To help while away the languid hours of self-isolation here is a weekly round up of the films and occasional television shows I have been watching from Friday 20th to Friday 27th.
Fri. 20th : Layer Cake (2004)
Netflix.
Before Bond Daniel Craig can be found as the lead in this British crime caper that bears a striking resemblance to Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Alongside Craig there is Michael Gambon, a very young Tom Hardy, two EastEnders actors and Sienna Miller and Sally Hawkins. Directed by Matthew Vaughn (he of Kingsman and Kick-Ass fame), it is a familiar but entertaining enough slice of cinema, though I cannot really remember much of it a week later.
Also check out: The Gentleman (2019)
Sat. 21st : The Lost City of Z (2016)
Blu-ray.
Pronounced "Zed", this 'adventure' film is a smouldering slow-burn about one of Britian's most overlooked explorers, Percy Fawcett, here played by a serious Charlie Hunnam. There is solid support from a bearded Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland and Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine). Having impressed me with Ad Astra, I was eager to see what else director James Gray could do and it is clear he shines when focusing on a man on a mission. There is adventure here, as our protagonists explore the Amazon for a lost civilisation, but at its centre the film explores the familial sacrifice required for such an undertaking, and how those bonds evolve over time.
I watched the Blu-ray with my dad, and despite the PlayStation choking on the disc for ten minutes halfway through, we were both gripped by the crisp photography and slightly unsettling tone. It's closing shot is one for the ages.
Also check out: Ad Astra (2019)
Sun. 22nd : The Lady Vanishes (1938)
BBC 2.
It has been an awfully long time since I have seen a film on free-view telly but having eyed this up on the paper, I was ready to enjoy an advert-less old classic. The last film Alfred Hitchcock made in Britain before his Hollywood career kicked off, this black and white gem is immensely entertaining. The plot is simple: an assortment of characters get on a train including a woman named Iris. She is joined by an elderly lady, Miss Froy, who subsequently vanishes. As the train journeys across Europe Iris attempts to uncover this perplexing mystery. It is a perfect Sunday afternoon film: light hearted yet thrilling, political but not overwhelming. It is also worth watching just for the cantankerous British duo who are obsessed with cricket; a prime example of comic relief characters used perfectly but who, when the time comes, can be serious and useful. This an old film that you shouldn't have to psych yourself up ready to watch.
Also check out: Strangers on a Train (1951)
Mon. 23rd : McCabe and Mrs Miller (1971)
Blu-ray.
For me, this is a masterpiece of the Western genre. For a great deal of other people, it is probably a bleak, overly serious and bland film. And I can see that. Perhaps the only reason I was so enthralled with this picture is that I have seen a considerable number of Westerns and, at the risk of sounding too pretentious and intolerable, I have studied this section of film history. Because McCabe and Mrs Miller is barely a Western at all: it may be set on the frontier but rather than being driven by such narrative thrusts as revenge, justice or duty (the usual hallmarks), McCabe is driven by economics. The main character is an aspiring businessman who is also cowardly. He can only kill people by shooting them in the back. It is a totally, wonderfully subversive film that, because of its authentic production design and detail, probably gives us the screen's best look at what frontier life was actually like. And the snow capped scenery is always to a Western's advantage, not just because blood on snow looks aesthetically pleasing, but it also fits the theme of violence removing purity. The rich photography, Leonard Cohen music and strong title characters makes for compelling viewing. Just watch a handful of Westerns before.
Also check out: The Grand Silence (1968)
Tues. 24th : The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
DVD.
Rudyard Kipling is best known for The Jungle Book, but this is an adaptation of one of his other popular stories of the same name. Before Michael Caine was talking about a ruby the size of a tangerine to Batman, he was holding one the size of two tangerines in The Man Who Would Be King. Cockney Caine makes up half of a terrific double act; the other half? Only the well-whiskered Sean Connery, the titular man. The two of them are ex-British military in 1890s India. They plan to take rifles north to Afghanistan in the hopes of becoming kings over the warring tribes there. Naturally, friction is generated between their friendship once Connery starts to be treated as a god by the locals. Directed by John Huston (best known for The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen) and also starring Christopher Plummer as Rudyard Kipling, this is a riveting piece of grandad cinema. It's old school, slightly politically incorrect but ultimately charming. It is the kind of adventure film I will be watching aged 75 and still be chuckling along to Caine's dry wit.
Also check out: A Passage to India (1984)
Wed. 25th : Band of Brothers, Episodes 1-2 (2001)
DVD (charity shop).
A vastly revered television series, I was fortunate to discover the set in a nice tin case for £3 at a British Heart Foundation. I brought it back home and my dad was eager to watch it, if only because it says "Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks present" on the cover. The first episode is a solid start, with the at first jarring arrival of Friends' David Schwimmer as the dickhead army commander soon leading to some terrific drama. The ever stoic Damien Lewis is the Lieutenant of Easy Company on the eve of the Normany invasion, leading a group of young but familiar British faces: Simon Pegg, Stephen Graham, Andrew Scott and even James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender briefly show their faces. The first episode details the intensive training for the Airborne Division and culminates with the planes heading to France. The second episode opens like an aerial Saving Private Ryan, a horrifying sequence that retains some serious weight despite the dated visual effects. Amidst the chaos of the landing, Lewis gradually reunites with his men as they take a German gunning emplacement. Not a lot happens in the second episode due to the action, but the constant reminders that bookend each episode that this is true lends the show the emotional weight needed to neutralise the intense violence. I look forward to the next two episodes (my dad won't binge).
Also check out: Flags of our Fathers / Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Thu. 26th : Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Blu-ray.
Adjusted for inflation this is one of the top grossing films of all time, yet is barely in the film conversation. Capping off the incredible run of The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia and then this, director David Lean meticulously crafts another screen epic in all senses of the word. The visuals and photography are stunning, all underpinned by another frequently repeated Maurice Jarre musical score. The 3 hour 20 minute long story is set in Russia before and during WW1, and then into the Feb / Oct Revolutions and Russian Civil War. It is a heavily romantic odyssey about Zhivago and Lara, two Russians thrown together and repeatedly separated by the turbulent political era. The cast is vast: Rod Steiger, Omar Sharif, Julie Christie and, being Lean, Alec Guiness as the man narrating the events. The twinkly eyed Sharif makes for a compelling Zhivago and Julie Christie is a revelation as Lara, largely because I have only seen her with a Cockney accent in McCabe and Mrs Miller. Yes the length is formidable (20 minutes shorter than Lawrence though!) but it is hard not to get swept up in it all. Do not come for a history lesson because you aren't going to get one. Do not come for big scale action because that is sparse. Come to see a master director working with a monolithic canvas and how titanic spectacle can be created without computer effects.
Also check out: Brief Encounter (1945)
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