Happy New Year!
Of all the films scheduled for release during the next
twelve months, the one I’m most looking forward to seeing is ‘The Long 1970s’.
Co-directed by Julien Temple and Richard Curtis – though an
unusual and unexpected partnership, the professional chemistry on show at last
autumn’s press conference announcing the project was palpable – the film, a
mash-up between the events of the 1970s and now, stars Jim Broadbent as James
Callaghan, Patricia Routledge as Andrea Leadsom, Lady Gaga as Elkie Brooks and
Ricky Tomlinson as an older comrade who first persuades a reluctant Jeremy
Corbyn to stand for Parliament; Richard Burgon makes a brief cameo as himself…
or maybe I just dreamt all that, I don’t
know.
Anyway, here are some of the real films I’ve seen
during the past few months:
Brighton Rock (1948, dir. John Boulting, starring Richard
Attenborough, Hermione Baddeley, William Hartnell, Carol Marsh). Opening titles
frame seediness, criminality as wholly past.
Why? Because it’s 1948: war must’ve been socially redemptive. Wonderful ensemble casting, tour de force sequences
(ghost train); essential.
Nostalgia (1983, dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, starring Oleg
Yankovsky, Erland Josephson, Domiziana Giordano, Delia Boccardo). Boredom=
“part of the designs art may have on its audience” – TLS? Don’t recall. Fascinating, beautiful test of one’s patience;
contains running water, moodiness, Beckettian micro-jokes, dogs.
A Severed Head (1970, dir. Dick Clement, starring Claire
Bloom, Lee Remick, Richard Attenborough, Ian Holm). Well, here’s a curiosity:
Iris Murdoch’s stellar qualities as a novelist are undermined and her
parodiable qualities enhanced by this film’s of-its-time Hennimore-style
incidental music and detailing.
See also: (1) Colin Burrow on Iris Murdoch’s parodiability (2) ‘Get Me Hennimore’, Mitchell and Webb.Thought experiment: if Iris had returned Dick's compliment by guest-writing an episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? ...?
The Raging
Moon (1971, dir. Bryan Forbes, starring
Nanette Newman, Malcolm McDowell). Two different films, spliced: first thirty
minutes, hilarious kitchen sink comedy; next ninety, bold (for its time) disability
‘issues-drama’. Teddy-bear’s eye moment: brilliant trompe l’oeil observational
film-making.
The Infidel (2010, dir. Josh Appignanesi, written by David
Baddiel, starring Omid Djalili). The McGuffin-like denouement and closing
peroration are pure liberal wish-fulfillment. Nevertheless, this is a likeable,
funny film (which borrows from ‘Annie Hall’ and swipes at Hanif Kurieshi).
Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012, dir. Stephen Chbosky,
starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller – original novel by Stephen
Chbosky). “We accept the love that we
think we deserve”; love, friendship, joy, literature, grief, trauma, mixtapes, Rocky
Horror, shop class: one of the best coming-of-age
films.
Johnny English Strikes Again (2018, dir. David Kerr, starring
Rowan Atkinson, Olga Kurylenko, Emma Thompson, Ben Miller). Tired, tiring; one almost
hears creaking and juddering as jokes are lifted into place. Emma Thompson
(embattled, functionally alcoholic Prime Minister) is somewhat interesting,
deserves own movie.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018,
dir. Mike Newell, starring Lily James, Michiel Huisman, Tom Courtenay, Penelope
Wilton – original novel by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows). Involving and
relatable romantic drama, set against Germany’s Occupation of Channel Islands
during WWII: happy endings (mostly), balanced with (at least) hints of moral
difficulty and hardship.
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018, dir. Bryan Singer, Dexter Fletcher,
starring Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton).
One quibble: first half lacks conflict, success feels pre-determined
(because they’re Queen!!). BUT visually and aurally wonderful film,
pitch-perfect central performance, do see while still at cinemas.
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again
(2018, dir. Ol Parker, starring Lily James, Julie Walters, Pierce
Brosnan, Colin Firth, Meryl Street etc). As with Pavement (sincerely), I was into ABBA before
you were (faux-ironically, i.e. also sincerely), so I’m glad they went again –
perfect undemanding Christmas night entertainment.
Meanwhile, in a bleak Lynchian netherworld the film Eat
Pray Love plays constantly to some bacteria in a petri dish. The hero, a
straight-talking FBI man, wonders how it’ll affect their evolution and how this
links to the owls and Tibet – then he wakes to some damn fine coffee, a
well-kept hotel room, a small logging town near the Canadian border.
