Rev Stan's film blog

Black Swan summed up

Conversation started among friends on Facebook about Black Swan, it wasn't very complimentary and I kind of agree. As a film it had it's moments but I was a little underwhelmed after all the hype.

It can best be summed up by this video which was posted as weight to the argument and which I'm shamelessly pinching (Ian won't mind I'm sure). If you haven't seen the film you probably won't get it but if you have, then chuckle on...

 

A splendid Separation

This Iranian film has one of those rare 'left hanging' endings that kept the entire audience in their seats while the credits rolled.

It's the sort of ending that isn't everyone's cup of tea - but I loved it because it gave me ample material to mull over and debate for days afterwards. And how many films can you say that about?

But I'm jumping to the end before I've even said what it's about. The film opens with married couple Nadir and Simin in front of a judge seeking a separation. Simin wants them to take their daughter Termeh to another country in order to pursue a better life while Nadir does not want to leave his father who has alhzeimers.

Simin moves out of the family home so Nadir employs a woman, Razieh, to look after his father and do the housework while he is at work. But soon everything begins to unravel.

A Separation is a fascinating tale, not least because it is so human, shot almost as if it's a fly on the wall documentary. It's engrossing and interesting, subtlely putting the bigger issues of every day life under a magnifying glass. I couldn't have imagined a better way of concluding it. And it will certainly be going on my Love Film list to watch again.

I'm giving it 84%. IMDb has given it 86% while on Rotten Tomatoes there isn't a consensus from the critics but the reader rating is 93%.

Below is the trailer and a far more eloquent review from Mark Kermode.

 

 

Daniel Day Lewis or Ben Whishaw: Who should play Charles Dickens?

Keen-eyed Ben Whishaw fans, among whom I count myself, will have seen a story circulating this week that Daniel Day Lewis and the man himself are both being considered to play literary giant Charles Dickens in a biopic about his secret affair with a young woman, Nelly Ternan, called The Invisible Woman.

Naturally I'm excited about any potential new project for Mr W and this one has the makings of a corker not only because it has the expert hands of Abi Morgan writing but also thesp Ralph Fiennes directing.

But I'm curious as to why our Ben would be up against Daniel Day Lewis. While similar in their approaches to acting - Day Lewis is very picky about projects - they are both very different in age: 30 and 54.

According to the fount of all knowledge that is Wikipedia, Charles Dickens was 45 when he met the 18-year-old Nelly so neither is a perfect fit age-wise and either choice is going to bring a very different dynamic to the story.

Dickens was a fascinating man, extraordinarily talented, hard-working and successful. He was also intensely romantic but got frustrated with his marriage and wasn't particularly nice to his wife, with whom he had 10 children. His relationship with Nelly only came to light after his death.

Fiennes has apparently met with Imogen Poot, Felicity Jones and Abbie Cornish as potential Nelly's. Mr W has of course worked with the latter two (The Tempest and Bright Star), he has also worked with Abi Morgan too (The Hour). So there is already a bit of chemistry there which might put him in a good position.

The Harry Potter finale - the experience and the verdict

It's rarely that I go to the Odeon in Leicester Square - too expensive and commercial for my liking - but it comes into its own on an occasion like this: the release day of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

Why? Because it's chocker full of really excited fans, like me, who just had to see it the day of the release and the atmosphere is electric.

It was the same when I saw LOTR: Return of the King the first afternoon it came out.

As soon as the lights go down after the trailers a cheer goes up, then again when the certificate appears followed by whistles and 'ooo's' when the first few frames appear.

You get laughter in the cinema and a very, very occasional 'Ooo' or 'Ahhh' but when a film has such a dedicated fan base as Harry Potter it is audience participation all the way through: spontaneous applause and cheers when good things happen and 'hero' moments, 'ahh's' and whistles at the kisses'. There was even a ripple of groans when a mobile went off and ripples of 'shh's to settle whispers at the beginning.

OK there is inevitably going to be some whispering, inappropriate giggling and noisy eating when the cinema is packed but it is one of those rare occasions when it doesn't really matter.

So what of the film itself?

Stan's June film round up

Another bumper crop of films last month (three out of eight I gave five stars) but which were juicy and sweet and which a little sour? Well just to prove I do have an eclectic taste in films the top slots were taken by two very different films, one a blockbuster and one a foreign language film:

1. Incendies: Stark, shocking unravelling of family truths 87%

2. X-Men: First Class: Great performances from the leads adds depth to this action adventure 85%

3. Life Above All: African aids drama that is at turns bleak, unflinching, touching and heartwarming 81%

So those were the three five stars and June certainly continued the upward trend in the stats with an average Stan rating of 61.13%. There was one bitter fruit in the crop though and that was Kaboom which I gave 40% because of it's 'ineffectual absurdity'.

But did the critics agree with my ratings this month? Very nearly:

1. Incendies 87%

2. Life Above All 86.5%

3. X-Men: First Class  84%

And they also agreed on the worse film being Kaboom although it averaged a perplexing 59%.

July is a big month for cinema if only for the final Harry Potter which I'm seeing on Friday (of course). Lot of anticipation about that one, tinged with nerves and sadness.

 

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.

Video: Last days on the Potter set

This had me choking up. Doesn't bode well for a week on Friday when I'm sat in the cinema watching a new Harry Potter for the last time...

 

French film double bill #2: The Round Up

The last Holocaust film I saw was the Counterfeiters which is one of my all time favourite films. This French-made film is set in France and tells the story of the round up of French Jews in 1942 by the occupying Germans.

It follows a group of Jewish families living in an enclave in Paris as life gets more tough and restricted in the lead up to and after their incarceration before being transported to Poland.

Aside from the families' stories it also examines the politics of the time as French politician's negotiated the terms of the hand over and the numbers.

Naturally its an emotional piece both from the perspective of those whose lives as are destroyed and the non-Jewish French people who did everything they could to help them and ease their suffering.

Is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy the best cast film to be released this year?

Well I can't think of another film I'm quite as excited about because of the calibre of talent on show: