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FILM: June 2008
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| A film with lots of fighting, a love who
is found then lost then found again sounds pretty much
run of the mill, doesn’t it? But MONGOL: the
Rise to Power of Genghis Khan (cert.15 2hrs.),
is a fascinating epic with startling cinematography and
a compelling story. |
| It tells how the ruler, who was born
Temudgin in 1112 rose to become Genghis of all Mongolia
after many perilous battles, dealing with inhospitable
terrain and traditions which he supported except when
they went against what he believed was the correct way
to act. Finding the bride that he wanted at age 9,
Temudgin (young Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano) never
wavered in his love for her and much of the film deals
with how he looks after Borte |
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| (the consistently youthful
non-professional actress Khulan Chuluun) and remains
faithful, returning time and again to search her out
when she is abducted. Although the cast speak Mongolian,
there is so much action and visual excitement that one
soon forgets and can sit back and enjoy the film.
Excitingly choreographed battles between the feuding
tribes and fantastic scenery are well used by Russian
director, Sergei Bodrov. |
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Although not as glitzy as Cannes, the
Edinburgh Film Festival in June has a fine array of good
films. To whet your appetite as well as mine the gala
opening is THE EDGE OF LOVE (cert.15
1hr. 44mins.). Although Dylan Thomas is the central
person loved by two women, the film is about Vera
Phillips, Dylan’s Welsh childhood sweetheart, and her
relationship with others who figure in his life. |
| Dylan meets up with her again when she
is singing in the Underground during the London blitz in
1940. Vera is surprised when his wife Caitlin joins them
but soon forms a real friendship with her. At the same
time William Killick (Cillian Murphy), a soldier, is
attracted to Vera. She still wants Dylan but realises he
and Caitlin have a bond. Vera marries William and when
he goes to fight in Greece moves to a house next to
Dylan and his wife where she has William’s baby. The
soldier returns very much altered by his war experiences
and suffers jealousy when he sees that his wife is still
close to Dylan This is a well-constructed film written
by Sharman MacDonald, mother of Keira Knightly who plays
Vera in the best performance I have seen her give, and
she has a surprisingly good singing voice. Sienna Miller
as Caitlin is feisty and lively and works well with
Matthew Rhys who has a melodious voice and brings a
verisimilitude to his portrayal of Dylan. Both Dylan and
Caitlin have affairs with others but are true partners
when he shares his poetry with his wife. |
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Sheer excitement with young hero (Shia LaBeouf) who
has a closer relationship than first appears to our
older adventurer Indiana in INDIANA JONES
AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
(cert.12A. 2hrs. 3mins.) This is the film for you if
you are looking for complete escapism. It is
old-fashioned in the sense that most of the action
is live rather than being manufactured
technologically. Harrison Ford, although now 65,
makes a charming Indy with more charisma in his
little finger than LaBoeuf has in his whole body.
But for those over 10, it is most enjoyable – too
much talk for little ones.
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THEATRE TIP: JUNE: 2008
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| Lots of good shows around: first we have
GONE WITH THE WIND (New London Edward).
I saw it with some other critics a few days after it
opened and we all thought that it was not nearly as
awful as the bad notices it had been given. It is very
long – three and a half hours with the interval - and
the number of narrators could well have been cut by
director, Trevor Nunn. |
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| However Jill Paice, the sweet Vivien
Leigh look-alike as Scarlett O’Hara and dashing Darius
Danesh as Rhett Butler have pleasant singing voices and
the Negro slaves have some melodious and, at times, very
moving songs. The crinolines are beautiful and there are
some exciting effects such as real fire burning the
Atlanta flag. |
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Then we have KING LEAR
(Globe). I didn’t think this play would work in the open
with the lighting on in the auditorium as well as on the
stage, but it comes across really well in Dominic
Dromgoole’s first production as the new Artistic
Director. It is a very different production from the
RSC’s with Ian McKellen as Lear. |
| Seeing the play again, particularly with
the lively young audience at the Globe, I was struck by
a number of things: Cordelia asks her sisters to look
after their father as she leaves the Court with the King
of France; I noticed that Gloucester is another father
quick to think the worst of his son, Edgar. Then there
are Lear’s frequent references to his fears of going
mad, and at the end, his acknowledgement that, “I am a
foolish, fond old man.” It was a surprise to hear talk
of “hearts and minds” as I had thought that a modern
phrase. The Globe audience is always quick to appreciate
the moments of comedy that are well brought out in this
production. David Calder gives a strong, very clear
portrayal of Lear. |
| The ever excellent Vanessa Redgrave
gives a luminous portrayal of the writer Joan Didion
whose play, THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING
(National Theatre), is an expanded dramatised version of
her own book. Joan’s husband died in December 2003 and
her only child 18 months later. The monologue which
lasts for 1hr 40mins without an interval explains how
Joan, a most capable person, was unable to face up to
the loss of her husband. Some humorous moments
interweave with the more frequent poignant ones. Vanessa
very movingly shows the feelings behind the words and
her performance is without vanity; when she begins to
cry she wipes her hands across her face and later uses a
crumpled tissue on her eyes and nose. |
| Also playing without vanity is Greta
Scacchi in THE DEEP BLUE SEA by Terence
Rattigan (Vaudeville). She, too, draws her hands across
her face when she is overcome with grief when her
younger lover, Freddie leaves her. At the dramatic start
of the play her body is found in front of the gas fire,
but Edward Hall’s production finds it hard to keep up
the relentless pressure. While Scacchi is good but not
anguished enough as Hester, the daughter of a clergyman
and wife to an eminent Judge, and Dugald Bruce-Lockhart
has his moments as the younger lover, the minor parts
other than Simon Williams as the Judge who still loves
his wife and Tin McMullan as the former doctor who has
served a prison sentence, are somewhat caricatured. |
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| A couple of my acquaintances are overly
close and somewhat too clingy to their sons, but not, I
hasten to add, involved in any sexual activities like
the alcoholic pill-popping mother in THAT FACE
(Duke of York’s) by Polly Stenham ,a young writer with a
great deal of insight. Lindsay Ducan (57) portrays
Martha as a complete wreck who has made her son (Matt
Smith, an actor growing in stature) into a carer who now
can’t cope with her wild behaviour as she seduces him in
bed and turns him into her carer in the daytime. |
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When her daughter Mia is under threat of
being expelled for giving drugs to a younger girl at
school, Martha’s ex-husband returns from Hong Kong to
attempt to sort out his family. With more than a touch
of A Streetcar Named Desire mixed with Who’s Afraid of
Virgina Woolf (and I don’t think it’s just the leading
character’s name), the family have not only to confront
each other but work together to try and find a solution
as a family. |
| This is a powerful play with a
tremendous performance by Duncan who is so good at
giving a physical portrait – here she manages a rolling
gait and a very sleazy look. The young girls are fine as
is Julian Wadham in the somewhat unsympathetic part of
Martha’s former husband who is now involved with his new
young wife and a second family |
| There is an absolutely delightful
PYGMALION at the Old Vic. Peter Hall’s
production of Bernard Shaw’s play picks up on the
contrasting genuine manners of Eliza and the boorish
behaviour of her teacher, Professor Higgins. Shaw was
always supportive of women’s rights, so it remains
surprising to see the musical version bringing together
Eliza and the Professor in a romantic conclusion. It is
obvious, and well brought out in this production, that
at the conclusion Eliza is now able to take charge of
her own life, and even work to support her husband’s
lifestyle if that is necessary. We have in Michelle
Dockery’s flower girl an actress with an authentic
cockney accent, but one who can also reach the rounded
vowels and poise of the upper class. Although slightly
too jokey at times, Tim Pigott-Smith delivers a sturdy
portrayal of Henry Higgins. Good cameos, too, from
Barbara Jefford as Henry’s mother and Una Stubbs as his
housekeeper, and a very jolly Tony Haygarth as the
working class Alfred Doolittle, “I’m one of the
undeserving poor.” It is interesting, too, to see that
the musical kept so much of Shaw’s original dialogue
such as Henry’s, “I’ve grown accustomed to your voice
and appearance. I like them rather.” |
| Do try to see FAST LABOUR
(Hampstead Theatre) before it closes there on 21 June.
Dealing with the subject of migrant labour it is a
well-written play by Steve Waters in an excellent
production by Ian Brown transferred from the West
Yorkshire Playhouse. Ukrainian Victor arrives at a
Scottish fishery after a horrendous journey with just a
couple of words of English, desperate to work. He
becomes very close to the Human Resources woman and
gradually improves his English and works his way up the
ladder until he is running a labour force, “Fast Labour”
bringing illegal immigrants like himself to work in the
UK. Really well acted by the cast, the sets include
filmed backgrounds giving a real flavour of the areas
where the illegal migrants work. While we wonder at the
life portrayed in the play, we must acknowledge our
complicity in searching for out-of-season food and
perfect vegetables without questioning how the
supermarkets obtain them at such a cheap price.
Carlie
Newman |
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