Earlier this evening Susan, Bryony and I watched Hugo, Martin Scorsese's recent film. The movie provided our first experience with 3D cinema. I was impressed. Also Scorsese makes great movies, and he has used the latest movie technology to make a rich, multi-layered movie about a boy and his relationship with an old man, and about the history of movies.
We did enjoy the movie, and recommend it to everyone. Scorsese has told an engaging story, and also shown us indelible, joyous images.
Bryony studies Keats this year as one of her final-year subjects, and we all like a good period drama, so off we went to Bright Star. In this movie, Jane Campion crafts an engaging portrayal of a growing relationship between two people struggling in their time, and tells a great romantic story about a great romantic poet.
Her production design for the period was immaculate, with an authentic, claustrophobic feel strongly supported by a sound track of almost no music. They lived in hard times of much loss and fewer choices, and felt hemmed in by them.
From this comes great poetry. Keats's focus and discipline at first seems hard to see - it looks like idleness. But in remembering that writing doesn't make for strong on-screen action, I then notice that the greatness comes as much from hard work and sacrifice as from raw talent.
To do something special on Valentine's Day Susan and I saw Up in the Air. We didn't get a romantic experience, but we did get a riveting one. George Clooney seems to pick good movies to star in, and this ranks as one of his great choices.
As Ryan Bingham, he portrays a man disconnected from emotions, and from meaningful interactions with people. His job probably forces that on him - travelling around the US telling people they have lost their jobs. Or maybe he was an unusual person who found the perfect job. Ryan creates a life of continual business travel with monastic discipline. He becomes a true 'road warrior', though 'travelling mystic' may also fit.
The film shows a period in Ryan's life where he questions his values. He mets Alex, a fellow extreme business traveller, and slowly falls in love with her. After taking her to a family wedding, Ryan decides that he wants to settle with her. His spontaneous visit to her home reveals her profound dishonesty towards him, and returns him to his monastic existence.
From the perspective of a married couple living a conventional life, and assuming people like him actually exist, Ryan seems a tragic figure. That judgement though shows more my lack of respect and understanding. What is inherently wrong with such a disconnected life? Nothing is! It is Ryan's choice. It makes him happy, he does no evil and he expresses love in his way.
Michael
On an evening out with Kate and Michael we saw Rachel's Getting Married. This film tells the story of Kym, a drug addict in rehab who returns home for the wedding of her sister. In it Anne Hathaway and Jonathan Demme give us a riveting, unsettling portrayal of dysfunctional narcism. Given my own experience of such behaviour, the movie was incredibly accurate. The dynamics of the family around Kym added another touch of realism, and like many real-life stories, there was no tidy ending. Kym caused a big upset on the wedding eve, but the imperative of the event forced some form of reconciliation. In the closing scenes it was clear that nothing had changed.
Michael
As an Indian 'rags-to-riches' story that is all pure fairy tale, Slumdog Millionaire grabs the viewer with its strong visual style and artful story telling. The film has a complex structure that suits modern audiences - it tells three stories all at once, each on a different time line. These stories join together in the last 10 minutes of the movie to provide a predictable, feel-good ending.
A dying conductor as christ returned? 'As It Is In Heaven' tells of a dying conductor Daniel returning to his boyhood village to retire. For no clear reason he volunteers to lead the local church choir. He slowly introduces them to singing well and with truth, and in doing so creates a new community within the village. This choir as community reaches out to touch the evil within the village, confronting a bigoted Lutheran pastor and violent husband. In parallel, Daniel learns to love and be loved as he builds relationships with the choir members. All in all, a rich, multi-layered film.
Michael
Michael & I both enjoyed this action/spy/thriller. We haven't seen any of the earlier films in the series, so we were at a loss as to why it opened in Moscow. Paul Williams enlightened us that that was where Jason Bourne was in the last 'episode'. The film was very well done, the thrilling bits thrilled and the stunts were better than Bond. Like Bond minus the love interest/sex.
Susan.
