Peter MALONE
Clockwork Orange, A
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
UK, 1971, 136 minutes, Colour.
Malcolm Mc Dowell, Michael Bates, Adrienne Corri, Patrick Magee, Warren Clarke.
Directed by Stanley Kubrick.
A Clockwork Orange is Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Anthony Burgess's novella. Kubrick wrote the screenplay and directed as well as supervised in meticulous detail the production (as always with his films).
By this stage of his career Kubrick had made, amongst other films, Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Dr Strangelove, Lolita and 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the next 15 years he was to make Barry Linden, the Shining, Full Metal Jacket. It was another twelve years until his final film, Eyes Wide Shut.
The film was controversial in its time. It came at the end of the '60s with the revolution in permissiveness, freedom, questioning. It also came at a time of religious questioning, the `God is dead' controversy, questions about society and ethics.
The film also was controversial in its presentation of visual violence and sexuality. It was released in the same year as Peckinpah's Straw Dogs (after his The Wild Bunch). Many considered Kubrick's presentation too violent. Others said it was stylised and ballet-like, so audiences were distanced. There was controversy about the emotional impact of the character of Alex, his antisocial behaviour, his being conditioned by aversion therapy and the Ludovico techniques and the whole question of freedom, responsibility, choice. (It is interesting that the chaplain of the prison has the lines highlighting the moral issues and dilemmas.)
The film is a masterpiece of visual style, editing, soundtrack. Kubrick uses a great range of music to great effect, especially Beethoven by Rossini, Purcell, Elgar, as well as Arthur Freed's `Singin' in the Rain' sung by Gene Kelly.
Malcolm Mc Dowell gives a striking performance as Alex. He also appeared in Lindsay Anderson's If, O Lucky Man and Britannia Hospital as well as in Royal Flash. There is an excellent supporting cast of character actors who bring a variety of personality types alive.
A Clockwork Orange is an excellent adaptation of a novel, a master film work by Stanley Kubrick, a significant film from the '60s and '70s. It has a classic status.
1.The quality of the film, its reputation? In the '70s? Classic status? A picture of society, violence, permissiveness, freedom, law and order?
2.The work of Anthony burgess, his insights into society, prophecy?
3.The work of Stanley Kubrick, writing the screenplay, direction and production? Kubrick as a perfectionist? Exploring intellectual themes visually? Through story? The film as a `psychological myth'?
4.An overview of themes: contemporary society, permissiveness, collapse of civilisation, hopes for Utopia, instinct and freedom, violence, individuals and gangs, cruelty, sexual abuse, crime and viciousness, prison and rehabilitation, authority, politics and politicking, manipulation, revenge, freedom and choice, redemption?
5.The style of the film: colour and the vivid use of colour compositions? Stylised costumed: the Droogs, Alex's family, echoes of the 18th and 19th centuries, the period flashbacks? The decor of the bar, the apartment, the apartment block, the city, homes, prison, hospitals? The ordinariness of London? The film seen as a 20th century variation on the Masque, the use of tableaux vivants? The range of artwork: paintings, sculptures? In the bar, the use of modernistic statues of women? Sex objects and pictures? In Alex's room? The cat woman's artwork? The bust of Beethoven and the pictures of Beethoven?
6.The soundtrack, the range of music: the use of Beethoven, Rossini's `Thieving Magpie' and `William Tell', Purcell and the funeral music for Queen Mary? Elgar and `Pomp and Circumstance'? `Singin' in the Rain', `I Want to be a Lighthouse Keeper'? The music as background, part of Alex's therapy? The use of background music and themes? The importance of dance and the ballet style of much of the action?
7.Camera techniques and photography: long takes, close‑ups? Fast speeds, slow motion, Lens distortions? Editing and pace? Stunt work and violence?
8.How explicit was the film in its presentation of violence, sexual encounters, sexual exploitation, language?
9.Anthony Burgess's characteristic language? Relationship with Russia, overtones of 1984? The effect on the audience, the tone?
10.Malcolm Mc Dowell as Alex? The quality of his embodying Alex? The opening, the face, eyeball confrontation with the audience, unblinking defiance? The made-up eye? Alex's sinister look, the smile? How monstrous was Alex, how human? His appearance, age, use of characteristic language? The fact of the voice-over? His confidentiality, genial tone, reference to brothers, inviting the audience to share his experience? The tableau in the bar, the Droogs? His power over them? His love of the old ultra violence? How vicious? Already a clockwork orange shaped by a clockwork society? His intelligence, strengths and weaknesses? The contrast with the television people in the bar (and his delight in the diva singing the Ninth Symphony)? Moving out, the encounter with the old man, contrast between the aged and the young, his condemning him because of his filthiness, begging? The brutality of the bashing? Billyboy and the old casino, the confrontation, the attempted rape, the violence of the fight, brutality, smashing windows etc? Stunt work? Travelling in the car against the backdrop? The arrival at Home - the plea about the accident, his whining and persuasiveness? The intrusion, the cruelty, the brutality towards the writer, the brutality towards his wife, cutting her jumpsuit, the rape? His song and dance routine with `Singin' in the Rain' and his kicking his victims? The brutality with the cat woman, using the same works(words?) to get in? Spurning her sexual art? The violence of the fight and his using the phallus to kill her? The contrast with his going home, the young man and his accountability to his parents? Their lack of concern but their love for him? Going into his room, the decor, the snake and his love for it? Listening to Beethoven, the sexual arousal and excitement, the images to Beethoven, the low shot of the woman hanging, the collage of the four statues of Jesus and their dancing, the limbs and the blood? His going to the ship in the period dress? The encounter with the girls, their lollipops? Rossini and the sexual orgy - and the effect of watching it in fast motion? His staying in bed, pretending he was sick? Wandering the house in his underpants, the meeting with Mr Deltoid and the story? Deltoid's reprimands, the sexual advance and his response? The Droogs waiting outside, their rebellion against him, the voice-over and his attitudes towards them? The ballet-style walk along the riverbank, his using his staff and pushing them in the water, slashing Dim's hand with a knife? Back to the bar and his control over the Droogs? His being betrayed by them and their smashing him with the milk bottle?
11.His going to prison, the voice-over and his commentary? The interrogation, mocking the interrogators, his manhandling the interrogator? Mr Deltoid and the news that he was a murderer? The bashing and the blood? His going to the prison, the officer and the ultra-strict interrogation, his having to stand behind the white line? His valuables going into a bag, the mothballs? The stripping, the interrogation, the search?
12.The passing of two years and Alex appearing as ordinary, in the chapel ceremony, the hellfire and brimstone style of the sermon, the prisoner mouthing kisses at him, the belching and the breaking wind, the officer and his wanting strict observance? Alex finding his place in the prison? Reading the scripture, quoting it, his images and his angelic look - and the irony of his flogging Jesus on the way to the cross, slitting the throats of the enemy, Old Testament sexuality? The interview with the chaplain and his sincerity? Knowing about the Ludovico techniques, the parade, his intervention to the minister, his being chosen?
13.The transition from prison to hospital? The signature and the disapproval from the head of the prison? Going with the officer, his little dance when coming to attention? Meeting the doctor and her talk with him, his voice-over about what would happen, his hopes for freedom? Wanting to watch the films? Audience response to the hooks on his eyes? The injection? His eyes being moistened? The bashings, the pictures from Hitler and the triumph of the spirit? The irony of Beethoven music as background? Becoming sick, the aversion therapy and its mechanisms? His plea, the desecration of Beethoven as a sin? His smooth style, pretences? The doctor and the hopes? The minister and his hopes? The performance, the lighting and the staging, the audience, the prison official and his wariness, the minister and his associates confident of success? The performance with the man taunting Alex, hitting him, the violence, subduing him, making him lick his shoe? Alex's comment? The woman as sex object, the visuals of Alex reaching out? The humour of both actor and actress bowing to the audience and their applause?
14.Alex being released, as ordinary, going home, the passive reception by his mother and father, his trying to persuade them to take him in, the unexplained guest? Joe and his place in the household? Alex weeping and Joe rebuking him? Being ousted? Not even getting his room back, the death of his snake? Contemplating throwing himself off the bridge, the old man begging, the old man recognising him, taking him to the vagrants under the bridge, their revenge bashing? Being rescued by the police - and the irony that they were Dim and George? Their anger and revenge? Their holding him under the water, almost drowning him? His desperation, the irony of the coincidence of his arriving at Home? Being let in, the write and his reaction, his strongman(?)(and?) helping him, thinking him a victim of the government? Alex in the bath, getting more confident, singing `Singin' in the Rain'? The effect on the author? The spaghetti and meatballs, the offering of the wine and his fearing that it was poisoned? The visitors and the interview? His collapse? Upstairs, locked in, the music of Beethoven coming through the floor, his desperation and suicide attempt?
15.The hospital, in plaster, Dr Taylor and her nice sweet manner, talking about his dreams, the cartoons and his having to fill in the alternate captions? His reversion to violence and sexuality? His parents visiting him and their reaction? The minister's arrival, the photo opportunities, the apology and the explanation, the understanding the deal? The writer in the asylum? Alex's performance - wanting to be fed by the minister and demanding it? His final imagination with the elegantly dressed people watching the nude romp? His comment that he was cured? His future?
16.Alex as a character and as a caricature? Relationship with thugs of the street? Present - future? Unsympathetic, a monster and vicious? Yet the confidentiality of the voice-over? His love for Beethoven - justifying him or showing that criminals can love great music? In prison, victim of the government and the Ludovico technique? Sympathy for him? After regaining his freedom? His future?
17.The picture of the Droogs, the gangs, blind loyalty, the brutality, participation in the crimes? The lack of imagination? their rebellion against him? The fight at the riverbank, pushed into the water, Dim and his hand being cut? Their being subdued? their leaving him after the attack with the broken bottle? Their going to the police, politicians using them?
18.The sketch of the parents, ineffectual? At home, their passive manner? At work, the factory, accountability of their son? their reaction to his violence, to Mr Deltoid? The dress and the colours? The decor of the house? Knick-knacks? His visit home, their having Joe in the house, their parental relationship with him, the mother weeping, the father trying to be friendly but stammering? The visit to the hospital? Joe, taking over, his attack on Alex?
19.Mr Deltoid, manner, dress, sexual inclinations? His way of speaking and mannerisms? His place in society, understanding brutality, his reaction to Alex, the lecture, trying to grab him, drinking the water with the teeth? His glee in visiting him in prison and telling him he was a murderer?
20.The character(caricature?) of the prison officer, tough, the letter of the law, robotic? The drill? The interrogation? His disapproval of Alex? Supervision in the chapel? The Ludovico technique and his not wanting Alex to go? The interview with the head of the prison? His watching the performance, the licking of the boot, smiling at the woman and applauding?
21.The chaplain, the traditional role of the chaplain, a seeming figure of fun, his hellfire and brimstone sermon? The discussion about the Ludovico technique, his hesitations? His discussions about freedom and choice? The role of God, grace and freedom? Redemption? His presence at the performance? His objections? The pragmatism of the minister: "It works"?
22.The government, the minister, law and order platform, the minister and his suave assistants and advisers, the tour, looking at Alex's cell? The decision to take on Alex - smiling as he recounted his brutality? The performance and his reaction? The speech against the chaplain? The change in public opinion, the newspaper headlines? His coming to the hospital, the reconciliation with Alex, the deal and the understanding, the use of Christian names, Alex making him feed him? The photo opportunities?
23.The role of the media? Records and music? The newspapers and their headlines? The use of cinema and its powerful images as part of the technique?
24.The writer and his home, liberal minded, compelled to let Alex in? His wife, their relationship? The brutality they experienced? The revenge, the conspirators, the writer confined to the wheelchair, the strongman as an extension of himself carrying him around? The reaction to the recognition, his fit (and looking like the bust of Beethoven)? The playing of the music, enjoying the torture? His being put into the asylum? The conspirators and their normal reactions, the interview with Alex, sharing with the writer?
25.The cat woman, her health farm, exercise? Her artwork and its sexuality?? The cats? The comment on society? Her suspicions of Alex, his coming in, the arguments, his swearing, the fight and her death?
26.The staff and their expertise in the Ludovico treatment? The doctor and his hopes? The doctor and her working with Alex, explanations, theories, injections? The nature of aversion therapy - and its role in society? Its presumptions about instincts and responsibility, choice? The contrast with Dr Taylor?
27.Ethical issues, theological issues? Redemption? Human beings as risen apes or fallen angels?
Brideshead Revisited
BRIDESHEAD REVISITED
UK, 2008, 133 minutes, Colour.
Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw, Hayley Atwell, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon, Greta Scacchi, Patrick Malahide, Ed Stoppard, Jonathan Cake, Niall Buggy.
Directed by Julian Jarrold.
Evelyn Waugh's celebrated 1945 novel was something of a departure from his more satirical books like Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies,Scoop. It was a serious observation of a traditional and wealthy English Catholic family of the 1920s and 1930s, the nature of their allegiance to the Church, particular aspects of their faith and its being part of their aristocratic culture. The observations are made by Charles Ryder who comes from a middle class family, who declares himself an atheist, who is both fascinated and repelled by this kind of religious faith and behaviour just as Waugh himself satirised but seemed to be drawn to the Brideshead way of life and its snobbery. The novel was sub-titled 'The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'.
Waugh himself was a convert to Catholicism in 1930.
Response to this 2008 film version, which did not perform well at the US box office and is about to open in the UK , Australia and other English-speaking countries in October, will depend very much on the audience's age. There will be those who have read the book and have their ideas on how literary adaptations should be filmed. There will be those who saw the 1981, 12 episode television series, which still has the reputation of a television masterpiece (written by John Mortimer and starring Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Diana Quick with celebrity cameos by Olivier, Giulgud and Claire Bloom). A film running just over two hours cannot hope to compete in storytelling with this series.
For a younger audience unfamiliar with novel or series, this may seem just another 'English heritage' film along with those from the Merchant- Ivory company. Not having lived through the period, they may well find the portrait of Catholicism alien to their sensibilities and younger Catholics, in particular, unless they belong to current traditionalist movements or frequent such Churches as London's Brompton Oratory, may find that it does not correspond much with their ideas and experience of faith and the Church.
Some audiences have reacted favourably to the film. A number have judged that the film is anti-Catholic.
Leaving aside a review of the film as drama and not commenting on performance, photography, musical score and other technical aspects, the film is worth discussing in terms of representations of the Catholic Church.
The type of Catholicism in the film is very much that of of pre-1960s church. While a great deal of what the family pray, say, discuss and do bears the imprint of a rather sombre church (inherited from the 18th and 19th centuries steadfastness in the face of secular or, as the sub-title of the novel suggests, profane challenge), it represents a hierarchical, aristocratic interpretation of the Gospels and spirituality and devotions. While the characters have varying degrees of belief and lived commitment of faith, it is a faith that is part of ancestral heritage and status, sometimes more cultural than religious. Lisa Mullen, in her Sight and Sound review of the film (October 2008), tellingly refers to the Marchmain's Catholicism as 'an ancestral edict that cannot be shirked'.
The audience is invited to observe and assess the Catholicism through the eyes and experiences of Charles Ryder. He states that he is an atheist. Lady Marchmain suggests that he is really an agnostic but he insists on atheist. While he takes some holy water and genuflects as he first visits the home chapel with Sebastian, he says he is simply trying to fit in. But, he fits in less and less. He is dismayed by Lady Marchmain's frequently expressed language of God's will (when much of it is her own will or, actually, whim) and refers to 'God's limits'. He listens to Cara's version of easier-going Italian Catholicism and its sin, go to confession and sin again pastoral practice. He respects Lord Marchmain's wish not to have a priest at his deathbed but is both moved and puzzled by the change of heart which leads Lord Marchmain to accept Fr McKay's presence, the sacrament of Extreme Unction (its name at that time) and his sign of acceptance by making the sign of the cross as he dies.
This is material that the audience needs time to reflect on as does Charles. When he returns to Bridehead, occupied by the troops during the war, he goes into the chapel, remembers the Flytes and goes to extinguish the candle, hesitates, and does not. This is a fine evocative visual symbol for open-mindedness – that, while there is no problem dramatising the doubts of a believer, audiences tend not to be sympathetic to or are surprised at the doubts of an atheist.. As Charles listens to his ordinary military assistant and his blithe summing up of life as birth, living and death (the philosophy of the brave new world and hopes after World War II), Charles' experience of Bridehead and the Flytes suggest that he reassess his memories, both sacred and profane.
But what is the nature of these sacred memories?
The Flyte experience of the Catholic Church is from the tradition of the Recusant families, those who stood fast against the Reformation for both religious and civil ideologies and who, at best, developed a profound belief and devout practice. Their chaplains in the 17th and 18th centuries, many trained in France, often brought back more rigid ideas and practices which emphasised the language of sin and saving one's soul, as Julia laments about her mother's attitude to her when she was a girl, that she was 'a bad little girl'. By the 20th century, the class system had separated families like the Flytes from ordinary people and, indeed, ordinary Catholics. There was a great deal going on in the English Catholicism of the 1920s and 1930s. The Catholic Church was more that of the working classes (and the presence of Irish Catholics since the 19th century migrations) and the middle classes. The 1930s was a strong era of Catholic Action, of writing and publications and rethinking theology, of talks, discussions and arguments at Hyde Park Corner and the like, of Catholic Education and hospital and social care. Think Chesterton, for instance. While the Flyte family may have had connections with this kind of vital Catholic life, there is no evidence of its influence in the screenplay. The family gather in the chapel after dinner, pray together and sing the Salve Regina just as their ancestors did in the penal days.
This means that the Catholicism of the film is a niche Catholicism, so to speak. And, while it is accurate enough and needs to be portrayed, it is a pity if the average audience comes away thinking that this is it as far as Catholicism goes.
The danger is also in stereotyping – which does not mean that the stereotypes were not real: the genial Irish priest and his eagerness to administer the Last Rites, the easy and sometimes glib 'out' to refer to confession and absolution as the simple Catholic way of dealing with sin, the emphatic God language, the pervasiveness of guilt.
However, one of the striking things about the screenplay by Andrew Davies (a veteran of adapting literary works for the big and small screen) and Jeremy Brock (who may or may not have extensive knowledge of matters Catholic), is the character of Lady Marchmain, brought to vivid and sometimes alarming life by Emma Thompson, and the words put into her mouth.
She speaks about the Church, about faith, about sin, in a way that a majority of clergy spoke at that time and earlier. She has a hierarchical approach to everything, observing life and behaviour from a higher moral ground which leads to an assumed certainty and a snobbish and sometimes intolerant imposition of what she believes and wants in the name of God. She does back down somewhat as she loses her children, something which bewilders her (as it still does bishops, clergy and devout older Catholics faced with their sons and daughters abandoning church practice in the last four decades).
In this way, we can see in the film that her behaviour as mother is parallel to some traditions of 'Mother Church'. She avows to Charles that she has wanted what was best for her children, something which has, in fact, hindered their growth, Julia confident on the surface but with a pervasive fear of her mother and of God, Sebastian and the complexities of his homosexual orientation and his alcoholism. Bridey is simply Lady Marchmain in the next generation.
But mother, and Mother Church, in imposing religious values and practice by simply demanding them rather than assisting the children to grow, assimilate the values and mature into an adult faith, either reproduces replicas, stifles moral growth or alienates the children, driving them away and, in making their experiences bitter, leads them to reject everything their mother stands for.
In this way, the film of Brideshead Revisited, while focusing on a limited and exclusive section of the English Catholic Church of the past, does offer a real model of what has happened in the broader Church, especially in the latter part of the 20th century in terms of lack of interest, rejection or hostility towards the Church.
Brideshead Revisited does not seem to be anti-Catholic as a film dramatising the changes in much of 20th century Catholicism – which may irritate those who love the Church – but, rather, a film challenging beliefs and practices. Which could lead to healthy reflection, re-assessment and discussion.
Note:
The press kit for the film (not always the most trustworthy source for opinions and statements) offers an interesting writer's perspective in quoting screen-writer, Jeremy Brock.
Referrring to Lady Marchmain: A staunch Roman Catholic, she is the religious centre of the novel and the film, binding all the characters together and, in the case of the Marchmain children, largely informing who they are, directing their decisions both subconsciously when they were growing up and consciously as they become adults. Brock says, 'She carries the burden of the religious themes. She is the most articulate advocate for the Catholic point of view in the film and stands out because of that. It also inevitably means she is going to be one of Charles' main adversaries... As religion is one of the central themes and narratives spinning around the central love story, the film explores how religion plays into people's lives, how it informs who they are and how they attempt to escape it or rewrite it in order to become themselves. Brock also refers to the difficulties Charles Ryder faces as an atheist trying to comprehend the power of that faith.
Hayley Attwell, speaking of her performance as Julia says, 'At the beginning of the film she describes herself as half heathen, as she rebels slightly from her upbringing in this big house and very dominant Catholic family. Charles then enters her life and opens her eyes to a new world, but ultimately she is on a journey to discover whether her life is predestined or whether she has the freedom to follow her heart. It's a struggle for her, to find out who she is and what she truly desires compared to what she thinks God wants from her and for her. She ultimately chooses God, the greatest good and highest source of all life, over Charles and romance. But I think it's far more complicated and interesting than just giving up man. Julia finally discovers who she really is and she is happy. It's a revelation rather than a sad ending for her. She's taking on a faith which is a huge thing – quite a miraculous and wonderful thing for many people.'
This kind of comment on religious and church issues is not often found in connection with a film and it is to be welcomed.
1.The status of Evelyn Waugh as a British novelist, this novel? The 80s miniseries? A 21st century interpretation?
2.The adaptation of a novel: omissions, inclusions, treatment of themes, the perspective on the 1920s and 30s, Britain, class, wealth, snobbery? Issues of religion, the Catholic church, belief, practice, ideology? Atheism? The post-war hopes and perspectives?
3.Howard Castle, the magnificence of the building, the grounds, the interiors, the works of art, the chapel? The aristocratic way of life? Lord and Lady Marchmain? The Flyte family?
4.The contrast with Paddington, the Ryders’ home, Charles, his father’s seclusion, near Paddington station? Middle class?
5.Oxford, Sebastian’s world, Charles entering it, the ethos of Oxford, the colleges, aristocracy, the way of life?Venice, the beauty of Venice compared with Britain? The Morocco locations for Sebastian and Charles?
6.The re-creation of the period, the 1920s, 1930s, costumes, décor, music? The occupation of Brideshead in World War Two?
7.British heritage, beauty, the isolation of the family, the isolation of class? The musical score?
8.The title, Charles, his voice-over, the audience observing everything through him? Fascinated by the family, repelled by their religion? The mystery of the Flyte family? Aristocracy, style, class, wealth? Religion and its dominance? Charles and his return during the war, the war atmosphere?
9.Charles and his memories, going into the jungle, his art, exhibition, his marriage, on board the boat, feted, his being dissatisfied, glimpsing Julia, pursuing her? Their meeting? The reprisal of this episode, the sexual encounter, their decisions, returning to Brideshead, the reactions of the family, especially Bridley, Rex’s reaction, Charles’s father, the Flyte family?
10.Charles and his background, middle-class school, his family, his father and his mother’s death, his character, wanting to be an artist? His father supporting him financially? His atheistic beliefs, going to Oxford, charmed, Jasper showing him round, listening to Sebastian and his friends, the camp behaviour, the condemnation of their homosexuality? Sebastian vomiting in his window? His cleaning up – and the servant wanting to clean up and seeing it as a privilege? Receiving Sebastian’s flowers, going to the meal, drinking together? The coterie, the meal, discussions about schools? Sebastian and his homosexual orientation? Charles being warned? Their time together, affection, the later kiss, the effect on each of them? Charles going to Brideshead, meeting Nanny, the rosary, her prayer? Going into the chapel, taking holy water, genuflecting, wanting to fit in? The glimpse of Julia in the car? His holiday at home, the note, his being summoned to Brideshead, Julia meeting him?
11.Lady Marchmain’s arrival, swimming with Sebastian, naked, watching, Julia and her message, Lady Marchmain and her authority, the meal, the comment on Charles’s clothes, grace before meals, Sebastian and his behaviour at the table, the tensions in conversation? Lord Marchmain and his moving from England, going to Venice, setting up with Cara? The prayer after the meal, the chapel, the singing of the Salve Regina? Charles’s talk with Lady Marchmain, her relying on him, her wanting him to supervise Sebastian?
12.Lady Marchmain as the matriarch, the impact on her children, the importance of her Catholicism, faith, her God-language, her discipline, her prayer? Exclusive Catholicism? The family chaplain? Protecting her children yet driving them away? Her children’s dislike of her? Her understanding Charles’s affection for Julia? The engagement party, Charles giving Sebastian money for drinking, the confrontation with Lady Marchmain, her ousting him? The four years passing, her coming to London to ask him to go to Morocco? The sadness of her life, separation from her decision, her death?
13.The contrast with the holiday in Venice, Lord Marchmain and his villa, Cara, the joy of the visit, tourists, the meals, the art? Marchmain’s life and his resentment of his wife? Cara, Italian, her comments on Italian Catholicism, sinning and going to confession? Sebastian, enjoying Venice, his seeing Charles kiss Julia? His alienation?
14.After Venice, Sebastian and his withdrawal, at Oxford? Charles and his affection for Julia? The engagement party, the introduction to Rex?
15.Rex, the American, converting to Catholicism, exploiting the situation, separating from Julia, the deal to get some of Charles’s art and release Julia? Julia’s listening in, her resentment at being bought?
16.Charles, the effect of Brideshead, of the family, of their religious belief, his antagonism towards them?
17.Julia and Charles, the relationship, Bridley and his disapproval, the replica of his mother? Julia and Charles leaving, seeing Lord Marchmain return, Cara’s words, his dying, the issue of the priest, the priest being ousted, Julia and her deep religious feelings, her memories of her mother instilling that she was a bad girl, her feelings of guilt because of her mother? The priest, the last rites, Lord Marchmain and his sign, making the sign of the cross? Charles’s dismay?
18.Charles, the experience of Lord Marchmain’s death, the religious rites? Julia and her inability to go with him, his leaving?
19.Charles returning to Brideshead, the family evacuated, the occupation of the troops, the change, the past gone? Discussions with his assistant, the cheerful atheism? The hopes for post-war England?
20.Charles, finally going into the chapel, looking at the painting, the candle, his not extinguishing it? His own doubts – and becoming open to the world of Brideshead?
Brideshead Revisited*
BRIDESHEAD REVISITED
UK, 2008, 133 minutes, Colour.
Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw, Hayley Atwell, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon, Greta Scacchi, Patrick Malahide, Ed Stoppard, Jonathan Cake, Niall Buggy.
Directed by Julian Jarrold.
Evelyn Waugh's celebrated 1945 novel was something of a departure from his more satirical books like Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies,Scoop. It was a serious observation of a traditional and wealthy English Catholic family of the 1920s and 1930s, the nature of their allegiance to the Church, particular aspects of their faith and its being part of their aristocratic culture. The observations are made by Charles Ryder who comes from a middle class family, who declares himself an atheist, who is both fascinated and repelled by this kind of religious faith and behaviour just as Waugh himself satirised but seemed to be drawn to the Brideshead way of life and its snobbery. The novel was sub-titled 'The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'.
Waugh himself was a convert to Catholicism in 1930.
Response to this 2008 film version, which did not perform well at the US box office and is about to open in the UK , Australia and other English-speaking countries in October, will depend very much on the audience's age. There will be those who have read the book and have their ideas on how literary adaptations should be filmed. There will be those who saw the 1981, 12 episode television series, which still has the reputation of a television masterpiece (written by John Mortimer and starring Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Diana Quick with celebrity cameos by Olivier, Giulgud and Claire Bloom). A film running just over two hours cannot hope to compete in storytelling with this series.
For a younger audience unfamiliar with novel or series, this may seem just another 'English heritage' film along with those from the Merchant-Ivory? company. Not having lived through the period, they may well find the portrait of Catholicism alien to their sensibilities and younger Catholics, in particular, unless they belong to current traditionalist movements or frequent such Churches as London's Brompton Oratory, may find that it does not correspond much with their ideas and experience of faith and the Church.
Some audiences have reacted favourably to the film. A number have judged that the film is anti-Catholic.
Leaving aside a review of the film as drama and not commenting on performance, photography, musical score and other technical aspects, the film is worth discussing in terms of representations of the Catholic Church.
The type of Catholicism in the film is very much that of of pre-1960s church. While a great deal of what the family pray, say, discuss and do bears the imprint of a rather sombre church (inherited from the 18th and 19th centuries steadfastness in the face of secular or, as the sub-title of the novel suggests, profane challenge), it represents a hierarchical, aristocratic interpretation of the Gospels and spirituality and devotions. While the characters have varying degrees of belief and lived commitment of faith, it is a faith that is part of ancestral heritage and status, sometimes more cultural than religious. Lisa Mullen, in her Sight and Sound review of the film (October 2008), tellingly refers to the Marchmain's Catholicism as 'an ancestral edict that cannot be shirked'.
The audience is invited to observe and assess the Catholicism through the eyes and experiences of Charles Ryder. He states that he is an atheist. Lady Marchmain suggests that he is really an agnostic but he insists on atheist. While he takes some holy water and genuflects as he first visits the home chapel with Sebastian, he says he is simply trying to fit in. But, he fits in less and less. He is dismayed by Lady Marchmain's frequently expressed language of God's will (when much of it is her own will or, actually, whim) and refers to 'God's limits'. He listens to Cara's version of easier-going Italian Catholicism and its sin, go to confession and sin again pastoral practice. He respects Lord Marchmain's wish not to have a priest at his deathbed but is both moved and puzzled by the change of heart which leads Lord Marchmain to accept Fr McKay's presence, the sacrament of Extreme Unction (its name at that time) and his sign of acceptance by making the sign of the cross as he dies.
This is material that the audience needs time to reflect on as does Charles. When he returns to Bridehead, occupied by the troops during the war, he goes into the chapel, remembers the Flytes and goes to extinguish the candle, hesitates, and does not. This is a fine evocative visual symbol for open-mindedness – that, while there is no problem dramatising the doubts of a believer, audiences tend not to be sympathetic to or are surprised at the doubts of an atheist.. As Charles listens to his ordinary military assistant and his blithe summing up of life as birth, living and death (the philosophy of the brave new world and hopes after World War II), Charles' experience of Bridehead and the Flytes suggest that he reassess his memories, both sacred and profane.
But what is the nature of these sacred memories?
The Flyte experience of the Catholic Church is from the tradition of the Recusant families, those who stood fast against the Reformation for both religious and civil ideologies and who, at best, developed a profound belief and devout practice. Their chaplains in the 17th and 18th centuries, many trained in France, often brought back more rigid ideas and practices which emphasised the language of sin and saving one's soul, as Julia laments about her mother's attitude to her when she was a girl, that she was 'a bad little girl'. By the 20th century, the class system had separated families like the Flytes from ordinary people and, indeed, ordinary Catholics. There was a great deal going on in the English Catholicism of the 1920s and 1930s. The Catholic Church was more that of the working classes (and the presence of Irish Catholics since the 19th century migrations) and the middle classes. The 1930s was a strong era of Catholic Action, of writing and publications and rethinking theology, of talks, discussions and arguments at Hyde Park Corner and the like, of Catholic Education and hospital and social care. Think Chesterton, for instance. While the Flyte family may have had connections with this kind of vital Catholic life, there is no evidence of its influence in the screenplay. The family gather in the chapel after dinner, pray together and sing the Salve Regina just as their ancestors did in the penal days.
This means that the Catholicism of the film is a niche Catholicism, so to speak. And, while it is accurate enough and needs to be portrayed, it is a pity if the average audience comes away thinking that this is it as far as Catholicism goes.
The danger is also in stereotyping – which does not mean that the stereotypes were not real: the genial Irish priest and his eagerness to administer the Last Rites, the easy and sometimes glib 'out' to refer to confession and absolution as the simple Catholic way of dealing with sin, the emphatic God language, the pervasiveness of guilt.
However, one of the striking things about the screenplay by Andrew Davies (a veteran of adapting literary works for the big and small screen) and Jeremy Brock (who may or may not have extensive knowledge of matters Catholic), is the character of Lady Marchmain, brought to vivid and sometimes alarming life by Emma Thompson, and the words put into her mouth.
She speaks about the Church, about faith, about sin, in a way that a majority of clergy spoke at that time and earlier. She has a hierarchical approach to everything, observing life and behaviour from a higher moral ground which leads to an assumed certainty and a snobbish and sometimes intolerant imposition of what she believes and wants in the name of God. She does back down somewhat as she loses her children, something which bewilders her (as it still does bishops, clergy and devout older Catholics faced with their sons and daughters abandoning church practice in the last four decades).
In this way, we can see in the film that her behaviour as mother is parallel to some traditions of 'Mother Church'. She avows to Charles that she has wanted what was best for her children, something which has, in fact, hindered their growth, Julia confident on the surface but with a pervasive fear of her mother and of God, Sebastian and the complexities of his homosexual orientation and his alcoholism. Bridey is simply Lady Marchmain in the next generation.
But mother, and Mother Church, in imposing religious values and practice by simply demanding them rather than assisting the children to grow, assimilate the values and mature into an adult faith, either reproduces replicas, stifles moral growth or alienates the children, driving them away and, in making their experiences bitter, leads them to reject everything their mother stands for.
In this way, the film of Brideshead Revisited, while focusing on a limited and exclusive section of the English Catholic Church of the past, does offer a real model of what has happened in the broader Church, especially in the latter part of the 20th century in terms of lack of interest, rejection or hostility towards the Church.
Brideshead Revisited does not seem to be anti-Catholic as a film dramatising the changes in much of 20th century Catholicism – which may irritate those who love the Church – but, rather, a film challenging beliefs and practices. Which could lead to healthy reflection, re-assessment and discussion.
Note:
The press kit for the film (not always the most trustworthy source for opinions and statements) offers an interesting writer's perspective in quoting screen-writer, Jeremy Brock.
Referrring to Lady Marchmain: A staunch Roman Catholic, she is the religious centre of the novel and the film, binding all the characters together and, in the case of the Marchmain children, largely informing who they are, directing their decisions both subconsciously when they were growing up and consciously as they become adults. Brock says, 'She carries the burden of the religious themes. She is the most articulate advocate for the Catholic point of view in the film and stands out because of that. It also inevitably means she is going to be one of Charles' main adversaries... As religion is one of the central themes and narratives spinning around the central love story, the film explores how religion plays into people's lives, how it informs who they are and how they attempt to escape it or rewrite it in order to become themselves. Brock also refers to the difficulties Charles Ryder faces as an atheist trying to comprehend the power of that faith.
Hayley Attwell, speaking of her performance as Julia says, 'At the beginning of the film she describes herself as half heathen, as she rebels slightly from her upbringing in this big house and very dominant Catholic family. Charles then enters her life and opens her eyes to a new world, but ultimately she is on a journey to discover whether her life is predestined or whether she has the freedom to follow her heart. It's a struggle for her, to find out who she is and what she truly desires compared to what she thinks God wants from her and for her. She ultimately chooses God, the greatest good and highest source of all life, over Charles and romance. But I think it's far more complicated and interesting than just giving up man. Julia finally discovers who she really is and she is happy. It's a revelation rather than a sad ending for her. She's taking on a faith which is a huge thing – quite a miraculous and wonderful thing for many people.'
This kind of comment on religious and church issues is not often found in connection with a film and it is to be welcomed.
1.The status of Evelyn Waugh as a British novelist, this novel? The 80s miniseries? A 21st century interpretation?
2.The adaptation of a novel: omissions, inclusions, treatment of themes, the perspective on the 1920s and 30s, Britain, class, wealth, snobbery? Issues of religion, the Catholic church, belief, practice, ideology? Atheism? The post-war hopes and perspectives?
3.Howard Castle, the magnificence of the building, the grounds, the interiors, the works of art, the chapel? The aristocratic way of life? Lord and Lady Marchmain? The Flyte family?
4.The contrast with Paddington, the Ryders’ home, Charles, his father’s seclusion, near Paddington station? Middle class?
5.Oxford, Sebastian’s world, Charles entering it, the ethos of Oxford, the colleges, aristocracy, the way of life?Venice, the beauty of Venice compared with Britain? The Morocco locations for Sebastian and Charles?
6.The re-creation of the period, the 1920s, 1930s, costumes, décor, music? The occupation of Brideshead in World War Two?
7.British heritage, beauty, the isolation of the family, the isolation of class? The musical score?
8.The title, Charles, his voice-over, the audience observing everything through him? Fascinated by the family, repelled by their religion? The mystery of the Flyte family? Aristocracy, style, class, wealth? Religion and its dominance? Charles and his return during the war, the war atmosphere?
9.Charles and his memories, going into the jungle, his art, exhibition, his marriage, on board the boat, feted, his being dissatisfied, glimpsing Julia, pursuing her? Their meeting? The reprisal of this episode, the sexual encounter, their decisions, returning to Brideshead, the reactions of the family, especially Bridley, Rex’s reaction, Charles’s father, the Flyte family?
10.Charles and his background, middle-class school, his family, his father and his mother’s death, his character, wanting to be an artist? His father supporting him financially? His atheistic beliefs, going to Oxford, charmed, Jasper showing him round, listening to Sebastian and his friends, the camp behaviour, the condemnation of their homosexuality? Sebastian vomiting in his window? His cleaning up – and the servant wanting to clean up and seeing it as a privilege? Receiving Sebastian’s flowers, going to the meal, drinking together? The coterie, the meal, discussions about schools? Sebastian and his homosexual orientation? Charles being warned? Their time together, affection, the later kiss, the effect on each of them? Charles going to Brideshead, meeting Nanny, the rosary, her prayer? Going into the chapel, taking holy water, genuflecting, wanting to fit in? The glimpse of Julia in the car? His holiday at home, the note, his being summoned to Brideshead, Julia meeting him?
11.Lady Marchmain’s arrival, swimming with Sebastian, naked, watching, Julia and her message, Lady Marchmain and her authority, the meal, the comment on Charles’s clothes, grace before meals, Sebastian and his behaviour at the table, the tensions in conversation? Lord Marchmain and his moving from England, going to Venice, setting up with Cara? The prayer after the meal, the chapel, the singing of the Salve Regina? Charles’s talk with Lady Marchmain, her relying on him, her wanting him to supervise Sebastian?
12.Lady Marchmain as the matriarch, the impact on her children, the importance of her Catholicism, faith, her God-language, her discipline, her prayer? Exclusive Catholicism? The family chaplain? Protecting her children yet driving them away? Her children’s dislike of her? Her understanding Charles’s affection for Julia? The engagement party, Charles giving Sebastian money for drinking, the confrontation with Lady Marchmain, her ousting him? The four years passing, her coming to London to ask him to go to Morocco? The sadness of her life, separation from her decision, her death?
13.The contrast with the holiday in Venice, Lord Marchmain and his villa, Cara, the joy of the visit, tourists, the meals, the art? Marchmain’s life and his resentment of his wife? Cara, Italian, her comments on Italian Catholicism, sinning and going to confession? Sebastian, enjoying Venice, his seeing Charles kiss Julia? His alienation?
14.After Venice, Sebastian and his withdrawal, at Oxford? Charles and his affection for Julia? The engagement party, the introduction to Rex?
15.Rex, the American, converting to Catholicism, exploiting the situation, separating from Julia, the deal to get some of Charles’s art and release Julia? Julia’s listening in, her resentment at being bought?
16.Charles, the effect of Brideshead, of the family, of their religious belief, his antagonism towards them?
17.Julia and Charles, the relationship, Bridley and his disapproval, the replica of his mother? Julia and Charles leaving, seeing Lord Marchmain return, Cara’s words, his dying, the issue of the priest, the priest being ousted, Julia and her deep religious feelings, her memories of her mother instilling that she was a bad girl, her feelings of guilt because of her mother? The priest, the last rites, Lord Marchmain and his sign, making the sign of the cross? Charles’s dismay?
18.Charles, the experience of Lord Marchmain’s death, the religious rites? Julia and her inability to go with him,
19.his leaving?
20.Charles returning to Brideshead, the family evacuated, the occupation of the troops, the change, the past gone? Discussions with his assistant, the cheerful atheism? The hopes for post-war England?
21.Charles, finally going into the chapel, looking at the painting, the candle, his not extinguishing it? His own doubts – and becoming open to the world of Brideshead?
Apocalypse Now Redux
APOCALYPSE NOW
US, 1979, 147 minutes, Colour.
Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Robert Duvall, Sam Bottoms, Larry Fishburne, Albert Hall, G.D.Spradlin, Harrison Ford, Scott Glenn, Colleen Camp.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Apocalypse Now is Francis Ford Coppola's attempt at a definitive statement about the Vietnam war. While he may not have succeeded in making the definitive cinema statement, he has created a cinema masterpiece. The film was several years in production: shooting started in early 1976 and concluded in the middle of 1977. There were many production difficulties including the loss of millions of dollars worth of equipment because of weather in the Philippines. The work on editing the material and putting it into presentable and commercial form took until the beginning on 1979. The film won the award for Best Film at the Cannes Film Festival, 1979 although it was presented as a work in progress. The film achieved general release during 1979 and was acclaimed.
The scope of the work is vast. Coppola, who had experience in the '70s of succeeding with the two Godfather films as well as the film about surveillance, The Conversation, handles the scope of the war very well indeed. However, he used Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness as the basic framework for the plot. He himself said that when there were difficulties in filming he went back to this novel. The basic outline of the journey along the river into more remote vastnesses to find Kurtz is transferred to Vietnam and Cambodia very well. Martin Sheen in an admirable performance sustaining the film is the searcher for Colonel Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando - fat, with shaven head, mad - who appears only in the last part of the film.
However, the momentum of the film is towards him. The actual war is presented vividly especially in two sequences - a helicopter attack and a night encounter. The issues of the war and its madness are very much to the fore. Political background, however, is not included. The journey into madness and the darkness of the human heart are the centre. Robert Duval gives an excellent supporting performance as a gung-ho commander. There is a strong supporting cast. However, the technical credits are most impressive. Photography by Vittorio Storaro (the cinematographer for Bertolucci's Last Tango and 1900). The scope and sweep of scenery and location photography and battle is matched with the intensity of the close-ups and the isolation of individuals. There is a striking score by Carmine Coppola, the director's father, who was responsible for music for the Godfather films with Nino Rota. Apocalypse Now is a significant film of any decade but is a cinematic vision of a key period and an understanding of American involvement in the East in the late '60s and '70s.
1. The overall and total impact of the film? Its quality of production, content? Awards, acclaim? The criticism that it was pretentious, a folly?
2. The work of Coppola and his career? The film as a culmination of his early work and of his films of the '70s? His skill as a writer (Is Paris Burning, Patton - for which he won an Oscar?), the production difficulties, the risk? His overall vision and capacity to transfer it to cinema? The collaboration with John Milius (and his writing and directing of mythic films of the '70s)?
3. The use of Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness for plot, the mythic element of the journey and the quest, the sense of mission, the establishing of the characters and their characteristics, setting and meaning? The attention to detail and the images from Conrad's book? T.S. Eliot and his quoting of Heart of Darkness for The Hollow Men and Kurtz's quotation of it, quotations from Eliot and having in the Cambodian jungle the anthropological books quoted by Eliot in the wasteland?
4. The impact of war, of the Vietnam war and its specific problems? The audience immersed in the experience of war as well as observing it? Vietnam and the jungle, the river, the styles of warfare in the '70s? The people involved ~ officers, authority figures, the ordinary soldier? Orders and the execution of these? The pros and cons of the people involved in the war? An American war, and American war for the Americans in South-East? Asia, for the Vietnamese and Cambodians?
5. The impact of the film for an American audience, what explanations of the war, responsibilities, guilt? An American audience experiencing some catharsis via this visual involvement? For nations involved in wars in South-East? Asia? For audiences from countries not involved? The hindsight about the war? Its impact in 1979 and later?
6. The technical contribution to the film: the use of Technovision, the skill of the presentation of the images, the large-scale visual scope, the intimate presentation of characters, the scope of international war and the isolation of individuals? Colour photography and its beauty and ugliness? Light and dark, shadow? The contribution of the score - its atmospheric tone? The song at the opening and the end? The use of Wagner? The various songs? The editing devices? The camera movement e.g. aerial photography, the intimate battle sequences?
7. The strength of the plot - the basis in Joseph Conrad? The reality and unreality as explored in the Vietnam context? The move into the heart of darkness of human nature in war? The focus on Willard, audiences identifying with him and understanding him, his attitude towards the war? Moving with him through various changes of attitude? Audience response to his mission, the urgency of the mission and the goal of reaching Kurz? The device of the journey along the river, the journey beyond boundaries? The introduction to the crew and the sub-plots with them, the sub-plots on the various attacks, the narrowing down of the plot to the voyage on the boat, the clash at the border? The continual movement towards Kurz (and audience hearing the voice of.. and seeing photos of Marlon Brando), the culmination in the final half hour at Kurz's headquarters?
8. The importance of Kurz as goal: the voice, the gradual filling in of his story, seeing pictures, the discussion of his military record? Marlon Brando's presence and his power to draw audience interest in him and his character? Willard's goal to eliminate Kurz?
9. The significance of the title - the tones of apocalypse, the end of the world, the end of the millennium etc.? The relationship to the Book of Revelation and the biblical tones? The eschatological meaning? The bringing of the end of the world into the presence in war? Apocalypse and the Vietnam war. any war? American power and its potential to destroy the world and bring it to an end in conflagration? The universal significance of the title? Images of fire, avenging angels., plagues? Death and apocalypse? The focus on Christ and the saving tones of apocalypse, Kurz as anti-Christ? The millennium and the blind and fanatic following of Kurz and the religious sect? His mystique and power? Kurz's ideas of ruthless perfection? The title as the motto at Kurz's headquarters? The phases of apocalypse: the nations, individuals, Kurz?
10. The film's insight into war: horror and the final words of Conrad in Brando's mouth, the madness of war and the varieties of this, the rights and wrongs in relationship to madness. evil, strategies? How well did the film involve audience in evil and madness and help it to understand them? The initial officers and their commission to Willard and their madness and evil. the evil of rules. conventions. codes. secrecy? The ordinary soldiers in relation to this, their isolation, their coping.. inability to cope - especially the Americans and their longing for home, lack of morale, use of drugs etc.? War and suspicions and fear? Madness of war and memories of the ordinary world, the transistor and its bringing news and music and tapes from how? Those involved in war and its madness compensating with power.. games, drugs, drink, sex, personal clashes, violence? Questions of tension and how much can be taken? The people involved in the war making it their own., the involvement in others? The need for finishing a war? Ruthlessness in bringing the war to conclusion - Kurz's ultimate evil and madness? Willard and his observation of the madness? His becoming identified with it, the final confrontation and decision?
11. The film's portrayal of madness: a mad world, national madness, individual madness, Willard's oddness in the opening sequence, the madness of the ordinary soldier, the madness of the American involvement in South-East? Asia? How did these compare with Kurz? Which madness is worse? The comparisons of the various experiences of madness?
12. The film's portrayal of evil: man as good, the focus on the human heart and yet a heart of darkness, the basic human values, their challenge, difficulty? Presuppositions about good and evil? The dark side of the heart and Kurz as the extreme? Willard and seeing the possibilities of Kurz's approach to madness and the war, the possibility of succumbing, the revulsion? What basically is the evil of war, what the suffering? The obvious catastrophes and the cruelty and meaninglessness of the war? How does this compare with pride and the perfection of evil?
13. The portrayal of violence: the aggressiveness of the war, defensiveness? How much right violence? How much wrong violence? Physical, mental, moral? Torture, invasions, killing, accidents? The role of injury and torture, blood? American aggression, Vietnamese aggression? The violence of the aerial attack, of the night at the bridge? Kurz's violence - the subjugation of the people, his torture of Willard, the death of the sailor and his beheading? Audience identification with the violence, revulsion?
14. The impact of the prologue - images of fire and apocalypse? The focus on Willard - as a man, soldier, American? The explanation of his civilian life -photos, letters, his discontent and inability to readjust? His need for being involved in Vietnam? His personal discontent and disorientation - how was this illustrated by his look, behaviour, moods, martial arts training, drinking, violence, smashing mirror? The background of his career - intelligence, killing, assassinations, secrecy, orders? The foreboding of his waiting, the experience of isolation? The technical devices to illustrate these moods, the visualising by superimpositions, photographing his face upside down etc.? His fantasies, songs? The blood on his face? Man within this kind of world - apocalyptic man? His readiness then when the soldiers came to get him to commission him? Audience identification with him, puzzle, revulsion? Readiness to go on his voyage to the heart of darkness?
15. The character of Willard: the ordinary soldier, a significant career? The American officer and his training, background, involvement in Vietnam? His feeling alienated when at home in the United States? Restlessness in Saigon? The importance of the commentary and its in formation, irony? Its influence on audience response? Willard and his alienation from family? His crisis at the opening of the film? The apocalyptic imagery associated with this? Upside down, fire? Martial arts? Blood? The crisis and his drinking? Hope and confusion? His being a military assassin? Strengths and weaknesses? The soldiers taking him to the interview? The officers and their gentlemanly giving of his mission? The meal? His orders? Information about Kurz and his gradually getting ready from confrontation? The motives for going? His need for action? Patriotism and loyalty? The many sequences of his studying Kurz throughout the boat trip? His life on the boat and his reaction to each of the crew? His puzzle over the ordinary soldier's presence in Vietnam? His experiences - the helicopter, Kilgore and Wagner? The massacre in the village? Continually moving up river? The depot and the black marketing, his demands for supply? His presence at the playgirl entertainment? The arrival at the border and the confusion? The hellish imagery? His receiving more information as he went beyond the border? Studying Kurz, his predecessor, identifying with Kurz and being alienated? The boat and his relentless living of orders, not letting anything impede his progress, the shooting? The atmosphere of his arrival, wariness, the experience of the natives, the suffering? The photographer and his raving enthusiasm? Willard at the mercy of Kurz? Imprisonment, torture? The death of Chef? The discussions with Kurz? The articulation of the apocalyptic themes? Trying to understand Kurz's behaviour and its motivation? Kurz allowing himself to be executed? The parallel with the ritual? Willard emerging from the water as another Kurz to ritually execute him? The final decisions and his taking Lance with him? Radio communication? The response of the natives in their ritual? The option for Willard to be a new Kurz or to go back to "civilisation"? The options of madness and possibilities for a sane future?
16. Kurz as the goal of the mission? The information given about him, tapes, press clippings? The star American officer to the Heart of Darkness? The journey of Kurz from success to madness? The plausibility of this trip in a war-torn apocalyptic world? Kurz and his playing God? The visual impact of baldness, size, shadow? Marlon Brando's impact, words, mutterings, quotations? His library of classics and recitation of The Hollow Men? Overtones of the wasteland? The response of Colby and loyalty to Kurz? The journalist and his enthusiasm? Chef's beheading? Kurz allowing himself finally to be executed? No place for him in the American world? His isolation and being almost already dead? Puzzles of motivation? His comments on the horror of it all? A human being tempted to emulate God - Genesis analogies for the knowledge of good and evil and being like good? Kurz being sacrificed and symbolically imaged by the ritual holocaust?
17. Kilgore and his cavalry style, jingoism, macho mentality, American officer, fighting past wars in the present, relationship with his men? Surfing as symbol of the macho image? His strategy. the smell of napalm and victory? His attitude towards the Vietnamese? The helicopters, Wagner, the attack, the landing and encampment, making his men surf? His attitude towards the body count? A telling symbol of American self-appointed presence in Vietnam?
18. The portrait of the crew: Chef and his memories of New Orleans, the gentle type. his talk. sensitivity. the encounter with the tiger, his presence on the mission? His support of Willard? The horror of his death? Lance as the young man and background of surfing, drugs, only a boy? The easy presence. the growing involvement? His being in the Heart of Darkness, being painted and participating in the savagery, the possibility of his being lost? His sharing the escape with Willard? Clean and Chief? Blacks on the mission? Chief and his control? Feelings of disorientation but following orders? Surviving? The incongruity of their presence in Vietnam? Clean and the ironic playing of the tape at his death? Chief and the visual impact of his death? Its feel? Its significance and his resentment? Their presence on the river, going further into remote places, the experience of the border, the boat and the shooting of the woman, the dog? Images of the dislocation of the Americans in Vietnam?
19. The officers at headquarters - their plans, playing God, the criteria and standards for their judgments about Kurz, the briefing and the casual atmosphere of the meal? Colby and his being converted by Kurz's experience?
20. The photographer - his incongruous presence in the Heart of Darkness, his vocal style. taking photos? Sharing in Kurz's madness? A mouthpiece for Kurz? His acting as if stoned? His still being a photographer in such a situation? The incongruity of his presence and discipleship?
21. The Americans and their immersion in Vietnam - American traditions: rock 'n roll, surfing etc. and the young American soldiers? Religious services e.g. the mass? Their attitude towards the Vietnamese - Gooks? Their being lost in another world and in the jungle? The culmination in the flamboyant show and the helicoptering in of the Playmates of the Year? R & R in the jungle? The theme of frustrated sexuality., phallic symbols? The militia being four-star clowns?
22. The cinematic impact of the attack on the village? The layout of the village and its ordinary way of life, precarious peace? The sounds of the helicopters and the B52s? The playing of Wagner? The waves and Wagner's melodies? Swooping on the village? "Death from above"? The villager's fleeing for safety. death? The sabotage of the helicopters? The mopping up operations - Kilgore camping, talking, his Confederate hat? What kind of war? The atmosphere of night at the border? The bridge and its defence, its being destroyed? Madness, fear, not knowing who was in command, images of hell? "The ass-hole of the world"?
23. The emphasis on the jungle, Americans not knowing the jungle, the sudden fright with the tiger? The huge supermarket style depot in the middle of the jungle, its lights? Black market? References to Charles Manson.. Disneyland? Limbo and hell?
24. Going into Cambodia and its being illegal? Standards, morality? The world of the boat and Willard shooting the woman in order not to impede progress?
25. The village and Kurz's headquarters: images of hell. primitive religion, heads on pikes. the spears and arrows, dancing and paint? Religion, ritual and games? A sour Shangri-La? Later images of Jonestown?
26. The nature of heroism? Criteria and expectations for heroism? Whose madness was worst?
27. The eschatological imagery: references to Eliot's world ending with bangs or whimpers? The men painted and covered in mud? Chef's decapitated head? Themes of love and hate, friend or enemy, the rules of the game, horror’s face? Primordial imagery, passion and absence of passion, prophets and avenging angels?
28. The build-up of frenzy, sounds, music, visuals, ritual images, motion, death and extermination?
29. Coppola's decision about the ending? The possibility of Willard becoming another Kurz and continuing his reign? or the reminders of records, files, typewriters, radio communication and escape back to the world of "normality"? Coppola's ending for moving back to humanity?
30. The achievement of the film: as cinema, representing America in the '70s, a comment on the Vietnam war and its effect in Asia and the United States? Its bringing the films on Vietnam to an end?
Brassed Off
BRASSED OFF
UK, 1997, 94 minutes, Colour.
Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald, Ewan McGregor?, Stephen Tompkinson, Philip Jackson, Jim Carter.
Directed by Mark Herman.
Yorkshire gives rise to images of York minster, the countryside, the moors of Wuthering Heights. These days Yorkshire is giving us movie images of the working class becoming the unemployed in funny, sad and, often, raucous and earthy films.
Brassed Off is being marketed as a `feel good' movie. It is. But is also a `feel sad' movie. The colliery in Grimley has been marked for closure although it is still reasonably profitable. Staunch miners are resisting closure. Management is offering redundancy packages that are hard to refuse. In the meantime, the miners have built up a successful colliery band. Should it stop when the mines are closed? Should it stay in competition? Should it go to the finals at the Albert Hall? It is not hard to guess.
However, the screenplay is not always as predictable as expected. There are some tough scenes of families trying to survive without income. These mainly concern Stephen Tompkinson (Fr Clifford of Balleykissangel) and he gives a more nuanced performance than he does on TV. Pete Postlethwaite has a moving role as the band leader who lives intensely for his music. There is plenty of feeling in the film and never more so than at the end when Postlethwaite makes a moving and rousing speech highly critical of Tory policy, of economic rationalist programs that destroy livelihoods and families.
1. The impact of the film in the UK, as entertainment, as social and political comment?
2. The Yorkshire settings? The town, the mines? The realistic atmosphere? The locations?
3. The title, the anger? The humour with the brass band? The range of the musical score, the old band favourites, their placement within the film? The performance as well as the rehearsals?
4. The social situation: the `80s and the `90s in the UK and the closing of the mines? The repercussions for the miners (and their legacy of ill-health)? The repercussions for families? The economics of the towns? Management, their meetings, decisions made two years earlier, public relations? Reports being seen to be done, but not to be seen? The role of the unions, negotiations, compromise? The miners' votes and the redundancies? The tradition of scabs breaking picket lines? A realistic portrayal of social situation?
5. Danny and the long tradition of his work in the mines? His commitment to the music? The long tradition of the brass bands? On his bike, his love of music? His relationship with his son and Phil's family? The rehearsals and his criticisms?
6. Gloria's coming, discussions, accepting her? The rehearsals, going on tour and winning competitions? His collapse, the hospital, listening to the music? Not being allowed out and his sense of frustration? The band members and their wanting to disband? Phil and his breaking the news to his father? The decision to go to the Albert Hall? His conducting the music, the impact of his speech and his comment on the social situation?
7. Andy as a focus of the film? The young man, place in the town, the mines, going for drinks, playing pool? His place in the band? The encounter with Gloria and the memories of the past? Their relationship? His discovering the truth about her work? Being with the men? The vote? Going to London and the performance? Playing to get the money for his instrument? A happy ending? Gloria and her grandfather, coming back to town, working for management, their promises to her, thinking she was doing something with her report? Playing in the band? Going on tour? The relationship with Andy? The report and its being shelved? Her resignation? The reaction of the men, her money for the tour to London? Being accepted back again?
8. Phil and his family, harassed, his wife and her anxiety about money? The children? His being a gentle man? Wanting to buy the new instrument, putting himself in debt? The demands made for repayment? His wife's anger and her taking the children? His being the clown and his performance in the classroom? His father's collapse and his anxiety? The decision not to go to the Albert Hall? His despair, his swearing in his performance as the clown? His attempted suicide? With the men, voting for the redundancy? Their accepting him, the final performance? His wife and children in the bus coming home?
9. Harry and his wife, their work, passing as each went to work or came home? His comments about the name of his instrument? Participation in the group? The temporary leader during Danny's illness? His support of the band?
10. The other men and their work, their friendships, the drinks? The critical man, especially his harshness towards Gloria? His thanking her in the bus?
11. The wives, their life at home, shopping, going on tour? The ironic humour in supporting their husbands?
The picture of the unions? The picture of management and its disdain?
12. An entertaining film - and the aftermath of its social comment?
GRAN TORINO
GRAN TORINO
US, 2008, 116 minutes, Colour.
Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, John Carroll Lynch, Scott Eastwood.
Directed by Clint Eastwood.
At age 78, Clint Eastwood had two films in the US National Board of Review's top ten of 2008, The Changeling and Gran Torino. Gran Torino was far more popular at the American Box Office, over $100,000,000 in tickets, which says a great deal about Eastwood's reputation as an actor – or screen presence - even more than as a director.
Gran Torino is an impressive film on many counts.
Nicholas Schenk's screenplay opens up many questions for contemporary American society, especially xenophobia (this time for the Hmong people from China/Laos/Vietnam who, despite fighting alongside the US troops in Vietnam, were not always welcomed when they had to migrate to the US). With an old Detroit neighbourhood setting where Eastwood's Walt Kowalski seems like a relic of different and distant times, the film also takes up themes of gangs and urban violence as well as economic questions like the closing down of car manufacturing plants (while one of Walt's sons working for a car-maker outside the US). And it takes up the question of ageing, especially after the death of a spouse and the loss of emotional contact with children and grandchildren – but how could one love a flimsily dressed teenager who texts during the requiem mass for her grandmother!
The film is framed by funerals and sermons on life and death ('bitter because of grief, sweet because of salvation' according to the young priest). And there are several discussions about the meaning of life and the effect of death between Walt and the persistent priest (because Walt's late wife wanted her husband to go to confession) with Walt telling the priest that he is 'an over-educated, 27 year old virgin who holds old ladies' hands, promising them eternity!', something the priest quotes in his final sermon. Interesting that Clint Eastwood would have a priest and Catholic themes (in a positive rather than critical light) in this film as well as the priest that he goes to Mass to each day and asks for advice in Million Dollar Baby.
You may never have heard an actor or a character growl so much in a film and Eastwood has the perfect grimace and sound for constant growl. You know he is going to get to know his Hmong next door neighbours, but we wonder how and with what consequences. Perhaps it is best simply to say that prejudice is overcome by contact and bigotry by sharing in the lives of those who are initially detested or condemned. Clint's friendship with the young girl next door helps him to understand and socialise. Her quiet, polite teenage brother, provoked by his cousin and a local Hmong group into trying to steal Walt's Gran Torino, learns many a lesson from Walt: hard work, responsibility, how to talk to a girl and, in comic manner, how to do provocative banter and 'man-talk'.
Someone is probably writing a thesis (or has written one) on the dramatic arc of the characters Eastwood has played from The Man with no Name but a gun to this man with a name but sometimes a gun and sometimes not. Dirty Harry (whom everyone quotes when an Eastwood character goes into action) has not lost his anger at injustice but has found other means, which will surprise the audience, to deal with that injustice.
Eastwood knows how to make interesting and entertaining films with excellent craft, never drawing attention to himself, but with something worthwhile to say and be listened to.
1.Listed as one of the best films of 2008? Clint Eastwood’s films, over forty years, as director, actor, character? His themes, especially of justice and violence?
2.The film and race issues, the 21st century, American xenophobia, the conservative attitudes, change?
3.The Michigan setting, Detroit, the suburbs, homes and streets, the change in the neighbourhoods, race ghettos, the gangs, African Americans, Asian? The verbal abuse and insults to the Asians?
4.The photography, the editing, the classic style? The musical score, the final song and the lyrics of ‘Grand Torino’?
5.The title: Michigan and car manufacturing, Detroit, the history of car manufacture, the car in American culture, the changes in the economy? The Grand Torino from the 70s? The later layoffs, the making of foreign cars? Quality cars? The Grand Torino as a symbol, envy, thieving, a final gift?
6.The funeral’s framing the film: the discussions about life and death, the Catholic church and its rituals, Walter standing at the altar, Dorothy’s coffin, his surveying the people attending, his growls, the discussions of his sons and their wives, the family, the granddaughter and her clothes, texting during the ceremony? The priest, his sermon, the bitterness of death, grief? The sweetness of death and salvation? How true did this ring? The right thing to say? Walt’s reaction?
7.The aftermath, the guests, getting the chairs, the granddaughter offering to help, her grandfather’s growling? The garage, the boys and going through the trunk, seeing the photos, the medals, the Korean War, giving information about Walt? The family leaving? The priest, his age, talking with Walt, calling him by name? Walt’s reaction? The issue of confession? His wife wanting it? Walt describing the priest as an over-educated twenty-seven-year-old virgin holding the hands of old ladies and promising them eternity? The priest later repeating this in Walt’s ceremony?
8.Clint Eastwood as Walt, his age, his life, tough, the experience of Korea, his stories, the killings, the medals? Meeting his wife, the love of his life? His not relating well with his sons? With his grandchildren? Wanting to be alone, sitting on the porch, drinking the beer? His workshop and the tools? Thao wanting to borrow the leads, his refusal, later using them? His lawn, mowing it? Watching the family next door, all arriving for the celebration, the hostile looks from the old lady?
9.The background of gangs, Thao’s cousin, the Asian gang, their taunts? The family pressure on Thao, his having to steal the Grand Torino, his being caught?
10.The Hmongs, from Laos, China and Vietnam? On the American side during the Vietnam War, their migration? Not always accepted by Americans? The family, the extended family, the talk, the meal, Thao and their criticising him, being bossed by Sue, his study, reading? The shaman and the ceremony?
11.The gang in action, threatening, the guns, the taunts to the family, Walt and his ordering them off his lawn, threatening, the gun, his finger as a gun? The heroism of warding off the gangs, the gratitude of the neighbourhood, the continued gifts of food, flowers? Walt’s xenophobic reaction? His meeting Sue, rescuing her from the gang, confronting them, telling the white man to go off and not be calling people ‘Bro’? His talk with Sue, the explanation of Thao, the Hmongs and their language, customs, the invitation? His birthday and the phone call to his family?
12.His going to the party, the information about direct looking in eyes, touching children? The shaman and his interest? The amount of food, his becoming more benign? Going downstairs, Thao and his reading, the youngsters, his attack on Thao for his weakness and not inviting the girl out? Talking with her?
13.The family, Thao and his having to work for Walt, to compensate for trying to steal the car? Sue explaining? The variety of jobs, tools and the workshop, the discussions with Thao, respect, friendship, achievement? Thao and his skills, Walt helping? The contact for the job, going for the interview? Going to the shop, buying the tools and the bag? The comedy about men’s talk, Walt and his visit to the barber, the Italian jibes? Bringing Thao in, their illustrating the banter, the barber and his reaction, the performance for Thao? Thao and his response to the builder – and his being accepted? The gang, following Thao, stealing his tools, bashing him?
14.Walt and his illness, phoning his son, not being able to talk? The son, his wife and the visit? The brochure and the home for the elderly? Their being ousted?
15.Walt and his coughing up blood, going to the doctor, surprised at the Asian doctor? His lungs? Thao’s observations?
16.The shooting and the drive-by, the breaking of the glass, the wounding, Thao and his wounds? Unable to contact Sue, her arriving home, the violence and the rape?
17.The character of the priest, his persistence, meeting with Walt, visits to the home, to the bar, his learning about life and death, experience from Walt? Their talks, the seriousness of issues of life and death? Asking Walt about killing, his responsibility? Walt going to the church, the confession, the sins – bothering him for many years? Walt’s preparation for death?
18.The final vengeance, the discussions with the priest, the possibilities of violence, the rifle, the priest and his concern with the police? Walt and his challenge, the confrontation with the cousin, his henchmen? His finger as the gun? Going as if to draw, his being shot to death in front of witnesses? Self-sacrifice – a Christ figure for the sake of the Hmongs?
19.The final Mass, those present, the neighbours, the family? The priest and his repeating of Walt’s comments about him?
20.The will, the anticipation of the family, Walt leaving the Grand Torino to Thao?
21.A film about age, ageing, its effect? The prejudice and the possibility of overcoming prejudice by sharing? Change?
FRIDAY 13TH
FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH
US, 1980, 95 minutes, Colour.
Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Kevin Bacon.
Directed by Sean S. Cunningham.
Friday the 13th is now part of cinema history. In 1978, John Carpenter made Halloween and set a trend for popular horror films for the next quarter of a century. Sean S. Cunningham then began the Friday the 13th series in 1980. Wes Craven followed with A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984.
The film has the basic plot about a summer camp, its past sinister history, the owner reopening it, a series of gory murders, especially of young people who come to the camp. Betsy Palmer portrays the mother of the mad Jason Voorhees, who wore a mask in committing his killings. The Jason mask also became very, very popular.
This film led to a very long series as well as in 2003 to Freddy versus Jason. (And a young Kevin Bacon appears as a camp counsellor.)
1. The reputation of this horror film? Its extraordinary box-office success in the United States, overseas? Its quality? Skill in presenting what it set out to do?
2. The appeal of the horror violent film? Audience revulsion yet fascination? Shuddering and laughing? Shocks. scares? Atmosphere, anticipation? Identifying with the victims, survival, aggression towards the murderer? Nightmares and the value of watching nightmares?
3. The basic 'B' grade material - theme, treatment? How well done? Exploitative?
4. The various devices to entice the audience into response - the manner of tracking shots, editing and cutting, shocks, explicit violence, the use of nature? Darkness and light, shadows? The cumulative effect of the atmosphere? Visuals, aural horror? Musical score?
5. The overall effect of the experience an hour and a half immersed in horror and violence?
6. The basic situation of an unknown killer and the various members of a group being killed? The need for survival? The puzzle as to the murderer? Mystery? The audience being led into participation, puzzle, identification for survival? Aggression in the face of attack?
7. The pre-credits sequence and the 1958 atmosphere? The camp guards? Their enjoying themselves? The barn and the first murder? The transition to 1978? The difference in the styles of the times? Similarities? A foreboding atmosphere?
8. The picture of the town, the twenty years, Camp Crystal Lake and its reputation, the madman in the town, the police and their attitudes? Mrs Voorhees, her presence? The initial death and her vengeance? How credible her motivation, her behaviour, cruelty, her physical presence and violence? Her death?
9. The introduction to Annie. her arrival, joy, hopes for her job, accepting the lift, the atmosphere of fear, her leaping from the truck, her being pursued in the forest? The violence of her death? Setting the tone for what van to follow?
10. The counterbalance with the other members of the group - their individuality, seeing them at work, various types, their responsibility, enjoyment and horseplay? How well delineated their characters? Audience identification? Their work, their rooms, relationships? The preparation for their deaths?
11. The systematic elimination of each of the group? The situations of their deaths? The explicit violence? The audience waiting? The greater foreboding for those who survived? Mystery? How exploitive was the violence? Excessive or in proportion to the theme?
12. The manager and his going to town, his return, the truck breaking down, the unexpectedness of his death?
13. The finale with Alice and her search, the full moon, the rain? The cumulative terror, the pursuit inside and outside the house, within the cupboard? Exhaustion, fighting? The cutting off of Mr. Voorhees's head?
14. Mrs Voorhees and her arrival, welcoming friendship. changing menace? Her strength?
15. Alice going onto the lake, escaping? Her being frightened by the demon child leaping from the river? The nightmare and the hospital sequence? Jason and his vengeance - and his taking over his mother (and her speaking to him and like him) and Alice possibly being possessed by Jason for the future?
16. The value of the horror film? Audiences participating in the horror?
Franklyn
FRANKLYN
UK, 2008, 98 minutes, Colour.
Eva Green, Ryan Philippe, Sam Riley, Bernard Hill, Art Malik, Kika Markham, Susannah York.
Directed by Gerald Mc Morrow.
Tantalising. At least, this is what writer-director, Gerald Mc Morrow, hopes about the beginning of his new film. And, if you are tantalised, you will stay with it, puzzling about the two different worlds we are seeing, then gradually becoming more satisfied as the two worlds come together. But, some may feel exasperated rather than tantalised, finding the two worlds too difficult to understand.
This reviewer was tantalised.
We are put into two worlds without warning, although the central character in a fantasy city that looks to London's Dickensian past as well as showingfuturistic touches, Meanwhile City, announces that he is on a mission to kill. He wears a mask that is not too far away from Friday 13th or Halloween or even The Elephant Man: white cloth, hollow eye sockets... As he walks down the busy and rather squalid streets of the city, he tells us that religion is the compulsion of the day and that he is the only one without faith. His quest is to destroy The Individual who is responsible for the death of a young girl.
Suddenly, we are in contemporary England, then in different sections of London, the world of the rich and psychiatrists, the world of an ordinary young man whose engagement and wedding plans have collapsed and an eccentric young media student who seems to have a death wish.
We go backwards and forwards, following the story of Jonathan Preest (Ryan Philippe) in Meanwhile City, his solitary confinement, treatment by the religious police and authority (Art Malik) and his renewal of his mission. The young man, Milo (Sam Riley) also has his problems but encounters a teacher (Eva Green) who was the little girl companion when his father died. The suicidal young woman (also Eva Green) is trying to get the attention of her mother (Susannah York) to admit her father's abuse of her. And a church warden (Bernard Hill) is searching for his son, David, an Iraq veteran who has escaped from treatment at a mental institution.
Yes, the characters all come together, we understand the nature of the two worlds, the reality and the imaginative creations of disturbed people.
Intriguing.
1.The blend of realism and fantasy? Mental states and imagination?
2.Mental states, illness, madness, hallucinations, illusions, delusions? Relationships, self-image, violence?
3.London as real for each of the central characters, dingy, the suburbs, homes, flats, the hospital? The brighter colour for some sequences? Darker for others? The musical score?
4.Meanwhile City: the world of science fiction, fantasy, the buildings, the streets, clothes, manners, shops, barrows, speakers in the street, the masks? The visual impact? The sound impact?
5.The importance of the religious theme? Faith, variety of faiths, authoritarian, everybody having to register, faith and the secular aspects, exploitation for example the manicurists? Everybody saying, ‘God bless you’? The faith police and their activities? Prison, missions for vengeance? The authorities and their manner? Meanwhile City in itself, in the light of Jonathan Preest? From the perspective of David?
6.The juxtaposition of the two worlds, the revelation of the gradual links between them, people, themes, alternate and parallel worlds? Together?
7.Jonathan Preest and the introduction, his mask, revealing that he was to kill someone, the manner of his dress, the dinginess of where he lived? Evading the police and their pursuit? The walking down the street, the vendors, the preachers, his contact? The violence? Getting the information? His mission to kill the Individual? The story of the girl dying, his search, being caught, sentenced, the authorities, isolation, the passing of the four years? His voice-over commentary? The authorities and their faces? Letting him go, his changing his clothes, wanting to put the bug inside him, his escape? Tracking down his contact, the mission for vengeance?
8.Milo’s story: his mother, Milo as a young boy, his father’s death and his grief, the imaginary Sally being a playmate? The flashbacks showing this? The failure of his wedding, his discussions with his best man, his girlfriend? The worry? Discussions with his mother? Her revealing the truth about his imagination? Seeing Sally, finding her at the school, talking, planning to meet her again? His mother and the photo album? In the restaurant, waiting for Sally, her appearance, the discussion, Peter watching, Milo arguing with her, her explanations and stories, her leaving, his being shot?
9.Amelia’s story: with the psychologist and her mother, her smoking, anger, the exchange role-plays and the attempts to understand each other? Her interest in art, professional, academic, her suicide attempts and their motivation, for her mother? Making the film, labelling the cassettes, her studio? Herself on the monitor, conversation with herself? Her set-up of the suicide attempt, its style, the ambulance coming, her explanations? Pastor Bone and his work in the hospital, his arrangement with her, the discussion, advice? Her meeting the professor and his critique of her work? Her mother and the party, not wanting to interrupt the guests, wanting her mother to admit the truth about her father’s treatment of her, the mother’s comments, embracing her mother? Some healing? Going back to the studio, David arriving, his rifle, the threats, her turning on the gas, David getting her out, the explosion? Her meeting Milo in the street? A future?
10.Peter, from the country, Milo and the wedding and their leaving, his being the warden? The information about David’s visit, going to London, the search, meeting his war companion from Iraq, learning more about David, the doctors and the institution, David’s actual experiences and the escape from the institution, the danger? Peter and the address, waiting in the restaurant, watching Milo, the shooting, the explosion?
11.David, the true story, the audience beginning to understand the relationship between Preest and David? About the events in Meanwhile City and in the real London? The friend, the return from Iraq, into the institution, retreating into his inner world, translating everything to Preest, blaming his father for his sister’s death, his making his father the individual? The religious motivation? His moments of knowing the truth, especially talking to Amelia? The shooting, hitting Milo, the explosion and his death?
12.Pastor Bone, enigmatic, in both worlds? With Amelia? With Peter praying in the chapel?
13.The world of the two stories, the world of imagination, the discussions about fairy stories – and happy and unhappy endings?
FLAME AND CITRON
FLAME AND CITRON
(Denmark, 2008, d. Ole Christian Madsen)
World War II stories are still very popular on screen. Germany continues to make them (Downfall and the recent John Rabe). The Austrians made The Oscar-winning The Counterfeiters. The American contributions range from the serious Valkyrie to Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Smaller countries are also making memoirs of the war era and focusing on their Resistance. Paul Verhoeven's The Black Book did this for Holland. Flame and Citron is in the same vein and does it for Denmark.
Flame and Citron is a continually interesting film. Audiences outside Denmark do not know the impact these two men, Flame (because of his red hair) and Citron (because he had worked for Citroen), made in their Resistance actoivities in 1944 and the subsequent state honours and funerals they received as well as American medals.
The film opens with a voiceover from Bent (Flame was his codename) about the presence of the Nazis in Copenhagen in 1944. There is newsreel footage to remind us of Denmark's occupation. Almost immediately, there is an assassination of a Danish Nazi sympathiser. Flame, although only in his early 20s and working for the police, is one of the Resistance's chief killers. He is played by Thure Lindhardt . Jorgen (codename Citroen) is the driver who will soon have to kill as well. He is played by top Danish actor (Mads Mikkelson: After the Wedding and internationally known as Le Chiffre in Casino Royale).
The events in the film take place over six months. The film builds up an atmosphere of tension, especially when seemingly contradictory orders are issued. The Resistance is controlled by the Copenhagen police chief who is under orders from Britain. However, visits to neutral Stockholm are not so difficult, so there are orders from the Resistance movement there, including not killing Germans but only Danish Nazis or collaborators. When Flame and Citron are ordered to kill Germans and when Flame encounters a young woman who knows his name and, despite wondering whether she is a spy for the Germans, falls in love with her, the film creates tension for the audience who does not know whom to believe.
There is a back story for Citron, a seeming loner who has a wife and daughter. Flame is caught up with the mysterious woman. Because of betrayals and executions, they decide that the principal target should be the Gestapo chief in Copenhagen (Christian Berkel).
Quite long, with plenty of local atmosphere and a reminder of the ambiguous ethics of resistance movements, this is a worthwhile World War II film.
CREW, The
THE CREW
(UK, 2008, d. Adrian Vitoria)
For more than ten years, many film-makers in the British film industry have had a fixation on making gangster films. So many small budget films, so many from first time directors. They tend to show a brutal side of British life, an amoral world of criminals. Some of them have qualities but the films tend to be lost in the welter of similar productions.
The Crew is another of these films. However, it is better made than the average. The director has worked on television series and knows how to tell a story and create atmosphere. This atmosphere is Liverpool and the old style crews who were into burglary and hold-ups, who even had their own hierarchies and codes of respect, some honour among thieves. In the 21st century, things are not the same at all. The younger members of the crews want to make it big for themselves and have few qualms about loyalty and betrayal and murder of rivals does not seem to bother them at all. Their trouble is they think they are smarter than others and this is their undoing unless they are completely ruthless. Another complication is the gangs moving in from the continent, especially from Eastern Europe, who have had longer histories of factions, war and brutality and have no qualms about muscling in in new territories. It's no wonder that the criminals from the old school are either bent on consolidating, no matter what, or are sick of it and want out.
That is what The Crew is about. It opens with a failed robbery. It ends with an elaborate repeat of the robbery with success for some and death for others.
The film captures an atmosphere of a part of Liverpool. The criminals are now better off, live in better houses and apartments – and can celebrate the First Communion party of the son of one of their members. It looks as if the Serbs have the sleazier locations and premises.
This is also the story of two brothers, Ged and John Paul Brennan (Scot Williams and Kenny Doughty). Ged is the boss of the crew, but who feels that his luck is running out and now feels some responsibility towards his little boy. His wife has a cocaine habit and is easily misled by smooth-talking neighbours, as is Ged, who are white collar fraud criminals. John Paul (nicknamed Ratter) is envious of his older brother and, along with an obnoxious sidekick (Paul Olivier) sets calamity in motion with his wanting to get into drug dealing and to oust his brother.
All of the characters have their unpleasant side and it is hard to identify with any of them, which means that the audience is observing rather than empathising. The screenplay does not underplay the vicious violence, the sexual indulgence of the characters nor their callow and crass language.
One of the better films of the genre but many will find its characters and situations repellent.
