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“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” - Plato
Last weekend we watched film, which could have been better had the writing and editing been a bit tighter and the film cut a little more energetically. As it was, at 137 minutes, it dragged on somewhat, and given its rather “heavy” subject matter it tended to tire viewers rather than lead them into sympathetic introspection and involvement with the plot and characters. Perhaps this was because the writer and director were the one and the same person and self-indulgence ultimately won the day. It was nevertheless a film that we shall recommend for viewing (with reservations).
Manchester by the Sea (2016) Drama – Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan; starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges. – 6/10
Lee Chandler (Affleck) is a brooding, irritable loner who works as a handyman for a Boston apartment block. One damp winter day he gets a call summoning him to his hometown, north of the city. His middle-aged brother Joe (Chandler), who has had a heart disorder dies suddenly, and Lee has been made guardian of Patrick (Hedges), his 16-year-old nephew. As if losing his only sibling and doubts about raising a teenager weren’t enough, his return to his home town and the re-awakening of the past opens old wounds and makes him ultimately face an unspeakable tragedy that he has suppressed and marginalised for years.
The pace of the film is slow and laboured, and no doubt will depress some viewers who may choose to leave it half-watched. Flashbacks are used constantly, partly to reveal the reasons for Lee’s moroseness and loneliness, but also for dramatic effect. As a consequence, the story starts and stops, backtracks and then hardly advances, making for a weak screenplay. Flashbacks are a devil of a thing to get right… If you’re expecting fast action, car chases, thrills and spills, this is not the film for you. Yes, it is a psychological drama (even perhaps a melodrama as some clichés are used liberally – the use of music for dramatic effect I found a little heavy-handed), and thus prepare to be taken down into the dark depths.
However, it’s not all bad and towards the end as the film reaches a climax, the tragedy of the past is revealed, but somehow the protagonists remain strangely remote and cold, and Lee fails to be transformed or change positively as one would have predicted given the subject matter of the film. Affleck acts well enough for the needs of the script and Hedges is OK. The rest of the cast works well enough with what they’ve been given.
A tad pretentious perhaps, overlong and repetitive, melodramatic and slow, overflashbacked and with an anticlimactic end that leaves the viewer unsatisfied, why on earth would one watch it, I hear you ask. Well, it’s hard to answer that question, but nevertheless I don't regret seeing the movie. There were good moments in it and the plot showed promise, some scenes had great cinematography – enough for me to recommend the movie to someone to watch (with the provisos I have listed above). Would I watch this movie again? – Which is the ultimate test for a really good movie for me, – no, I wouldn’t…
“Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own.” - H. Jackson Brown, Jr
For Movie Monday, a beautiful period movie that seemed to have to ticked all the boxes in terms of writing, acting, direction, music, cinematography and sets/costumes. It is Christopher Menaul’s 1995 movie, “Feast of July”, starring Embeth Davidtz, Tom Bell, Gemma Jones, Ben Chaplin, James Purefoy and Greg Wise. The film is based on a novel by H.E. Bates and the screenplay was written by Christopher Neame. The excellent music score was by Zbigniew Preisner, with exceptional cinematography by Peter Sova.
Right away, let me warn you that the pace is slow and there are no action scenes, no chases nor exciting nail-biting cliff-hangers. The film progresses slowly, but relentlessly, as the action builds up to quite a terrifying and tragic climax. The actors are all extremely good in bringing out the deeper parts of their characters and the direction is subtle and impeccable. The film is set in rural Victorian England and the sets, costumes and overall atmosphere and feel is authentic and believable.
Bella (Davidtz) is a poor girl who has been seduced by a handsome, rakish man (Wise) who leads her to believe he loves her and will marry her. After a month or two, he vanishes and she is left alone and pregnant. She decides to walk 30 miles to the town where he said was his home. In terrible winter weather and rough terrain, she miscarries along the way and the baby is stillborn in a lonely mountain hut. Bella eventually makes it to the town where he said he lives, but no one knows him there. In the town she finds a kind man (Bell) who takes her into his family’s home. The man and his wife (Jones) have three handsome, unmarried sons who are living at home with them. When the poor girl has had a few days of rest and recovery, it turns out that Bella is quite pretty and charming. Slowly, tensions begin to mount as one by one, each of the three sons make it known to her that they want to court her…
Davidtz is excellent as the deceived Bella and she manages to bring out many folds of the character with restraint and with an utterly convincing manner. While all other performances are fantastic, Gemma Jones as the mother of the three sons stands out, while Ben Chaplin playing the youngest son, Con, is fantastic. This was dark and tragic story, but it is set in a wonderful place (even though there are visible signs of early industrialisation), which somehow makes the story even more poignant.
We thoroughly enjoyed the movie and recommend it to all who enjoy a good, melancholy story, period settings, excellent acting and high-end production values. If you primarily like action thrillers this is not for you, I don’t think.
“America was indebted to immigration for her settlement and
prosperity. That part of America which had encouraged them most had advanced
most rapidly in population, agriculture and the arts.” - James Madison
We watched an old-fashioned movie at the weekend. I say “old-fashioned”
as that is the characterisation we gave it when discussing it afterwards. It
was one that was based on a tried and true plot, no surprises or twists in the
scenario, a story that could have been true. The acting, direction and
cinematography were good and the music suited to the subject matter. No great
need for effects, no pyrotechnics no CGI. So, an “old-fashioned” movie…
It was James Gray’s 2013 movie “The Immigrant”,
starring Marion Cotillard, Joaquin
Phoenix, Jeremy Renner, Dagmara Dominczyk, Jicky Schnee and Elena Solovey. The
scenario was co-written by the director and Richard Menello, while the music
was by Christopher Spelman and cinematography by Darius Khondji. We liked the
movie, and it kept our interest up for the 120 minutes that it ran. However, if
you are looking for a fast-paced movie with lots of plots twists and action,
this is not for you. While not perhaps a typical “chick flick”, one may
classify it as a drama with minimal romance.
The film is set in New York, 1921. Ewa Cybulska (Cotillard) and her
sister Magda sail to New York from their native Poland, in search of a new homeland
and the American dream. As soon as they arrive at Ellis Island, doctors
discover that Magda has tuberculosis, and the two women are separated, Magda quarantined
at Ellis Island. Ewa is to be deported as her Uncle and Aunt have not shown up
to meet her. Alone, with nowhere to turn and desperate to reunite with Magda, Ewa
falls prey to Bruno (Phoenix), a charming but wicked man who takes her in and
forces her into prostitution. Ewa wishes to collect money so that Magda is
released to join her on Manhattan. One day, Ewa encounters Bruno’s cousin, the
debonair magician Orlando (Renner). Ewa is attracted to him and she hopes that
he becomes her chance to escape the nightmare in which she finds herself.
However, not all goes well…
The film had excellent sets, costumes and the atmosphere of 1920s
New York was captured well. Although often mean, grimy, gritty and seamy, the
scenes as they unfold exude a certain nostalgia and there is a bittersweet
taste in one’s mouth as the film progresses. The patina of age blunts the “bad
things” that are going on and even with the “wicked” characters one finds
certain redeeming features as the writer/director does not make any judgments
and presents things as they are, giving us neither black nor white, but a huge
range of grays in between.
Cotillard looks beautiful and does more acting with her face and
eyes than she does delivering her (relatively) few lines, many of which are
delivered in Polish. Phoenix likewise does a brilliant job of bringing the
complexity of Bruno’s character to the fore. His subtle transformation is
played well and his delivery is restrained and thus utterly believable. Renner
plays his role well enough but his role is less meaty, although essential to
the story. The supporting actors play well and their performance is suitably
low-key.
Overall, we enjoyed this movie and recommend it for viewing by
mature adults who have an attention span longer than that of a goldfish, and
can enjoy good, slow story-telling.
“I never do anything fun, because I'm a housewife. I hate that word ‘housewife’. I prefer to be called ‘domestic goddess’.’ - Roseanne Barr
We have just finished watching the first season of the 2004 soapie “Desperate Housewives” on DVD, which I must say I was dragged in to watch kicking and screaming. Reading the blurb on the cover and seeing the cover photo, I must say that I groaned. This was a typical chick-flick type of soapie that I was just going to hate and I was going to watch a few episodes and then politely make up excuses and desist from watching the remaining episodes of this mammoth eight-season series…
Never heard of this series, like me before watching it? Well you must have been living on the same planet as me (which is not earth) as every other person on earth has apparently seen this! The show is about suburban life for a group of close-knit housewives who have become good friends and apparently live a “normal” suburban life. However, this is no ordinary suburb as one of their closest friends mysteriously commits suicide. So not only do they have to deal with their own hectic problems and romantic lives, but they have to work out why on earth would a happy housewife suddenly take her own life. Each season of the series brings on a new mystery and more twisted events in the dark and complex lives of the residents of Fairview…
Well, having watched the first season, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. The show is not boring and furthermore it had me hooked. What really sucked me in was that it deals with some serious issues, but it has humour! And that’s the winner for me and that is what kept me watching it. The other winner is that the characters, although anything but normal, do resonate and viewers can immediately recognise them as people they know or have met. Also despite the understandable exaggeration that a soapie plotline indulges in, there are so many situations and dialogue that rings remarkably real. Hats off to the creator of the series, Marc Cherry for getting the mix right.
The other strength of the show is the fantastic cast, especially the female leads who play the housewives of the title desperately well! Terri Hatcher as the insecure and slightly inept Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as the efficient and erstwhile successful businesswoman Lynette Scavo (I have a lot of time for this common sense lady!), Marcia Cross as the neurotic perfectionist Bree Van De Kamp, Eva Longoria as the narcissistic, shallow ex-model Gabrielle Solis, and finally Nicollette Sheridan as the predatory sexpot Edie Britt. The supporting actors are excellent also, as they have to be, I guess, in the cutthroat world of soapie TV…
Overall, an enjoyable, entertaining, funny (although often sensitive and poignant) series. I’m grateful that I was made to watch it and look forward to seeing Season 2! Oh, and by the way I enjoyed the introduction and credits as the idea of using a send-up of famous artworks was fantastic. There is reference to “Adam and Eve” by Lucas Cranach the Elder, “The Arnolfini Portrait” by Jan van Eyck, “American Gothic” by Grant Wood, and Andy Warhol's “Campbell's soup can”. Also alluded to are the lesser known “Couple Arguing” and “Romantic Couple” by Robert Dale (drawn in a comic book style similar to that of Roy Liechtenstein) and a 1940s “Am I Proud!” poster by Dick Williams (showing a woman holding cans).
“Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness.” - Immanuel Kant
We are currently watching the 2008-2013 TV series “Breaking Bad”, starring Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt and RJ Mitte. Vince Gilligan created the series and a number of talented writers and directors have worked on the five seasons of the highly acclaimed and very popular series. We didn't watch this while it was showing on TV, despite all the acclaim and instead are watching it now on DVD. We are watching the penultimate season at the moment and are still enjoying it very much.
In case you are unaware of the plotline, and the main premise of the show, here is a summary: When chemistry teacher Walter White (Cranston) is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given only two years to live, he decides he has nothing to lose and embarks on illicit activities to make money. He lives with Walter Jr (Mitte), his teenage son, who has cerebral palsy, and his wife, Skyler (Gunn) in New Mexico. Determined to ensure that his family will have a secure future, Walt embarks on a career of drugs and crime. He proves to be remarkably proficient in this new world as he begins manufacturing and selling methamphetamine with one of his former students, Jesse (Paul). The series tracks the impacts of a fatal diagnosis on a regular, hard working man, and explores how a fatal diagnosis affects his morality and transforms him into a drug trade kingpin. Complicating things is that Hank (Norris) is Walter’s brother-in-law who is married to Skyler’s sister Marie (Brandt), and who is working in the Drug Enforcement Agency.
The success of the series is that it involves characters the viewer can identify with and sympathise with, even though we know that they do is morally reprehensible. One cannot help but feel for Walter who finds himself in such an uncompromising position that he has to resort to illegal activities in order to make ends meet. We know that what Walter does is bad, and we know that Walter makes a conscious decision to leave the path of light and go into the darkness, yet we try and make excuses for him, hoping that he will see the error of his ways and find redemption… Walter’s decision to follow evil is ultimately his choice and we know that ultimately he will pay the price – and perhaps that is how the series maintains our interest. We watch with morbid fascination as Walter commits greater and greater crimes and wince as he quashes his conscience and feel some relief as he begins to suffer the consequences of his evil actions.
A strong theme running through the series is “family”. Nearly every character in the show displays an attachment to their family and it is this excessive devotion that motivates many of their actions (good or bad). Walter’s primary motive for his choices to manufacture drugs is to make money to leave his family when he dies. Even the Mexican drug lords uphold family ties as sacred and the obvious sacrifices that Skyler makes to assure her family’s safety support this view. As the show progresses, we find that family can act as a convenient peg on which to hang all sorts of crimes and at some point, Walter finally admits that while he started to do “bad things” for his family, he continues to do so after he succeeds in overcoming his enemies “because he can and because he has begun to enjoy it…”
Acting is quite amazing. Every single actor in the series plays superbly, and that goes for the supporting cast as well. The writing is great and the scenario makes for some thought provoking viewing and quite a lot of philosophising for the thinking viewer. Production values are excellent and I would recommend this show to all and sundry, even though it is quite gritty and violent and deals with extremely sensitive topics. Watch it, if you haven’t done so already!
“Each day is a little life: Every waking and rising a little birth,
every fresh morning a little youth, every going to rest and sleep a little death.”
- Arthur Schopenhauer
We have just
finished watching the first two seasons (2012-13) of the excellent BBC TV
series “Call the Midwife”.
The screenplay by Heidi Thomas is based on Jennifer Worth’s memoirs: “Call the Midwife”, later called “Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East
End in the 1950s”, is the first in a trilogy of books describing Worth’s
work as a district nurse and midwife in the East End of London during the
1950s. Worth wrote the book after retiring from a subsequent career as a
musician, and it was originally published in 2002. Reissued in 2007, it became
a bestseller, as did the sequel “Shadows
of the Workhouse” (2005, reissued 2008) and the final volume “Farewell to the East End” (2009). By
the time of Jennifer Worth’s death in June 2011, her books had already sold
almost a million copies.
The story of the
series follows twenty-two year old Jenny Lee, who in 1957 leaves her
comfortable home to become a midwife in London’s East End, one of the poorest
districts of the metropolis. She is surprised to find that she will be living
in a convent, Nonnatus House. Working alongside fellow nurses and the
medically-trained nuns, Jenny has her eyes opened to the harsh living
conditions of the slums, but she also discovers the warm hearts and the bravery
of the mothers. Even after Jenny leaves Nonnatus, she continues to chronicle
the lives of the midwives who have become her family.
The casting is
perfect and Jessica Raine as Jenny Lee, shines as the inexperienced midwife who
gains knowledge, skill, wisdom and maturity through her association with the
nuns and fellow midwives, but most of all, the ordinary people of the East End.
Helen George as the attractive, vivacious Trixie does well with her role as a
“modern and fashionable” young nurse, while Miranda Hart as the tall, ungainly
and awkward Chummy is both likeable and believable in her fish out of the water
role. Jenny Agutter as the Mother Superior plays in a faultless, understated
fashion and her immense acting experience really comes through. The rest of the
cast is also exceptional, while the costumes and sets are up to the usual
wonderful BBC period drama standards.
The real success
of the series is the stories. Each episode deals with a variety of themes,
which are replete with humanity at its best and worst. There are moments of high
drama and heart-wrenching poignancy, there is humour, grit and sensitivity. The
scenes of childbirth are sensitively done, but are also realistic and in some
cases quite confronting. However, the whole is tastefully done and quite
enthralling. One familiar with the books may balk a little as the screenplay
has elaborated the anecdotes of the books. Some of the diversions from the book
are to allow the characters other than Jenny Lee to have stronger story lines,
which works well for TV. Some of the story lines have been expanded and
enhanced for dramatic effect, so they are not relying strictly upon the
original author’s memoirs, but rather the imagination of the scriptwriters.
Once again this is understandable, given the medium of TV.
This series is
entertaining, engaging, utterly watchable and most enjoyable. It proves that if
a TV series deals with topics of general interest, has real characters and
situations that display ordinary humans trying to make sense of the complicated
and messy thing that we call life, it succeeds on multiple levels and makes for
satisfying viewing. I recommend this most highly to anyone who wants to not
only be entertained, but who also wants to learn a little of the history of
mid-20th century London and also of the lives of midwives. We look forward to
seeing the rest of the seasons (up to Season 5 in 2016!).
“Rape is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused.” - Freda Adler
In recent years, Turkey has produced a plethora of TV soap operas, which are not only popular in their country of origin, but also in many countries abroad. Like any soap operas from any part of the world, the quality varies greatly from the mediocre to the very good. We’ve watched three or four Turkish soapies and we have been very pleasantly surprised by two of them. One of them, which we found excellent is “Fatmagül ‘ün Suçu Ne?” (2010–2012), starring Beren Saat, Civan Canova, Engin Akyürek, Firat Çelik and Murat Daltaban.
The title of the series translates as “What is Fatmagül’s Fault?”, Fatmagül being the female lead, played admirably by the excellent actress Beren Saat. The plot concerns Fatmagül Ketenci who is a girl living in Ildırı ,a village on the Aegean coast in Çeşme a seaside resort town of İzmir with her brother who runs a dairy. She is engaged to marry a fisherman called Mustafa Nalçalı in a month’s time and dreams of getting away from her nagging sister-in-law who hates her.
Kerim Ilgaz is a well-mannered blacksmith apprentice who lives with his aunt Meryem Aksoy known affectionately as “Ebe Nine” (Granny Ebe) who is a herbal medicine practitioner. The big event of the season is the engagement of the area’s richest and most influential businessman Reşat Yaşaran’s son Selim to the politician Turaner Alagöz’s daughter Meltem. Kerim meets up with his old friends Vural, Erdoğan and Selim. After the engagement party, all four of them go on a drinking and drug binge to celebrate. Meanwhile, Fatmagül is off to see Mustafa off on another fishing trip and accidentally comes across the four drunk men.
Erdoğan, Selim and Vural gang-rape Fatmagül, with Kerim passed out and no recollection of the event. A traumatised and unconscious Fatmagül is discovered the next morning by Ebe Nine while she is picking herbs. As the town goes into an uproar over the rape incident, Kerim accepts the blame and agrees to marry Fatmagül as he mistakenly believes himself to be guilty and in order to protect his friends. As a result, Fatmagül and Kerim’s families sell their properties and move to İstanbul to start a new life. But things become complicated due to the machinations of the Yaşarans and their unscrupulous lawyer Münir Telci who seek to protect themselves as well as Mustafa who seeks revenge.
The series is based on Vedat Türkali’s novel, “Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne?”, which was made into a film in 1986. The screenplay of the series was written by Ece Yörenç and Melek Gençoğlu who have also written other successful series. It was directed by Hilal Saral and the soundtrack is by Toygar Işıklı. The production values of the series (made by the Ay Yapim company) and the acting are excellent. Beren Saat, especially gives an amazing performance as she develops from an innocent young girl into a confident and mature woman, who learns to deal with her immense physical and psychological trauma.
The series was extremely popular in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, and the Arabic countries. It was shown in many other countries, over 30 in total, including France, England, Israel, Spain, Russia, Greece, Indonesia, Chile and Peru. We enjoyed watching this series, sitting through both seasons and remaining engaged and interested throughout. We recommend it as an excellent introduction to Turkish soap operas if you have not watched any before.
