Rev Stan's film blog

The Conspirator or perhaps a lesson in how things haven't changed

I probably wouldn't have gone to see this if James McAvoy hadn't been in it as it's essentially a court room drama and they can be, well, dull. But Mr McAvoy is endlessly watchable.

So did his blue eyes add enough sparkle to The Conspirator? Well there isn't a straightforward answer to that. The story is kind of interesting. It's set at the end of the American civil war when enmities could flare up again at any moment. Abraham Lincoln is assassinated and as many of the perpetrators are rounded up as possible and put on trial.

Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), the mother of one of the conspirators is also put on trial on the grounds that some of them stayed at her boarding house so she must have known what was being planned.

With people baying for blood and peace hanging in the balance  it is obvious Mary is not going to get a fair trial. Cue lawyer Frederick Aiken (McAvoy) who is persuaded to defend her, reluctantly at first believing her as guilty as the rest.

First War Horse trailer

As a big fan of the play, the jury is still out on whether the film will be quite as good for reasons I've mentioned before.

Of course I'll be going to see it when it's released at Christmas, it's got the wonderful Benedict Cumberbatch in it after all - no glimpses of him in this first trailer though.

  

Lebanon wins over Vincere and gets an award for disturbing film of the year (so far)

Don't think I've seen two films at the cinema in one day before but needs must when there is just too much tempting fodder for the eyes.

First up at the Curzon Mayfair was Vincere an Italian film about Ida Dalser who was an early lover of and mother of Benito Mussolini's first child and possibly his first wife. The couple became estranged while she was pregnant with baby Benito and he married a nurse and had three children with her fervently denying any marriage with Ida and rejecting her completely for the rest of his life.

Ida (played beautifully by the equally beautiful Giovanna Mezzogiorno) was put under surveillance and then in a mental institute for her continual claim to be Mussolini's wife although no paper evidence was ever found of the marriage. Her son was adopted by a fascist but also never gave up using the Mussolini name. (Filippo Timi plays Mussolini the dad and grown up son.)

The film is told from Ida's viewpoint starting with how they met and their relationship through to him going off to fight in first world war. It then concentrates on her internment and continual battle to be believed.

While the film resists taking too much artistic license with the gaps in the story is does make it a little disjointed in places. The breakdown of the relationship seems to happen very abruptly for example with little in the way of exploration of why that might be other than the appearance of another woman.

Nonetheless it is an intriguing story. Ida's continual refusal to deny the marriage at the expense of possible release and being reunited with her son can be a little frustrating but on the other hand in denying it she would lose the last thread of connection she has with the man she loved.

Acted scenes are inter cut with real life footage of events of the time and Mussolini giving it a certain amount of authenticity. Overall an interesting and satisfying film. (Trailer at the end of the post and Lebanon post follows on just click continue reading)