SHOWER/ ZIZAO

China, 1999, 92 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Zhang Yang.

A nice Chinese film. It shows us that small local stories that are treated with a basic humanity and humour can travel and entertain audiences everywhere. A successful Chinese businessman returns home thinking that his father has died. He hasn't and is still antagonistic towards his son who has left home. He runs an old-fashioned baths with his mentally handicapped son (a wonderfully genial and cheerful man). The baths are threated by developers. The older son delays his return and gets back into the rhythm of life at the baths, especially with the old regulars.

Shower is gentle and pleasantly funny, an appeal for old values - although those who prefer quick and efficient showers will be lost in wonder and envy at the opening sequence where we see the most modern of showers, a masterpiece of technological film-making.

1. The title, the opening of the shower, the baths?

2. Beijing, the rundown neighbourhood, the streets, the house, the baths? The musical score?

3. The older son, as a character, leaving home, his successful business, moving south, his wife, her not having met his father? The message to return, his father’s death? Finding his father alive? His younger brother, the device to bring him back? Staying the days, observing, the effect on him? His father, failing health? Facing a future? Decisions?

4. The character of the Father, his age, his sons, enjoying his work, managing the baths, interacting with the customers? Caring for his disabled son? The older son’s return, his health, the future?

5. Er Ming, younger brother, his age, his disability, lively personality, working in the baths, with his father, the device to get his brother to return?

6. The picture of the customers, the way of life in the baths, coming and going, interacting with the father, with the son? The feel of life in this microcosm of China?

7. China emerging at the end of the 20th century? A slice of life, pleasant, humane?

SERIES 7. THE CONTENDERS

US, 2001, 87 minutes, Colour.
Brooke Smith, Mark Woodbury, Michael Kaycheck, Marylouise Burke, Richard Venture, Donna Hanover, Merritt Weaver, Glenn Fitzgerald, Angelina Phillips.
Directed by Daniel Minahan.

Sometimes a film comes along that you have never heard of and have no idea what it is about. This was the case with Series 7. The Contenders. The advertisements warn us that it is 'real life and real danger' and it has an 18 certificate. What is it?

As you watch the film, you are not quite sure. We are suddenly introduced to the pregnant Dawn who is being photographed with a hand-held camera. She complains to the man behind the counter in a convenience store. She then pulls a gun and shoots a customer dead. This is shocking so early in the film. Dawn does seem like a killer. This seems too random a killing. But, in fact, it is not. It is all for her unborn child. The murder victim is, in fact, a competitor in a television series, The Contenders, where not only are rivals eliminated from the show, they are actually killed.

Series 7. The Contenders is an in-your-face satire on current trends in popular television, especially the competitive shows, watched avidly by millions around the world, where rivals are ousted from houses and quiz shows. In this case, what happens when you are the Weakest Link, there is no Big Brother to help, you will not be a Survivor. You will receive the final goodbye.

The writer and director of this small-budget mirror of television-watching menus, Daniel Minahan, has said that he had written the screenplay before Big Brother and Survivor appeared on TV screens. He says he was rather taken aback at actual programs becoming more like his fiction. His model (and what he urged his cast to watch) was the 'real life' report shows like the US 'Cops'.

But it is not just the programs themselves which are the director's target. His gallery of contestants is also a mirror of bizarre amoral attitudes amongst seemingly ordinary people. Dawn wants to survive and get the money for her child. There is a nurse who has a handy way of using deadly syringes instead of the gun she was issued with. There is a 72 year old man who does not last long. There is a sixteen year old girl who knows all about guns, egged on by enthusiastic parents. There is a younger man who has terminal cancer and problems with sexual identity. The characters are caricatures but only just. One can see how almost-normal these people are. Which makes their hehaviour and that of their family and friends all the more alarming.

In the last few years there have been quite a number of American movies offering satirical critiques of television and its effect on society: people watching the lives of other people as if they were soap operas (The Truman Show, ED TV), teenagers swept into their TV screens and becoming characters in their favourite soap-opera (Pleasantville), viewers obsessed with continual watching of sales channels (Holy Man).

Of course, any film, no matter how scathing the criticism, as in Series 7, is not going to stop us watching television. But, any film that raises question marks about our viewing, our changing sensibilities and the possibility of desensitising audiences contributes to a critique of television.

THE SUSPICIONS OF MR WHICHER: BEYOND THE PALE

UK, 2014, 90 minutes, Colour.
Paddy Considine, Nancy Carroll, Nicholas Jones, Laura Torchia, John Heffernan, Adrian Quinton, Laura Morgan, Anthony O'Donnell.
Directed by David Blair.

This film is the third in a series of four focusing on the private investigator, Mr John Whicher, played by Paddy Considine on. The original story was based on an actual case in London in the 1860s, the subject of a book by Kate Summerscale. The writers in the series have taken her character and created fictional cases.

This one is rather different from the previous stories. The focus is on India. Mr Whicher is asked to take on a search for missing person by Sir Edward Shore who had been instrumental in dismissing Mr Whicher from the police force. The film opens with a mysterious Indian pursuing a gentleman in the London streets – the gentleman is Sir Edward’s son who has spent 12 years in India, military, business, failure, fathering to children with an Indian partner but bringing his fiancee out from England and their forming a household. He has now returned to England, taking the children and is being pursued by the two brothers of the mother of his children.

While there is quite a flavour of London at the period, especially when Mr Whicher goes throughout the city interrogating people, also including going on board a ship from India, much of the action is interior and takes place at night, a general darkness in the film.

Mr Whicher is a touch more humane in this film, not only in his investigation and his integrity but also in his new landlady, Mrs Piper, with whom he forms a genial relationship.

Once again there is a priest and a nun, possibly Anglican, possibly Catholic, unusual in stories about London in the 1860s.

1. The Mr Whicher series? London mysteries, the 19th century, private investigation?

2. The re-creation of the period, costumes and decor, homes, parks and gardens, the ships, the wharves? The interiors and the darkness? The musical score?

3. The title, with reference to Britain, India, conflicts?

4. The history of Mr Whicher, his failed case and dismissal from the police, the role of Sir Edward and his asking for help. Mr Whicher as a private investigator, boarding with Mrs Piper, conversations with her, her hospitality, his coming and going, offering to help in the garden, her helping with nursing at the refuge? The discussions about payment? His finally working in the garden? The bond between the two?

5. Charles Shore, the Indian, watching, the pursuit, his escape? Commissioning Mr Whicher? Initially brief elements of the story, his indiscretion in India, his return, Katherine and children, expectations from his father? An angry man? The military service, going into business? Returning to England after 12 years? The true story emerging, his relationship with Zeenet, taking the children, setting up house in London? His mother concerned about the family reputation? The influence of his father and his political career?

6. Mr Whicher, a loner, serious, taking on the commission, the range of his questioning of people all around London, the ship, the captain on the list, identifying the Indian, going to the refuge, Father John and his reluctance with information, the nun? The news of the dead body, the murder of the Indian? His younger brother with him on the boat, his slashing Mr Whicher’s neck? Mrs Piper sewing the wound?

7. Mr Whicher, his encounter with the nanny, her being on the boat, telling her background story, stigmatised as Indian? Further revelations about her? The suspicion that she had taken the children? Her arrival, Charles threatening with the gun? Her brother wounded by Charles, being cared for in the house?

8. The truth about the children, Charles’s mother and her taking them, arranging for them to go to France, not wanting the embarrassment of Indian children? Sir Edward and his wanting to see his grandchildren? Their rescue from the train?

9. Charles, his double life, admitting the truth, his love for Zeenet, his love for Katherine? With the gun?

10. At the wharf, the children going back to India with Zeenet, Katherine and the farewell, Charles and the farewell?

11. Mr Whicher and his achievement?

SHERLOCK HOMES AND THE DEADLY NECKLACE

West Germany, 1962, 84 minutes, Black and white.
Christopher Lee, Hans Sohnker, Thorley Walters, Hans Nielsen, Senta Berger, Ivan Desny, Leon Askin.
Directed by Terence Fisher.

Some audiences very happy with this film, others considerably not. While it has the background of Hammer Studios film, especially with Christopher Lee in the central role and director Terence Fisher, it is a German production of the early 1960s, filmed in Germany with a very German looking supporting cast as well as some scenes in Dublin.

One of the complaints is that Christopher Lee and Thorley Walters have been dubbed and not effectively – the comment made that the producers refused to pay money to bring Lee and Walters to Germany to do the dubbing. For audiences familiar with Lee and his voice, it is very offputting.

However, Hans Sohnker is a very effective Moriarty (pronounced by homes and Watson as Moriarity). Hans Nielsen is good as Inspector Cooper. There is a minor subplot, a touch of the romantic with Senta is one and Ivan Desny, both of whom appeared in international productions. Actor from the 1930s on and in television in the 1960s, Leon Askin is a sinister villain as well.

The plot is fairly commonplace. Holmes enjoys himself in disguise, especially deceiving Watson and the landlady. There is also a scene where Holmes is investigating and kills a deadly snake. Very effective other scenes between Holmes and Moriarty, especially when Moriarty actually thinks he might be able to recruit Holmes to his group.

So, a historical item, a curiosity item.

1. The German production? German cast? British cast? Filming in Germany, in Dublin?

2. The significance of the dubbed voices for the English version? Christopher Lee and Thorley Walters not doing their voices? Alternate voices and audience expectations of a Christopher Lee voice? The British director, Terence Fisher and his experience with Hammer Studios and The Hound of the Baskervilles and Christopher Lee? The German associate director? The German in charge of the English language version?

3. The 1910 setting, the streets of London, the wharves, Baker Street and Holmes’s house and office, Moriarty’s home, Scotland Yard?

4. The portrayal of Holmes, Christopher Lee, stature, clothes, hat, not deer stalker? His many disguises? Audiences picking Christopher Lee? Thorley Walters as Dr Watson? Associate, sometimes babbling, sometimes dithering, helping as chauffeur, helping a sounding board?

5. Scotland Yard, Inspector Cooper, his attitude towards Holmes, discussions and conversations, his participating in the plan to unmask Moriarty?

6. Moriarty, the archvillain, the professor, his range of associates, respectable associates, thugs? The murders? His goal in getting Cleopatra’s necklace? The sarcophagus, the box, the snake – and Holmes killing the snake?

7. The characters of Paul and Ellen, the situation with the case, with Holmes, their wanting to leave?

8. Charles, chauffeur, sinister villain, being unmasked?

9. The convolutions of the plot, the presence of the necklace, its reputation, ownership, Moriarty wanting it, getting it, the role of the police? Holmes and Watson?

10. Holmes going to Moriarty’s library? The later discussion with Moriarty, Moriarty trying to get Holmes to join him? Holmes integrity? Moriarty’s extreme villainy?

11. The resolution of the plot, the style of Conan Doyle – but a European mixture of the British and the German?

BAMBOOZLED

US, 2001, 135 minutes, Colour.
Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tommy Davidson, Michael Rapaport.
Directed by Spike Lee.

"You've been hoodwinked. You've been had. You've been took. You've been led astray, led amok. You've been bamboozled." The speaker is Malcolm X in Spike Lee's movie of that name. The audience is a crowd of African Americans. Malcolm X is speaking of how his fellow black Americans have been portrayed in the media. The scene is inserted into Spike Lee's new film, the title taking up Malcolm X's choice of words, Bamboozled.

Spike Lee himself is by no means bamboozled. He sees very clearly what has happened. He is angry about it (and has been in most of his films) and has decided to tackle the subject full on. His chosen mode of communication is satire. In fact, as the film opens, we are given a dictionary definition of satire as a humorous, though sometimes black and bitter, attack on the failings of society. There is no mistaking how this film is to be taken.

Lee is not a subtle storyteller. He hits hard. He makes his point (sometimes over and over again as he does here) with blunt and exaggerated dialogue and some over-the-top characterisation. Even audiences who might miss the message in the indirect approach will know that American theatre, cinema and television has caricatured the black African American presence with, in the title of one of the best books on the subject, Donald Bogle's, 'Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies and Bucks'.

Bamboozled is the calamitous saga of Pierre Delacroix, a Harvard educated TV executive who feels he has been put down by his colleagues. He is either ignored or patronised by his go-getting white boss who claims to be in sync with black aspirations. He has a brainwave that will get him sacked and make him a martyr: he will introduce a TV minstrel show where the black performers will have extra 'blackface'. He will lay on all the cliches, all the caricatures, all the broken dialogue made popular by the slaves and mammies in the movies.

It is a ratings bonanza! What is Pierre to do? Go with it and be a success? Continue his war against the channel? Or let US media madness and proneness to violence run its course?

Bamboozled is not an easy film to sit through. While it is entertaining in its grimly humorous way, it is more like an illustrated lesson on American race stereotypes. It has also been filmed with digital video cameras to give it a sense of 'immediacy' - this is all happening now. So, its look is sometimes fuzzy with the touch of the home movie. And Damon Wayans' performance as Pierre Delacroix is constantly disconcerting. Wayans has chosen a most peculiar accent, part over-educated, part phony 'French-is-really-my-first-language precision. We are continually wondering who is this man and what is he really up to. Does he really know? This puts us on edge. Which is what Spike Lee wants. He wants us to react emotionally to the put down of black Americans and the bigotry, intolerance and mockery that is the mark of racism in any society.

SAVIOR

US, 1998, 104 minutes, Colour.
Dennis Quaid, Nastassja Kinski, Stellan Skarsgard, Natasa Kinkovic.
Directed by Peter Antonjevic.

Joshua Rose is on active duty in Yugoslavia during the 1980s. He is a member of a bomb disposal unit. One day, he leaves his wife and son in a restaurant and they are killed in an explosion. Joshua vents his anger by taking a gun, going to a nearby mosque and opening fire. With his friend and co-worker, Peter, he flees the country and joins the foreign Legion, changing his name to Guy.

In the early 1990s, Guy and Peter have returned to Yugoslavia to fight as mercenaries with the Serb forces in Bosnia. Guy is a skilled sniper. His partner is a local man, Goran. Goran is also a psychopathic killer. They are assigned to take a pregnant woman, Vera, back to her village. She has been raped by Muslim soldiers. Angry because she has been with a Muslim, Goran kicks her violently to make her miscarry. Guy shoots him dead. Guy then helps deliver the baby and takes Vera back to her family.

She is rejected once more, this time by her Orthodox father because of the baby's Muslim parentage. When Goran's body is found, the local chief commands Vera's father to avenge Goran. He pursues Guy and wounds him but his son persuades him to spare Vera.

Vera decides to follow her father home but finds the village destroyed and her family dead. Guy now wants to save Vera and her child and does a deal to obtain a car for them to drive to safety in Split. When they run out of petrol, Vera goes to look for a bus while Guy hides the child in a wrecked boat. Vera is amongst a group of people captured by the Croatians. Guy witnesses her brutal murder. He retrieves the child but decides to leaves it on a jetty in Split. A woman watches him from a parked. Guy confesses to her that he is the father. She persuades him to keep the baby.

By the late 1990s, several movies about the Balkan Wars had been produced, especially in Serbia: Underground and Pretty Village, Pretty Flame. British director, Michael Winterbottom, made Welcome to Sarajevo (1997). Theo Angelopolous made Ulysses' Gaze (1997). Savior is an American production, filmed in Montenegro. It failed to find wide cinema release.

All these movies display an intensity of emotion that was disturbing for audiences who knew of the cruelty of the battles and atrocities only through headlines and television clips. Critics argued whether there was pro-Serbian bias in the movies, or pro-Bosnian or pro-Croatian. Savior's director, Peter Antonjevic, is Serb. However, he does not hesitate to show in the sniper, Goran, the savage face of Serbia.

Savior, like Welcome to Sarajevo, was made principally for western audiences. A westerner (a reporter in Welcome to Sarajevo, a mercenary in Savior) is caught up in the war yet, ultimately, has to make personal choices about loyalties, about saving children, about protecting the future.

Where Savior is particularly hard-hitting (Oliver Stone was a co-producer) is in the opening sequences where Joshua's wife and child are murdered and, even more terribly, where Joshua opens fire in a Mosque. At the end of the movie, Serbs, including Vera, are bludgeoned to death, a scene that does not allow the audience avoid the atrocities.

Joshua/Guy, embittered by savagery towards his family, gives himself over to war and killing. Finally, he is offered the possibility of redemption in his decisions to defend and rescue Vera and the child. Guy saves the child. The child is a saviour for Guy.

1. The Balkan wars of the 1990s? Close to the events?

2. The title? Ironies? The final fact?

3. The initial Paris settings, the city, the apartment, bonds? The Mosque? The transition to Bosnia, the town, the bridge, the checkpoint, the homes and the bombs? Bosnian countryside? Villages, destruction? On the road, refugee camps? The coast and the haven? The musical score?

4. The restaurant explosion and Guy's grief, death of his wife and child? The intensity of his going to the Mosque and shooting people dead? His friendship with Peter, Peter and the shooting? Their leaving France, the foreign Legion? Its effect on his life, his fighting as a mercenary sniper in Bosnia - the shooting of the boy with the goat?

5. Bosnia, the landscapes, Joshua and his changing his name to Guy? Pro- Serb? The bridge, the sniper point? Peter and his death? The girl throwing the grenade?

6. Goran and his brutality, his character, working with Guy? The ceasefire, going with Guy, visiting the homes? The old woman, alive, the dead mother, the baby in the wardrobe? Goran returning, killing the old woman, killing the baby, cutting off the finger to steal the ring? Helicopter and the rubble?

7. The prisoner exchange? Finding Vera, pregnant, the background of rape? Taking her in the car? Goran and his kicking Vera? Guy's shooting him to protect Vera? The birth of the child? Vera and her not wanting any contact with the baby? Arriving at the village? Vera rejected by her father, saved by Guy, the flight in the boat and the car?

8. Vera’s family, their shame? Going to the camp, her still rejecting the child? Goran’s family and the pursuit, Guy being injured? The explanation that Guy had shot Goran to save Vera and the child?

9. The Roundup? Moving to the coast? The kind family who had lost their children in the war, Croat and Serb marriage? The suddenness of Vera's capture, her searching for the bus, and being among the group to be executed? The bludgeoning? Guy almost suffocating the baby to protect it? His journey, the Red Cross, the woman offering him the baby, his decision to abandon the child? His being saved by taking the child with him?

THE SPITFIRE GRILL

US, 1996, 117 minutes, Colour.
Alison Elliot, Ellen Burstyn, Marcia Gay Harden, Will Patton, Kieran Mulroney, Gaillard Sartain.
Directed by Lee David Zlotoff.

While in goal on a charge of manslaughter, Percy Talbott works for the Maine tourist authority, a member of its phone advice service. On release, she decides to travel to one of the towns that attracted her, Gilead.

She is befriended by Hannah who runs the local diner, the Spitfire Grill. Gilead itself is experiencing an economic downturn and Hannah is trying to sell the grill. Percy enjoys working there and becomes friendly with Joe to whom she reveals her past. However, she is regarded with suspicion by Hannah's nephew, Nahum.

Nahum makes his wife, Shelby, whom he continually belittles in public and private, help out at the grill. Shelby gains a sense of achievement as well as an experiencing friendship with Percy. Percy hears about a diner in another town that is to be raffled. She suggests that Hannah do the same. The raffle is very successful.

Increasingly antagonistic towards Percy, Nahum hides the money from the entry fees in a sack of food, one of many that Percy leaves out for a wild man in the hills. It emerges that he is Eli, Hannah's son, whom everyone thought had gone to Vietnam.

A manhunt for Eli follows. When Percy goes to warn Eli, she has an accident and drowns. Nahum confesses his guilt at her funeral. Later a young woman with a child arrives, the new owner of the grill.

The Spitfure Grill is a moving experience, a story of generations of women. The title refers to a diner, a reminder of the Whistle Stop cafe with its fried green tomatoes.

Alison Eliot is persuasive as a young woman released from gaol who gets a job helping the elderly Ellen Burstyn at the Grill. Her nephew, played by Will Patton, is suspicious, especially when his wife whom he continually belittles finds friendship helping out at the Grill. Marcia Gay Harden gives a surprisingly effective performance.

For a while, the movie seems to be signalling plot developments well ahead - romance, a raffle to find a new owner for the Grill, a Vietnam veteran who has disappeared. However, the resolution and ending are not quite what we might expect. We are left in a more thoughtful frame of mind about the characters and themes.

The people of Gilead, Maine, are experiencing recession. The opportunities of the past are vanishing. They experience some sense of continuity, community and hope at the Grill. Hannah provides for their needs. When Percy joins Hannah she brings new spirit to the diner and to the customers. She is a catalyst for good. This can be seen in the transformation of Shelby and her gaining self-esteem while working in the grill with Percy and in the achievement of setting up the raffle. Percy, in her way, is something of a Christ-figure in Gilead.

The movie received financial support from the Catholic congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart. It was a success at the Sundance Film Festival and consequently received world-wide release.

1. A humane story, of redemption? The focus on women characters?

2. An American story, the state of Maine, the town of Gilead, small, during a recession? Homes, the Grill? The mountains and the hermit dwelling? The fair, the raffle? The atmosphere of the town? The musical score?

3. Percy as a good young woman. Her telling Joe her story and the revelation of how she had been victimised by her stepfather and by the system. Her tourist work in jail and her decision to come to Gilead. The experience of jail, her getting out, starting again, coming to Gilead? Her age, experience, good nature?

4. Hannah and her welcome. Hannah, her age, her experience, running the diner? The story of her son, Vietnam, considered lost?

5. Percy at work at the grill and meeting and influencing people.

6. Shelby and the response to friendship.

7. Other customers, their being suspicious of Percy and her presence? The setting up of the raffle for the grill?

8. Nahum, his relationship with Hannah, at the grill, his suspicions? His attitude towards Hannah? His attitude towards his wife, being hard on Shelby?

9. Shelby, her self-image, her relationship with Nathan? Friendship with Shelby, shall be helping her at the grill, affirmation?

10. The role of the sheriff in the town?

11. Go, young, attracted to Percy? Inviting the scientist to the town? The theories about the trees, the cure for arthritis? Percy confiding in Joe?

12. Eli, the background of the Vietnam war, shellshocked, the return, hiding as a hermit, in the mountains? Percy and her helping him with food?

13. Nahum's hostility and his hiding the money in the sack of food. Percy's helping Eli with the food. Going to warn him about the search. Her giving her life as she drowned. The next
young woman coming to Gilead and owning the grill.

THE TAO OF STEVE

US, 2000, 87 minutes, Colour.
Donal Logue, Greer Goodman.
Directed by Jenniphr Goodman.

A small-budget comedy, a winner at the Sundance Festival. It is very much a film for those in their twenties who will identify with the issues, if not the characters. Those who have left their twenties behind (especially long ago) will be more than a touch impatient with these men and women who are groping (quite a relevant verb) their way to some meaning in life. Donal Logue is striking and credible in the central role of the womanising Dex. He certainly looks an unlikely Lothario as he is, in his own words, 'the fattest'. His philosophy (and he does have in his library and quotes a number of philosophers, especially Lao Tsu) is self-absorbed, inflated in its pronouncements about sex and pompous in its judgements on lesser mortals. He also relies on the media image of the various Steves, Steve Austin and The Six Million Dollar Man, Steve Mc Garrett, Hawaii 5-0, and Steve Mc Queen.

However, he begins to fall in love and his behaviour becomes inconsistent with his 'principles' and..., well, you will probably guess the rest. This means that it really is a generally moral fable (ultimately) for its twenties' audience who are struggling to find what they really believe in terms of themselves and their live goals and their relationships.

Director Jenniphr Goodman worked with her sister, Greer Goodman who appears as Syd, on the screenplay.

1. The title? Expectations? The philosophy of Lao Tsu? The focus on the three action Steve’s from film and television? The philosophy of seduction, express no desire, act heroically, retreat?

2. The Santa Fe settings, home, kindergarten? Camping? New York City? The musical score?

3. Dex as a Lothario, 30s, fat? Self-image? With women, seduction? Sports, Frisbees, his dog? Working at the kindergarten, interaction with the children? At home, his life? Self-satisfied?

4. Dex, a thirtysomething, the meaning of his life, the meaning of sex and seduction, not thinking of changing? And then a challenge?

5. His history of sexual encounters, the 10 year reunion? His meeting Syd, not remembering her, her being hurt? Syd, set designer, a character? His trying to use his philosophy on her, her not responding?

6. The camp, Syd with Dex, his pain, thinking had a stroke, heartburn, going to the hospital? The life warnings from his doctor?

7. Back at school, the encounter with the husband, punching him in front of the students?

8. Syd, arriving to support him, the sexual experience – and her aftermath reaction to his philosophy, leaving in disgust?

9. Dex, some kind of awareness that he should reform?

10. Later in New York City, Syd and her work, the message on Dex’s answering machine, his being present – what future?

BIG LITTLE LIES

US, 2017, 7X 50 minutes, Colour.
Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, Alexander Skarsgaard, Adam Scott,, Zoe Kravitz, James Tupper, Jeffrey Nordlund, Iain Armitage, Darby Camp, Santiago Cabrera, Kathryn Newton, Joseph Cross.
Directed by Jean- Marc Vallee.

Big Little Lies was a very successful television series nominated for many Emmys. It was based on a novel by Liane Moriarty, an Australian author – but was optioned by Reese Witherspoon and the location transferred to California, the city of Monterey.

In many ways, this is something of the Desperate Housewives of Monterey – but is more.

With 7 1-hour episodes, it has the opportunity to build up characters, set them in the atmosphere of Monterey, focus on four women and, to a lesser extent, their husbands. But the children also have a central focus.

The performances are excellent, Reese Witherspoon as the ever controlling and demanding Madeline, revealed eventually as not as perfect as she would like to project her image. Nicole Kidman is very good as Celeste, a former lawyer, in a violent marriage, her husband, Alexander Skarsgaard, controlling and violent towards her and she responding violently and their both responding sexually. There are some interesting sequences at a therapist with the wife in denial but eventually having to admit the truth. Shailene Woodley is gaining, a young unmarried mother who has bitter memories of the father of her young son. She is befriended by the women in the town.

On the other hand, there is the highly strung professional woman, Renata, played by Laura Dern. Her child is bullied at school and accuses Shailene Woodley’s son. This mystery recurs throughout the series and eventually, another child is revealed as the bully.

There are all kinds of other things happening in the town, especially with the young children and their going to school, the putting on of a risky play, Avenue Q and protests against it, Celeste being asked to exercise her legal skills for the play being allowed to go ahead.

Adam Scott is very good as Madeline’s husband, quietly working at home, trying to please his wife as well as cope with her ex-husband and his new wife and parenting the teenage daughter who gets into quite a tangle herself with her Project.

The film ends with a community Trivia Night with Elvis impersonations but also with the death, and another twist, the police baffled, the townspeople gossiping throughout the film, intercut with the action, with justice actually being done without benefit of law, and the reconciliation amongst the characters and the future.

The series was directed by Canadian Jean- Marc Vallee came to prominence with his C*R*A*Z*Y, directed Matthew Mc Conaughay to an Oscar in The Dallas Buyers Club and directed Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern in Wild.

1. The popularity of this series? Designed for the television audience? The original novel, Australian and transferred to the United States?

2. The effect of watching the series, the situations, development of characters, interactions, death, gossip? Twisting revelation? The solution?

3. Monterey, California, affluence, homes, school, the theatre? The rehearsals for Avenue Q? The trivia night? The atmosphere of soap opera – but more?

4. A portrait of housewives, their deepest aspirations? Expectations? The women’s focus of the series? The place of men, children? Centering on the school?

5. The intercutting of the dramas, love, betrayal?

6. The action taking place over two weeks, life in the suburbs, at school, the theatre and the cases, the drama of the child hitting another? Counselling and its effect?

7. The background of the people from Monterey, the board meeting, the quick cuts, the intercutting of the gossip and opinions?

8. Reese Witherspoon as Madeline, her age, taking Chloe to school, the encounter with Jane, bonding with her? Madeline controlling, wanting perfection, not perfect herself? Her first husband, the memories, their clashes? His remarriage, her jealousy of Bonnie? At home, Acted, married for years, take him for granted, the details of life, his domestication, her demands? Her relationship with Abigail, the teenager, talking with her, wanting to control? Her friendship with Celeste, their discussions? Tom, the restaurant? The clashes with Renata? The revelation of her affair with Joseph? Scenes with him, his advances, his wife? Her love for the theatre, Avenue Q, discussions with Celeste, the mayor and case, the discussions? The performance, Joseph’s wife? The issue with Jane, Jane and the father of Ziggy, the gun? The discussions after Jane’s visit? Joseph, the confrontation, the accident, his injuries, the effect on Madeline, Joseph’s wife? The importance of the meal, the Abigail project? The visit, the tensions, the frank talk? Discussion with Abigail, Madeline’s confession about her affair? The possibilities for the future, telling Ed?

9. Celeste, the twins, the relationship with Perry, a hard life, giving up the law, being a mother, the difficulties of the birth, the twins? Taking them to school? Her friendship with Madeline, becoming a friend of Jane? The meetings, the restaurant, chatting? At home, Perry, his wanting control, demanding on Celeste, anger, hitting his wife, her hitting him back, leading to’s sexual encounter? His being away frequently? The decision to go to the therapist? The two together, the discussions, Celeste going alone, in denial, the counsellor eliciting a response from Celeste, the plan for the future, confiding in someone else so that it is not one word against another? Setting up the apartment, renting it? Her taking on the case with the mayor, the meeting, her arguments, her enjoying the experience, the possibility of a career, the opinion of the counsellor? Perry forbidding her to go to the play? The buildup to going to the trivia night?

10. Perry, Jane seeking the father of her son, the truth? Jane, identifying Perry, the violence, and his death?

11. Jane, her age, arrival, with Ziggy, six years old, giving the lift to Madeline, the friendship, Ziggy being accused of hitting the little girl, her identifying him? Jane at home, with her son, the absent father, the insertion of the memories, on the beach? Friendship with Tom, the chats with her friends? Relying on Madeline? The gun, the firing practice? Madeline and the lead for the father of her child, San Luis Obispo? Her reaction about the accusations, testing her son, believing him? The discussions with the teachers, the discussions with Renata, her anger, the effect on Renata’s eye? The apology, the discussions, their becoming friends? Gordon attacking her? The truth, Ziggy Innocent, his friendship with the little girl? Her telling Celeste the truth, telling Renata with Celeste? Her recognising Perry?

12. Renata, her character, her power, work, relationship with Gordon? The daughter, at school? Renata highly strung, excessive anger, shouting at her husband, the clash with Jane, the petition against Ziggy, the teachers? The bite on her daughter’s shoulder? The fight with Jane, the injury to her I? Jane’s apology and their bonding?

13. The importance of the children, Ziggy and the initial suspicion, a quiet boy, the background in his asking about his father? Jane’s answers? Renata’s daughter, the victim, pointing to Ziggy? The twins, their planning, affection for their father, his pretending to be the monster? The truth, Max and his bullying, Chloe and her behaviour? Propitious at home?

14. Abigail, living with Madeline, the visits to her father, her relationship with Ed? Teenage? Assertion? At home with Chloe? Moving out, setting up a project, selling her virginity online, the social causes? Angers? The dinner, Madeline’s confession?

15. Ed, genial man, working at home, love for Madeline, not feeling that he was loved fully by her? Relationship with Abigail? A sounding board at home? Challenging Madeline’s first husband, visiting Bonnie? The preparation for the dinner? Agreeable, Abigail’s project? The trivia night, his performance as Elvis, singing? For Madeline? The absence?

16. Perry, his job, with Celeste, the kids, being away, dominating and violent? Punishing Celeste? Forbidding her to go out? The counsellor and the sessions? The boys? The revelation of the truth, his death? Bonnie’s role and pushing Perry?

17. Bonnie and her husband, characters, at the school, their own daughter, the story, the clashes, the fight and her daughter being upset?

18. Gordon, relationship with Renata, his daughter and the accusations, the clashes with Jane?

19. Tom, at the restaurant, genial, friendly, helping the women out?

20. The investigations about Perry’s death? Interrogating the women? The police are dubious about their answers? The women all bonding, the scenes of the beach – and the future?

21. The background of the teachers, in the school, handling the bullying situation, publicly with the mothers? The gossip? The accusations?

22. The final twist, the death and the truth?

LOTTERY TICKET

US, 2010, 99 minutes, Colour.
Shad Moss (Bow Wow), Brandon T.Jackson, Naturi Naughton, Loretta Devine, Ice Cube, Keith David, Terry Crews, Mike Epps.
Directed by Erik White.

The 1990s was significant in the development of American movies featuring African- American stories and written and directed by African- Americans. Initially, the films were very much action dramas, gangster films, boys in the hood… But there were were also some comedies, especially with Whoopi Goldberg and the Sister Act films.

By the mid-1990s, recording artists Ice Cube began appearing in films as well as producing them, especially the Friday series. From then on, there were many comedies for the African- American audience, reflecting characters, manner of speech, customs, way of life, some of which appeal to the broader American population and some of them even to overseas audiences.

By the beginning of the 21st century, there was a focus on romances, wedding stories, family backgrounds as well as dramas about relationships. As time went on, after the Beauty Shop and Barbershop films, the tendency was for them to become a little more raunchy – culminating in the box office success of the truly raunchy Girls Trip.

This comedy emerged in the middle of this development, with Ice Cube once again producing as well as featuring in an acting role. The central characters were played by two up-and-coming young black actors, Shad Moss who had earlier appeared as a child actor called Li’l Bow Wow and then dropping Li’l. Actually here he plays a rather straight lead with Brandon T.Jackson as the more comic foil.

There is something of a moral tone in the film – as there often is as African- Americans reflect on their society, families and relationships.

The title tells all. Kevin is a serious young man with ambitions to have his own factory. His best friend is Benny, much less serious. Kevin lives with his grandmother, Loretta Devine. One day she gets him to buy a lottery ticket – and, as he does, given another ticket, he eventually wins the lottery. He has to wait until after Independence Day to cash the ticket. He enjoins silence on his grandmother – an impossibility and soon he is welcomed back home with everybody calling out for him.

There are some further complications, especially with a young thug in the neighbourhood bullying Kevin and demanding the ticket. There is also a loan shark, played by Keith David, smooth talking and persuasive, respected in the neighbourhood, who gives Kevin hundred thousand dollars in anticipation of the ticket and the millions, which Kevin then spends on sports gear for all his friends.

There is a young femme fatale in the neighbourhood who takes no notice of Kevin but, as soon as he gets money, is all over him – to the disgust of the girl would like to be his girlfriend only he takes her for granted.

The thug punches out Kevin only to be punched out by the loan shark, although he gets a momentary revenge grip on him.

However, Kevin has a close friend and sometimes mentor in Mr Washington, former boxer, shown as something of a wisdom figure and patron, and played by Ice Cube.

Needless to say, all works out well at the end, Kevin setting up job opportunities in the neighbourhood with speeches accordingly…