CJ7

China, 2008, 86 minutes, Colour.
Stephen Jiao Xu.
Directed by Stephen Jiao Xu.

An entertaining comedy with touches of fantasy, especially for young boys and their parents.

To look at Stephen Chow as he plays the father in CJ7, you would never pick as having such a sense of humour. He plays a widowed building site labourer who is extremely poor, lives with his little son, Dicky, in what is little better than a hovel but loves his son, is proud of him, tries to instil principles of honesty and integrity and sends him to a private school so that he will have opportunities that he never had. It is quite a serious role and performed with quite some dignity.

But this is the Stephen Chow who wrote and directed the action comedies Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle, both very popular at home in China and abroad. This time he is much more gentle and was very clearly influenced by ET.

Dicky is a very engaging little boy who tries to live up to his father’s ideals (but not always succeeding). He is picked on by a clique of bullies led by a super-arrogant little rich boy. He is attacked by the largest boy in the school who can fling him into trees. The fastidious teacher who won’t go near him because he loathes dirt (though he has a breathtaking nose-picking sequence) always picks on Dicky while the Phys. Ed teacher sidelines him because his sneakers are old and sewn together. (Also sidelined is the biggest girl in the school who takes a shine to Dicky!).

And the title? The rich boy has a high technology toy dog, called CJ1. Dicky would love to have one and puts on a tantrum in a shop. His father, scouring a garbage dump (and not noticing the space ship parked there which takes off) finds a rubbery ball which he brings home as a gift for Dicky. This ball is from outer space and transforms itself into a very, very cute creature, small, rubbery but with a pooch’s face which can (and does) express all kinds of moods. Dicky calls him, in a moment of superiority, CJ7. He also helps Dicky to conquer his enemies and pass exams but, as they say,… ‘in your dreams’.

Of course, this is a pleasant fable about parental love and children’s responses as well as proper pride in oneself no matter how poor one is. And it is pleasant to watch a delightful variation on ET.

(Confession time: though watching films for so long and so attentive to performances, it was only when I read it in the production notes afterwards that I discovered that Dicky was actually played by a little girl!)

1.The popularity of Stephen Jiao’s comedies? Knockabout? Martial arts? Chinese settings? The difference with this film? For children and parents? Teachers?

2.The city setting, the affluent school and its grounds? Ovals, gymnasium? The contrast with the building sites? The panoramas of the city? The poor homes, the interior of Dickie’s home? The musical score?

3.The title, the focus on CJ1 and the rich boys with their toy? The ET character and Dickie calling him CJ7?

4.The focus on Dickie? His age, personality? (The fact that he was played by a little girl?) The introduction, going to school, his dirty face, the taunts of the children, especially John and his gang, the little girl who liked him? The cranky teacher and his complaints? Not wanting to go near his dirt? Miss Yuen and her kindness? Enquiries about his family? The dead mother, his father poor and working in the building site? In class? In sport, his sneakers and their being sewn together, being put on the sideline? With the large girl? Attracted to him, his noisy gulping? The CJ1 and the taunts of the boys? The big bully and his tossing Dickie into the tree? In class, Mr Kao and his criticisms? The tests? Dickie at home, the bonding with his father? Their going shopping, his wanting the toy, his tantrum? His father going to the dump, bringing home the gift, the ball? The ball and its changing shapes? His anger with his father, his father putting him in the cupboard? The ball transforming into the toy? Dickie calling him CJ7? The dream, Dickie going to school, vanquishing the fat boy, vanquishing the gang, getting the glasses to help him with the test, getting 100%? His waking up? The reality of the test, his not getting any marks, his changing the mark to 100%? His father’s disappointment in him? The reality of going to school, CJ7 not doing any of his tricks? His being glum? His bringing the toy to school, the interest of the other children? Their changing? His father’s accident, going to the hospital, his grief? His father’s recovery? His reconciliation with his father, Miss Yuen and her help? Dickie’s future?

5.The father, poor, his dead wife? The hovel in which they lived, making do, the rotten apples, the noodles and the fish? The bunk? The heat and the need for a fan? His working on the building site, the wheelbarrow too heavy for him, his getting the sack, coming back, his pounding the foundations? Going to the school, meeting Miss Yuen? His love for Dickie, his principles and telling him to be honest, integrity rather than wealth? His shopping, not buying the toy, hitting Dickie? The going to the dump, getting the present? His buying the fan and its not working? His work, his accident, his fall, the attempts to rescue him? His seeming to die? Hospital? CJ7 and the transformation? His meeting Miss Yuen – and the final joke about his being handsome?

6.The teachers: Mr Kao, his fastidiousness, picking on Dickie, picking his nose? Miss Yuen and her kindness, the outing? The phys ed teacher and his being harsh on Dickie? On the big girl?

7.The children, their ambitions to be celebrities, entrepreneurs? Wealthy families? John and his followers, bullying? The big boy and his bullying Dickie? The big girl and her being nice? CJ7 and his transforming everyone? The big boy and girl and their being together, the judo team?

8.CJ7, the spaceship, the dump, his coming alive? Fantasy, an ET character with the little puppy dog attitudes? His helping Dickie, his facial expressions, the cuteness? The transformation, his dying, all his efforts for Dickie? His being a simple toy? The transformation of Dickie’s father?

9.A Chinese variation on ET – the audience intended, young children, parents?

MAKE IT HAPPEN

US, 2008, 86 minutes, Colour.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Riley Smith, Tessa Thomson, John Reardon, Ashley Roberts, Julissa Bermudez.
Directed by Darren Grant.

Is it Flashdance from a quarter of a century ago that is responsible for many moviegoers loving films about dancing, especially of the vigorous kind wether it be Footloose or Dirty Dancing, or the popular trends from Salsa to Breakdancing and the competitions with dance gangs in the American city neighbourhood streets? It probably was. And, Make it Happen certainly follows this long-standing trend: a girl from a garage (well, she does the books rather than get round in a boiler suit) loves to dance. Trapped into helping out her disapproving brother at the family garage for three years, she finally heads off from Indiana to Chicago where she has an audition for a prestigious dancing school. It doesn’t spoil the plot to discover she is not accepted – the judge does not understand her style of dancing or her burning ambition. We do – and we know what the challenges she has to face will be.

Feeling low, she meets a young woman who is serving coffee (which is puzzling because we soon discover she is a bombshell of burlesque style dancing at a popular club). The two women become good friends. There is a DJ who composes his own music. Now we are into Coyote Ugly territory although the patrons of this Chicago club have much better manners. If, at this point, you are guessing the rest, you are probably not wrong at all. But, the whole point of following the formula is actually following the formula so that audiences who know where it is all going can enjoy watching how it actually does work out.

This means that Make it Happen is the 2008 contribution to the US dance-fail-and-succeed trend, made just for the audience who loves this trend.

1.A popular dance film? The formula and the way that it was used? Entertaining nonetheless?

2.The Indiana settings? Home, the garage? The contrast with Chicago, the cityscapes, the auditions, the clubs, the apartments, the streets? Authentic atmosphere?

3.The musical score, the dance routines, the musical style? The clubs and performance?

4.The importance of dancing, Lauryn and her rehearsals? Her audition? Style, acrobatic, gymnastic? The dancing in the club, the touch of burlesque? The combination of these styles? Lauryn’s final audition?

5.Lauryn’s story, audiences identifying with her? The white girl from Indiana? Her background, her mother teaching her to dance (and the video)? Her father’s grief and death? Joel and the garage, her three years of work? Wanting to go to the audition and to school? Joel’s opposition and discouraging her? Her life in the town, departure?

6.Lauryn in Chicago, going to the audition, her being dismissed? Her meeting Dana in the restaurant, going to her house, the car being impounded? Going to work at the club? Her doing the books? The meeting with Russ, his coming on, her resistance? The friendship with Dana and Dana’s dancing? Her own rehearsals, dancing privately? Thinking she could not do these moves? Helping Dana with moves? Russ seeing her rehearse? The emergency, her being called in, the proprietor and her reluctance? The initial failure, the reaction of the guests? Russ changing the music, her coming alive, her performance, the acclaim? Carmen, her jealousy, insults? Russ and his encouragement? Her continuing to dance? The phone calls to Joel, not telling him the truth? His coming to the club, seeing her, his disappointment? Harsh words? Her explanation of her absence at her father’s death and Russ’s support? Gradually falling in love with Russ? Her sudden return to Indiana, doing the work? Dancing with the attendant? Joel and his change of heart? Her going back, Russ insisting that she do the audition? Her assertiveness, her performance, her being accepted? Going back to the club and the celebration?

7.Talent, believing in oneself, making it happen?

8.Joel, his love for his father, keeping the garage going, the threats and the bills? His reaction to Lauryn’s dancing? Coming to the city, disappointment? Firing her and encouraging her to go back?

9.Russ, musical director, his own talent in composing, the friendship, Lauryn misunderstanding him, the bonds between them? Her encouraging him with his music? His insistence on the audition, being there?

10.Dana, her friendship, her dance, a good friend?

11.The proprietor of the Ruby Club, hard, giving Lauryn the job, letting her dance, the final confrontation – and the joke and her party?

12.Carmen, her jealousy? Her relenting? The other dancers?

13.The popular ingredients for a dance musical – in a contemporary style?

BORDERLINE

US, 1950, 88 minutes, Black and white.
Fred Mac Murray, Claire Trevor, Raymond Burr, Morris Ankrum.
Directed by William A. Seiter.

Borderline is a routine thriller from Universal Studios in 1950. By this stage of his career, Fred Mac Murray was playing a range of characters including police as well as comedy characters. Claire Trevor had just won an Oscar for her role in Key Largo. Raymond Burr was playing literal heavies in many films of the period.

The film was directed by William A. Seiter who had a long career from the silent film days, directing mainly genre films. He then moved to television.

This is a familiar story of drug agents as well as drug smuggling. It is interesting to look at 1950 and realise that drug smuggling was prevalent at that time (not something from more recent decades as the movies show). This was especially true of drug dealers, syndicate rings on the border between California and Mexico.

However, while the film is a drama, deadly at times, there is more than a trace of the screwball comedies and memories of It Happened One Night and the battle of the sexes. Claire Trevor plays an agent who goes undercover in Mexico and is mistaken by Fred Mac Murray as a dancer and the mistress of main drug dealer, Raymond Burr. However, into the film, it is revealed that Mac Murray is an undercover agent. Each then is planning to arrest the other. There is quite a humorous scene of recognition before the final drug bust and arrests.

1.A B-film of the 1950s? A genre film? The conventions of the thrillers about investigators and drug dealing?

2.The black and white photography, California, Mexico, the border? Authentic? Musical score? Club songs?

3.The reality of drug dealing and smuggling in 1950? Compared with later decades?

4.The introduction to Madeleine, her work, Bill Whittaker and his reluctance to employ her? Her strength of character and strength of mind? Going to Mexico, finding Pete Ritchie, becoming a chorus girl, coming on to Ritchie, to his assistant, in the room? Ritchie and his attachment to her? Deciding that she should be a drug runner? The confrontation with Johnny Mc Evoy? Thinking that he was a dealer? His tough attitudes, hitting her? Her travelling with him, as husband and wife, the documents? The hotel? Their having to escape because of Ritchie’s pursuit? The credibility of their falling in love? Her plan to arrest Mc Evoy?

5.Mc Evoy, seemingly a drug dealer, his dealings with Gumbin? The attacks on Ritchie? Taking the drugs, suspicious of Madeleine, thinking that she was Gladys LaRue? Taking her with him? Setting her up for the fall? Their travels, escapes, dinner, the kisses? The credibility of his romance? The reality of his being an agent, his contacts, the phone call? The plan for the border?

6.Ritchie, tough, the attraction to Gladys? His underlings? The shootouts? The pursuit, his arrest?

7.Miguel, his family, the ride to the airport? The human and comic touches?

8.The airport, the car breaking down, the pretence with the police, their dead friend, leaving him in the gutter, taking the alcoholic? The word out for their arrest? The airport, the flight, coming down on the beach? The touches of the screwball comedy?

9.At the border, each wanting the other to be arrested? Mc Evoy and his disbelief?

10.The final showdown, Gumbin and his group, Mc Evoy going into the house, still undercover, the money? The shootout and the solution of the problem?

LE RENARD ET L'ENFANT (THE FOX AND THE CHILD)

France, 2007, 92 minutes, Colour.
Bertille Noel -Bruneau.
Narrator: Isabelle Carre. Narrator, English version: Kate Winslett.
Directed by Luc Jacquet.

After his long and painstaking time in Antarctica for The March of the Penguins, director Luc Jacquet has returned to his home countryside (with some help with sequences shot in woods in the Italian Abruzzi) to tell a tale that is something of a memoir of his childhood, of his own love of the woods and of his encounter with a fox.

As with the visit to Antarctica, the photography is extraordinarily vivid, especially as the story takes place over the four seasons, each of which is captured in its characteristic beauty.

The story is very simple. A ten year old girl who loves walking in the forest and is content with her own company spies a fox and falls in love with it. At first she cannot gain its trust but, during the winter, she discovers its lair and discovers that it is a vixen and that she has a litter. The film shows in detail the little girl’s passion for the fox, playing with it, partly taming it, getting into trouble from her parents (whom we do not see) for staying out too long with it. The film is what one would describe as lyrical with its woodland innocence (despite a grizzly bear turning up, a vicious lynx stalking and a pack of wolves pursuing the fox).

However, the little girl has to discover that the fox has a life of its own and playing inside her room with the door shut is a fearful experience for an animal from the wild.

Bertille Noel -Bruneau is perfectly credible and is attractive as the girl. The English version has a voiceover by Kate Winslett as the little girl does not speak much at all though she does sing. As with most voiceovers, some will find it may say too much or state the obvious which we are looking at.

If some films are bad for us, this is one that is positively good for us (but may be too gentle and genteel for children who are fast action-oriented).

1.The work of Jacquet and his films about nature? The contrast between Antarctica and the penguins and France/Italy and the fox and the wildlife in the woods?

2.The colour photography, the beauty of the mountains and the woods, the fields, the river, the waterfalls? The audience appreciating nature? The animals and wildlife in this context? The photography of the animals, the close-up of the fox, its expressions? The other animals, the bear, the birds? The musical score and its atmosphere?

3.The use of the narrator, the adult child? The reflections on the experience? (And based on the experiences of the director as a child?) The wordiness of the narration, the invitation to the audience to feel what the little girl was feeling? Observing the little girl?

4.The little girl, her age, living alone, not seeing her parents, hearing her comment on them and their discipline, especially when she was away with the fox? Her father returning home from work? The character of the little girl, introspective? Her delight in the woods, going for the walks? The encounter with the fox? Her descriptions of the fox, her feelings, pursuing the fox, befriending the fox? Learning about it, discovering that it was a vixen, the little foxes? The interactions, play? The dangers of the play, crossing the chasm with the water? Climbing the trees? The pursuit of the wolves? Bringing the fox in to the home, playfulness, closing the door, the fox and its feeling confined, it berserk breaking of everything, leaping out the window? Her reconciliation with the fox?

5.The importance of the seasons: the photography of each of the seasons, the changes in the woods, the autumn leaves, the winter snow, the brightness of spring, the placid summer?

6.The character of the fox, seeing it on its own, the two foxes and the mating season, the litter of little foxes? The fox and its pursuit of food? The threat by the lynx? The threat of the wolves and its going up the trunk? The bear? The expressiveness of the fox, playfulness, protectiveness of the young?

7.The interactions between the little girl and the fox? Her naming the fox? Her very subjective comments about the fox’s behaviour? Talking about the fox getting its own way? The reality of the little girl getting her own way, trying to bring the fox into the house, playing the game of hide-and-seek, the bewilderment of the fox? The fox’s wariness afterwards?

8.The little girl learning her lesson about nature, the freedom of the fox?

9.The film as a piece of nostalgia for the countryside, the wildlife, the delights and innocence of childhood?

RAGE

UK, 2009, 99 minutes, Colour.
Simon Abkarian, Patrick J. Adams, Riz Ahmed, Bob Baliban, Adriana Barazza, Steve Buscemi, Jakob Cedergren, Lily Cole, Judi Dench, Eddie Izzard, Jude Law, John Leguizamo, David Oyelowo, Diane Weist.
Directed by Sally Potter.

'It's all the rage', a fashion world slogan at the start of the film, which then deletes 'it's all the' and leaves us with some individual rages, some off-screen industrial protest and some angry mayhem, again off-screen.

It is important to re-iterate 'off-screen' because on screen we have 90 minutes of talking heads. That can only be an endurance for many audiences. Fair enough. And the talk has to be interesting and of some depth. Also fair enough. But it can also be a creative challenge, a concentration effort to listen to the speakers, study their faces and body language. So, for talking heads fans, this is something of a must.

Sally Potter has made idiosyncratic dramas and experiments. Her screenplay for her previous film, Yes, was in verse.

This is low-budget film-making: performer, blue screen, cinematographer (Potter herself), sound engineer, just the three in a photographer's studio. Then, the director has made her options of how to cut the speeches, edit them and the order in which she thinks the pieces will work best dramatically and advance the (off-screen) plot.

Ostensibly, we have seven days (with typed captions per day) where 14 individuals associated with a fashion show confide in a young, unseen photographer, Michelangelo, making a student film and (to the embarrassment of some) putting clips on his website.

As the days progress, there are marketing meetings for a new perfume, M, and the creative antics of the designer, the bosses, a photographer, an intern, a pizza delivery man turned model, some models and, after some murders, a Shakespeare quoting detective.

So, it is the performances which count. The standout is the transvestite model, Minx. Those who don't know it is Jude Law will enjoy the shock of discovery. Those who do will be amazed at the quality of Law's impersonation.

All the performances are effective but Dianne Wiest as the sweet-sounding (but determined) manager, Judi Dench as a caustic critic, Eddie Izzard as a nouveau riche owner, Steve Buscemi as a photographer, Patrick J. Adams as the calculating young intern and Simon Abkarian as Merlin the designer stand out even as the others are very good.

Cinematic? Very much, not... But cinematic in a different, focused style with emphasis on language, vocal and bodily.

1.A low-budget experiment, as drama?

2.How cinematic the film, talking heads, faces and expressions, voices, the insertion of various clips from each character? Cumulative effect?

3.The strong colour, the blue screen and the changes of colour, the visual interest, costumes, makeup, character and clothes?

4.The performance of each of the characters, to the camera, audience response?

5.The off-screen action, New York setting, the fashion show, the models’ room, the shooting, the protest outside?

6.The title, the quotation ‘all the rage’, becoming rage? Rage and fashion, rage and fashion as a symbol? The types in the fashion world, creative, sensitive, exercising power, vindictive, jealous, ambitious? Protest? The globalisation of fashion, the dominance of clothes made in China?

7.The characters and their self-revelation, the contribution to the plot? Michelangelo as the young man behind the camera, the captions for each day of the week? His student film, his listening, people making him a confidant? His putting material on the website, the various reactions, especially Otto’s hostility?

8.The website, the niche audience for fashion, targets for marketing, for buying? The comment on internet technology? The users of the Net? Net buying?

9.Miss Roth, Edie? Her life, her parents, the company, going global, her dealing with people, managing, her assessment of the situation – and the twinkle in her eye as she decided to join the protest outside the firm?

10.Tiny Diamonds, his clothes, the new owner, his being busy, marketing, listening to people, especially Dwight Angel? The meetings, ideas? The perfume? His comment on the other characters? On Mona and her writing for a magazine he owned? The owning of magazines, control?

11.Bradley White, his age, role, adapting, his comment about morals, relativity, his being fired, his book and the various chapter headings?

12.Dwight Angel as the young intern, his ideas, the letter M for the perfume, his banal observations, being an opportunist, ambitious, focusing on the under twenty-fives, taking Mr White’s job, the website and his using it, his reliance on Michelangelo?

13.Mona, the snob, the critic, her taste, sense of superiority, her talking about freedom, her cynical attitudes?

14.Frank, the fashion photographer, the variety of situations, age and experience, opportunities?

15.Jed and his being a bodyguard, the first time being interviewed, his self-image, his work, the shootings?

16.Merlin, camp manner, his ideas, design, his pretentiousness, his overacting, his treatment of the models, the use of the gun and his explanation?

17.Lettuce Leaf, the new face of last year, the model, her fears, reliance on Michelangelo and her disappearance?

18.Minx, the transvestite model, Jude Law in this performance, costumes and wigs, accent and changing accent, talking and confiding in Michelangelo, his story, his mother, his clothes, the money and his career, jealousies, friendships, thinking that he could have been a psychiatrist?

19.Anita de los Angeles, invisible, sewing, her comments on the other characters?

20.Otto, public relations, his ideas, being on the defensive, anti-Michelangelo about the web postings?

21.Vijay and his delivering the pizza, being interviewed, the way others regarded him, Merlin giving him the opportunity to be a model, with the other models, a career?

22.Homer, the American detective, dapper, late in getting information, asking information from Michelangelo, quoting Shakespeare all the time?

23.The overall effect of this kind of experience of talking heads in the context of the fashion world? Drama or not? Insight or not?

THE BARBARIAN AND THE GEISHA

US, 1958, 118 minutes, Colour.
John Wayne, Eiko Ando, Sam Jaffe, So Yamamura.
Directed by John Huston.

The Barbarian and the Geisha is an unusual star vehicle for John Wayne. He plays the American Consul to Japan at the time of the opening up of Japan to the western world, sent by President Pierce after the gunboat diplomacy of Admiral Perry. While there had been discussions about having an envoy from the United States, many of the governors and authorities in Japan were unwilling to have this kind of contact. John Wayne brings his typical American style – but in a more restrained way, even having a significant speech about the abolition of slavery. Sam Jaffe portrays his friend and confidant. Japanese actress Eiko Ando portrays Okichi, the geisha sent to put Townsend Harris off his job – but finishes by supporting him and even falling in love.

The film is restrained in it presentation of the drama and the action, concentrating on the dialogue (by Charles Grayson) and the personal drama.

It is interesting that the film was released thirteen years after the end of World War Two, a different attitude from the United States towards Japan. An interesting comparison would be the American film, The Last Samurai, with Tom Cruise, which takes its action in the years after the events in this film. There are many Japanese films which portray the change of the Samurai era into the modern era.

The film was directed by John Huston after he made Moby Dick and Heaven Knows Mr Allison and before he made Roots of Heaven and The Unforgiven.

1.An interesting film about Japanese-American? history? The 19th century? The opening up of Japan, the diplomacy of the Americans – in the American style? The consequences?

2.The film released thirteen years after the end of World War Two, American attitudes towards the war, towards the Japanese? The peacemaking in this film?

3.Filmed in Japan, the beauty of the colour photography, the locations, the re-creation of the 19th century? Japanese costumes and décor? The musical score?

4.John Wayne as Townsend Harris, John Wayne’s imposing presence? Representing the president, the comments on Perry? The diplomacy, the stances and tough tactics? The strategies for trade and communication with Japan? His meeting with Okichi, her hostility and suspicion? Gradual understanding, her being a means of his understanding Japan and Japanese? The various governors, their hostility, the violence in the administration of justice? The outbreak of the cholera epidemic, Harris and his contribution, his friendship with Henry and his help? His being seen as a hero? Meeting the Shogun, the discussions, the establishing of relationships? A strong John Wayne character?

5.The Japanese, Okichi and the tradition of the geishas, her being sent to influence Harris? The background of the geishas? Their colourful lives? The relationship with the governors?

6.The governors, the administrators, friendly, others hostile? The reasons? The Shogun and the discussions with Harris?

7.The cholera epidemic, the visuals, the people in need, the American help?

8.The consequences of the opening up of Japan to the world and the west?

9.Insights into Japanese history and culture – from the perspective of Hollywood and the 1950s?

EDISON

US, 2005, 97 minutes, Colour.
Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Justin Timberlake, L.L. Cool J, Dylan Mc Dermott, John Heard, Cary Elweis, Roselyn Sanchez, Damian Wayans, Piper Parabo.
Directed by David J. Burke.

Edison is a family story of police and civic corruption in the town of Edison in New Jersey. Whether the inhabitants of Edison would be happy with the film is another matter.

The film focuses on an earnest young reporter, played by Justin Timberlake, who gets information that would lead to the uncovering of police corruption, a special squad overseen by John Heard, led by Dylan Mc Dermott, with L.L. Cool J as a member but someone with a conscience. He intends to marry (Roselyn Sanchez) – something that the members of this squad were forbidden to do.

Kevin Spacey portrays the honest detective in the town. Cary Elweis is the mayor, involved in the corruption, the laundering of money, for charities, as well as cover-ups. Morgan Freeman portrays the veteran newspaper editor who had experienced investigations in the past, is moved and irritated by the young reporter, becomes involved in the expose.

The themes are interesting – however, by the end, the film moves into familiar shootout mode rather than continuing the intensity of the drama.

The director David J. Burke is better known as a writer and producer of television series rather than as a director. The film itself went direct to video/ DVD.

1.A picture of American corruption, civic and police, the media?

2.The quotation from Ashford about moral imperative and responsibilities? As applied to the characters and situations? To civic duties, to the administration of law and justice, to the reporting of the media, to the role of citizens and their voting?

3.Edison in New Jersey, the city, a symbol? Its look, the skyscrapers, the companies occupying the offices? The police precinct? The benefit trusts? The streets, the mean street areas, the clubs, jails, hospitals, the neighbourhood? The contrast with the countryside and the farm and the farmhouse? Authentic and realistic? The score?

4.Familiar material from other films, television series? The psychology, the film working as a thriller, chases, shootouts?

5.The introduction to Frank Lazerov and Rafe Deed? The Frat Group? The initial confrontation with the drug dealers, Deed to kill the young man, his not being able to do so? Frank and his shooting? The atmosphere of fear? Planning their story? Going to the court, the young man and his not telling the truth, Deed and the false story? The young man thanking Deed for his testimony? Josh Pollack and his hearing this, his questions to Deed and Frank, the effect on Frank? Determination to get Pollack?

6.Moses, the local paper, the Jewish paper, the African American editor? His background in Vietnam? His encounter with Pollack, confronting him with being a lazy writer, the ethos of reporting, talking about opportunities, firing him? Pollack and his visit to Moses’ house? Moses intervening, going to the mayor, the discussion, the tensions?

7.The Frat Group, Captain Tillman revealed as their head, his cover? The links to the mayor, money laundering? The fifteen years of building up the squad? The Frat background, not marrying, dedicated to eliminating crime? Yet using crime for their work? Deed and his fiancée, going to the dance and the club, the engagement ring? Going against the ethos of Frat? His seeing the violence towards Josh and to Willow Summerfield? His not understanding? His wanting to clear the matter up? Frank and his taking things into his own hand, the bashing outside the club? Willow in hospital? The attempts to kill her? Pollack being transferred to Levon Wallace’s house, Frank and his search of the countryside, Pollack seeing him, the car exploding?

8.Deed, the effect of the dance, the engagement, the bashing, a touch of conscience, Pollack confronting him? The pressure, the talks with Frank, his decision to be a double agent, get the information? The final chase and shootouts?

9.Frank and his leading The Frat Group, the other members, their participation in crimes for justice? Being killed? The young man in jail, his work, his being knifed? His being the source for Pollack and the article?

10.Levon Wallace and the investigation, Frank and his dislike of him, going to talk with the mayor, listening to the mayor? Listening to Moses, conducting the investigation, moving Pollack to the farm? Confronting the group? The cover and his restoring order at the end?

11.The mayor, his position, his smooth talk, his money laundering, his charities, the expose and his giving in?

12.The police, the restoring of order? Pollack and his voice-over, moral imperatives, the media and order?

13.A film about moral responsibility and the exercise of this responsibility?

JESSE STONE: NIGHT PASSAGE

US, 2006, 96 minutes, Colour.
Tom Selleck, Stephanie Mark, Stephen Baldwin, Polly Shannon, Saul Rubinek, Viola Davis, Kohl Sudduth.
Directed by Robert Harman.

Stone Cold was the original pilot telefilm for the series of movies starring Tom Selleck as Chief Jesse Stone. The character comes from a series of novels by Robert B. Parker, best known for writing in the vein of Raymond Chandler. This screenplay was written by Tom Eperson, writing partner of Billy Bob Thornton, Sin Blade, One False Move.

Tom Selleck had proved durable on television with Magnum PI. In his sixties, he invests the character of Jesse Stone, divorced alcoholic, with a world-weariness as well as an integrity. Stephen Baldwin portrays the psychotic villain. Saul Rubinek is a white crime boss in the town of Paradise, Massachusetts. His character was to reappear in several of the films as was that of Viola Davis (Oscar nominee for Doubt) as Molly Crane who worked in the bureau. Kohl Sudduth as Luther ‘Suitcase’ Simpson also appears in all the films.

While Stone Cold was made first, this story actually precedes it and explains why Jesse Stone moved from Los Angeles to the town of Paradise, Massachusetts.

All the films in the series from 2006 to 2009 were directed by Robert Harman (The Hitcher, They).

1.Tom Selleck as a popular television star? His character of Jesse Stone? The popularity of the series?

2.The opening in Los Angeles, the drive across the United States, Paradise, Massachusetts, the ordinary town, precincts, the water, Stone’s house, the warehouse? An authentic atmosphere? Score?

3.The character of Stone, his background divorce, his wife’s continually ringing him? His drinking? The interview with Hathaway, his being drunk? His concern about getting the job, that he wouldn’t hire himself? His relationship with the other members of the team, discussions with Molly Crane, reliance on Luther, the nickname ‘Suitcase’? His suspicion of the other officer? The farewell to the previous chief? His death?

4.Stone and his personal life, the discussions with Abby Taylor, meals, the relationship with her?

5.The domestic violence, Joe Genest, his violence towards his wife, the alienation of his daughter? Stone physically attacking him? His double-dealings, his murder of the police chief, driving the car off the cliff? Telling Hathaway? The confrontations with Stone? The information from the police chief from Boston? The set-up, Genest and the gun, his confession, Luther handling the situation, Hathaway shooting him?

6.Hathaway, financial deals, money laundering? Paying off the former sheriff? Using Joe? Joe with his Mob connections, an assassin? His being horrified by the murder? The meeting with Stone, the discussions, the confrontation with Joe, his shooting him? His wife, the real estate? Her relationship with Joe, with Luther?

7.The characters in the precinct, how well delineated? Molly Crane and her friendship with the former sheriff? The discussions with Stone?

8.Stone, his discussions with Joe’s daughter, her surliness, his sympathy, helping her?

9.An entertaining crime story? Party of a series?

THE INDIAN FIGHTER

US, 1955, 88 minutes, Colour.
Kirk Douglas, Elsa Martinelli, Walter Matthau, Diana Douglas, Walter Abel, Lon Chaney Jr, Eduard Franz, Alan Hale Jr, Elisha Cook Jr.
Directed by Andre De Toth.

The Indian Fighter is a familiar western story, the Indians trying to be in peace with the whites, greedy goldminers upsetting the Indians and killing them, the lone Indian fighter who is able to make peace between whites and Indians. Kirk Douglas, a year before he was nominated for an Academy Award for Lust for Life as Van Gogh, is full of zest in the central role. A twenty-year-old Elsa Martinelli is introduced. Walter Matthau, in an early role, is one of the villains along with Lon Chaney Jr. Douglas’s former wife, Diana Douglas, is one of the pioneers in the trek west. Elisha Cook is a photographer in the military, excited by the prospect of photographing the west.

The film was made in Cinemascope, in attractive locations. Ben Hecht, the celebrated playwright, contributed to the screenplay. The film was directed by Andre De Toth, a director of many genre films including Springfield Rifle, Man in the Saddle, Day of the Outlaw. He also made the most famous of the 3D films of the 50s, House of Wax.

1.The popularity of this kind of western? Pioneering? The Indians? White treatment of Indians? Possibilities for peace? Goldmining?

2.The widescreen location photography, the forts, the mountains, the plains? The musical score?

3.Johnny Hawkes, his work as an Indian fighter, his friendship with the Indians, the initial encounter with Gray Wolf and Red Cloud? Hostilities and friendship? The gold prospectors and their greed, the violence towards the Indians? Johnny Hawkes and his love for Onahti? His friendship with Susan Rogers, the people on the trek, the young boy?

4.The Indians, Gray Wolf, his provoking problems? Crazy Bear and his helping the miners for drink? Red Cloud and his judgments, leading the Indians, the possibilities for peace? Onahti?

5.The military, the captain and command? The information coming in about murders? About the Indians? Attitudes towards the Indians?

6.Shivington, a villain, greed, gold, working with Wes Todd? Wes Todd and his double-dealing? Friendship with Hawkes? Work with Shivington? The report of Shivington’s death – and Hawkes bringing him in? The loss of credibility for the miners?

7.The travellers west, Susan Rogers, friendship with Johnny Hawkes, her son? His comments on action, the Indians, shootings? The various traders? Crabtree and his background of orchards?

8.The build-up to the confrontation, the pursuits, Gray Wolf and his hostility? The killings by Todd and Shivington?

9.The military and their thinking Johnny Hawkes a traitor, his going to the Indians, his being able to make peace? The point of a son with Onahti and Red Cloud and his having descendants both Indian and white?

10.A western of the 1950s? In retrospect?

THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE

US, 2009, 93 minutes, Colour.
Robyn Wright Penn, Blake Lively, Alan Arkin, Keanu Reeves, Maria Bello, Shirley Knight, Winona Ryder, Julianne Moore, Monica Belucci, Mike Binder, Robyn Weigert, Tim Guinee.
Directed by Rebecca Miller.

Rebecca Miller has written and directed some small films, three short stories in Personal Histories and a drama starring her husband, Daniel Day Lewis, The Ballad of Jack and Rose. This film is, again, a small-scale story but it has a top cast beyond expectations.

This is the life of Pippa, born Pippa Sossokian. It is also a star vehicle for Robin Wright Penn as the adult Pippa. She gives a fine, dignified performance in the present. Blake Lively is her young adult self. This is a woman who grew up in a large family with a church minister father and a hysterical mother (Maria Bello) who was on prescription drugs, who idolised her daughter but whose addiction and possessiveness drove her daughter away.

The film opens with the adult Pippa, married for 25 years to her older husband (Alan Arkin), a respected publisher who has had three heart attacks and has been forced to retire. Pippa, a gracious hostess, is finding the isolated life in a retirement village hard to deal with and experiences some depression and strange sleepwalking behaviour. She has a lawyer son and a photographer daughter (in Iraq) who ignores her mother.

After Pippa had run away from home to live with an unconventional aunt and her partner, she mixes with the wrong crown, drugs and promiscuity, until she is rescued by the publisher.

Some final developments are unexpected as is a friendship with a neighbour's son, Chris (Keanu Reeves) (who wanted to be a Jesuit at 17 and now has a Jesus-image tatooed on his torso, which offers a bizarre Christ-figure/Jesus-figure in a sexual scene)

The cast builds up the film beyond its small stature. Winona Ryder plays a friend, Monica Bellucci is the publisher's former wife, Julianne Moore is the aunt's companion and Shirley Knight is the neighbour. Robin Wright Penn is immensely watchable and gives the film its power. Many older women will find it easy to identify with her.

1.Rebecca Miller, her films, writing, perspectives? Life, fear, relationships?

2.The retirement village, affluence, the house, facilities? Shopping centre? The contrast with the New York world?

3.The musical score, songs, themes for Pippa Lee’s life?

4.The voice-over story, in the present moving to the past, the cumulative effect of the present and the past, a hard past, Herb’s love for Pippa, the marriage, saving her life? Children? Illness and death?

5.Herb and Pippa, twenty-five years’ marriage, the party, Pippa cooking, the gracious hostess, her poise and charm, yet her wondering about herself?

6.Herb, the reputable publisher, saying he was not creative but had an eye for talent? The talk at the table, his tribute to his wife? Sandra and her poems and his offering to read them? The three heart attacks? The meal with the children, their love for him? His having to retire, blood pressure, the difficulties of settling down, Pippa and her care, making an office for him, his refusal to admit his ill health, at home, the scenes between Pippa and Herb, sleeping, not sleeping, the sleepwalking, his reassuring Pippa?

7.Pippa and her new life, Dot as a friendly neighbour, her talk about Chris and his broken marriage? Sam and Sandra and their friendship? Sam’s attention to Pippa in the past? Her not having enough to do, going to the pottery class, making remarks and being ousted? The cake? Surveillance? Watching herself, the dreams, the lion, Chris in her dreams? The bond when Chris drove her home from the supermarket? Picking up her car?

8.Her past life, her mother, the pain of birth, her mother doting on her afterwards, her hair, the daughter of a minister, the large family, the household, the meals, her mother and the photos, her dressing her daughter up, dancing? Her mother’s prescription pills? Refusal to admit addiction? Pippa taking the pills, trying to reason with her mother? The bond in desperation? Her decision to leave, the phone call, her parents’ visit, her decision never to go home again? Her mother’s death? Her mother’s character and influence on her daughter?

9.Pippa going to stay with her aunt, finding Kat, her lifestyle, the taking of the photos, the sexual overtones, Kat wanting them for her novel? Being ousted by her aunt?

10.College, boys, drugs, her life a mess? At the party on the beach? The meeting with Herb, his politeness, the invitation? The phone call, her being bashed? With Herb, her ability to talk, falling in love, the explanations, her security, the marriage? Meeting Gigi at the dinner, Gigi and her style, the divorce from Herb, shooting herself? The beach and the haunting?

11.Pippa’s marriage, the children, the son a lawyer, the daughter a photographer, caution about going to Iraq? Grace ignoring her mother?

12.The discovery of Sandra and Herb, her reaction, keeping calm? Sandra and her dithering, trying to slit her wrists? Pippa being practical? Her leaving with Chris? The encounter with Dot and Dot’s surprise? Disappointment?

13.The discovery, Herb’s reaction, his turn, going to hospital, brain-dead? Ben’s coming, the puzzle about Sandra? Grace and the reconciliation? Tenderness? Her concern for her mother, talking with her?

14.Chris in himself, his mother, his marriage, the background of his Catholicism, wanting to be a Jesuit? His working in the shelter, his marriage break-up? The tattoo of Jesus on his torso? The sexual scene – with Jesus on top of Pippa? Christopher and the symbolism of his name?

15.The issue of turning off the life support for Herb, Pippa’s speech?

16.The encounters with Chris, driving with him, waking? Ben and Grace and their reaction? The discussions about the ceremony? Her decision to drive away, the future?

17.The film as a portrait of an American woman, as a child, teenager, adult woman, older woman?