SPICE WORLD

UK, 1997, 93 minutes, Colour.
Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Victoria Adams.
Richard E. Grant, Alan Cumming, Jason Flemyng, Barry Humphries, Roger Moore, Meat Loaf, Richard O' Brien, Bill Paterson, Clare Rushbrook, George Wendt, Richard Briers, Elvis Costello, Stephen Fry, Bob Geldof, Jools Holland, Bob Hoskins, Elton John, Hugh Laurie, Jonathan Ross, Jennifer Saunders, Peter Sissons, Dominic West.
Directed by Bob Spiers.

In the mid 90s, The Spice Girls were a music phenomenon, popular with the girls who could identify with them, Scary, Sporty, Posh, Baby Spice. (and baby spice, M Emma Bunton as well as Melanie Brown had something of a career, but everybody knows Victoria Adams as the wife of David Beckham. In retrospect, this film looks like an extended music video from the period but also looks like a time capsule.

There is a flimsy plot, featuring Richard E. Grant as the girls’ manager, accompanying them on the double-decker bus, with extraordinary fashionable interior, all around London, giving them instructions through a speaker system. Clare Rushbrook plays his assistant. He is also in conversation with two Hollywood writers who are proposing all kinds of preposterous plotlines for a film featuring the girls. There is also a photographer, Alan Cumming, eager to get shots of the girls but often being edged out.

The villain of the piece is a very enjoyable Barry Humphries, sleazy, with some Les Patterson saliva, plotting all kinds of newspaper headlines and articles against the girls, aided and abetted by his assistant, Jason Fleming, and Richard O’Brien? (author of The Rocky Horror Show) slinking around and appearing as a spy to get information on the girls. And Meat Loaf is the driver of the bus.

And, the arch-villain is the Chief, played in mimicry of a Bond villain, by Roger Moore.

So, there is very little plot to speak of, the focus on the girls themselves, their diverse characters, friendships, clashes, rivalries, and quite a number of wisecracks provided by the screenwriter, Kim Fuller, wife of the actual manager.

In fact, there are quite a few laughs throughout – an enormous range of brief guest cameos from Richard Briers as a bishop, Stephen Fry as a judge, Bob Hoskins coming out of the booth, transformed from a girl, Hugh Laurie as Poirot in a Cluedo-like parlour game, Jennifer Saunders as a variation on her screen self, Dominic West as a photographer – and Elton John passing by as well as Elvis Costello and Bob Geldof getting treatment of how he might keep his hair in order.

And, there is a whole range of songs throughout – probably memorable only to those who were infatuated with the Spice Girls at the height of their popularity.

The film was directed by Bob Spiers who, most notably, directed all the episodes of the series, Absolutely Fabulous in the 1990s. In style and in the contemporary British scene, Spice Girls looks like a relation of Absolutely Fabulous.

A SONG FOR JENNY

UK, 2015, 77 minutes, Colour.
Emily Watson, Steven Mackintosh, Nicola Wren, Gwylim Lee, Anne Stalleybrass, John Woodvine.
Directed by Brian Percival.

A Song for Jenny is a television film based on a memoir by Julie Nicholson, an Anglican vicar, whose daughter died in the terrorist bombings in the London Underground in 2005.

The film introduces Julie Nicholson, powerfully played by Emily Watson, in her work as a vicar, on holidays with her family, alerted to the news on television, her being consumed by concern and the search for her daughter, then by grief and an internal rage.

The film recreates the atmosphere of London in July 2005, the scenes of the disaster, the centres for searching for survivors and the dead, the officers communicating information. It also shows the anguish of the waiting.

The film creates sympathy for the family with flashbacks to Jenny, the daughter who died in the bombings, because of a glitch on the Piccadilly line and her having to take an alternate route to work.

Ultimately, the experience is a test of Julie Nicholson’s faith, questions about God which she shares with her daughter, the ritual of her daughter’s funeral, and not wanting to be consumed by hate because her daughter was so loving.

Steven Mackintosh is Julie’s husband, a sympathetic man but pushed aside and apart by his wife’s consuming anguish – with information that Julie Nicholson gave up her work as a priest and divorced her husband. While the audience understands her grief, it is very hard to understand her pushing her husband away and not having any feeling for his grief.

1. A film about death, grief? Terrorism? London 2005? Universal reference?

2. The memoir Julie Nicholson? The experience of writing? The impact of the film in 2015? The title, for her daughter?

3. The background, Julie as vicar, quoting scripture, the funeral, the man on the phone? Comments at home, her family? Her faith being tested? Not wanting to be conquered by hate, but overcoming hate with love? Grief, relationships?

4. The picture of the family, Jenny and her exuberance, the son and the younger daughter, the bonds between them? The husband – and his playing a lower key role? Julie’s parents and the visit, the uncle and the aunt? The bond with Tom and his marrying Jenny?

5. The portrait of Jenny, her age, scenes of her as a girl, pictures with the family, her work, love for her husband, vivacious? The flashbacks, going to work, the Underground, reading C. S. Lewis, her death? Her body being found, and the DNA checks, the relics and mementos given to Julie?

6. Television news, Julie’s sister ringing, the bombings, the Underground, the bus? The sadness because of the Piccadilly Line glitch and Jennie taking alternate routes? The sadness and joy in Julie’s finding Jenny’s last email about the buying of the C. S. Lewis book?

7. The impact of the tragedy on Julie, on holiday with her family, lying in, the breakfast, the phone call, watching the television, trying to phone Julie, her husband, James? The family coming to be with her? Support or not? Her father asking what was the matter, the husband and his concern about the dog and her ferocious outburst? Sidelining her husband, the children support of him, his bewilderment and his own grief? Her into grief and rage?

8. James, at home with Jenny, at work, the news, his grief, his sharing with the family? At Edgeware Rd Station? The funeral?

9. The decision to go to London, support of her sister, going for information, the variety of lists? The communicators and their talking with her? The DNA swabs? The days passing? The information on television about the terrorists and what they had done?

10. Her grief, the taxi, the chatter of the driver, her telling the truth, his compassion, driving her to Reading?

11. The wait, tension, the preparation for the funeral, Liz and her design for the coffin, the discussion about God and faith, the children and their fears about what was happening to Julie? The young nephew, his questions, his childish re-enactment of the events, his mother’s reaction? Julie accepting it?

12. The funeral, the choir, the ritual, carrying the coffin? Julie’s previous viewing of the body, holding her daughter’s hand?

13. The local communicators, bringing back the relics? Julie’s decision to go to Edgeware Road Station, the officials, the guard, her questions, looking at the station, the tunnel, the re-creation of the events and their being visualised? James and his disbelief about the Piccadilly Line glitch?

14. The end, the mystery of suffering, the discussions about God and permitting evil? Faith, the other world? Julie not wanting hate to destroy her memories, drawing on Jenny’s love?

15. Her resignation from her priesthood, her divorce from her husband?

HALLOWEENTOWN

US, 1998, 84 minutes, Colour.
Debbie Reynolds, Kimberley J. Brown, Judith Hoag, Joey Zimmerman, Philip van Dyke, Robin Thomas.
Directed by to Duwayne Dunham.

Halloweentown is a film for children and families. Released in 1998, it is the first of four films set in the fantasy Halloweentown.

It is Halloween and the mother of the Cromwell family, Judith Hoag, is forbidding her children to go out to trick or treat.Marnie, the precocious eldest child, is in rebellion against her mother (exhibiting those bratty characteristics of so many children defying their parents on screen). She has a younger brother who is something of a nerd, bespectacled and intellectual, and there is a younger daughter, Sophie.

The children were expecting the visit of their grandmother, an always exuberant Debbie Reynolds. It appears that she is a witch, travelling by magic bus from another world and the city of Halloweentown. She has presents for the children, is urging them to enjoy Halloween but always urging them to obey their mother who, it turns out, is also a witch but who has married a human and wants to live a “normal� life with her children after his death?

The children enjoy their grandmother’s visit and she leaves them with a book about Halloweentown. Marnie overhears a conversation between her mother and grandmother and realises the truth and that she herself is a witch who needs training, on her 13th birthday, at this time of wizards, werewolves, zombies and ghouls. Arguing with her brother, she and he follow the grandmother to the magical bus stop and stow away on the bus – later discovering that Sophie has also stowed away.

On arrival, they meet the Mayor of the town, Kalabar (Robin Thomas) former suitor of their mother and all charm – until, of course, he is revealed as the dark enemy who is destroying various characters, even casting grandmother and mother under his spell, wanting to be Lord of all worlds. He has an ally in Luke, an ordinary looking character in the town where everybody looks like some variation on a mutant. He is attracted to Marnie, eventually leading Kalabar away from the family by wearing her cloak – and eventually being revealed as a mutant, allowed to be ordinary and handsome by Kalabar and his working for him.

There are all kinds of fantasy elements in Halloweentown, the children enjoying them, their mother arriving and wanting to take them home, eventually the two women joining in power to confront Kalabar bar and the children, even the boy, realising their powers and defeating him.

The film relies on all the hocus-pocus mythology of Halloween which seems to be deep-seated in the American psyche and (unfortunately?) has extended itself to the rest of the world.

TSUNAMI: THE AFTERMATH

UK, 2007, 200 minutes, Colour.
Tim Roth, Chiwitel Ejiofor, Sophie Okenedo, Hugh Bonneville, Gina Mc Kee, Toni Collette, Samrit Michielsen, Kate Ashfield, Aure Atika, George Mackay, Jacek Koman.
Directed by Baharat Nalluri.

Tsunami: the Aftermath, was released as a television miniseries only a couple of years after the actual events of Boxing Day, 2004. It does recreate something of the huge tidal wave, its breaking over the shore and destroying resorts, fishing villages, the jungle. (A more vivid picture of a tidal wave can be seen in Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter.)

As the title suggests, it is the shock, the destruction, the loss of lives, injuries that are discovered in the aftermath. The number of deaths in Thailand, which is the focus of the drama here, was very high, locals and tourists. For the Thais, the focus is on a young worker at the resort, his village destroyed and his grandmother and the rest of his family overcome by the wave. With the Western tourists, there is a couple from England, played by Chiwitel Ejiofor and Sophie Okenedo, with their little daughter, who is lost in the impact, her father losing his grip on her, her clinging to a tree but disappearing. There is another English family, parents with two sons, the wife and son surviving, the husband dying, and the older son needing medical evacuation or an amputation. The mother is played by Gina McKee? and the younger son by George Mackay who is to have a substantial career as he grew up.

Hugh Bonneville portrays the British consul in Bangkok who has to go to Phuket to organise some relief and deal with the British in distress. Leon Ford is his assistant. Toni Collette plays a volunteer who has worked with children, many of whom were lost, and who takes up the causes of the locals.

Tim Roth is a journalist, working with a Thai cameraman, who goes to Phuket, takes a lot of pictures, often intrusively, is concerned about Buddhist monks burning bodies without identification for hygiene’s sake, and become something of a champion against the developers who moved into the shore to level the resorts and villages for further development. He tracks down a former adviser to the government who warned about the possibilities of tsunamis.

The film has many harrowing moments, especially grief, the search for survivors, the impact of news of deaths.

While this story is focused on 2004, seen in subsequent years, it still has a humane impact.

1. The impact of the Boxing Day, 2004, tsunami at the time? Bewilderment? The aftermath? Asia, Western tourists?

2. The story of a disaster, shock impact, deaths and injuries? Abilities to cope/or not? The tsunami in Thailand? In other Asian countries? The earthquake, the tidal wave? Thai population, British and foreign tourists, the NGOs, the volunteers, the medical staffs? The audience sharing the experience?

3. The location photography, the ocean, the resorts, the native villages, in the hills, the countryside, the jungle, the cities, the hotels, relief headquarters, makeshift? Coping, resources/or not?

4. The opening, the ocean, the boat and the tourists, the bodies floating in the water, the puzzle, the return to shore, witnessing the destruction? The focus on the two wives, the missing husbands, children?

5. Establishing the characters and focus, Ian and Susan, Martha? The UK, the holiday, at the hotel, registering first, eager, the diving, Ian remaining with Martha? The Peabody’s, white presumptions and registration? The family, the boys, the bickering, the diving, the husband remaining? Than and his work? The range of staff, reception, the dining, the entertainment, resort life? The atmosphere of Christmas?

6. The sense of loss, the anguish of the searching? Possibilities for information, identifying bodies, reunions?

7. The aftermath of the disaster, Ian and his being trapped, his having to let go of Martha, her clinging to the tree? Than and his rescuing him, their search together, Than finding his grandmother?

8. The personal aftermath, Ian and his desperate search for Martha? Than, the beach, they getting on the truck, the rescuing of Mr Peabody? Further information, in the town, the centres? Information and photos? Finding Susan?

9. Kim Peabody with Adam, John and his injured leg? Her husband’s death and the grief? Wanting the evacuation of John? The appeals to Tony Whitaker? The time, the document for John’s amputation, Adam’s reaction, the signing?

10. Nick and his associate, journalists, covering the East, flying to Phuket? The tour of the devastation, the range of photos, intrusion, the phone calls? Nick meeting with Ellen? Discussions with her, her background in business, her loyalty to her company, blocking her sensitivity, at the meeting, press conference and questions? His changing his attitude, his reaction to the monks burning the corpses without identification? His attitude towards the instant development, his protest? At the hotels, working with his associate, clashes with him? Phoning through the articles and Simone editing them?

11. Tony Whitaker, the British consul, his job, facing the situation? The encounter with Katherine? Her driving him and his associate to Phuket? The setup, the challenge, his personal interventions? The encounters with Kim, Ian? His meeting with the survivors and their attack on him? In the chapel for reflection? The discussions with Katherine? Too late in getting the transport for John?

12. Katherine, the volunteer, her association with the children, so many of them missing? Her life’s work in Thailand? Driving Than to the beach? The discussions with Nick? The encounters with Kim, Ian? Facing up to the instant development in the clearing of the beach?

13. Ian and Susan, the mutual tensions, Susan seeing the baby, taking it, playing with it, possible fostering? Her facing the truth and giving it up? Seeing the actual mother? The sympathetic dental surgeon? The decision to stay because Martha had not been found?

14. The range of help, Thai citizens, the medics and nurses, supplies? The westerners stranded without money or documents?

15. The professor, the past attitude of the government, his thesis, being removed? Nick encountering him, getting the copy of the thesis? His new appointment?

16. The development and expansion, the bulldozers arriving instantly, the confrontations, the villages losing their towns? Than, his return, his dead grandmother, her bracelets, getting the milk, his being arrested, imprisoned?

17. The aftermath of the aftermath, Thailand returning to normal? Yet the memories and the losses suffered? And early warning systems being in place?

THE PACK

Australia, 2015, 95 minutes, Colour.
Jack Campbell, Anna Lise Phillips, Katie Moore, Hamish Phillips, Charles Mayer.
Directed by Nick Robertson.

The Pack is a small-budget film from South Australia, receiving very limited release although seen in countries outside Australia.

The film takes place over a day, beginning with a prologue and an elderly farm woman being savaged by mysterious dogs. The film then moves to a farming family, having financial difficulties in repaying the bank who send a representative to threaten foreclosure. The farmer has discovered many sheep on his property mysteriously slaughtered. His wife supports him but the teenage daughter, after exams, is wanting to go to live in the city, away from the country.

The second half of the film is the menace of the dogs outside the house, the response of the family, with guns, helping each other,

1. A small-budget terror film with overtones of horror?

2. A South Australian production, farm locations, the countryside, the sheep, the dogs? The homestead?

3. A story about farmers, financial difficulties, survival? The bank wanting to reclaim the farm? The farmer and his wife wanting to stay? The teenage daughter feeling she is trapped in the country? The attitude of the young son?

4. The introduction, night time, the roving camera through the trees, the suggestion of the dogs, the old lady, suspicious, going out, into the sheds, the attack and deaths?

5. The dogs, fierce, the focus on their teeth, the attacks on the humans, savaging the bodies? The suggestion of wolves? The film not giving explanation as to the origin of the dogs and their becoming rabid?

6. The home, the father, discovering the dead sheep, the puzzle, collecting them, burning them? The visit of the bank representative, his arguments, foreclosure? The mother, support of her husband? The daughter, on the phone, the exams, wanting to go to the city, her mother pulling the phone plug? The boy and his being at home on the farm? The details of the ordinary life? The daughter and intervention with the bank representative, her father telling her to back down?

7. The progress of the day, the presence of the dogs, howling outside, the darkness, the farmer with the gun? The continued presence of the dogs, the attack? Calling the police, the policeman arriving, his being savaged?

8. The continued buildup of suspense, the attack of the dogs, the fight,

THE HANDMAIDEN/ AH- GA- SSI

Korea, 2016, 140 minutes, Colour.
Min-hee Kim, Kim Tae-ri, Jang-woo Ha.
Directed by Chan-wook Park.

In recent years there have been a number of Korean films set in the 1920s and 1930s, the period of Japanese occupation and colonialism: The Last Princess, Age of Shadows. These films have been political but The Handmaiden goes in another direction, a Japanese woman under the care of a Korean “uncle� and her being exploited by a fake Korean Count.

The film has many aspects of a dramatic thriller as well as some explicit scenes of erotica.

The development of the screenplay is tantalising, being divided into three parts. In the first we are introduced to the situation, especially through the character of a young woman, a petty thief who lives in a community of thieves and is groomed for further criminal deception. She is employed by the Count to be the handmaiden of the Japanese woman, getting into her confidence, urging her to marry the Count. The Japanese woman is very withdrawn, subject to fear, seemingly innocent in the ways of sexuality.

In the second part there is more than a dramatic twist, looking at the same episodes but further developing them from the point of view of the Japanese woman. Seeing matters from her perspective, we also get a different perspective on the young woman as well as the Count.

And then there is a third part, taking the plot much further, showing the audience more of the life of the Japanese woman with the repression by her uncle who gets her to read erotic stories to his male friends. And then there is a new perspective on the Count and his dealings with the uncle.

The film is elegantly made, strongly visual, and directed by Chan-woo Park, who has specialised in violent stories in the past, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Old Boy, and while this film is not so explicitly physically violent, many of the interplays between the characters are psychologically violent.

1. Acclaim for the film? The title? Expectations? Twists in different perspectives?

2. The background of Korean history, the Japanese occupation, the colonial experience of Korea, the 1930s? Audience knowledge of this history?

3. The director, his career, the touches of the violent and the sensational?

4. The effect of the structure: the three parts, the different points of view, changes in plot development?

5. The film as a drama, aspects of the thriller, aspects of erotica? The musical score?

6. The situation of Hideo, living with her uncle, his being Korean, she being Japanese? The introduction of the Count, the fake count? The group of thieves and pickpockets, the head, the young people being trained? Sookie coming from this situation, her life, age, young? Chosen? The preparation for her job? The conspiracy? The character unable to carry on the duplicity, being coached? Her meeting Hideo, the house and its vastness, her work as a servant, the moods of her mistress, the room, the dreams, her reactions? Life in the house, companionship, the bath scene and the lollipop? Urging Her mistress to love the Count, the mistress’s questions, about sexuality, the long process and Sookie explaining sexuality, in action? The build-up of the relationship? The differences? The escape, the Count marrying Hideo, going to the honeymoon, arriving at the asylum, attendants ready to take Sookie, to Intern her? Hideo’s look?

7. The second part, Hideo and her perspective, her relationship with the uncle, the truth about him, the group of men gathering, her reading the pornographic novels and their reaction? The introduction of the Count? Soookie, learning to read, Hideo encouraging the sexual questions and the effect, the more explicit sex scene, the reactions of the two women? Hideo and the scene of the hanging? The revelation of the truth? The development of the counter plot, the set up, Sookie and her life in the asylum?

8. The third part: Sookie and her escape? The role of the Count, his deceptions? The money? The relationship with the uncle? The Count being captured, the severing of his fingers, the sadism of the uncle and his quoting the books? The Count, the money, the cigarettes, his smoke and their fatal effect?

9. The women, in disguise, changing the ticket, travelling together, their future together?

CAFÉ SOCIETY

US, 2016, 95 minutes, Colour.
Jesse Eisenberg, Kristin Stewart, Steve Carell, Blake Lively, Jeannie Berlin, Ken Stott, Corey Stoll, Anna Camp, Parker Posey, Paul Schneider, Richard Portnow, Sari Lanick, Stephen Kunken. Narrated by Woody Allen.
Directed by Woody Allen.

Woody Allen at 80. For decades now, with a film a year, sometimes serious, sometimes lighter than light. Café Society is somewhere in between. It is set in the 1930s, the first half in Los Angeles and Hollywood, the second half in New York City. It is not hard to see where Woody Allen’s sympathies lie, definitely not in Hollywood, with some satire at its expense, some rather sharp dialogue barbs, some delight in the moviemaking, but a critique of the moviemakers. Woody Allen is far more at home in New York.

Jesse Eisenberg plays the newest incarnation of the Woody Allen screen character – and this character as well as the story must have appealed to Allen himself strongly, not only writing and directing the film but actually providing the narrative voice-over throughout.

Eisenberg plays Bobby, coming out to Los Angeles looking for work, with a recommendation to have an interview with his top-producer uncle, played by Steve Carrell. The producer is forever busy but he finally gets his nephew some menial, post-sorting, delivery jobs. But the best thing for Bobby is his encounter with his uncle’s assistant, Vonnie, played by Kristin Stewart in one of her best roles. Bobby is in love, Vonnie seems to reciprocate but explains that she does have a boyfriend. It is the revelations about the identity of the boyfriend, and Bobby having to deal with his uncle, that is the central emotional core of the first part of the film.

In the meantime, there is plenty of glitz and glamour, parties interrupted by phone calls, lots of references to movie stars, MGM, casting, budgets, deals…

And then the film transfers to New York, Bobby going home, getting a new job and his character seeming transformed from the shy and bumbling type to the friendly and lively host at his brother’s nightclub, welcoming everyone, friend of everyone, genial, charming. The background is that his brother is a gangster, getting rid of opponents, having a plot overlooking the river where he can deposit corpses and pour concrete over them.

Allen toys with Jewish and religious themes with the character of the brother, brought up by a very strict Jewish mother (Jeannie Berlin) and a critical father (Ken Stott) who is forever critical of his wife’s brother, the non-religious producer in LA. There is a discussion about the afterlife, the Jews not believing in an afterlife, which gets to the son in prison who takes instruction from a priest, because he really wants there to be an afterlife.

In the meantime, the screenplay slips over some time spans with Bobby meeting glamorous socialite, Veronica, Blake Lively, then marrying her and having a daughter. The complication is that Bobby still has quite a flaming torch for Vonnie, tantalising him when she visits New York, when he visits LA with the possibilities of opening a night club there.

All in all, Café Society is emotionally serious, with some Woody Allen one-liners, of course, and some satire at the expense of Hollywood film making – but with the audience leaving the cinema more on the serious side, with long close-ups of Bobby and of Vonnie, a final close-up the back of Bobby’s head, his wondering about his life, our wondering about his life.

1. Woody Allen’s annual film? Light? Serious?

2. The 1930s, the look, costumes and decor? Hollywood, offices, parties, clubs, ordinary parts of the city? The contrast with New York, apartments, clubs, the world of gangsters, prison? The Jewish background?

3. The musical score, the range of songs, from the period, the overtones, composers, musicals and movies?

4. Bobby Dorfman as the Woody Allen persona? Woody Allen actually narrating the film, his involvement in the story, character? Jesse Eisenberg and his look, manner, way of speaking, hesitant? From New York, the glimpses of his parents, the dominant Jewish mother, his father, discussions about Jews? His brother’s criminal work? Being sent to Phil in Los Angeles, the father’s criticism of Phil as not a good Jew? Bobby’s hopes, manner, waiting to see his uncle, his uncle being busy, eventually returning? His brother setting up the call girl, coming to the hotel, late, the comedy, too tired for the sex and conversation, the issue of money, her eagerness for a career, his agreement?

5. Phil, his type, busy, wife of 25 years, on the phone, the deals? Giving Bobby delivery jobs? The introduction to Vonnie, the audience discovering his relationship with her, his worry, the meetings with Vonnie, whether to leave his wife or not, the decision not? The socials, his wife, welcoming Bobby? His talking with Bobby, the decision to leave his wife? The impact on Bobby?

6. Bobby and Vonnie, at work, Vonnie looking after him, taking him out, showing him the city, the ride to see the mansions in Beverly Hills? The mansions of the stars? Their comments about celebrities, pretensions, the pressure on stars in the public eye? Vonnie and her talk about her boyfriend? The dates, the restaurant and the meal, Bobby and his devotion? The meal at home, Vonnie not turning up, arriving late, upset, her talk about her relationship with the married man? The revelation of the truth, Vonnie and decision to stay with Phil? The effect on Bobby?

7. Rad and her husband, from New York, their background, friends and associates, life in Los Angeles, back in New York, the support, of Bobby as a person? His club? Their connections?

8. The Hollywood story, the dialogue by Woody Allen – and the barbs and satire?

9. New York, the narration, time passing more quickly? The club, Bobby as the host, his changing personality, meeting everyone, sociable, the clients? His brother, his parents’ reaction, the visits and the meals? Meeting Veronika, her style, charm, going out on the town with Bobby, no kiss, but the relationship, leading to marriage, her pregnancy, the birth of their daughter? Audience response to Veronika and comparisons with the Vonnie?

10. Bobby’s brother, criminal activity, showing the confrontations, the violence, the killings, the deals, collecting money? Bearing the bodies in the plot, the cement?

11. The episode with Evelyn and her husband? The background, relationship, his socialist philosophies and observations? The annoying neighbour and the radio, Evelyn and her talking to Ben, his confronting the security guard, the murder? His arrest and Evelyn’s moral dilemma about her talking with Ben and the man’s disappearance?

12. The lawyer warning Bobby, the deaths, the police arresting him, digging up the cement plot, the trial, his brother going to prison, his mother in denial? The comic and serious touch with the brother, the priest and his advice, the Bible, his wanting there to be an afterlife? His execution?

13. Woody Allen and the Jewish background, culture, customs, the mother and her prayers, the issue of religion, Christianity, belief in the afterlife?

14. Bobby and his life, Phil and Vonnie arriving in New York, sitting with them, the chatter, the international trips, the people, the gossip about film stars, Vonnie completely the opposite of what she earlier professed? Bobby upset? Their meeting, going out, ordinary talk, the effect on Bobby? His going to Los Angeles, the possibilities for a club, meeting Vonnie, her meal? And the decision about fidelity?

15. The final close-up of her face giving the audience time to reflect? The focus on his face? The final scene on the back of his head?

16. Woody Allen and the release of the film when he was 80?

LIKE CRAZY/ LA PAZZA GIOIA

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Micaela Ramazotti.
Italy, 2016, 118 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Paolo Virzi.

When Italian filmmakers are able to combine the serious and comic, create interesting and likeable characters, explore unusual situations, they come up with very entertaining films. This is one of those films.

While the English title is Like Crazy with its slang nuances, the Italian title has an emphasis on joy, even though it is a mad, crazy joy. This more accurately describes the experience of the central characters and something of the audience response.

There is something of an ominous prologue, a young woman seen at a distance walking across a bridge – but it is only in the latter part of the film that there is a revelation of what this scene has meant and the visualising of it.

And then we meet Beatrice! In most ways she has to be seen and met to be believed. She is played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, always a versatile actress but now are giving one of her most exuberant performances. Beatrice is in a mental institution, something of a free and easy place to live, a caring doctor, some sympathetic staff, and Beatrice’s feeling free to lord it over everyone, remembering her past with something of an unreal glow, forgetting how her marriage failed, but looking back to her infatuation with a gangster, helping him with the lawyer, spending the family money on him. She comports herself with a great deal of style, fashion, and a great deal of disdain for most other people except for those she chooses to like.

This is true of Donatella, Micaela Ramazotti (the wife of the writer-director, Paolo Virzi) in a performance complementing that of Beatrice. Donatella arrives at the institution, depressed, emaciated, tattoos… And, when the doctor leaves Donatella at reception, Beatrice is able to step in and enjoy herself impersonating a doctor. The two women do not bond instantly but gradually, sharing a room, talking, Donatella gradually able to reveal something of her story, and Beatrice loquaciously non-stop commanding every situation.

When they are permitted to work outside the institution and miss the vehicle home, they go on their own variation of a Thelma and Louise spree, Donatella caught up with Beatrice’s continued enthusiasm and inventiveness, taking cars, dining at a top-class restaurant with no ability to pay (and Beatrice returning the wine because of a cork tang), a world that Donatella has not moved in.

Part of the getting out of the institution is Beatrice’s return to visit her ex-husband, his present wife angry with her, Beatrice exercising a certain seductiveness, with support of the staff, and taking money and jewels. On the other hand, Donatella visits her mother who is looking after an infirm elderly gentleman and expecting an inheritance while her father is a singer who was hardly ever present for Donatella’s growing up. She also visits the club owner, the father of her child, who wants to get rid of her.

The pathos of the film comes with Beatrice tracking down the adoptive parents of Donatella’s son and the audience sharing quite some feeling in the encounter with the family.

One is tempted to think all the time that the world is full of mad people, not just in the mental institutions – but the question arises of whether a person can get better or is destined to live in their mental condition.


1. An Italian story, Italian style, serious and comic? Audiences relating to the film and the characters?

2. The title, the English nuances? The Italian nuances – a mad joy?

3. Northern Italy, Liguria, the countryside, the towns, institution, the mansions, clubs, restaurants, homes? The beach? The musical score?

4. The prologue, Donatella, the child, walking across the bridge – the later and gradual revelation of the truth, the final flashback, with the child, audience empathy, her illness, wanting to die, jumping from the bridge, with the child, underwater, surviving?

5. The portrait of Beatrice: her age, style, loquacious, pretentious, her appearance, fashion, her poise, her mental condition? Her talk, her place in the institution, the treatment of the authorities, of the staff, the other residents, considering herself superior, living in her imagination and distorted memories of the past, her marriage, its failure, her husband and the law, her infatuation with the gangster, seeing Donatella arrive, curiosity, the opportunity for her to pretend to be the doctor, her handling of the situation? Attached to Donatella, wanting to talk, the dining room, Donatella’s wary reaction, the gradual bonding, discussions, sharing the room, confidences? The growing friendship? The work in the garden – and her talking and watching others work? The opportunity to escape?

6. Donatella, her age, experience, her past, her appearance, emaciated, the tattos, Beatrice’s reaction to these tattoos? Gradual revelation about her mother, the visit to her mother and her taking care of the elderly man and expecting an inheritance? Her father’s visit, his absence in the past, the singer, her singing the song, thinking that it was his gift to her but his stepping back? Maurizio, the club, sex, her work there, the child, wanting to kill herself? With Beatrice, her reactions, working with her? Life and her mental state?

7. The staff, the doctor, her methods, the details of daily living, the nurses, some friendly, some not? The nuns?

8. Beatrice getting Donatella to go to Mass, talking about the African priest and his being attractive, Beatrice persuading her to go to Communion?

9. The possibility for working outside the institution, the gardening, Beatrice talking, Donatella working? Missing the bus? Their going on the spree?

10. Beatrice, shrewd, her manner with people, taking things, using her imagination? The cars, the driving, the angry driver picking them up, pursuing them? Going to the restaurant, her grand style, then having no money, their being pursued?

11. The effect on Donatella, coming alive, sharing something of Beatrice’s exuberance, the car rides, the restaurant and running? Going to see her mother, Beatrice taking control, her mother’s work, the old man? Getting the money? Going shopping? Going to see Maurizio, his hostility? The accident and her being knocked over by the car? Hospital? Escaping?

12. The staff, concern, the phone calls, tracking down the women?

13. Beatrice and her going to the mansion, the servants greeting her, her ex-husband, the anger of his wife, his talking with her, the sexual encounter and his infatuation, her taking the money and the jewellery – and saying she intended to give it back? The contrast with her visit to the gangster, his hostility, her being willing to give over the money, to his girlfriend, Donatella using her commonsense and their leaving?

14. Beatrice, her concern about Donatella and her child, getting the information about the parents, the boy and the bond with his adopted parents, Beatrice and her talk, the more sympathetic father, the hostile mother, Donatella listening, looking at the boy and his playing?

15. The visit to the beach, Donatella watching, the boy in the water, talking with Donatella, his recognising her? The reaction of the mother, the reaction of the father, his urging his wife to let them be, the pathos of the scene between the two, going into the water, her leaving – and gratitude in seeing the boy?

16. The couple being caught, going back, Donatella wanting to get well, Beatrice and her continued flair…?

NO. 2

New Zealand, 2006, 95 minutes, Colour.
Ruby Dee, Mia Blake, Xavier Horan, René Naufahu, Miriama Mc Dowell, Taungaroa Emile.
Directed by Toa Fraser.

A fine New Zealand film about Islanders and their families living in the Mount Rosskill suburb of Auckland.

At the outset it could be described as a Southern hemisphere Babette’s Feast in a suburban backyard. While it does not have the solemn and mystical tones of the Danish story, it has the same message. It is a joy to prepare a feast, to invite those close to us, especially when there is hostility between them, and find that food and celebration are able to evoke love, understanding and forgiveness.

No. 2 is the number of the house in the street where Nana Maria lives. Originally from Fiji (with some evocative scenes and photos from that past), Maria and her husband, who served in Sicily in World War II, settled in Auckland and brought up their family there. Maria thinks it is time for her to name her successor as the one responsible for the extended family and to bequeath her house to someone who is a carer and a giver.

Not that Maria is your sweet little old lady. Far from it. She is a very strong-minded matriarch, dominating her own children though wary of them, but devoted to her grandchildren. It is they who are to obey her sudden summons to have a feast, to celebrate and enjoy living. Veteran American actress Ruby Dee (whose husband, Ossie Davis, died the day she arrived in New Zealand, requiring her to return to the US – but she came back a fortnight later), though very small in stature and around 80, is marvellous as Maria.

The film is not about Maoris. Rather, the islanders, descendants of Europeans who took local wives, are Polynesian. This family is Catholic (with an extraordinary parish priest who is very much the kindly elder) but traces of old traditions pervade their lives and mentality. The family have settled into the prevailing New Zealand culture and lifestyle but still value family. No. 2 celebrates family.

Toa Fraser originally wrote the play for a one woman performance of every role. He has opened it up for a film without any trace of theatricality. It is a film one could recommend anyone to see. Quite an achievement for a first film.

1. The story of a family? Fiji and background? Living in New Zealand? The Polynesians in New Zealand?

2. History of New Zealand, settlement, the Maoris, the Polynesians, the different islands of the Pacific? Migrations?

3. The city of Auckland, the suburbs, the ordinary streets, homes? The musical score?

4. Big families, the role of the matriarch, in the 21st century, the traditions from the 20th century? The religious dimension?

5. Nanna Maria, Ruby Dee as an American impersonating a Polynesian? Her age, the range of the family, each generation, the significance of the grandchildren? Her fears about the family, thinking the spirit had gone out of the family, that they had lost traditions? The decision to do something about it? Has strong-minded character?

6. Gathering the grandchildren, the variety of characters, men and women, interactions? Her decision that they should put on a feast? To choose
her successor?

7. The personalities of the grandchildren, Tyson and his relationship with the Danish Maria? Soul? The day itself, the loss of the traditions, even
the roasting of the pig? The drama, the conflicts, personalities?

8. Nanna Maria, her becoming frustrated, the decision to call the whole thing off? The impact on her children, her grandchildren, their banding together, creating the atmosphere, the food, the gathering? The success of the feast?

9. The traditions of celebration, the wider family, the re-creation of family spirit? Hopes for the future?

THE FENCER/ MIKKAILIJA

Finland, Estonia, Germany, 2015, 99 minutes, Colour.
Mart Avandi, Ursula Ratasepp, Lembert Ufsak.
Directed by Klaus Haro.



Actually, the title is quite literal. The central character has been a fencing champion earlier in his life.

And, actually, there is a fair amount of fencing in the film, with the hero himself, his teaching youngsters at school, and, finally along the lines of many sports film, a competition where the underdogs have to prove themselves.

But, that said, there is so much more to the film. It is a coproduction between Estonia, Finland and Germany, principally set in Estonia.

The prologue informs us that the the Nazi occupation of the Baltic states meant the conscription of a lot of young men to work and fight for the Germans. In the aftermath of the war, and Estonia being part of the Soviet Union, Stalin set his secret police to search out and arrest these young men.

The setting for this film is the school year, 1952-1953. We arrive in a remote Estonian town with the hero, the camera following him down the drab streets, his immediately going to the school principal’s office where he is to teach and to coach the sports club. The principal is one of those bureaucratic types, power in a small pond, later explaining that he always did what was expected of him by the authorities. And he has a younger assistant, one of those incessantly toadying types.

The hero, Endal (Mart Avandi) is in his late 20s, obviously hiding himself from authorities. He has been in Leningrad where he has a close friend who gives him advice, especially to stay hidden.

The core of the film is Endel’s work in the school, with a group of children who are poor, some of their families having disappeared. He mends skis but is then told by the principal that they have to share the skis with the local military base. He decides then to unpack his fencing gear and to suggest that some of the children might like to train in fencing – and over 20 turn up for the initial session.

While the children are very loyal, Endal confesses that he himself is very bad in dealing with children, commanding them sometimes severely. The screenplay focuses on a couple of the children, a little girl who showed initial curiosity, Marta, and the young boy, Jaan, who is hurt by Endal and wants to drop out. His grandfather, who studied in Germany, was a fencer and gives his weapons and gear to Endal. The principal of the school decides that fencing is feudal and therefore not appropriate.

A feature of the film is the principal’s meeting with a group of rather subdued parents, an image of the Soviet Union and government, but with the parents surprising daring, raising hands very tentatively, to support the fencing training in the face of the principal’s opposition. Democracy can achieve some things.

While Endal is very private person, one of the teachers at the school, herself rather reticent, is attracted and the film shows their relationship in a very gentle manner.

The film does end with a fencing tournament, Endal choosing four students to represent the school in Leningrad. He obviously runs the risk of arrest, with the principal present, with military presence, which means that there is a dramatic tension between what is achieved with the young students and what is going to happen to Endal.

In many ways quite low key in its look, in its performances, in its treatment of situations – but very telling nonetheless.


1. Acclaim for the film? A northern Europe co-production?

2. The background of the Soviet Union, audience knowledge, the extent of the Union in those decades, from the Baltic states and East satellite nations? Russia and the experience of the war, Nazi occupation of Estonia, the conscription of young men, the Stalinist police hunting them down? The background of the film in the last year of Stalin’s life, his death?

3. 1953, the drabness of life in Estonia, the outlying town, the railway station, flats and homes, the school, offices, the sports room? The harshness of Soviet life?

4. The people of the town, their drab lives, the children at school, the kids lively, the parents overcome, at the meeting to discuss sport? The principal of the school, his toadying assistant? The contrast with the fencing competition, the variety of teams and their origins throughout the union, the fencing?

5. Information about Stalin and his pursuit of the conscripted young men? Endal arriving in the town, the audience following him, the camera at his back, arriving, the streets, discussions with the principal, preferring to live in a small town, his job at the school, the sports club, the poverty of the club, the skis and having to give them to the military, his past career in fencing, offering tuition, the large number of children turning up?

6. Endal, his personal story, eluding the secret police? His friendship with Alexi, the phone calls to Leningrad? Alexi’s visit, stalking and catching him? The plans? Alexi asking Endal to coach fencing elsewhere? The principal, the strict bureaucratic approach, his assistant doing investigations in playing up to the principal? The fellow teacher, pleasant, the introduction, Endal awkward with her, saying he was not good with children?

7. Audience interest in fencing, this being a sporting film, training, underdogs, victory?� And his past, bringing his equipment? The encounter with Marta, her interest in fencing? The techniques of fencing, the stances, the arm, practice, the children responding, Endal and his severity during classes and his demands? Alexi and the gift of the fencing gear, secondhand? The issue of the competition, Endal reluctant, the challenge? His decision? The training, his choosing of his team?

8. Endal’s personal life, emotions, the encounters with teacher, the hot chocolate, their discussions, falling in love, the tenderness of their relationship? Her not wanting him to leave? The farewell at the station?

9. The range of children, Marta and her interest, Jaan and his interest, being hurt by Endal’s treatment? His grandfather, the grandfather’s career, the gift of the rapier? His arrest?

10. The principal, investigating Endal, presiding at the meeting, dominating with his ideas? His dislike of fencing? His going to the competition? The authorities, the files? The touch of relenting in urging Endal to leave?

11. The competition, the train ride, the children’s joy, borrowing equipment, competing, the detailed encounters? The conventions of sports film and the triumph of the underdogs? Marta and the touch of girl power?

12. Endal’s arrest, being taken away?

13. Stalin’s death, the release of many from the camps, Endal’s return, the children meeting him, the teacher – and the prospects for his life? The information that his sports club had endured for several decades?