BLOOD OUT

US, 2011, 90 minutes, Colour.
Luke Goss, Val Kilmer, 50 Cent, Vinnie Jones, Tamer Hassan, Ed Quinn.
Directed by Jason Hewitt.

Blood Out is a straight-to-video action thriller. It stars British-born actor Luke Goss who began specialising in this kind of film after a music career in a boy band. He plays a local policeman whose brother is involved in drugs and is murdered by the outfits. He goes undercover in order to confront the chiefs of the drug cartels. Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson is a producer and plays a small role as an obnoxious detective. Vinnie Jones also appears as a gang leader, a less persuasive performance than many of his others (which means that it is not good at all). By contrast, British actor Tamer Hassan is convincing as a drug lord. There is a cameo by Val Kilmer, eccentric, to say the least.

The film offers familiar material but Luke Goss has a sufficiently strong presence for audiences to believe that what he is doing is credible. He also has the opportunity to use force and fight (in the vein of a Jason Statham movie).

1. Audience interest in this kind of action thriller? Straight to DVD?

2. The American settings, the city of Baltimore, the small towns? Police precincts? Drug activity? Drug lords and headquarters? Credible or not? The musical score?

3. The focus on Michael Savion, age, experience, in the shootout at the meth lab, the chase of the criminal, the little girl being shot? The debriefing afterwards? His meeting with his brother, not believing his brother at first, his brother wanting out of the drug gangs? His pregnant girlfriend? The news of his brother’s death? Going to see the Baltimore detectives, their attitudes towards him, sneering? His decision to go undercover, the range of tattoos, meeting the drug lords? His taking on the black gang and defeating it? Ingratiating himself with Elias? Getting jobs? Finding Gloria, her resistance to help? His discussions with Anthony and his wanting out? The proposal that he be the fighting champion? The setup with the undercover FBI agent? The fight, his victory? The police raid? His rescuing Gloria? The pursuit by Zed? His death? The future for Michael and the undercover agent? For Gloria?

4. The drug lords, Michael’s brother and his wanting out? The meeting? The setup by Anthony? Zed and Elias? Their killing the young man? Zed and his drug leadership – and Vinnie Jones’ poor performance? Elias and his arrogance, wanting everybody to bow to him? The women around him? Not spotting the undercover FBI agent? His reliance on Michael, getting him to be the champion? Their final confrontation?

5. Zed, the Vinnie Jones style? The contrast with Arturo and Val Kilmer’s eccentric style? The credibility of their being such important drug leaders? The build-up to the fight, Arturo losing?

6. The background of police, drug organisations, corrupt police, the drug lords? An interesting action thriller?

THE GREAT MINT SWINDLE

Australia, 2012, 100 minutes, Colour.
Grant Bowler, Todd Lasance, Josh Quong Tart, John Batchelor, Shane Bourne, Caroline Mc Kenzie, Maya Stange.
Directed by Geoff Bennett.

The Great Mint Swindle was made by Channel Nine for television. It is a very well-made television film.

Audiences may not be familiar with the episodes in Western Australia in the early 1980s, nor the subsequent legal difficulties as well as the exoneration of the central character in 2004. It is interesting that the two surviving Mickelberg brothers, Ray and Peter, both appear at the end of the film talking to camera about their experiences.

The Mickelberg brothers were something of larrikins, one had fought in Vietnam, another was a pilot, they all fished for abalone. They decided to create, for the fun of it, a nugget which they then publicised on television as being a discovery in the Western Australian goldfields. They had made it in Ray Mickelberg’s workshop.

After this, there was a robbery at the Western Australian Mint, gold being shipped out and never recovered (even until now). The Mickelberg brothers, with the publicity of the nugget, became the chief suspects. They were arrested, the youngest brother was bashed in police custody, bogus confessions were presented. They were found guilty and sentenced to different time periods in jail.

The three actors for the three brothers are very effective, especially Grant Bowler as Ray Mickelberg, the quiet and reliable older brother. Todd Lasance is the youngest son, Peter, who is telling the story. Josh Quong Tart plays Brian, the pilot, who is less involved – and died during these years in a mysterious plane crash.

The film opens with the car bombing of retired detective Don Hancock. He is excellently played as a self-confident ambitious policeman by Shane Bourne. By contrast, John Batchelor portrays Tony Lewandowski, his offsider and support, a rather more timid man who relies on the leadership of the boss.

The film shows the brothers in prison, the appeals and their being turned down, the brothers doing work to explain their case and try to find out what was really going on. They also have to deal with the prisoner who was set up to bash them or provoke them into fighting to prolong their sentences.

Eventually, Peter Mickelberg serves his sentence and Ray Mickelberg is finally released and an appeal made and the court quashing the guilty verdict on him.

The film ties in with a number of cases in Australia where the justice system seems to have got things wrong – the main example, of course, being the Azaria Chamberlain case.

The film is well made, well edited and pacy, creating characters as well as working on the emotions of audiences to feel the frustration and the sense of injustice on behalf of the Mickelbergs.

1. An Australian story? Television movie? For home audiences? Issues of justice, the police? The underdogs?

2. The story itself, audience knowledge or not being aware of the story? The information, facts, dates...?

3. Western Australia, Perth, Fremantle, homes, workshops, the beaches and the coast, the towns and the pub, the courts, prisons? The sense of realism? The musical score?

4. Audience interest, sympathies, issues of justice, disgust at the police, frustration felt with the Mickelbergs?

5. The opening, Hancock and his friend, the car bombing? Taking up this theme later?

6. The Mickelberg brothers, as characters, their ages, relationship with their mother, their families, the larrikin style, the abalone? Ray in Vietnam, Brian as a pilot, Peter as an eager young man? Ray’s hobby, the moulds and the hands? Their talking together, the prank, the cheques, the gold, working in the workshop, the ingredients for the nugget? The discovery, the television news, their mother being involved? This later being used against them – and the mother’s prison sentence (and the comedy with her wearing a wig and her being found guilty for wearing it)?

7. The background of the mint swindle, the cheques, the false accounts, the buying of the gold, the information about the deliveries, from the mint, the couriers, the disappearance? Peter’s reconstruction on the wall of his cell?

8. Hancock and Tony, tough, with the police chief, orders from the minister, higher up? The issues of WA Inc at the time? Corruption? Alan Bond, wanting to buy the nugget? The glimpse of the America’s Cup win in 1983? WA Inc, Bond and his jail sentence, these years in retrospect?

9. The arrests, the brutality, smashing the house, the interrogations in the cells, the different stories? Peter and his being stripped and bashed? The false confessions? Their being used as grounds for appeal? The greaseproof paper, the fingerprint issues, the expert for the Birmingham Six? The testimony in court, the prosecution, the decision of the judge? The later appeal, the issue of Tony’s writing, bad writing? Hancock and his collusion? The judges?

10. Life in prison, Ray and his being strong, Brian and his being overcome, Peter Young? The conditions, the cells, hearing the beatings, in the yard, the determination not to go under, their walking around the yard, the other prisoners, the mockery? The time of the sentences? The visiting sequences, the families? Peter, the proposal to Tina – and her later not coming, the returning the ring?

11. The strong characters: Ray, his leadership, quiet, reliable, the older brother, the SAS background? Brian as the quiet one, his family, finally getting out, his death – and the later visit to the tree in the forest where he died? Peter and his coping with prison?

12. Mrs Mickelberg, her support of her sons, the arrest, eighteen months in jail?

13. Hancock and his swagger, self-assurance? His place in the West Australian police? The echoes of Queensland corruption? Promotions, testimony, in court, his words to the media, his hold over Tony – and eventually threatening him? The setup with the prisoner trying to get the Mickelbergs to fight and get longer sentences?

14. The passing of time, its effect on each of the brothers? Peter serving his sentence?

15. Ray, the appeals, the role of the media, public opinion turning for the Mickelbergs?

16. The court sequences, Hancock and his tough attitudes, spurning the media, his golden handshake, his retiring, his pub, his daughter, the bikers in his pub, his stern attitude – and the later shooting? Leading to the car bomb?

17. Tony, as a character, subservient, living with his mother, his conscience? Following Hancock’s line? His perjury? At Hancock’s funeral, his mother urging him to tell the truth? Going to the Mickelbergs, doing the right thing, the apology, wanting to shake hands? Ray becoming his friend, the phone calls, talking and support? His death? Suicide or not?

18. The Australian public interest, the vindication of Ray Mickelberg, his future?

19. Themes of miscarriages of justice in Australian history? The Azaria Chamberlain case and many others?

20. The effect of the real characters appearing at the end?

21. The 21st century, attitudes towards the police, to the courts, to justice? The effect of this film on public consciousness?

THE INNER CIRCLE

US/Russia, 1991, 137 minutes, Colour.
Tom Hulce, Lolita Davidovich, Bob Hoskins, Aleksandr Zbruev, Feodor Chaliapin Jr.
Directed by Andrey Konchalovskiy.

This film is based on the true story of Ivan Sanshin, who was a KGB officer, but who served as the private film projectionist for Stalin from the end of the 1930s until Stalin’s death in 1953.

The film shows the utter loyalty of Russians at the period, a social brainwashing, and a loyalty to Stalin, putting him on a pedestal. In the meantime, in the background, there was a great deal of oppression, especially by the KGB and sending prisoners to the gulags.

Tom Hulce, excellent as Amadeus as well as in such films as Parenthood and Dominick and Eugene, plays Ivan Sanshin. Lolita Davidovich plays his loyal wife. Bob Hoskins plays the head of the KGB, Beria. The film was co-written and directed by Andrey Konchalovskiy, the older brother of celebrated Russian writer-director, Nikita Mikhalkov. Konchalovskiy had a successful career in Russia but moved to making films in the United States in 1984 with Maria’s Lovers. He directed some conventional films, Homer and Eddie, with Whoopi Goldberg as well as the Sylvester Stallone-Kurt? Russell actioner, Tango and Cash. After The Inner Circle he returned to Russian film-making, making comparatively few films after this.

The film is interesting in its presentation of life in Russia and the Soviet Union during the 1940s and 50s.

1. The work of Andrey Konchalovskiy, writer-director? His work in Russia? In the West?

2. The recreation of period, the city of Moscow, the atmosphere of World War Two, post-world war? The musical score?

3. The title, its irony?

4. A reinterpretation of Russian history, of the Stalinist era? Audience judgment on Stalin and the repression? Life in the Soviet Union? The living of communist ideals?

5. The focus on Ivan, the flashbacks and his voice-over? His perspective? His loyalty, changes in attitude?

6. Ivan in himself, a touch naive, his work, the burning, the soldiers? His marriage, drab life, the loyalty of his wife, the role of the neighbours, the celebration? Arrest? The head-bashing? The child, fear? His being caught? Stalin, his love for movies, the relief of having the job?

7. Ivan and his skills, knowing machines? The issue of the steel pin? Stalin watching The Great Waltz? The officers and their presence in the film screenings? His meeting Stalin, seeing him as the successor of the tsars? The officers’ mess, the seats, the choices? Talking with Beria?

8. Ivan’s wife, the marriage, their life, in the drab apartment, the wedding, fears? The girl, the visit and the washing, ousted, the danger? The joke and Ivan upset? The new room? His not believing it, wanting the child, his being pleasant to the professor? Anastasia and the affair with Beria? Her going into decline?

9. Ivan, promotions, the new house, money, the professor, the children? The abuse of Anastasia? His change of attitude?

10. The portrait of Stalin, people in awe of him, his luxury life, the movies, his staff? Beria and his power? Hitler and the war, issues of peace? The waging of the war? The bombings? Stalin and his staff moving? Train and the work? Stalin staying, walking the city?

11. Ivan on the train, his return, knowing the truth? The hurt, the professor, the letters? His return, the dilemma? The baby, ambiguous talk?

12. Anastasia and Beria, their characters, the nature of the affair, the effect, the passing of time? Anastasia and the effect on her? The return, her pain, her death? Whom did she love more? The note and the girl?

13. Ivan and his grief? Yet still maintaining Stalin’s vision?

14. Ivan, growing older? His work, life in post-war Russia?

15. The character of the professor, his life, his work? The character of Katya, at ten years, at sixteen years?

16. An insight into Russia, the Soviet Union, the repression – and the film made just at the moment that the Soviet Union was breaking up, the end of communism?

THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES

US, 1990, 125 minutes, Colour.
Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Kim Cattrall, Saul Rubinek, Morgan Freeman, F. Murray Abraham, John Hancock, Kevin Dunn, Clifton James, Louis Giambalvo, Donald Moffatt, Alan King, Beth Broderick, Kurt Fuller, Adam Le Fevre, Richard Libertini, Andre Gregory, Mary Alice, Robert Stephens, Rita Wilson, Kirsten Dunst.
Directed by Brian De Palma.

The Bonfire of the Vanities was a celebrated novel by Tom Wolfe (author of The Right Stuff). It came during the 1980s, the greed decade (as in Gordon Gecko’s character and behaviour in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street).

While the novel was celebrated, the film version was heavily criticised – though, later, it experienced some rehabilitation when audiences understood what the style of the storytelling was, the parody as well as the critique.

The film was written by Michael Cristofer, Tony award-winning playwright of The Shadow Box, director of several films including Original Sin and Gia, both with Angelina Jolie. He also wrote a number of screenplays including The Witches of Eastwick and Falling in Love.

The film was directed by Brian De Palma, one of the Italian-American? directors who emerged with Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese at the end of the 1960s. Initially, De Palma was praised for his thrillers including Obsession, Carrie, Dressed to Kill. He was then noted for his gangster films including Scarface, The Untouchables and Carlito’s Way. His career has been varied.

A very strong cast was collected for this film version of Wolfe’s novel. Tom Hanks was riding high as a comedian at this particular stage of his career. However, he embodies the all-American, Sherman McCoy?, a ‘Master of the Universe’. Hanks was soon to win two Oscars for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. The film is also a star vehicle for Bruce Willis who was at the beginning of his screen career, in the headlines after Die Hard. He portrays the alcoholic journalist, Peter Fallow. Melanie Griffith plays Sherman Mc Coy’s mistress. There are very interesting character performances, especially from Morgan Freeman as a hard-hitting judge, F. Murray Abraham (uncredited) as the DA. Donald Moffatt appears as Sherman Mc Coy’s father – Kim Cattrall as his pretentious wife and a glimpse of a young Kirsten Dunst as their daughter. Tom Hanks’s wife, Rita Wilson, appears as one of those welcoming Peter Fallow at the opening of the film.

The film has many targets: the wealthy of Wall Street and their greed and presumption, American and New York society and its pretensions, the role of the law, the exploitative African American religious leader, pretentious and devious behaviour of district attorneys and lawyers, the world of pretentious art society...

The film is interesting in retrospect, recreating the atmosphere of a past era – but, with recurring themes such as the global financial meltdown in 2008.

1. Tom Wolfe’s novel, its reputation? The United States, the 1980s, satire? Critique? Wall Street, capitalism, the Masters of the Universe, their behaviour, presumptions and morals? Issues of justice, the law? Racism? The American critique?

2. Bringing the book to the screen, the adaptation, the ingredients, the satiric tone, realism? Audiences being on the wavelength of the treatment or not? The poor reviews?

3. The title, its apocalyptic tone? The United States, self-destruction?

4. Peter Farrow, the framework for the film? Bruce Willis, Fallow’s voice-over, the sardonic tones, the self-deprecation? The journalist, his drinking, his failure in his profession, gaining an opportunity, exploiting it, writing the book, some genuine feelings as well as being a hack writing for his bosses? The truth? The book, his arrival, drunk, the various hosts trying to get him dressed and to the function? The end, the acclaim all round, everybody present and praising him? Peter Fallow as a character, the influence of his boss, the information about Sherman Mc Coy, his shrewdness, the interactions with Maria, with Sherman coming out of the courthouse, driving him home, the information about Maria driving, his interaction with the lawyers, the rescue, the follow-up? The film’s commentary on the media?

5. The introduction to Sherman Mc Coy, the voice-over praise of him, his confidence, his wife and her manner, his daughter, the expensive apartment? Going out in the rain, the encounter with his friend Pollard Browning, his arrogance? Taking the dog for a walk, the phone call, mistakenly ringing his wife, her reaction, his reaction? Going to work, the six hundred million dollar deal, the phone calls? Going to the airport, meeting Maria, the kiss? The discussions, the turnoff, missing it, the taunts? The black men, the tyre in the road, Sherman trying to move it, the men and their attack? Maria, from the South, her prejudices and fears? Driving, knocking the man down, getting out? Maria, callous, her life, her plan? The later interview and the tape, and her admitting her guilt?

6. Sherman, Wall Street, the deals, the risks, his failure, his co-worker coming to say that he was not welcome back?

7. Judy Mc Coy, her artificiality, wealth, age, makeup, her way of talking, pouting, socialite, the strained relationship with her daughter, wanting to kiss her goodbye? Reaction to the phone call? The visit to her in-laws, discovery of what happened on the television, maintaining the party, then leaving?

8. Sherman’s parents, decent, his father travelling on the subway, building up his empire? The visit, the meal? His father coming to visit him, urging him to lie? His father in court, proud of his son?

9. The young black men, the attack on the car, the hit, the young man in hospital, in the coma? The media, putting a halo around the boy, potential student, the paper headlines? His mother, her dealing with the lawyers, the expense account, the clothes, the manipulation of the press and the law?

10. The lawyers, the DA, the campaign, voters? Jed Kramer and his task? The co-lawyer? Their working on the case? The discovery of Sherman Mc Coy, wanting to bring him down? The DA wanting a victim? Kramer and his brashness, the pressures, the complexities of the issue, the tape, his pressurising Maria? His performance in front of Judge White? His being put down? His behaviour in the court, his desperation, leap across the desk? Humiliation?

11. Judge White and the irony of his name, black, the area, his control and commands? His putting Kramer down? The case, the uproar, the demonstrators in the court? The tape, his interrogation, his verdict? The strong lecture – and everyone in the front row? How effective – preaching at the audience as well?

12. Albert Fox, owning the paper, his hold over Peter, his command to investigate and expose Sherman Mc Coy? The Reverend Bacon, the angles from which he was photographed, his preaching, his jewellery, his hypocrisy? His presence in the court? At the hospital? With the victim’s mother? The revelation of the plan to sue the hospital for mismanagement?

13. Sherman, his bewilderment, admitting the truth, his arrest, in the cell, his being charged? The hearing? The hostility? His ingenuousness? Peter rescuing him, telling him the truth? His reaction to Maria, the social, the pretentious people at the party – and the discussions with Aubrey Buffing, heart, AIDS? Maria and her escape to Italy, her plans, with the artist? Her return, his accosting her, her anger? His being wired – and her finding it? his decision about the tape, the discussions with his father, playing the tape in court, his smug smile?

14. The character of Maria’s husband, the discussions with Peter, the joke about the landing and the Arab passengers? His dying of a heart attack?

15. The owner of the apartment, her setting up the bugging in the apartment, the reasons, her ownership, Sherman obtaining the tape, the lawyer and its use, his playing it in court?

16. Maria, her testimony, her lies, fainting at the expose?

17. Peter Fallow’s final comments, about himself and celebrity, about Sherman Mc Coy losing everything? His comment on the greed decade – and the opening up of the 1990s?

THE 24-HOUR WOMAN

US, 1999, 93 minutes, Colour.
Rosie Perez, Marianne Jean- Baptiste, Patti Lu Pone, Diego Serrano, Wendell Pierce, Melissa Leo, Aida Turturro.
Directed by Nancy Savoca.

The 24-Hour Woman of the title is a TV network of the late 90s. It also indicates the theme of the busy professional woman.

Rosie Perez is a producer and creator of stories for the morning sequences of the television network. She has a very severe boss, played with relish by Patti Lu Pone. However, she wants an assistant and interviews Madeline, played by Marianne Jean- Baptiste from Mike Lee’s Secrets and Lies. She is also married to one of the presenters, Eddie, played by Diego Serrano. He is also an aspiring film actor. When word gets around that she is pregnant, it is announced on air – and the following nine months there is follow-up in the talk shows as well as all the other programs on the network.

The crisis comes when Grace has to take time off for the birth. At first she is wary of the baby, but then bonds with it, doing work part-time, creating stories. However, she wants to get back to work and employs a nanny.

Madeline has been organising things well while Grace has been away, although a rival producer is jealous. There is a climax when a family expert is touring New York City, is nabbed by the other networks, and Grace goes to a book-signing, confronts her and persuades her to come on TV – while she does advocate taking responsibility for bringing up their children. Grace has an immediate reaction – but all is resolved happily. The subplot with Madeline and her husband gives a balance to the central story.

The film was written and directed by Nancy Savoca (True Love, Dogfight, Household
Saints, If These Walls Could Talk). She collaborated in the screenplay with her husband, Richard Guay.

1. A women’s film? Women’s issues? Women’s response? A film for men?

2. The media world, television, studios, offices? The gathering of stories? Reality TV? How much real, how much spoof?

3. Grace and Eddie and their home life, the issue of children, her pregnancy, the birth of the baby, strains, the nanny? The issue of work and home?

4. Grace, her type, personality, coming on strong? On TV? Behind the scenes? Workaholic? Her wanting to be at work? The interactions with Joan Marshall?

5. Eddie, the compere, his role in films, at home, love for his wife, the strains, going to Los Angeles, the issue of the retake and his missing his daughter’s first birthday party?

6. The shows, the issues, the questions, twenty-four hours, the focus for the audience?

7. Grace, her job, interviewing Madeline, the jealous assistant? Joan, her personality, demands? Her erratic behaviour – for example the transgender show? The announcing of Grace’s pregnancy on air? A nine-months story on air?

8. Madeline, at home, with her husband, the children, going for the interview, getting the job? Her efficiency, the unpredictable hours, the demands from Grace, phone calls, early hours? Her husband, at home, getting desperate, his being with his daughter – the suspicious person ringing the police? Madeline having to come to get him out of jail? Home difficulties?

9. Grace and the birth, the time, the baby, the difficulties, bonding?

10. The year after the birth, part-time work, wanting to work? The nanny and her role? Getting on well with the baby?

11. The author, the phone calls, going to the book-signing, the discussions, the interview on air, the effect on Grace, responsibility for her child?

12. The nanny, the bond, the phone calls, going out, the socials, at the studio? Letting the nanny go, trying to take responsibility?

13. The birthday party, the delays, the police, getting the gift? The aftermath of the party? Her parents? Their comments? Her husband missing it, coming home, reconciliation? And happy ending?

LITTLE NELLIE KELLY

US, 1940, 98 minutes, Black and white.
Judy Garland, George Murphy, Charles Winninger, Douglas Mc Phail, Arthur Shields.
Directed by Norman Taurog.

Little Nellie Kelly is an agreeable piece of Irish hokum from MGM and 1940. It is a reminder of the dominant presence of Irish migrants in the United States, especially New York City, at the turn of the 20th century.

There are some scenes in Ireland – then migration. The film also shows the eagerness of the Irish migrants in coming to New York, seeing the Statue of Liberty, finding accommodation, going through the naturalisation process, declarations of loyalty, finding jobs. There is an enthusiastic sequence of the St Patrick’s Day procession in New York City with the singing of It’s a Great Day for the Irish.

Judy Garland had made The Wizard of Oz the year before but had made Strike Up the Band and Babes in Arms, with Mickey Rooney, before she made Little Nellie Kelly. She has two roles in this film, Nellie Kelly in Ireland migrating to the United States and her daughter, the seventeen-year-old Nellie Kelly in New York. George Murphy was a reliable song-and-dance man, dancing with Fred Astaire in Broadway Melody of 1940, starring with Gene Kelly and Judy Garland in For Me and My Gal. Charles Winninger is a character actor who puts on the blarney especially for this film, keeping up a feud with his son-in-law for the whole of the film, then melting at the end, perhaps more than a touch surprisingly. The romantic lead was Douglas McPhail?, an operatic singer who had appeared in a number of films but who was to die in 1944 at the age of thirty.

Norman Taurog had directed the Oscar-winning Skippy, and was a regular director of all kinds of comedies and musicals over the coming decades, including a number of Elvis Presley musicals.

The film was produced by Arthur Freed, writer of Singin’ in the Rain, which features here as it did in many of the other films he produced. A must for those who have any touch of Irish in their ancestry.

1. The appeal of this kind of film? For 1940s audiences? MGM production values? The cast, humour, songs, patriotism?

2. The production values, black and white photography, the songs and their staging, dances? The St Patrick’s Day march? The recreation of Ireland, homes and pubs? The contrast with New York City, the Statue of Liberty, accommodation, workplaces, parades? The final policemen’s ball? The musical score, the songs, Judy Garland presenting them, It’s a Great Day for the Irish? The finale with Little Nellie Kelly? Singin’ in the Rain?

3. The title, expectations, a Judy Garland vehicle? Her playing two roles, older with the Irish accent, younger, a New York City girl?

4. The opening in Ireland, the discussions about Ireland and oppression? Grandfather Noonan shooting his mouth off? Drinks all round? The challenges? The rivalry with Timothy Fogarty? The discussions about migration?

5. Jerry and his courting Nellie, coming to the house, their discussions, being in love, the talk about the kiss? The proposal, the acceptance? Michael Noonan and his hostility towards Jerry, his memory of his dead wife, devotion to his daughter, protecting her? His putting on an act – especially the pretence of heart trouble? His refusal to talk to Jerry? The wedding, his going to discuss it with Father Malone? The special permission from the bishop? His return, his hostility towards Jerry? The news of migration to America? Their asking him to come, his patriotism, his leaving?

6. The voyage to New York? The Statue of Liberty, and Michael thinking it was a gift from Ireland? Their settling in their apartment? Michael living with his daughter and Jerry? Jerry and his looking for a job? Security on the subway? Michael refusing? Ordinary life?

7. Studying for naturalisation, the naturalisation ceremony, Michael becoming an American citizen? Nellie’s pregnancy? The hospital, the birth, her illness, final words? Michael’s being upset? Jerry seeing him playing with the baby? His devotion to his granddaughter?

8. The years passing, the candles on the cake? Nellie and her blowing out the candles, her wish, the candle not being extinguished? Her wish for reconciliation between her father and her grandfather?

9. Jerry, in the police, the training, his promotion? His leading the parade on St Patrick’s Day? His being well thought of? Getting older, Nellie and her love for her father? Her grief at the hostility between the father and grandfather?

10. The procession? The Fogartys and their presence? Dennis, his singing, attraction towards Nellie? Her birthday party, the singing telegram? The flowers, his arrival, the candy?

11. The romance between Dennis and Nellie? Going out, the dance? The ride in Central Park, arriving late? His being told off by Michael Noonan?

12. Jerry talking things over with Nellie, getting her to see her grandfather’s stubbornness? Their confronting him, her taking a stand? His sulking and going off after trying the heart attack routine? His disappearance, their searching?

13. The ball, Nellie and the dress, with Dennis and the dancing, Little Nellie Kelly, singing Singin’ in the Rain? The search for Grandfather?

14. His getting a job, the carriage in Central Park and calling his horse Fogarty? The group in the coach? Singing, including Michael Noonan, and the happy ending?

FOR COLORED GIRLS

US, 2010, 133 minutes, Colour.
Kimberly Elise, Janet Jackson, Loretta Devine, Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Whoopi Goldberg, Macy Gray, Michael Ealy, Omari Hardwick, Richard Lawson, Hill Harper, Khalil Kain.
Directed by Tyler Perry.

For Colored Girls is a very interesting film. It is adapted from a theatre piece by Ntozake Shange, first performed in the 1970s. It has been adapted for the screen by playwright, director and actor Tyler Perry, best known in the United States for his films for African American audiences, especially his Madea series. In 2012 he had a breakout success with his film, Think Like a Man. This film is very much Think and Feel Like a Woman.

The film has assembled a very strong cast of African American actresses, each excellent in their own way. Kimberly Elise is very powerful as the put-upon wife. Janet Jackson does a non-singing role as an affluent magazine editor. Thandie Newton and Tessa Thompson play two sisters, the former rather profligate in her need for men, the latter a student at a dance institute (managed by Anika Noni Rose) who has an abortion. Their mother is played by Whoopi Goldberg, a religious fanatic who is ashamed of her older daughter, disillusioned with her younger daughter and the abortion. It is interesting to see Whoopi Goldberg doing a serious role – reminiscent of her breakout performance in The Colour Purple. Loretta Devine is very effective as the rather larger than life manager of a centre for women in New York City. Phylicia Rashad, the older woman, is a wise adviser.

The men come out quite badly from this story, exploitative, rapists, unreliable and abandoning their women, suffering post-traumatic stress after war experiences – leading to one of the most shocking scenes in the film, a father murdering his two children. It is only Hill Harper as the sympathetic husband of the social worker (played by Kerry Washington), a policeman, who has to investigate the rape, who is a good man.

The full title of the play was For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf. The play had seven women doing all the parts. They were also identified by colours. In the film, the women wear their distinctive colours. In the play, there were a number of poems, dealing with the women’s issues, providing insights into feelings. The verses of the poems are incorporated into the narrative of the film, with close-ups, sometimes with two women reciting poems and their being intercut. This is very much a theatrical device – which needs concentration for a film, and is perhaps too stylised and artificial for many audiences.

However, there is a great deal to consider in the film. The introduction to the women is effective, building up their stories, and the interlinking of them in comedy and, especially, in tragedy.

1. The impact of the film? For a women’s audience? For the African American women? For men?

2. The background of the play, its staging, the seven actresses, the poetry, a piece of the 70s? Adapted to the 21st century?

3. The work of Tyler Perry, writer, director, actor? His stories for African American audiences? A man adapting the piece by a woman, with women, for women?

4. The staging of the theatrical aspects of the film? The poetry, the recitals? The characters’ speeches? The distinctive colours for each of the actresses?

5. The strong cast, performances, dramatic? Their recitation of the poems? Their speeches?

6. New York City, the range of the city, the affluence of the magazine, the wealthy apartments and the opera? Middle class: the dance academy, apartments, restaurants, schools? The poorer areas, the apartment blocks, bars? The African American world in New York City?

7. The interweaving of the stories, the various links, their credibility?

8. The story of Crystal (colour brown)? Kelly and her visit, concern about the children, Gilda next door and her babysitting, Crystal and her husband Beau Willie? His relationship with the children? The violence, in hospital, her fears? The difference in her work, dress, assistant to Jo, efficiency at the magazine? Beau Willie’s war, at home, post-traumatic stress? Not looking for jobs, his drinking, the violent outbursts, talking things over with Crystal? Gilda and her help? Crystal and her leaving the papers at home, going to collect them, the clash, the violence at the window, the death of her children, her grief, scrubbing the sidewalk, her wanting to be alone? The outing, her blaming herself, Gilda and her asking her to take some responsibility for not acting on Beau Willie’s problems earlier?

9. Gilda living next door, her clashes with Tangie, her looking down on her, babysitting for Crystal, her affection for the children? Talking strongly with Tangie? Explaining she had been Tangie when young? At the end, her speech, her stances on responsibility?

10. Tangie (colour orange) in the bar, bringing the men home, not knowing their names, casual, her explanation of her needs? Her relationship with Nyla? Her mother’s visits, not giving her the money? Nyla and the approach for money, lying to her sister? Tangie and the money, rebuking her mother for her religious fanaticism? Her listening to Nyla’s story, giving her the abortion address? Her sister’s collapse? Gilda’s talking to her? Her need for men, the way that men treated her, mocking her? The social, getting her sister to come, getting Crystal to come? The reconciliation with Nyla? Her mother coming into the party – but no reconciliation with her mother?

11. Nyla (colour purple), at the dance academy, sick, indications of her pregnancy, living with her mother, her devotion to her mother, the scholarship for the dance, wanting three hundred dollars, her lying to her mother, lying to Tangie? The abortion information? The crudity of the abortion sequence – the abortionist, her continued talk, drinking, smoking, the sterilising of the instruments, talking about the instruments? The effect on Nyla? Her collapse in the street, in hospital? Visit from her sister? Her teacher? The party to celebrate her scholarship? Her mother coming to say that she was proud of her but not able to stay because of the Devil’s music?

12. Yasmine (colour yellow), her role as a teacher, dance, the dance sequences, her divorce, walking along the street with Bill, his charm, the meal in the restaurant, helping Nyla? The classes? At home, cooking the meal, Bill’s arrival, his behaviour, the rape, its being intercut with the other stories, her collapse, going to the police, the interrogations, the issue of charges? Donald and his helping, the woman policeman? (*? police officer?) The news about Bill’s death, his having been murdered? Going to identify him, her slapping him?

13. Kelly (colour blue), her job, Crystal’s children, going to the fertility clinic, her own story about not being able to have children, her love for her husband, his accompanying her? His work as a policeman? Their life at home? The death of Crystal’s children? Kelly blaming herself? Her husband reassuring her?

14. Juanita (colour green): big, her age, her relationship with Frank, going to her apartment, Frank and his leaving, returning? Going to Jo to ask her for a donation, the haughty treatment, her response? Crystal’s help? Her centre, the sex education for women? Frank, the arguments? Sending him off? Her experience, her wisdom, sympathy? The poems?

15. Jo (colour red), a self-assertive woman, poised, at work, the magazine, her wealth, hard work, Crystal as her efficient assistant, yet not knowing anything about her? Her treatment of her other assistant? The nature of the magazine? Her demands? At home, the relationship with Carl? Her life, her cold manner, accusing Carl of taking the two hundred thousand dollars? His apology, going to the opera? The scene with them sitting on each side of the bed, facing away from each other, the truth, the issue of apologies and Carl and his desperation? Her knowing that Carl had homosexual orientation, her observation of his behaviour, roving eye? Her demands on Crystal, being in the car at the time of the deaths of the children, the effect on her? Her donation to the centre? Her own personal freedom?

16. Alice (colour white), as mother, her white turban and dress, in the street, handing out leaflets, donations, Tangie calling her religious affiliation a cult, her God-language? Asking Tangie for money? Her angers? Nyla and her love? Disillusionment because of the abortion, the hospital, her walking out? Coming to the party, praising her daughter, but leaving because of the music?

17. Beau Willie, his war experience, his desperation at home, his moments of truth and love with Crystal, his drinking, violence, treatment of the children, loving them? Holding them out the window? Dropping them? The final glimpse of him in jail?

18. Bill, charm, approach, walking down the street, the restaurant, the savage attack in the apartment, the story of his death, in the morgue, Yasmine slapping him?

19. Carl, a broker, wealth, his marriage, denial of his gay orientation, his desperation and having to apologise to Jo? His affirmation about his sexual experiences? His future?

20. Frank, going back to his wife, leaving Juanita, his sorry stories? Juanita letting him loose?

21. Donald, love for his wife, policeman, his care for Yasmine?

22. The women assembled at the party, on the roof, their stories, the portrait of them together, the poems? The key issues for women that they represented?

SEX AND MRS X

2000, 100 minutes, Colour.
Jacqueline Bisset, Linda Hamilton, Paolo Seganti, Peter Mac Neill.
Directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman.

Sex and Mrs X plays as if it was based on a women’s magazine article, designed solely for women readers and viewers. In fact, it is.

The film focuses on Linda Hamilton as a New York journalist with the possibility of doing an interview with Paris’s most famous madam, Madame Simone, played with aplomb by Jacqueline Bisset. At first she is hesitant. Disillusioned after ten years of marriage and her husband having an affair, she decides to take on the mission.

Most of the film is the interaction between Madame Simone and the journalist. The journalist is sceptical, seeing Madame as a pimp. However, this is somewhat Pretty Woman territory, and Madame is really a matchmaker, using her extensive wealth, style and taste, her home in Paris, to groom young women to be escorts, companions – and then wives. It all seems very benign. And Jacqueline Bisset carries it all off with beauty and charm.

However, she has her own problems, her husband walking out on her twenty-five years earlier.

Needless to say, the journalist asks a lot of questions, has different experiences, sees through her disillusionment, has many conversations with Madame, has an affair with her photographer for the article, has a makeover in a glamorous style. She also realises more about herself, returns with the article, encounters her unfaithful husband, there seems to be a possibility of a reconciliation, however she is now her own woman, they divorce – and she faces her future.

The topic and the treatment is very much geared to a popular women’s audience. It would be interesting to do an interview with men in the audience afterwards and whether they were convinced, changed, or bemused.

1. The popularity of this kind of television film? Female audiences? Male audiences? Age target? Middle age?

2. The New York settings? The world of popular magazines? The surprise party? Life at home for Joanna? The contrast with Paris, the city, its glamour? Madame Simone’s home? The lavish interiors? Costumes and decor? The film as a showcase for women’s fashions?

3. Joanna, her age, the ten years, the surprise party, her husband, his talking to his assistant? Her questions? The commission, her lack of interest, her judgment on Madame Simone? Interactions with Harry? Her confronting her husband, the separation? Her decision to go to Paris?

4. Joanna in Paris, her scepticism, the initial meeting with Madame Simone, emptying her purse, passing the test? Her growing fascination? The conversations? Her self-revelation? Her interest in the women, the girl preparing to be married, the wedding dress? The other women? Madame’s explanations? Joanna and her decision to have the makeover? The effect on her? Her working for Francesco, the discussions? His charm, the dinner? Her posing and the photos? The affair? With Madame, the marriage? Her finishing her article, her change and return? With Harry? The meeting with her husband, the lunch, the possible reconciliation? The divorce and her future?

5. Madame, Jacqueline Bisset’s style? Her background, her husband leaving, her reminiscences about her story? Her decisions to have the house, the escorts, her wealth, her taste, choosing clothes, parties, guests? Her interest in Joanna, their discussions, her revealing something of herself? Her challenges to Joanna? Joanna and her research for Simone’s husband, his coming back, Simone being taken aback, coping with the situation, the dance? The news of the wedding – and Joanna being matron of honour?

6. Francesco, charm, the photographer, the relationship with Joanna?

7. Dale, ten years of marriage, his roving eye? The surprise party? His explanations of himself to Joanna? The separation? The luncheon, the seeming meeting of minds? Divorce?

8. Harry, the magazine, editorial, commissions?

9. The background in Paris, the characters in Paris? A different world? French moral perspectives compared with those of the United States? Popular magazine-style morals?

RICOCHET

US, 2011, 90 minutes, Colour.
John Corbett, Julie Benz, Gary Cole, Kelly Overton.
Directed by Nick Gomez.

Ricochet is based on a mystery novel by Sandra Brown. Its focus is on Detective Duncan Hatcher, played in a peculiar way by John Corbett, at times very dumb, at other times self-indulgent and angry, not a particularly interesting or likable character. His more conscientious partner is played by Kelly Overton.

The film is set in Savannah, Georgia, focuses on drugs, clubs, corruption. Gary Cole is a judge who is in partnership with the local drug lord. He has a trophy wife, played by Julie Benz.

In a series of mysterious actions, the wife kills an intruder, the judge covers up and then reveals that he has set a private detective on his wife, the wife meets mysteriously with the drug lord... as well as having an encounter with the detective.

The film all works out in the end – although, it does have a difference. The seemingly femme fatale is not the deadly woman that she seemed at first but is rather ultimately the romantic heroine.

The director Nick Gomez has had a prolific career in directing television series. He did direct the feature film, Drowning Mona, with Bette Midler.

1. The popularity of this kind of telemovie? The law, detection, corruption, drugs? The intricacies of a murder mystery?

2. The settings in Savannah, Georgia? Anywhere in the United States? The city, the homes, the country clubs, apartments, the countryside, the holiday retreat? Musical score?

3. The title, as applied to the actions of the central characters?

4. The introduction to Duncan Hatcher? Drinking, the TV information? The flashbacks? The intricacies of other flashbacks and dramatising alternate scenarios in the flashbacks? The audience able to believe testimony or not?

5. The court case, the role of the judge? The club boss, Robert Savich? The mistrial? Hatcher’s anger? The judge charging him? The presence of his wife – and Hatcher’s interest?

6. Hatcher, his work, getting the decoration, attributing it to Deedee Bowen? His record? Seeing him in action – moods, depression, his roving eye? His relationship with his partner? Her devotion to him, saving him, giving him orders?

7. The situation with the intruder, Elise shooting him? The judge and his response? The interrogation, the judge interfering, Hatcher harsh on him? The further questionings, the further information?

8. Elise, the femme fatale? Her background, her brother, his drug-dealing, arrest, imprisonment, rape and murdered? Her wanting vengeance? Infiltration into the drug ring? Her keeping the books? Savich and his confidence in her? The judge and the truth about him, the cases? Her marrying him? Trying to get the information? The judge and his private eye, her shooting the man intruding in the house? Her liaison with Duncan Hatcher? Why? Her meeting him, turning up at the club with her husband? Her encounter with the private eye, his death, the audience assuming she killed him? The framing of her death? The judge identifying the false body? Her meeting up with Hatcher, going to the country house? The truth – and Deedee Bowen coming, believing her? The final setup with the judge, getting him to betray the drug lord? The drug lord, the confrontation, recorded, arrest?

9. The judge, in court, his high life, his trophy wife? The revelation about the truth, his interventions, his callousness, his investigating his wife, identifying the body? His being intimidated by the police, his giving up the drug lord? In court, his reactions – and his arrest?

10. The picture of the police, Duncan Hatcher and his ups and downs, his breaking his own rules, crossing the line? The pickup in the bar? With Elise? His work with Deedee Bowen? The future?

11. The popular ingredients of detection, corruption, murder mystery – twists?

FROM PRADA TO NADA

US, 2011, 107 minutes, Colour.
Camilla Belle, Alexa Vega, Wilmer Valderrama, Nicholas D' Agosto, Adriana Barraza.
Directed by Angel Gracia.

From Prada to Nada is based on Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, loosely adapted for the Los Angeles community, especially the Latin American community in East Los Angeles. The film plays with Jane Austen’s title by using Prada to Nada, a very good image of the wealthy family reduced to poverty.

The story is that of two sisters, played by Camilla Belle and Alexa Vega (the young girl from Spy Kids films). They live a luxury life in Beverly Hills but find that their father was bankrupt. They also find they have an unknown half-brother. Their challenge is to live with their aunt in a poorer community. The film follows the ups and downs of the two sisters, Camilla Belle as the responsible sister, trying to get a job, helping the poor. Alexa Vega is the arrogant sister, afraid of anyone in East Los Angeles, setting her cap at a lecturer only to be disillusioned to find that he is married, ultimately finding happiness with the handyman artist in East Los Angeles (played by Wilmer Valderrama). Adriana Barraza is the aunt. Nicholas D' Agosto is the sister of the arrogant woman who takes over the family mansion – but falls in love with the responsible Camilla Belle.

The film has a light touch, some comic moments, some moments of sentiment and romance, a comment on wealth and poverty.

1. A romantic comedy, the opposite of the Cinderella story? The basis in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility?

2. The title, the play on words – and a parallel to Jane Austen’s title?

3. The world of Beverly Hills, the affluent mansion, shopping, socialising? The transition to East Los Angeles, the streets and houses? The contrast?

4. Prada and the world of wealth and fashion? Not caring for others, selfish focus, inept at practical matters, presumptions? The world of Nada, the shock for Maria, her disdain, her fears?

5. The father, his moustache, the birthday dance and song, his death, the funeral, the will, his bankruptcy, the message about his son? Nora and Mary and their reactions?

6. The son, his marriage to Olivia, her control, ruthlessness, wanting to sell the house, ousting the sisters, not letting them have any possessions? The redecorations – and her ruthlessness with the workers, against the advice of her friend for conciliation? The meal, Edward arriving, his work at the law firm? The contrast with Olivia? His bringing the goods in the U-Haul? truck, the topiary, the pictures? His attention to Nora?

7. Nora and Mary, with their aunt, the aunt at the funeral, the stories, her taking them in, Bruno and the children carrying the luggage, Mary’s fears, disgust? Nora as practical, trying to learn to cook? Mary continuing her studies, Nora going to work?

8. Mary, at school, chatting with her friend, complaining about East Los Angeles, Rodrigo’s lecture on Garcia Lorca, her fascination, talking with him, the infatuation, his driving her, dropping off at the false mansion, meeting with him, trying to persuade him to buy their house? Being in love, his visit to East Los Angeles, Mary embarrassed? His decision to go to Mexico, the lie, going to the house, the introduction to his wife? A cad? Mary and her sadness, and the crash?

9. Mary and Bruno, their interactions, Bruno and his appearance, with the kids, handyman, work, art, the mural? The fiesta, wanting to dance with Mary? Mary in the wheelchair, the bond with Bruno, her deciding to stay in East Los Angeles?

10. Nora, Edward and the job, the advertisements, her small office, on the bus, talking with the cleaners, the issue of the mops, dismissals? The group coming to the office, Edward meeting with them? The confrontation with the employers, winning the case? The party, Edward kissing Nora, her refusal? Her law consultancy at home? Edward engaged, the invitation to the party, talking with Edward?

11. Mary in the hospital, the return home, the wheelchair? Edward and the U Haul, bringing all the equipment for the office? Declaration of love, the kiss?

12. The final fiesta, the black and white clicking photos? Joy all round? Happy endings?

13. Jane Austen issues for the 21st century, characters, the fairy tale and the real world?