Film Reviews by CV

My feelings about this film are similar to those of Alphaville below: I wonder if film actors of today have lost the benefit of the once requisite experience of theatre and have passed their drama exams by just the experience of film settings with microphones about their person which minimises their need to project - not just in vocal terms but in also in terms of characterisation. Why go to the length of getting costumes right when the dialogue and way of behaving doesn't match the period either. Interpreting the novel of 'Frankenstein' in this way was interesting as it was not what I have understood the received interpretation to be.

It was truly wonderful to see a film about a mathematician I had only heard about in lectures where even in these his ascent to greatness was referred to as phenomenal. Jeremy Irons is true to form as the crusty bachelor Cambridge don Dr Hardy with Dev Patel the wonderkind from India. There were so many themes in this film which would make it so appealing to almost anyone and it certainly has an emotional impact despite the low-key stiff-upper lip portrayal of post-Edwardian England. For me it raised questions about the supremacy of proof-bound serialist thinking of the west where Ramanujan's inspiration came from a holistic view of nature perhaps more typical of the east. An obvious theme was also the overcoming of racial prejudice where you would think that genius recognising genius would transcend national boundaries. Praise must go to Littlewood and the softening of Hardy to promote Ramanujan's colossal contribution to modern mathematics.

I'm afraid I was quite disappointed with this account of Robert the Bruce. The action starts where Bruce is a fugitive having disbanded his forces after defeat from the English. There is a price put on his head and former comrades turn traitor and attempt to hunt him down. After one attempt to take him, where he incurs an arrow wound, taking brief refuge in a cave with a spider, he is rescued by a family, who still remain loyal to the King, who live in a remote cottage and keep a low profile. After this point the film seems to borrow a Hollywood formula where the family of mother and children nurse the wounded Bruce back to health and together fight a heroic "battle" against the "baddie" traitors at the end in the manner of the Unionist soldiers defending the fort against an overwhelming force of marauding Indians. I waited in vain for the Battle of Bannockburn - it was mentioned briefly at the end. There was no sense that this was vital history for Scotland and if the film was made in view of a second referendum for independence the moment was lost with a rather family-adventure style film to plead the cause.

For all its splendid costume and lighting this is quite disappointing. Mozart looks more like Boy George, even the hair colouring is wrong. Some of the dialogue sounds like two Darleks with their batteries running low.

I was not aware of this series when it was first broadcast in 1975 but I was very impressed with it seeing it decades later and there was no need for an apology for the mechanical quality of production. Despite its twee-sounding title, the series follows the careers, including their, at times rather incestuous romantic relationships, of members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which include men and associated women who excelled in often more than one art form. They set out to oppose the current academic dogma of contemporary art and instead champion truth and nature which meant painting scenes conveying emotion with realistic detail of background settings so that the picture does not lead the viewer to read in further hidden and arcane meanings: everything is as you see it.

The series excels in having a group of highly-talented and committed actors playing the parts with such distinction and convincing aging process: no one personality dominates although I personally liked the humanity and eccentricity of William Morris. There is still the influence of theatre in the acting style: everything is orated and made big with gesture and movement though the set itself may look a bit flimsy at times. One reviewer elsewhere has lauded the enthusiasm and skill of actors in the 70s and there are many other classic historical series that still maintain the sense of live theatre in this way. No basking in opulently expensive settings, fantastic costumes and mumbling of two-word phrases in this era! The dialogue is typically rich in expression with much insight into the technical and aesthetic ambitions of the various artists.

I hope to be able to buy the series at some point.

George Orwell, and I think, Ernest Hemmingway, volunteered themselves to back the Spanish Republican cause in this Spanish civil war and so I liked the viewpoint that this film took, emphasising that the issues of democracy were of international concern. This film was made in 1995 but the issues are of no less concern than they are now where our own democracy is threatened with authoritarian government. The film takes pains to bring out complications in the campaign where the POUM are dedicated to doing the war in their own way but are compromised by more professional Soviet-backed groups who have ulterior motives for being involved.

There is a great naturalistic feel where the director seems to let his actors "play the action out" in their own way and the dialogue is very naturalistic too with occasional stutterings and word-stumblings. The film is also a "play within a play" which also helps to apply the themes to our own day where a grandaughter finds the letters of pictures of her grandfather's interesting past.

Contrary to the reviews I have just read, I quite appreciated this leisurely documentary style portrayal of Che Guevara. I found the detailed incidents: the interaction with individuals of the public and the comradely relationship with his fellow revolutionaries quite informative and gave rounding to the character of the man. The drama held my attention throughout and the switch to black and white sequences for newsreel scenes was very effective. The film is also in Spanish, as the director says, to avoid the irony of revolutionaries speaking the same language of the imperialists they are opposing! The director has deliberately omitted details of Guevara's private life which also kept the film distinctive from Hollywood forms. I'm looking forward to Part 2.

The first two sequences of the film are quite extraordinary: no music except the amplified natural sounds of a squeaky wind-fan, dripping water and a door slam create a nerve-jangling opening to this epic Western. The next sequence, seemingly unrelated to the first, is also nerve-jarring in effect, also created by the stopping and starting of natural sounds, in this case the interrupted chirrupping of cicadas. After this the drama unfolds and the audience has to work out how the characters relate to one another as their paths constantly cross throughout: who are directly involved in the main action and who are incidental. My mind was still putting in place the earlier events way after the film had ended.

I chose the film as I wanted literally a change of scenery from my recent choices and if you have a large screen it will be all the more impressive. There are both amazing panoramic visions of Monument Valley and disturbing close-ups of the characters. Henry Fonda is cross-cast but my favourite performance was that of Charles Bronson who seems omnipresent, hovering, always observing what's going on. He has no name and has a cypher existence until the ending.

After the film had ended I looked at the extras and there was a running commentary on the film in its entirety. I was quite happy to watch it all again where the direction and photography was discussed as the film was running but time prevented.

I was surprized there were no reviews here already for this film where my Film Guide had praised it to the skies. The images linger long after the film has ended.

Supposed to be based on a factual event in the Korean War but relentless and bloody action scenes seem to stretch credulity. Liam Neesom makes the most of his MacArthur role with laconic quotations and meaningful puffs of his pipe.

The music is superb, especially the beautiful and passionate madrigal-like choruses, and Rossi attains the greatness of Monteverdi in the ever lyrical arioso portions. The production is highly imaginative in a contemporary setting and the acting and singing is inspiring. The roles are very colourfully characterised involving cross-dressing for both female and male roles. Finally, the orchestral playing is exquisite and features a whole range of instruments and dancing styles

I chose this film as I had recently visited the National Museum in Helsinki on holiday. There was a special section in it on the modern history of Finland where the Winter War had followed a civil war during the end of World War I. The Winter War, of 105 days if I remember, saw the heroic thwarting of Soviet Russia's invasion by a much smaller army of Finnish soldiers and much less equipped.

The film follows the fortunes of a family and and associated friends based on actual recorded material from letters and memoires. The film, after the initial volunteering, is all trench action and long distance shots of explosions and carnage. After a while I began to feel the show of carnage and variety of death was more consciously for technical show and designed more to shock rather than tell a more objective account. It does become rather tedious and repetitive and wished there had been more political and military background information. There are some scenes of leave which do relieve the action but perhaps not enough.

This excellent documentary is the product of the unstinting and dedicated efforts of Phil Grabsky which celebrates the life of Mozart. Ten hours of material were cut down to two but it is astonishing how much music is discussed and heard as well as much biographical information is given. Highpoints for me were the demonstration of a short keyboard piece, composed when Mozart was five(?), where the last phrase of the piece had an insertion of two extra bars which fitted perfectly. Many a minor composer has written pleasing tunes and interesting harmony but it this preoccupation with and development of form that becomes the manifestation of Mozart's genius. Mozart's disclosing of the jealously-guarded music to Allegri's Miserere at the Sistine Chapel by writing it out from memory is mentioned but is explained by Mozart having a photocopy facility of memory as though he remembered all the notes in a sequence. It was his appreciation and perception of overall form (for the piece is quite repetitive) that enabled him to put the details of individual notes in later that enabled him to memorize the whole.

Another highpoint was the opening of the early symphony in A major where the first few bars explode with youthful genius of thematic invention and sonorous brilliance. His friendships and family relationships are well discussed but spare a thought for his sister Nannerl whose own genius was sacrificed for the advancement of the male sibling of the family! Jane Glover's book "Mozart's Women" is a very moving read about the lives of his sister, wife and other singers he wrote music for.

The interview as a Special Feature is also worth an extra star where the unpretentious director gives a very detailed and extremely interesting description of the process of making the film and what he learnt. He revises one or two given opinions as a result of his research such as his view that Leopold Mozart, the father, is not the slave-driver many biographers make him out to be.

Some of the greatest pleasures of watching films is the added bonus of the Special Features which are so often a great revelation in themselves. This is why I choose cinemaparadiso's DVD service as opposed to others that merely stream films where you don't get any added extras.

The acted part of the film focuses on Benjamin Britten as a pupil at Gresham's School where his friendships and influence of certain members of staff became formative influences on his own strong beliefs of pacifism which soon made outward expression in his composed music. The actor chosen to play young Britten captured excellently the shy and retiring but morally convicted young boy. I had wondered if the rest of the cast of young actors had been chosen from the present school for their own enrichment of the historical experience of portraying the questioning and reflecting of the inter-war years of the thirties contemporaneous with their most illustrious former pupil of genius. The film ends with a moving sequence of extracts from the War Requiem with images associated with World War II and of Coventry Cathedral. The whole is a moving, thought-provoking and revelatory view of the life of one of Britain's greatest composers of all time.

I had recently read a biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and was interested to see how his life and influence was depicted on screen. Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor, was convinced that the church should stand against the blasphemy of Nazism often treading a dangerous line of compromise of conscience. He set up the Confessing Church seceding from the main church which absorbed concessions to and adoption of Nazism into the church service and practice. Of course this marked him out to be a traitor despite being “covered” as a spy. 

Unfortunately the film was not able to follow his career in detail and I felt the narrative was quite disjunct. Time passed quickly and we seem to jump from one moment to another with events missing or assumed. However, Bonhoeffer was played very sensitively and projected a very likeable and compassionate character but the part played by his fiancée stole each scene she appeared in and added poignancy to the grimness of the plot.

The theme of the film, that of the right to challenge Biblical fundamentalism with contemporary science in the school classroom, seemed to be undermined by gross caricature. This effect may have resulted from adapting a stage play to the screen. However, it revealed how close fundamental literalism is tied up with political power and the theme is as relevant to today as it was then.