Films at Christmas

So what do you reckon is the 'must see' film at Christmas?

My choice is:

Les Chansons D'Amour

If you go extremely regularly to the movies it can sometimes be a little hit and miss - occasionally a film turns out to be a real dud, and every now and then you stumble across a gem, totally unexpectedly. I was pleasantly surprised by this very typically French film. To say it is quirky would be an understatement - more appropriately it could be termed bizarre. The central character Ismail is having some kind of relationship with two women. The two women are also having some kind of thing with each other. The three regularly share the same bed. One of the girls shares the details of her unususual lifestyle with her family - who are fascinated, but not disapproving. The girl then suddenly dies and Ismail is devastated. The second girl, meanwhile has found a boyfriend of her own, whose brother then develops a crush on Ismail, and they end up in bed together. Ismail then veers away from the boy, but the film ends with the two men wrapped in each others arms on the balcony of Ismail's flat. Oh, and the characters regularly burst into song - as a seemingly natural alternative to normal conversation. I'd rate this 8/10

The Darjeeling Limited

I'm not sure what to make of this film. I was clearly in the right mood to see this kind of light movie which has totally nothing to say about anything, except the vacuous nature of most Americans' lives. Can it really be true though that the mind of your average American is truly empty of any kind of feeling for the cultures to be found in other countries?

My companion at this film was so bored he fell asleep, and hated the parts he remembered with a passion. I on the other hand laughed throughout.

The film is about three brothers who go to India to 'find themselves' and meet their mother who (quite naturally) has become a nun in a monastery in the foothills of the Himalayas. The joke of course is that these three brothers appear totally unalike, and have absolutely no intention of finding themselves spiritually - it would appear that the affluent life, treating others badly, ignoring the needs or feelings of others suits them just fine. They board a train to cross India and stop off at various places - in one case to see 'the most spiritual temple in the East' and end up buying a snake, enormously expensive shoes, and other bric a brac without gaining anything spiritual from the visit. OK this isn't great cinema, but it is full of good one line gags (the first part which involves one of the brothers in a hotel room in Paris being surprised by his former girlfriend is a joy). I'd rate it 6/10 - my companion probably 0/0.

Brick Lane

This dramatisation of the bestseller first novel by Monica Ali is far more successful than many adaptations. It keeps pretty closely to the storyline of the book and gets under the skin of the central characters. The film tells the tale of a bride of 17 brought to East London to marry a man she has never met, with whom she has little in common, and finds that the London she has come to is hardly a better life than the one she left in Bangladesh. The flashbacks to her childhood are always bright and colourful - she is laughing and smiling with her sister - the scenes in London are gloomy in comparison. The sense of isolation is tangible. The film concentrates on the period leading up to the events on 9/11, and the child bride, now 16 years into her marriage gradually comes to discover the possibility of a different kind of life with Karim, the westernised British born Bengali who supplies her with the clothes for her to sew, in a vain attempt to supplement the meagre family income. Her husband, is naturally pretty useless in most ways. Despite his claims to the contrary his life is a failure, and he possesses Micawber like confidence that 'something will come up'. In many ways this is a moving, thought provoking tale, with much to say about human relationships - and tentatively examines the confusion within an immigrant community under pressure - and how those tensions resolve themselves in different ways. Rating: 7/10

Elizabeth - The Golden Age

Should this film really be called Elizabeth II? Cate Blanchett reprises her portrayal (very expertly) of the virgin queen with Geoffrey Rush a suitably sinister Walsingham. Clive Owen provides the love interest as Walter Rayleigh. I do still have a hankering for Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth the Great but Cate often gave me an echo of that definitive performance (there was a touch at times of Bette Davis who memorably donned the role in Elizabeth and Essex). I mention the latter for a reason. The thing that must be remembered when viewing populist history is that jarring anarchronism should generally be ignored (hence the strange hilly aspect of the area around Tilbury, and the royal palace appearing to bear a distinct similarity to Ely Cathedral are to be put aside without consideration). Instead you must embrace the broad sweep of history - and accept romance in all its' forms. This film is rollicking good fun - the English are universally Good and Elizabeth's enemies are universally Bad (whether they be Spanish, Scottish, Catholic or those bad people wanting her to marry. Naturally foreigners are often stupid or laughable if they are not being Bad. What is wrong with this old-fashioned view of history - not alot to my mind, rule on Queen Cate (and keep watching Bette Davis). As this film only dealt with a couple of years around the time of the Armada I think Cate will be able to look forward with pleasure to portraying Elizabeth again in her later years. Rating: 7/10

Michael Clayton

British actor Tom Wilkinson stars with George Clooney in this fast paced thriller. And Tom Wilkinson is excellent. The movie has an interesting (if initially confusing) structure. I don't want to give much away but suffice it to say that George plays a legal firm's Mr Fixit - he no longer appears at trials but solves problems. As the film begins the law firm seems to be at the point of settling a claim that has been dragging on for almost a decade, involving a global pharmaceutical company. George is called to resolve a 'difficulty' (in the shape of a hit and run driver wanting a way out) - he's at a card game when the call arrives. Shortly afterwards something very surprising happens, and then the film goes back four days to show how we arrived at that point. Tom Wilkinson's character is a manic depressive who is representing the pharmaceutical company at a deposition when he gets a blinding revelation that he's backing the wrong horse. Dramatically he takes off all his clothes (whilst being filmed by the plaintiff's lawyers) and dances around the car park. The two central characters are excellent in this film, and there is terrific support from the acting team. There is suspense, surprises, thrills, twists and turns and good finally triumphs over evil. George is on his usual propaganda kick to some extent, but it is fairly understated, and this film does prove that movies can still be good without graphic violence or bad language. Good film - rating 8/10

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