MURDER THE ORIENT EXPRESS

US, 2017, 114 minutes, Colour.
Kenneth Branagh, Daisy Ridley, Leslie Odom Jr, Penelope Cruz, Josh Gad, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, William Dafoe, Olivia Coleman, Derek Jacobi, Manuel Garcia Rulfo, Lucy Boynton, Adam Garcia, Richard Clifford, Miranda Raison.
Directed by Kenneth Branagh.

There are two ways for audiences to respond to watching Murder on the Orient Express. It will depend on whether the audience has read the book or seen film versions.

For those not in the know, the film will be quite a spectacular whodunnit. For those in the know, the intriguing aspect will be watching the journey, the crime, the interviews, the solving of the case – and, instead of whodunnit, ‘howdunnit’!

In the film and television audience imagination, older audiences will see Albert Finney in the 1974 version. At the end of this film, there is mention that there has been a murder on the Nile and Poirot is off to Egypt, in Death on the Nile, Poirot was Peter Ustinov, who appeared in several further Poirot films. The actor who most embodies Poirot, with television producers aiming to film all the novels with David Suchet, is David Suchet. Which means that for many, Poirot is bald, small, fastidious, immaculately dressed, immaculately spoken – and with a small moustache.

Kenneth Branagh goes to an entirely different style, not only head hair but, what a moustache!

Kenneth Branagh has directed the film as well. He has a very fine cast with Johnny Depp rather sinister and sleazy as the victim. Depending on the amount of time they have on screen, the strength of their screen presence, other members of the cast man make strong impressions or not enough. Probably the person with the most impact is Michelle Pfeiffer as the rather brassy American. But, audiences will have to be satisfied with the rather more diminished sequences with such luminaries as Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Derek Jacobi, Willem Dafoe, although Daisy Ridley (so strong in Style Wars: The Force Awakens) certainly makes an impression.

To give a bit of flavour, there is an episode in Jerusalem in 1934, accusations of theft near the Wailing Wall, with the accused a rabbi, a priest, an email. It is all staged to give audiences an impression of the skills of Poirot – who has interrupted his fastidious breakfast, two eggs the same size, he measuring them for satisfaction… Or not.

Ferry to Istanbul and then the Orient Express, with some magnificent scenery in snowclad mountains, at train level, aerial photography, even an avalanche trapping the train on top of a wooden bridge.

And, there, a murder. Everyone has an alibi and each, in turn, has an opportunity for an interview with Poirot to explain their case.

Which gives the opportunity for the audience to enjoy the cast and their cameos.

As with most Agatha Christie stories, the detective gathers all the people concerned into a room, explains the situation and unmasks the killer. When you are in the middle of the mountains, why confine people to a room, even to the luxurious dining room of the train?. Rather, the weather having cleared, everybody sits at the opening of the train tunnel, Poirot facing them all and offering his detective disquisition on what happened.

Agatha Christie has many ingenious plots and this one has a high reputation in being ingenious.

1. An Agatha Christie mystery? Her popularity through many decades? The original novel? Its novelty? Film versions? The image of Poirot?

2. Jerusalem sequences, 1934, the Wailing Wall, police offices? The coast? The ferry to Istanbul? The train, the mountains, the scenery, aerial shots? The avalanches? The train trapped on the bridge? The musical score?

3. The Orient Express, its reputation, the vistas, the interiors? Corridors and cabins? Dining area?

4. Kenneth Branagh’s portrait of Poirot? The literary and film traditions? Comment on the moustache? His being presented as obsessive, excessively fastidious? The hotel, the boy getting the eggs, the measurement? Call to the Wailing Wall? The crime, the image, the dual? The rabbi, the priest and the imam? Detection, solution, the police chief, the chase?

5. Sailing to Byzantium? His encounter with Boec, the manager of the railway line? Travelling on the train, first class, the train booked out, finding a place, sharing?

6. Poirot and his personal idiosyncrasies, his vanity? Belgian? His memories of Katherine, the photo in the glass? The glass broken?

7. The introduction to Ratchet? His impact, Johnny Depp and his appearance, age, sinister? His relationship with Mc Queen, the accounts? Masterman and his waiting on him? American style? Discussions with Poirot, his offer, Poirot’s rejection?

8. The range of the cast and the performances

• Pilar, the missionary, dowdy appearance, talking about God and God’s will? The revelation about her past life, drinking, conversion?

• Mary, the sequences in Palestine, with Dr Arbuthnot? Her friendship with Poirot, the discussions, her reticence? As a governess? Strong presence?

• Dr Arbuthnot, in Palestine, his army background, his skills, his opinions about the death and the time? The racial background and the Professor? Poirot’s defence? Talk about American racist behaviour??

• The professor, Austrian, Nazi sympathiser, racist, abrupt in manner, does, is going to a conference?

• Judi Dench as the Princess, elderly, haughty manner, her relationship with Hildegard Schmidt?

• Hildegard Schmidt, companion, anxious?

• Masterman, valet, waiting on Ratchet?

• The Countess and her husband, the background of dance, her husband and his dislike of photographers, violent outbursts?

• Mrs Hubbard, the forward American, tough, sexy?

• The businessman, Marquez, his suave manner?

• The conductor, the theory of the alternate conductor, the cloak, possible murderer?

• Mc Queen, American, working for Ratchet, the accounts, his advice to Ratchet? Hostility towards Ratchet, stealing?


9. Ratchet’s death, the 12 wounds, the blood? The variety of clues, the watch and its time, the open door, the cloth pipe cleaner…

10. The establishing of the situation, reconstructing what happened, the variety of explanations, what everybody was doing? The individual interviews, variances, the plausibility?

11. The opening up of the Armstrong case? Poirot receiving a letter from him, being busy and not answering?

12. The gradual revelations, the interconnection of everyone? Ratchet and his real name? Criminal, gangster? The abduction of the child, the death of the child? Pilar as the nurse, Mary as the governess, the Countess as the sister of the child’s mother, Hildegard Schmidt as the cook, is the chauffeur, the Princess as the godmother, Dr Arbuthnot supporting Armstrong in the Army, Masterman as his Batman, Mc Queen and his father prosecuting the accused servant, the professor, unmasked because of his pronunciations, the policeman who loved the accused woman? Mrs Hubbard, the actress, grandmother of the doctor abducted child?

13. The reconstruction of what happened? The planning, Mrs Hubbard being the mastermind? The attention to detail, the coordination of the performance?

14. The tunnel, the group sitting in a line? Boec and his participation in the investigation, amazed, as was the audience, at what had happened?

15. Poirot, assessing the case, his own conscience, giving the alternate explanation to the authorities, his leaving the group to their individual conscience? Motivation, revenge, inability to do the crime except with each other?

16. The train, the avalanche, sitting on the bridge, clearing the tracks, the group of workers coming in, eventually ready, moving? Poirot getting off the train – and call to another case, death on the Nile?

ETERNITE/ ETERNITY

France, 2016, 115 minutes, Colour.
Audrey Tautou, Berenice Bejo, Melanie Laurent, Jeremie Renier, Pierre Deladonchamps, Irene Jacob, Arieh Worthalter, Valerie Stroh. Narrated by Tran Nu Yen- Khe.
Directed by Tran Anh Hung.

We remember the phrase “pretty as a picture�. This is a film of almost 2 hours of pretty pictures. There is something of a perennial global, and eternal glow over this history of a family, from the middle of the 19th century into the 20th century.

The film was directed by Tran and Hung, originally from Vietnam and who made some striking films in the 1990s, Scent of the Green Papaya and Cyclo. In going to France, his films became more serious, like Norwegian Wood. His wife, Tran Nu Yen -Khe, acted in some of his films. Here she is the set designer and provides the narrative voice-over. It is significant to have a female voice-over because this is a film which focuses on men and women but, especially, on women. The narrative, quite sparse, leaving the pretty pictures to speak for themselves, often anticipates what is to come.

This is France in the 19th century, in the countryside, the coast, beautiful mansions, lovely interiors, a range of costumes. And, while there are some deaths, most of them off screen with only a suggestion of pain.

Birth, baptisms, growing up, courtship and marriage is, ageing, death and funeral is. Eternal themes.

At the centre is Audrey Tautou, Valentine, her birth in the 19th century, her growing up, her courtship with jewels, there many (many) children, sons going to war, some marrying, a picture of the next generation with a focus of the wives, Mathilde (Melanie Laurent) and Gabrielle (Berenice Bejo). And once again, many (many) children.

And so it goes, the decades passing, and Valentine getting old and eventually dying. And there is a small sequence of flash-forward to the end, into more contemporary times.

It might seem a strange thing to say that some audiences, who prefer a more earthy realism, might find this film too good to be true, too explicit.

1. The title, life in France over a century? The eternal circles of life? Birth, marriage, the next generation, suffering and death, illness and death? Continuity?

2. The work of the director, his background in Vietnam? His Vietnamese wife, her contribution to his films, performance, set design, narrative for this film? The effect of a female narration rather than male?

3. The visual beauty of the film? Costumes and decor? Affluent families? The homes, the grounds, the interiors? The religious dimension, the church for all the ceremonies? The daughter joining the convent and glimpses of religious life? Courtship, marriage, married life? The transition from the 19th to the 20th century? The final postscript and the contemporary sequence?

4. The musical score, the classical music as background? Combining with the classic visuals?

5. The introduction to the couple, their marriage, the 19th century, their look, clothes, home? The birth of the children? The range of children, the focus on Valentine? As a child, playful, her role in the family?

6. Valentine growing up, the encounter with Jules, the marriage, the many children, the sketching and of the pregnancies, the births, the children growing up? The next generation?

7. Echoes of war, the young men, twins, dressed for the military, going off, no scenes of battle, Valentine receiving the news of their deaths in action?

8. Henri, the encounter with Mathilde? Valentine and her approval? The life of the couple? Their children? Henri and his temperament, Mathilde and her patients? The many children? The last born, on her deathbed, the whole family with her, her death?

9. Charles, the reclusive type, the encounter with Gabrielle, the courtship, the marriage, the many children? Gabrielle and the close friendship with Mathilde? Their sharing so much? The scene on the beach, Charles’s disappearance, Henri trying to help? The grief?

10. Gabrielle, staying with Henri, bringing up the children, especially the last born? Henri eventually proposing to Gabrielle and her accepting?

11. Valentine in the background, her growing older, the scenes with all the children, with the grandchildren, her eventually acknowledging her age, her preparation for death?

12. The device of having memory flashbacks inserted throughout the film, the emotional response to the narrative and the events of the characters, and the reminders with these flashbacks?

13. The film with the touch of the exquisite – and the absence of any gritty realism? Audience response to this kind of storytelling?

BACKLASH

US, 1947, 66 minutes, Black-and-white.
Jean Rogers, Richard Travis, Larry J. Blake, John Eldredge, Leonard Strong, Robert Shayne, Louise Currie, Douglas Fowler, Sarah Berner, Richard Benedict.
Directed by Eugene Forde.

Backlash is a short supporting feature of 1947, released by 20th Century Fox.

It is a crime story, a law story, a police investigation story with touches of the humane.

The central focus is a lawyer, played by John Eldredge who is seen speeding at the opening, held up by the police, recognised as a lawyer who is able to defend criminals. He is then seen with the bank robber whom he had previously defended.

For a short film, this story is crowded with characters. A burnt-out car is discovered and identified as that of the lawyer with a badly burned body inside. Immediately there are speculations.

On the one hand, there are two police investigators, one with a happy family, the other with a bit of an eye for the women. Then there is the lawyer’s partner who is in financial difficulties but is also in contact with the shady woman who changes her name and identity who is the girlfriend of the bank robber! Audiences will think he is in the car but he soon appears, complicating matters.

The main person under suspicion is the lawyer’s wife, with whom he had a difficult relationship, and whom he suspects of poisoning him. She also has a strong relationship with the district attorney.

During investigations, there are many flashbacks illustrating what has happened, especially the poisoning where the lawyer collapses during the meal, the doctor treats him and then is interviewed by the detectives – and the poison is real.

Lots of interviews, lots of flashbacks, lots of opportunities for the audience to speculate who it was in the car when, ultimately, the lawyer is seen alive, and a threatening conversation with a stranger who has done work for him – which means that he is in the car and that the lawyer has orchestrated everything, including faking the poisoning.

The film was directed by Eugene Forde who began work on the silent era in 1926 and continued, his final work on television, in 1953 – although he lived for 33 years without working in the industry.

DETROIT

US, 2017, 143 minutes, Colour.
John Boyega, Will Poulter, Algee Smith, Jacob Latimore, Jason Mitchell, Hannah Murray, Jack Reynor, Kaitlyn Dever, Ben O' Toole, John Krasinski, Anthony Mackie.
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

Blunt title. Very blunt and direct filmmaking.

For many decades, Kathryn Bigelow has made films which have been very tough, and early vampire film, police dramas. However, she came to prominence as the first female director to win an Oscar as director for The Hurt Locker (2008). Her subsequent film was the search for Osama bin Laden,

Journalist Mark Boal wrote the screenplays for the latter films and has written this screenplay.

This is quite a long film. It is set in 1967, in the aftermath of the strength of the Civil Rights Movement with Martin Luther King and Selma as well as his Washington speech. It is also the year in which Robert Kennedy was assassinated as well as Martin Luther King. The opening sets the tone, the police raid (both black and white) on a Detroit speakeasy, moving the guests out, lining them up, but the locals resenting and reacting, setting off days of riots and looting, the local police in action as well as state troopers and, ultimately, the National Guard. There is an appeal by the Governor of Michigan, George McGovern?, who is to be the Democratic candidate, defeated by Richard Nixon, in 1968.

The central part of the film is most effective. The audience has been introduced to a young group of black singers, about to go on stage when the theatre has to be evacuated because of the riots. Ultimately, they were to become the Motown group, The Dramatics. The main singer, Larry (Algee Smith) and his teenage friend, Fred (Jacob Latimore), escape through the barricades but decide not to go home. They go to a local motel, The Algiers. The film focuses for a long time on what happens at The Algiers.

Those in the motel are fairly young, mainly black, two young white girls from Ohio who are prostitutes, a veteran from the Vietnam war (Anthony Mackie). The police, troops, Guard all set up in the street, aware that there might be snipers. In the meantime, a very earnest and upright young black man (John Boyega) is a security guard but offers the National Guard cups of coffee. Which means, when the crisis occurs, he goes into The Algiers along with the troops to observe and to search the premises.

Small things can lead to huge crises. This is the case here, one of the young men firing a starting pistol out into the street where it is assumed a sniper is firing. The consequences of this act are dire, resulting in three deaths, and the rest of the residents being lined up for hours, bashed, treated brutally and humiliatingly, the two girls blamed for being with black men, the Vietnam veteran assumed to be a pimp. The police use the bluff of taking individuals into a room with the others presuming that they are being tortured and shot. In one case, the young policeman takes it all very literally, not a bluff, and shoots a victim.

The film presents the local police, especially three of them, as young, arrogant, racist, bigoted. The audience has already seen the leader, Krauss, (Will Poulter) shooting a fleeing looter in the back and being interviewed by his superior officer. Krauss does not hold back but, when one victim is shot, he has to alter the scenario.

The final part of the film is the court proceedings in 1969. After the physically disturbing sequence in The Algiers, the court proceedings are to some extent low key – except for the audience indignation at how the defence counsel (John Krasinski) interrogates the black witnesses, asking about their criminal records, implying that they are to blame. And the indignation continues with the jury’s verdict of not guilty – with the John Boyega character having been arrested, interrogated, implicated in the violence even though he was innocent.

John Boyega and Will Poulter are British and Jack Reynor grew up in Ireland.

Detroit is released on the 50th anniversary of the riots. With so many deaths in recent years, police killing black men, Detroit, to that extent, is in no way dated.

1. The impact of this drama? Historical? American? Racism and violence? The mid-1960s and civil rights movements? Seen in retrospect and in connection with other racial riots over the decades?

2. Detroit city, its reputation, the visuals, the neighbourhoods, the African-American? areas? Tough, violent? The police, the National Guard, the state troopers? The musical score? (The Dramatics and their performances?)

3. The director, her strong subjects, tough visual style, action?

4. The facts of the case, the note that records were not kept perfectly and so some aspects fictionalised and reconstructed? The final information?

5. The setting, blacks and whites, prejudice? The background of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, by this stage? The opening raid, the black-and-white police, the plant in the club, his posing, the drama of his being beaten to intimidate the visitors? The police, the guests, their being ousted? The treatment? The people lined up outside? Confusion, violence, the locals, watching, the reaction, the emergence of rights?

6. The captions for the succeeding days of rights? The crowds, fever pitch, the role of the police, calling in the state troopers, the National Guard, the politicians, Governor of Michigan? George Mc Govern? The details of the rights, guns, flames, bashings, polluting? The arrests?

7. Krauss and his group, the pursuit of the rioters, the glitter and pursuing him, tripping him, shooting him in the back? His getting out of the truck, bleeding to death? The authorities, interviewing Krauss, despising him? Letting him go?

8. The focus on Larry, the music, his group, The Dramatics? Practice, singers, the Motown clips, performing in the theatre? Music and Motown? The characters of the group, Larry and his leadership, his singing, his energy? The group and their hopes? Fred, support, young? About to go on stage, listening to the previous group, the audience, black and white, the applause? The hall having to be cleared? And Larry singing to the empty theatre?

9. The Algiers, Larry and Fred, getting through the crowds, with the police, their excuses, getting the room, cheap? The group in the hotel, joking, friendship? The man with the starter’s gun, fooling around, shooting as if he were a sniper? Reactions, the consequences? The two girls, from Ohio, at the pool, prostitutes, their targets? Maureen, the military man and his presence? Larry and Fred, going to the pool, the shops, the police and the disruption?

10. Krauss and his men, tough, the presence of the National Guard? The state troopers? Keeping vigil outside the Algiers and the other buildings? The sniper alert, the gunfire, the raid?

11. The character of Dismukes? Ordinary, upright? Serious security guard? His colleague? The shop? The guards, bringing them coffee, the bonding? The action, his going into the Algiers? Observing the action, his participation? Doing his job? His second job, the detectives arriving, his arrest, the interviews, his confusion, answers, the suspicions? His being blamed?

12. The focus on The Algiers? The sniper and his starter’s gun? The effect? Audience response to each of the characters, to the consequences, the fear, the bashings, being urged to confess, the resistance?

13. Krauss and his attitude, authoritarian, prejudiced, racist? His associates? The guards observing? The search for the gun, the failure to find it? Dismukes and his searching for the gun, not finding it? Krauss and his demands, the brutality, the beatings? The shooting of the man with the starting gun? Taking the others into the room, the bluff, urging the National Guardsman to pretend to shoot one? Demens, literal, his actually shooting the victim rather than the bluff? Krauss and his response, covering himself?

14. The girls, their fears, with the black men, their being despised by the police, treated brutally, taken into the room, the girl with her clothes torn, humiliated? Brought downstairs, brought to the room?

15. Larry and Fred, their fear, Fred and his age, Larry and the escape, going through the building, the dangers, returning to the lineup? Larry and his being interviewed, the bluff, his being let go? Fred, not realising the bluff, speaking the truth and his being shot? The phone calls to Larry, the girlfriend, the parents, the father and his disbelief, the grief, the funeral?

16. Greene, military man, his being interviewed, treatment, being accused of being a pimp, his producing his documents, Krauss and his spurning Greene, his airborne service? The treatment, his fears, being let go?

17. The police investigation, the three, the interviews, the two police and their personalities, their attitudes towards the killings, the confessing to the authorities? Krauss and his trying to escape, being interviewed by the chief?

18. The aftermath, the effect of these events in people’s lives? The Dramatics and the call in the night, the producer, the possibility of the contract, Larry and his unwillingness to sing? The Dramatics and the later success?

19. The two years between the events and the court proceedings? The defendants, all well- dressed? The lawyer, defence, his appearance (hairstyle changed every time)? His tough interrogation, his harassing the witnesses, the racist implications of his questions about their criminality?

20. The witnesses, their fears, confusion, criminal backgrounds, the relevance? Larry and his answering back? The applause from the African Americans?

21. The jury, the judge, the not guilty verdicts? The reactions, the African Americans, the media?

22. Larry’s story, applying to the choir, considered too good, his appeal, the sequence of his singing in the church?

23. The film made 50 years after the events, the significance of 1967, deaths of Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, the Vietnam war, riots? The impact of the film and the
retrospect?

JUSTE LE FIN DU MONDE/ IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD

France/ Canada, 2017, 97 minutes, Colour.
Nathalie Baye, Vincent Cassel, Marion Cotillard, Lea Seydoux, Gaspard Ulliel.
Directed by Xavier Dolan.

It’s Only the End of the World seems an unusual title for this domestic drama.

The film is the work of Xavier Dolan, the extraordinary Canadian director who had made a successful career by his late 20s, winning many awards including awards at the Cannes Film Festival for this film (and also winning the ecumenical award). Dolan has made a number of films about family relationships, How I Killed My Mother, Thomas at the Farm, Laurence Anyways, Mommy, Heartbeats.

Xavier Dolan is also gay and incorporates these themes into his films.

This film was made in France with a very strong French cast with international reputations. Gaspard Ulliel has a very good role as the terminally ill Louis returning after a long time to visit his family – and the audience realising why he has kept away for so long. Nathalie Baye is his fussing mother. Lea Seydoux is the sister whom he does not really know, having been absent as she grew up. Vincent Cassell is very strong – and irritating for the audience as well as for the rest of his family – as the brother who works in a tool shop, dislikes his brother, is moody, wanting to keep silent but outbursts of anger. In many of these are directed towards his rather meek wife, Catherine, played effectively and quietly by Marion Cotillard.

The film is an ensemble piece, taking place over one day, the way in which the family received Louis on his visit, the discussions, his conversation with each of the central characters, the meals, a drive with his brother who is able to express his frustrations and antagonism, an interrupted dessert when the brother insists that Louis needs to leave for another meeting.

The Ecumenical Award citation noted how much character was expressed and communicated by body language, facial expression in gesture rather than in words.

1. The title? Intimations of death? The deprecation of the title, “only�?

2. The work of the director, success and awards, Canadian background, French culture, and a successful career before he turned 30?

3. The French setting, the town, Louis arriving the taxi, the home, the surroundings, the road in the countryside for the car trip, the centre of the town? The authentic feel for the drama? The musical score?

4. Louis and his story? Illness, impending death? The separation from his family? His wanting to re-visit, see people again, go to the scenes of his childhood? His story of waiting at the airport, finally taking the taxi? The encounter with each of the characters? The mixture of emotions with each of them? His tendency to keep quiet? Listening, at the meal, observing the interactions? His mother and her fussing over him? Cooking of the meal? Antoine, his disdain, keeping his distance, outbursts of anger, comparisons from the past, the sibling comparisons and rivalry? Going for the driver with Antoine? His telling the story and to Antoine’s negative reaction, not wanting to listen? Antoine insisting that he leave? His meeting his sister, not knowing her, the possibility of making up for the lost past? The meeting with Catherine, not knowing her, listening to her stories about the children, his reaction to Antoine’s criticisms? Her knowing the truth about him? His decision to leave, his promise to return?

5. The mother, age and experience, fussiness, getting old and absent-minded, her skills in cooking and preparing the food? The delight in seeing Louis, the regrets of his absence? Her relationship with her other children? With Catherine? Fussing at the table, the conversation, Louis wanting to see the old home and her saying that it was sold and in ruins? Her putting up with Antoine’s behaviour? The desert, Antoine insisting that Louis go, her reaction?

6. Suzanne, younger, at home, her relationship with her mother? The antagonism with Antoine? Catherine’s presence? Louis absent for her growing up? The variety of moods, conversations, upsets? The conversations with Louis, getting to know him? At the table? Her not wanting him to go?

7. Catherine, timid, hesitant in speech? Her relationship with Antoine, his domination of her? Her love for her children, telling the stories, Louis listening? Antoine and his continued interventions, putting his wife down? Her staying in the background, yet her sensitivity? Her realising what was wrong with Louis and his asking her to remain silent?

8. A family story, dysfunctional family, love, hatred, antagonisms, rivalries?

THE HOUR BEFORE DAWN

US, 1944, 75 minutes, Black-and-white.
Franchot Tone, Veronica Lake, John Sutton, Binnie Barnes, Henry Stephenson, Philip Merivale, Nils Asther.
Directed by Frank Tuttle.

The Hour before Dawn is a Paramount production of 1944 with reputable director of action films and drama, Frank Tuttle. It has a musical score by Miklos Rosza before he moved into biblical epics. Costumes are by Edith Head and make up by Wally Westmore. It also has a strong cast led by Franchot Tone and, unusually as an Austrian spy, Veronica Lake.

The film has a very short running time, surprising for the film with these production values.

The setting is England in 1939 through to 1940 and the German blitzing of England. The film serves as morale boosting and propaganda in 1944, Hollywood’s contribution.

While Americans have the central roles, Franchot Tone and John Sutton have British accents while Veronica Lake, playing an Austrian, has a broken English accent. On the other hand, Henry Stephenson as the retired general, Benny Barnes as the former actress, Philip Merivale as a magistrate are British.

The film focuses on two themes. At the core is pacifism, the Franchot Tone character having accidentally shot his collie in an opening scene of the film, has taken a stance against all killing, against the local partridge hunting, and getting an exemption from active service because of his unwillingness to kill. He gets local jobs although he is looked down on by many of the farmers.

The other theme is the German fifth column in England, Veronica Lake infiltrating herself into the household, even marrying the central character, but in league with German contacts and with a mission to light fire beacons to guide the Germans in their bombardment of the English countryside.

It is interesting to note the pacifism theme of the film – actor Lou Ayres was boycotted from many films for some years because of his stance in World War II. Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge, 2016, was a portrait of a conscientious objector in the Japanese war and received great acclaim.

1. Hollywood contribution to the war propaganda effort? Appearing in 1944? The British setting? Morale boosting?

2. Black-and-white photography, atmosphere of England, the countryside, the country mansion? Air fields, the country roads? The musical score? Morale and Roll out the Barrel?

3. The plausibility of the plot? The fifth column in England? The cells and the false identities, alleged refugees, music teachers, companions and governesses? The plots, the contact with Germany? The Hitler broadcasts? Giving help to German planes, beacons to indicate landmarks for bombing?

4. The prologue, Jim and his father, shooting, the death of the dog? The effect on Jim? Not sharing in the partridge hunting? His speech to the hunters? His convictions? Pacifism? His speech to his family, wanting to defend but not to kill? His hearing with the magistrates? His looking for work on the farms, the farmers looking down on him? Punching the lazy worker? Getting the job? Living away from the family? His relationship with his father and his father’s support? Roger and his support, May and her criticisms? Tommy, his devotion to his uncle? The boxing training?

5. The family, the father, experience in World War I, loving his sons, the genial man, the home guard and the humour of the old men and the war? Supporting his son? Roger, the air force, serious, loving May, the banter between them? Her being an old showgirl? Going on tour for the troops? The air fields, the German raids? May returning by car from Scotland? The dangers? The morale boosting in the shelter?

6. Dora, from Austria, her appearance, prim hairdo, accent? Encountering the family on holidays, coming to England, companion and governess? Jim and his infatuation with her? His proposal, the marriage certificate? The audience learning that she was a spy, the meetings with the contact, with the music teacher? Their plans, listening to Hitler? Propaganda, influencing Jim, marrying him so that she could not be interned? The clashes with Tommy? Lighting the haystack, the fire, the signals? Going back into the house, the confrontation with Jim, declaring her hatred of him? The gun, his attacking her, killing her?

7. Propaganda issues, infiltration, the meeting with the alleged Dutchman, his insinuations about the defeat of England, negotiations with Germany? A future? Reporting these spies to the authorities?

8. The theme of pacifism, World War II, exemptions from service – but the morale of the film indicating that in desperation, Jim would actually kill

9. The finale with him flying the plane with Roger?

THE FISHER KING

US, 1991, 137 minutes.
Robin Williams, Jeff Bridges, Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer, Michael Jetter, Dan Futterman, David Hyde Pierce, Tom Waites, Kathleen Najimy, Harry Shearer, Richard la Gravanese.
Directed by Terry Gilliam.


Jack Lucas is a 'take no prisoners' radio personality who disparages his listeners, one of whom, a lonely man, follows Jack's rhetoric literally and massacres diners in a fashionable restaurant. Jack then opts out of life and lives with and works for a girlfriend who owns a video store.

One night, drunk, he his saved from being burned by thugs by a group of vagrants led by Parry who sees himself as a knight and takes Jack to a dirty basement where he lives. Jack discovers that Parry is a teacher whose wife was killed in the massacre and who has spent time in a mental institution.

Jack wants to atone and help, giving Parry money. He watches over the awkward Lydia with whom Parry is infatuated, his fair maiden, and listens to Parry telling him the story of The Fisher King. Parry shows Jack a picture of a cup owned by a millionaire which he envisions as the Grail. Parry also talks to invisible little people and is haunted and chased by a giant Red Knight.

Jack and Anne tell Lydia that she has won a membership to their store so that she will come and run into Parry. She returns to get her nails done by Anne and goes out to a meal with them. It is her first date and it goes well for Parry.

Jack, feeling better, wants to go back to work but tells Anne that she is too clinging and moves out. However, Parry is battered and knifed by street thugs and goes into a catatonic state having relived the trauma of his wife's murder.

Jack then decides to retrieve Parry's Grail and is able to revive Parry. With Anne and Jack together again, Parry with Lydia, they have fulfilled the fable of The Fisher King.


Writer Richard La Gravanese went on to write The Bridges of Madison County and The Horse Whisperer and to direct, Living Out Loud. He is interested in myths and romanticism. Director Terry Gilliam was the American cartoonist member of the Monty Python group who directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He also directed the mythic fantasy, Time Bandits. On his return to America, he made such intriguing movies as Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Twelve Monkeys and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Robin Williams draws on his capacity for mania and pathos as Parry, the would-be modern knight who has experienced grief and trauma. Jeff Bridges is fine as the world-weary media personality, self-absorbed but shocked at the consequences of his words and discovering some innate compassion. Amanda Plummer has no trouble with the role of the eccentrically direct and accident-prone Lydia. Mercedes Ruehl won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Anne. Comedienne Kathy Najimy has a moment as a video customer and Tom Waits is a vagrant.

Robin Williams recounts the story of the Fisher King, the young prince who had great ambitions but whose hand was burnt when he reached for the Grail and who then become a frustrated and self-deprecating King. The Fool offered him a cup of water which he then recognised as the Grail. Jack is the contemporary Fisher King whose life has been cut short and contaminated. Parry is the Fool who offers help so that Jack discovers he is holding the Grail in his hands.


1. The title? The mythology? Parry and his telling the story? The mythology of the Grail? Symbolism? The Christian connections? Jesus, the suffering, the Last Supper, blood? Redemption and salvation?

2. New York, the 1990s? Jack and his arrogant attitudes on radio, his mockery of his listeners and his egging Edwin on to destroy the yuppies - and his horror to learn that he has? Jack and his theme song, Hit the Road, Jack? Jack , contemplating suicide, about to be burned and rescued by Parry as a saving knight - and Jack's discovery of who he was?

3. Parry, his story, at Hunter College, lecturing? Being in the club, is wife’s death – and the later flashbacks visualising the massacre, the killer? Is grief, madness? His new identity? His visions of the Red Knight? The themes of the Grail? The rescuer of Jack, the range of the homeless with him? Jack spending the night with him?

4. The range of homeless people? And Parry and his singing “How about You�? The homeless outside, in the institution? The old man, the man explaining Parry story, Tom Waits is the veteran? Michael Jetter is the singer? His love for Gypsy? His madness, Jack caring for him?

5. Parry and his visions of the Red Knight? His calm when the vision had gone and his stripping and telling Jack the story of the Fisher King?

6. Jake, his life with and are, in the video store? Is an ability to say he loved her? Her loving him, patient with him? The strong personality and support?

7. Jack and sharing with Parry, Central Park, Parry being naked, lying and watching the clouds? The effect on Jack?

8. Parry, his mythologies, his idealising Lydia? Following her? Her lack of personality, awkwardness, clumsiness? The sequence in Grand Central station, the commuters, her entering, Parry imagining the station as a ballroom, the people dancing, 5 o’clock returning to normal?

9. Jack deciding to help Parry with Lydia? The idea of her winning the competition? Tracking her down, the phone call, her reaction? Getting the singer to dress up, gypsy-fashion, coming into the office, the medley of lyrics from Gypsy and adapting them to Lydia winning the competition? Her following through, the visit to the shop, Anna and her edginess, Jack and his being agreeable? Discussions about the card, the availability of videos, her clumsiness with the shelves, Parry helping her, wanting musicals? Her seeing and is nails, interested? Coming back, beginning of conversation with Anna, the bond between the two women?

10. Jack getting Parry ready to go out, sprucing him up, the clothes? The plan for the restaurant? The four going, Lydia and her eating, the range of swipes on the screen for the different stages of the meal? Jack and Anna happy with their success? Parry walking Lydia home, her imagining all that would happen and how at the end of it all, after the night together, she would be unhappy and asking why she should put herself through all this? Parry, the gentle kiss, reassuring her?

11. Jack, feeling redeemed, checking with his agent, the possibility of a television show, his spurning the homeless people? His going home, separating from an?

12. Parry, being attacked again, going to the hospital, in coma? Jack receiving the message, hurrying with Anna to the hospital? Parry in a coma? Lydia’s visits?

13. Jack and his response to Parry's reversion and his going on the quest to retrieve the trophy and find his and Parry's grail? The fulfilment of his quest? The experience of grace at the end of the quest, atonement and forgiveness, love and reconciliation? Parry and Jack naked, lying on the ground in central Park, and watching the clouds?

THE DOCTOR BLAKE MYSTERIES: FAMILY PORTRAIT

Australia, 2017, 110 minutes, Colour.
Craig Mc Lachlan, Nadine Garner, Joel Tobeck, Anna Mc Gahan, John Wood, Belinda Mc Clory, Rick Donald.
Directed by Ian Barry.

The Dr Blake Mysteries is a popular television series for the Australian Broadcasting Commission for over four years. This telemovie brought the ABC contract to a close and the series moved to the commercial college Channel 7.

The film is set in the postwar period, attention to set design, clothing, fashions, cars… And is set in the city of Ballarat with frequent excursions to Melbourne.

Craig Mc Lachlan is the country doctor, a good reputation for caring for local patients, especially in the mansion inherited from his family. He is regularly called in to consult on murder cases. In this film, he is about to marry his partner, Jean, Nadine Garner.

The film opens with a wedding but with a sinister ending, the death of the groom and the anger of his father. It emerges that he is the victim of a scam and his new wife and her father are suspected. It emerges, as audiences might guess, that they are not father and daughter. But the audience will not anticipate that she is pregnant. When the father dies, initially suspiciously but later deemed as death through natural causes, Doctor Blake is asked to go to Melbourne to find out more and, while is in Melbourne, and Jean is buying a wedding dress for their forthcoming wedding, he investigates the connection of a cousin and her death.

The various complications, of course – but audiences will probably not anticipate who the actual killer is. Just as the film began with the wedding, it ends with a very happy wedding, the mother-in-law willing to look after the new child, and Doctor Blake back from his honeymoon, immediately called to work.

1. The popularity of the television series? Over 70 years? A feature film?

2. The period settings, the city of Ballarat, visits to Melbourne, Melbourne trams, roads, signs? The mansion in Ballarat, interiors? The police? The hotel? Prison? The musical score?

3. The title, the repercussions for the family? Murders, illegitimacy, reconciliation?

4. The character of Lucien Blake? Age, experience, memories of his father, his father’s sternness, breaking of his engagement, not contacting his father for 20 years? Finding his letters? His regrets? His relationship with Jean? The preparations for the wedding? His practice, and dealing with people? The consultation with the police? His being warned off, being brought back in? His examination of the murder site? The evidence? The autopsy? The encounter with Milton, the clash? Interviews with Harriet? His aunt Dorothy, her concern about her niece, getting him to search in Melbourne? Finding the flat, the dead body? The revelation that the niece had a mental breakdown and was in the institution, bringing his aunt and her gratitude? The death of Milton? The death of Tony, his regrets? Tony’s widow and her anger with Harriet? The solution of the case, his discussions with the maid, her identity? Her attack? The happiness of the wedding, the honeymoon – and his being called back to work?

5. Jean, her relationship with Lucien, the different rooms, her support of his work, confidante? Buying the wedding dress – but Rose wearing it? The support of the family? The wedding, the honeymoon, the return?

6. Edward and Harriet, the wedding ceremony? The aftermath? Tony and his criticisms of his son? Edward and his plan to get the money from his father, discussions with the lawyer, his being cut off? The best man and his cynical remarks? The former girlfriend, gatecrashing, her being taken out? The tensions of the wedding? Lucien and Jean and their leaving?

7. Harriet, swimming, the discovery of Edward’s body? The garden dirt on the sheets? Her being arrested? Her father, in the bar, the clash with Lucien? His being found murdered? Tony and his antipathy, wanting the truth, asking Lucien to go to Melbourne?

8. The visits to Melbourne, the police and their collaboration? The evidence?

9. The truth about Milton, the conman, his working in partnership with Harriet’s sister, his killing her? Harriet being distraught? Her being pregnant, the initial clash with Susan, Susan helping her to bring up the child?

10. The revelation about the maid, her being Tony’s daughter, being cut off, the threat of exposure? Her jealousy of Edward? Knowing his plans? Killing him, the evidence? Her
being blackmailed by Milton and her killing him? Tony dying of natural causes? The discussion with Lucien, the exposure of the truth?

11. The attractiveness of the period setting and atmosphere? The characters? The tagline about two weddings and funerals?

AFFAIR IN RENO

US, 1957, 75 minutes, Black-and-white.
John Lund, Doris Singleton, John Archer, Angela Greene, Alan Hale Jr, Richard Deacon, Thurston Hall.
Directed by R.G.Springsteen.

Everybody knows that Reno is the place for quick divorces. This has been the situation for decades.

This light, rather fluffy film, even though it involves gambling and gangsters, starts with Bill Carter, John Lund, flying to Reno, stitching 800 thousand dollars in cash into his coat shoulder pads. He has been commissioned by a wealthy New Yorker to intervene in the marriage of his daughter to the local gangster, to pay him off and bring the daughter home.

Almost immediately, Carter is attacked for the money by the gangsters’ henchman. He phones the wealthy New Yorker and is promised a bodyguard.

And this is where the film changes tone and becomes more enjoyable than it might have been – and is an interesting example of the role of a woman in a man’s job in a film of this period.

Doris Singleton, in a very lively performance, is the female bodyguard, much more shrewd than Bill Carter, achieving much more than he can, saving him in all kinds of circumstances, keeping the romantic responses until the very end! (Doris Singleton had a long career, especially on television, in the series with Lucille Ball and also with My Three Sons, living into her early 90s with a 60 year marriage to her husband, Charles Isaacs, a strong record.)

John Archer is the villain, Alan Hale Jr is one of his toughs. The action takes place in the hotel room with a kind of It Happened One Night separation, in the club, out on the roads.

It is over to the bodyguard to get all the information, find the address and meet with the heiress, rescue Carter when he has been abandoned out in the Nevada desert, persuade the heiress of the truth, and save the money in the casino.

The film was directed by R.G.Springsteen, a regular with this kind of supporting feature. The film shows what a woman can do – and what even a genial man cannot do!

THE GREEN INFERNO

US, 2013, 100 minutes, Colour.
Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy, Daryl Sabara, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Magda Apanowicz, Sky Ferreira, Nicolas Martinez, Aaron Burns.
Directed by Eli Roth.

Since The Green Inferno is an Eli Roth film, audiences will expect aspects of horror, remembering such films as Cabin Fever and his two Hostel films as well as the more recent Knock, Knock. Expectations are fulfilled.

The film opens as an American campus protest story, students are on a hunger strike, placards and demonstrations, concern about bulldozing in the Amazon jungle. Justine (Lorenza Izzo, who married the director after making this film), whose father is a United Nations consultant, is invited to a meeting, is fascinated with the rather charismatic leader and, despite her roommate’s comments, goes to Peru.

The protesters travel along the rivers, confront the bulldozers and their militia, their only weapon being cameras and their activities being broadcast internationally. However, on the way home, their plane crashes and the survivors have an excruciating experience with local tribes who consider them the enemy.

This is where the horror and gore enter. The locals are painted red, their chiefs look extremely terrifying and sinister. Members of the group are killed, drained of blood, eaten. They try to resist but most are killed. Justine is painted, about to suffer genital mutilation (and, early in the film, she and her friend have attended a lecture which graphically talks about genital mutilation). However, she escapes, is rescued – and, in subsequent interviews, denies that there has been any cannibalism or torture. She is protecting the natives.

1. The two parts of the film? Student protest and demonstration in the jungle? Capture and torture in the jungle?

2. The work of the director, interest in horror films, torture and gore, perspectives on social concern, on graphic horror?

3. The American campus, the lawns and demonstrations, the streets and shops, meeting places, campus dormitories? The contrast with Peru, the river, the building site, the bulldozing, the plane crash, the jungle, the village, the escape? The musical score?

4. Justine and her friend, sharing the room, freshmen, callow attitudes, the Jewish joke? Looking at the protesters? Ridiculing the hunger strikes? The earnest young man, the poster, urging Justine to act? Her decision to go to the meeting? Her father, the United Nations, the meal, the discussions?

5. Justine, Alejandro, his earnestness, her question and his dismissal? The return, apology, interest in the cause, interest in him? His character, his relationship with the women?

6. The decision to go, the plane, the men and women in the group, their personalities, interactions, motivations? The threats, threats to life, the possibility of leaving? Their all agreeing to go?

7. The travel to the jungle, the scenery, the river? The building site, the locals watching, the bulldozers, the destruction, the drivers, the militia, the confrontation? Justine being threatened with the gun? With their cameras, the satellite, broadcasting news instantly around the world? Successful protest?

8. The return, the plane crashing? Those killed? The survivors making their way through the jungle? The encounter with the locals, painted red, the leaders, black, sinister faces? Killing? The imprisoning of the group? Jonah, the blood, devouring him? The attempts to escape, the arrows and deaths?

9. Aleandro, the revelation of his stance, exploitative, for the rival company? Justine and her disgust? His wanting to survive, sexual release and the comments of the others?

10. Justine taken, painted, the threat to genital mutilation? Her medallion, the whistle, giving it a little boy and his later help?

11. The attempted escapes, the deaths? Justine and her friend, the river, the rescue, his imprisonment, exposure to the ants? Justine freeing him?

12. Justine, the pursuit, her escape, the stand-off with the bulldozer drivers, with the militia, her surrender?

13. Justine to safety, with her friend in the room, with her father, the testimony, her denial of any barbarous behaviour by the locals? Saving them?

14. The final touch of irony, Aleandro’s girlfriend and the image of him in the cage – and questioning Justine?