to human creativity. This first episode looks at stories and film.</b><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Advances in neuroscience are allowing scientists to measure exactly what goes on in our brains when the cinema lights go down and the action begins. Matthew Cain learns why <i>Jaws </i>is so effective and why we're drawn to horror movies, and finds out about the neurons that actually make us 'feel' the fear and tension.<br />
<br />
One experiment even shows just how differently men and women respond to the same scene in a James Bond movie, prompting the question: if directors want to fill the multiplexes, should they make his and hers versions of the same film? <br />
<br />
And if science has found the answers, will it be used to manipulate what we think, what we like and even what we buy? Cain sees how advertisers are using science to read our subconscious responses to commercials in order to create the most effective ads. <br />
<br />
Matthew also meets Christopher Booker, who believes that every story ever told adheres to one of seven basic plots; and Gurindha Chada, the director of <i>Bend It Like Beckham </i>and <i>Bride and Prejudice, </i>who talks about the formula of storytelling. <br />
<br />
Finally, Matthew tries to put the principles he has learned to the test when he makes an animated story of his own and measures its effect on the brain.Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-59114403203039894422011-11-01T11:21:00.000+00:002011-11-01T11:21:35.535+00:00Top Boy, Channel 4My latest review on <a href="http://blogs.orange.co.uk/tv/">Orange</a>. I worried I was being a bit hard on it, but after enjoying <i>Hidden</i> I was expecting much more from writer Ronan Bennett.<br />
<br />
A lot of the drug-related stuff seemed a bit over-familiar and hackneyed, and it would have been interesting to see more of Ra'Nell having to take care of himself.<br />
<br />
It's by no means a bad drama, but it could have been so much more. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNwe-2_Cbsq4R5w-JWjJ4xndKE8HrAmPG1b58XxrI393DtM5uN13KxHJTik4Ir2DXN7repCeAgxfC6yHMI4s5o6tjd1QFj_8GeUjekbNwJ0o8ovDg3dUuxF-uRYsZ_ZkLOF4cakQbCbodK/s1600/top+boy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNwe-2_Cbsq4R5w-JWjJ4xndKE8HrAmPG1b58XxrI393DtM5uN13KxHJTik4Ir2DXN7repCeAgxfC6yHMI4s5o6tjd1QFj_8GeUjekbNwJ0o8ovDg3dUuxF-uRYsZ_ZkLOF4cakQbCbodK/s320/top+boy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><strong><em>Top Boy</em> is a four-part drama being stripped across Channel 4 this week, billed as “an honest and gripping rendition of inner-city drug and gang culture”. However, despite coming from the hot pen of writer Ronan Bennett (<em>Hidden</em>), the opener was just another humdrum excursion into familiar territory.</strong><br />
<br />
At the heart of the drama is Dushane (Ashley Walters) – a “soldier” in a local drug network who's sick of bottom-feeding and fancies a shot at the big time. When top boss Bobby Raikes (Geoff Bell) gives him his opportunity, Dushane also has to deal with the unwelcome attentions of a rival gang, led by the violent Kemale (Tayo 'Scorcher' Jarrett).<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, schoolboy Ra'Nell (Malcolm Kamuleke) is left to fend for himself when his mum Lisa (Sharon Duncan Brewster) goes into hospital with mental health problems, leaving him vulnerable to the temptation of working for Dushane. Elsewhere, Lisa's pregnant mate Heather (Kierston Wareing) is moving into the dope farming business.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
As a bit of drama, <em>Top Boy</em> works OK; there's quite a bit going on and the performances are convincing – especially from Kamuleke and another young actor, Giacomo Mancini, who plays his friend Gem. However, the big problem is it doesn't seem to give us anything new about this shadowy side of society.<br />
<br />
Normally we'd get at least some attempt to show the social forces that push people like Dushane into criminal lifestyles, but here it's hard to care, and even harder not to feel like we're being manipulated into fearing for youngsters like Ra'Nell and Gem.<br />
<br />
For all the ripped-from-the-headlines trappings, by the end of the episode we're in the familiar dramatic scenario of a couple of Jack-the-lad types needing to find a lot of money quickly to pay back Mr Big.<br />
<br />
I'm sure the people behind the series went into it with the best intentions, but by the end it the first episode of <em>Top Boy</em> seemed like another cheap holiday in other people's misery: nothing we haven't seen done before, and done better.<br />
<br />
My advice: stick to series 1 of <em>The Wire. </em>Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-79388110340994983812011-10-26T10:19:00.000+01:002011-10-26T10:19:54.384+01:00Death in Paradise, BBC One (by Red Planet Prize finalist Robert Thorogood)Here's an <a href="http://blogs.orange.co.uk/tv"><b>Orange </b></a>review of last night's first ep of <i>Death in Paradise</i> on BBC One.<br />
<br />
There's obviously been a lot of interest in this series from a screenwriting point of view, as it came about through its creator, Robert Thorogood, getting the opportunity to pitch the idea to Tony Jordan via the Red Planet Prize.<br />
<br />
There's a short article by Robert <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/10_october/17/death_in_paradise2.shtml">here</a></b>, as part of the press pack for the series. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJr-Pp8fJoXt3yux5WPZstv_iPTrOvBi_L9ClXqYyyZuWRU6Rz3K2SOFQMR49Y1KVDdLhd-dUuZ_wxYK6Lod8_nkHaU6a5BH3l5pzxKkyHj1xn8KziFuiUoKoi94auWVgkfQI8M2QHQYOq/s1600/Death-Paradise-201011-350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJr-Pp8fJoXt3yux5WPZstv_iPTrOvBi_L9ClXqYyyZuWRU6Rz3K2SOFQMR49Y1KVDdLhd-dUuZ_wxYK6Lod8_nkHaU6a5BH3l5pzxKkyHj1xn8KziFuiUoKoi94auWVgkfQI8M2QHQYOq/s320/Death-Paradise-201011-350.jpg" width="320" /></a><strong> </strong></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong>About 15 minutes into tonight's first episode of <em>Death in Paradise</em>, my mind was already beginning to drift towards the kettle. As London copper DI Richard Poole (played by Ben Miller) reluctantly arrived at an idyllic Caribbean island to help investigate a murder, we were battered over the head with every cliché imaginable about uptight Brits and laid-back islanders.</strong> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">But then something quite remarkable happened. A contemporary TV detective actually started to do a bit of detective work! Poole looked for clues and made razor-sharp deductions, rather than crawling into a whisky bottle and sulking about his disintegrating marriage or that terrible thing that happened to his sister when they were kids.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">However, while Poole's sudden transformation into the Greatest Living Detective was good news for the episode, it also left me scratching my noddle a bit, as up to that point he'd been depicted as a bit of a clot whom his colleagues back at Croydon had been glad to see the back of.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Anyway, the story moved on at high speed, as it looked like the murder victim, a senior police officer (Hugo Speer), had been involved in a bit of people-smuggling with local toff James Lavender (Rupert Graves), as well as a bit of how's-your-father with the latter's wife Sarah (Coralie Audret).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">With a refreshing lack of ludicrously flashy technology, Poole and his local colleagues had to crack the case together the old way, and when Lavender turned up dead as well, I was suddenly interested: I'd assumed Graves would be round for the whole series, and it was nice to have my expectations tinkered with.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The whole thing looked like money for jam for Miller, who didn't have to stretch himself much in playing the abrasive but sporadically brilliant Poole, while the rest of the cast, including Don Warrington and <em>Red Dwarf</em>'s Danny John-Jules, brought a lot of charm to the low-intensity local law-enforcers.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">This opener could have been a lot better, by losing the Malibu ad clichés, but it could also have been a lot worse, although the twists of the story and the final revelation did take a bit of swallowing. Still, Lenora Crichlow deserves a mention as the frustrated and undervalued PC Lily Thomson.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">For all the postcard gloss of its setting (the series was filmed in Guadalupe), <em>Death in Paradise</em> – created by new writer Robert Thorogood – looks like it should be an engaging if undemanding old-school show, and having a fresh case each week should provide a bit of variety.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Now let's just hope they don't swap the “fish out of water” clichés for the “unlikely partners” clichés that look like they might be heading round the corner.</div>Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-5359905983693514972011-10-20T11:07:00.001+01:002011-10-20T11:08:08.680+01:00Holy Flying Circus (Monty Python docudrama, BBC Four)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0IZgPrYUGqc-a5P5L3iUP1vAoz5houdoYgHYtTKTRBXCP3wGTdqixkGozPSNUFBBHQXsQJqLB5f8oC7VEPl6CSMkOP3JnJZYGSkVfY23oa1_IzDCRDOIvuOoSg_-GetctYdcCLcyfukJ/s1600/holy-circus-121011-350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0IZgPrYUGqc-a5P5L3iUP1vAoz5houdoYgHYtTKTRBXCP3wGTdqixkGozPSNUFBBHQXsQJqLB5f8oC7VEPl6CSMkOP3JnJZYGSkVfY23oa1_IzDCRDOIvuOoSg_-GetctYdcCLcyfukJ/s320/holy-circus-121011-350.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<b>Monty Python's <i>Life of Brian</i> has become such a part of the furniture that the furore that surrounded its release back in 1979 seems incredible. <i>Holy Flying Circus</i>, BBC Four's “fantastical re-imagining” of the controversy, was an imaginative, energetic and highly entertaining trip back to those troubled times.</b><br />
<br />
The film, written by Tony Roche (<i>The Thick of It</i>) and directed by Owen Harris (<i>Misfits</i>), admitted to the viewer at the start that “Most of what you are about to see never actually happened”, before launching into a witty mixture of drama, animation and characteristically surreal detours.<i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>Holy Flying Circus</i> recreated the unpredictable feel of the Pythons' work perfectly, with the viewer never sure what exactly in what direction it was going to veer off on next.<br />
<a name='more'></a>The script also nodded cleverly to the show and the films: for instance, the church group that mobilised against <i>Brian </i>had a lot of the People's Front of Judea about it, while Michael Palin's wife was played as Terry Jones (Rufus Jones) playing a woman.<br />
<br />
As well as the conflict with those opposed to the film, the controversy took its toll on the Pythons themselves – particularly Michael 'The Nicest Man in the World' Palin and the increasingly crabby and confrontational John Cleese.<br />
<br />
Naturally, the friction between them erupted into a spectacular gravity-defying swordfight between puppets of the two men.<br />
<br />
The cast were instantly recognisable as the people they played; in the case of Darren Boyd (playing Cleese as Basil Fawlty) and Charles Edwards (Palin), they were almost more like their characters than the comedians themselves.<br />
<br />
The only bum note was Jason Thorpe's performance as Alan Dick, the chat show producer who wanted to stage a Heated Debate about the film. Unfortunately he, er, drew heavily on Matt Berry's performance as the infuriating boss in <i>The IT Crowd</i> in an annoyingly derivative way that seemed out of place with the originality of the rest of the film.<br />
<br />
I've seen some headlines suggesting the Pythons are unhappy with the film, but for me <i>Holy Flying Circus </i>was a fitting and funny tribute to the group that also managed to make a few serious points about censorship, faith and how close to the edge comedy can – and should – go.Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-30317365213000072852011-10-20T11:01:00.001+01:002011-10-20T11:03:59.017+01:00The Comic Strip Presents: The Hunt for Tony Blair (Channel 4)Just catching up with a couple of recent reviews for <a href="http://blogs.orange.co.uk/tv">Orange</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tceJcsf2BUBTk4ZTdyc9FmBIhyphenhyphenYyv0stp7zvLaso561cmvJPKvQwHc94Sq6qpQOCT-xQEXAERnM8q0AFGdoQQNNE1d8dVrjbhZfiHfGEMx9b6maFZq5sj1eEypQC-equRCt24aNfUFR8/s1600/comic-strip-121011-350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tceJcsf2BUBTk4ZTdyc9FmBIhyphenhyphenYyv0stp7zvLaso561cmvJPKvQwHc94Sq6qpQOCT-xQEXAERnM8q0AFGdoQQNNE1d8dVrjbhZfiHfGEMx9b6maFZq5sj1eEypQC-equRCt24aNfUFR8/s320/comic-strip-121011-350.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>It's a little-known fact that telly critics like to have tattoos to commemorate their favourite TV moments. And, as I sit here in the bath dictating these notes to Heinrich, my secretary, I can see '2 November 1982' scrolling down the inside of my thigh into the bubble bath.</b><br />
<br />
Obviously, you don't need me to remind you that was the day Channel 4 launched and “alternative comedy” landed firmly in our laps, courtesy of the Comic Strip team and their cracking Enid Blyton spoof <i>Five Go Mad in Dorset.</i><br />
<br />
Now, 29 years later, at least some of the team have reunited for <i>The Hunt for Tony Blair </i>– “a special '50s-style fugitive film noir spoof” in which Tony Blair (Stephen Mangan) goes on the run to clear his name after being accused of murder.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>The film includes nods to classic black-and-white movies like <i>The 39 Steps </i>and <i>Sunset Boulevard, </i>as Blair tries to find out who's responsible for framing him. Not surprisingly, the plot eventually leads back to the angry, scruffy Gordon Brown (Ford Kiernan) and the creepy, bloodless Peter Mandelson (Nigel Planer).<br />
<br />
Sadly, as promising as that might sound, none of it really hangs together as funny or biting satire. The whole thing plays out like an idea cobbled together from random audience suggestions at a comedy improv night.<br />
<br />
However, while it might have worked on stage for a couple of minutes before being shunted aside for something funnier, here it's dragged out for a very long hour of laboured and fairly irrelevant gags.<br />
<br />
There's also something a bit distasteful rather than provocative about the way the deaths of John Smith and Robin Cook are fictionalised for comic effect, and most of the characters seem to have little or nothing recognisable from their real-life counterparts.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, while there are still obviously many questions to be answered about Tony Blair's conduct around the invasion of Iraq, this film seems a bit like "yesterday's news" in light of the deepening economic and social gloom currently enveloping the country.<br />
<br />
While they varied in quality, a new Comic Strip film was always an event back in the day – which makes it particularly sad that their latest outing is so irrelevant and lacking in bite. Maybe it's time the Comic Strip was left to rest in peace.Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663518238566699102.post-22575707132791121972011-10-07T12:38:00.001+01:002011-10-07T14:17:02.354+01:00Hidden, BBC One (Philip Glenister, Thekla Reuten)Here's a review of last night's first part of <i>Hidden</i> what I wrote for <a href="http://blogs.orange.co.uk/tv"><b>Orange</b></a> .<br />
<br />
Watching it from a writing point of view, I really liked the way the flashbacks gradually rolled out to introduce bits of exposition that informed the present-day action. Very neatly done by writer Ronan Bennett.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6XGJkQUz4Pef3JWd1duHRUHVaE48iXHXjEf408QZeNow9XbjJ_bb0M5RoktyEzm_boJWfoY6KcWKzqp_OIriIIbOhyphenhyphen-l9DU1bfa87n0l4ZiO3gO0M2_aF9BPRw1W7bZD8iRhBda2dxW1/s1600/hidden-051011-350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6XGJkQUz4Pef3JWd1duHRUHVaE48iXHXjEf408QZeNow9XbjJ_bb0M5RoktyEzm_boJWfoY6KcWKzqp_OIriIIbOhyphenhyphen-l9DU1bfa87n0l4ZiO3gO0M2_aF9BPRw1W7bZD8iRhBda2dxW1/s320/hidden-051011-350.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>From its opening montage of apparently unrelated scenes, it was obvious that <i>Hidden </i>– a four-part conspiracy thriller – was going to require a bit of attention. As it turned out, the opening episode struck a nice balance between intrigue and clarity, luring the viewer effectively into a shadowy world where very little might be what it seems.</b><i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>Hidden </i>stars Philip 'Not Gene Hunt' Glenister as Harry Venn, a down-at-heel London solicitor. In true <i>noir</i> fashion, his world is turned upside down when a mysterious <i>femme fatale</i> – lawyer Gina Hawkes (Thekla Reuten) – turns up at his office and offers him a job.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
And it's not just any job. In return for finding a man who can provide an alibi for her client (a delightfully creepy cameo from <i>Friday Night Dinner</i>'s Paul Ritter), she offers Harry the teasing possibility of some new information about the death of his brother 20 years earlier.<br />
<br />
The mystery deepens when Harry and his assistant fail to find any trace of either Gina or the company she claims to represent. Why is she so interested in a violent incident from Harry's past? Whose side is she on – and what are the sides anyway?<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, London is blighted by rioting as coalition prime minister Brian Worsley (David Mosley) struggles to hold his government together. Rising political star Alexander Wentworth (Bertie Carvel) smells blood and starts to circle the wounded PM – with the backing of influential power-brokers such as media mogul Elspeth Verney (Anna Chancellor).<br />
<br />
The script, by Ronan Bennett, rolls out the mystery very nicely. Flashbacks gradually reveal aspects of Harry's past but still make it clear we haven't seen the full picture yet. It also neatly introduces elements of the bigger picture, teasing us with the hint that whatever Harry's got himself involved in goes to the highest levels of money and power.<br />
<br />
All in all, <i>Hidden </i>is a very enjoyable and timely conspiracy thriller. It might not be quite as deliriously bonkers – sorry, “stylised” – as <i>The Shadow Line</i>, but it's a taut and atmospheric drama that manages to be complex without being confusing. Harry might be heading for some dark places, but viewers are going to be tempted to follow him.Tom Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321494400861424580noreply@blogger.com0