Valentine's Day Film Suggestions

The Princess Bride 1987

The Princess Bride is, according to my 17 year old son, the best film ever! And very romantic.

Westley: I told you I would always come for you. Why didn't you wait for me?
Buttercup: Well... you were dead.
Westley: Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.
Buttercup: I will never doubt again.
Westley: There will never be a need.

A Knight's Tale 2001

A Knight's Tale is also a fairy tale, a sort of Cinderella tale for the guys. Anything is possible if you believe.

William: It is strange to think, I haven't seen you since a month. I have seen the new moon, but not you. I have seen sunsets and sunrises, but nothing of your beautiful face. The pieces of my broken heart are so small that they could be passed through the eye of a needle. I miss you like the sun misses the flower; like the sun misses the flower in the depths of winter. Instead of beauty to direct its light to, the heart hardens like the frozen world your absence has banished me to. I next compete in the city of Paris, I will find it empty and in the winter if you are not there. Hope guides me, that is what gets me through the day and especially the night. The hope that after you're gone from my sight, it will not be the last time that I look upon you.

Shakespeare in Love 1998

Shakespeare in Love is romance itself. Who better than The Bard of Avon to teach us about love.

Queen Elizabeth: Playwrights teach us nothing about love. They make it pretty, they make it comical, or they make it lust, but they cannot make it true.
Viola De Lesseps: Oh, but they can! 

The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest is romance with a comic twist. Oscar Wilde mixes equal amounts of love and silliness.

Cecily: You must not laugh at me, darling, but it has always been a girlish dream of mine to love a man named Ernest.

Sense and Sensibility 1995

Sense and Sensibility takes a wonderful book by Jane Austen and brings it to life on the screen so well, it will make your heart ache.

Elinor Dashwood: What do you know of my heart? What do you know of anything but your own suffering. For weeks, Marianne, I've had this pressing on me without being at liberty to speak of it to a single creature. It was forced on me by the very person whose prior claims ruined all my hope. I have endured her exultations again and again whilst knowing myself to be divided from Edward forever. Believe me, Marianne, had I not been bound to silence I could have provided proof enough of a broken heart, even for you.

Jane Eyre 2011

Jane Eyre is an incredibly romantic book. The recent film leaves a lot out, but not the romance!

Rochester: I offer you my hand, my heart. Jane, I ask you to pass through life at my side. You are my equal and my likeness. Will you marry me?
Jane Eyre: Are you mocking me?
Rochester: You doubt me.
Jane Eyre: Entirely.

Miss Potter 2006

Miss Potter is sweet and romantic. You're never too old for love! (and bunnies!)

Let me teach you how to dance
let me lead you to the floor
simply place your hand in mine
and then think of nothing more
let the music cast its spell
give the atmosphere a chance
simply follow where I lead
let me teach you how to dance

Lady Jane 1986

Lady Jane is a tragedy as well as a romance. It is not historically accurate, but it will make you believe in true love. Hey, Carey Elwes is in 2 of my picks! Fancy that.

Jane: [reading] The soul takes flight to the world that is eternal... invisible. But there arriving she is sure of bliss, and forever dwells in paradise.

An Ideal Husband 1999

An Ideal Husband is another Oscar Wilde, but this one is more of a commentary on the kind of love you find in an established marriage. Still a bit silly, but a very lovely ending.

Lord Arthur Goring: Gertrude, it is not the perfect, but rather the imperfect who have need of love.
Gertrude: You seem to know a great deal about it all of a sudden.
Lord Arthur Goring: Oh, I hope not. All I know, Gertrude, is that it takes great courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still to love it. And even more courage to see it in the one you love. Gertrude, you have more courage than any woman I have ever known. Do not be afraid now to use it.

Persuasion 1995

And for my final suggestion, Persuasion 1995 for the letter scene alone...

"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago."

Sigh! Please add your romantic film suggestions in the comments. I just listed period dramas, but tell me which ones you can't live without, period or not. Happy Valentines Day!

Ciaran Hinds- Actor of the Week

Ciaran Hinds

Ciaran Hinds (pronounced KEER-ahn Hyndz, I looked it up!) has been in many wonderful Period Dramas and is well loved for his various roles. Ciaran grew up in Northern Ireland and before being an actor he was an Irish dancer- I kid you not! Boy would I love to see him Irish Dance. Michael Flatley eat your heart out!  But where do I start with his acting career? Oh, I guess I will have to start with my personal favourite and possibly yours, Captain Wentworth.

Ciaran Hinds as Captain Wentworth in Persuasion

"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight and a half years ago. Dare not say that a man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant."

Swooooooooon! That little quotation from Persuasion gets me every time. Much as I liked Rupert Penry-Jones' portrayal of Captain Wentworth, I think I speak for a few of us when I say that his voice is in my head as I read the paragraph above.

Ciaran Hinds as Professor Flynn from Circle of Friends

Ciaran Hinds was hilarious as Professor Flynn in Circle of Friends.  If you haven't seen this one in a while, it is worth watching for his performance alone... "The sexual life of savages!"

Ciaran Hinds and Samantha Morton in Jane Eyre 1997

There are so many versions of Jane Eyre that one has to specify either the year or the actor playing Mr. Rochester or Jane Eyre so that we know which one is being discussed. This one has many familiar faces in it such as Samantha Morton, Rupert Penry-Jones and Gemma Jones. I have to admit however, that my heart belongs to the 2006 version with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens.

In Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day 2008, a wonderful screwball comedy, Ciaran Hinds gets to demonstrate his dancing ability as Joe, the handsome older gentleman who literally sweeps Frances McDormand's character Miss Pettigrew off of her feet. Phwoar, ladies!

OK, I know this isn't a Period Drama but it is one of my fave chick flicks. Calendar Girls from 2003 is a classic BritCom with a heart. If you haven't seen it you really have a treat in store for one of those nights when you need a good laugh and a good cry.


Did I miss any of your favourite Ciaran Hinds films, period drama or not? Tell me which ones you particularly enjoyed. You guys have great suggestions for a film-a-holic like me!


This post is dedicated to Rena and Mary Simonsen who used words like "hopelessly attached" and "quintessential MAN" when speaking of Ciaran Hinds in the comments on my older post on Persuasion 1995 and 2007. Thanks to everyone for all of the great comments on various posts. That is what makes this blog so much fun to do.

Sophie Thompson- Actor of the Week

Sophie Thompson onstage in Clybourne Park

Sophie Thompson is one of my absolute favourite actresses. Her smile and her eyes are so expressive and she seems to truly inhabit every role she is in. She comes from a very talented family, as Emma Thompson is her sister and Phyllida Law is her mother. But she is a force onscreen in her own right.

Sophie Thompson as Lydia in Four Weddings and a Funeral

Bernard: How's it going, Lyds?
Lydia: Bloody awful.
Bernard: Oh dear, what's the problem?
Lydia: I was promised sex. Everybody said it. You'll be a bridesmaid, you'll get sex, you'll be fighting 'em off. But not so much as a tongue in sight.
Bernard: Well, I mean, if you fancy anything, I could always...
Lydia: Oh, don't be ridiculous, Bernard. I'm not that desperate.

Sophie Thompson as Miss Bates in Emma with her mother Phyllida Law as Mrs. Bates

  
Miss Bates: It left us speechless, quite speechless I tell you, and we have not stopped talking of it since.

Sophie Thompson as Mary Musgrove in Persuasion

Mary Musgrove: Are you coming in, Henrietta, or is my cottage insufficiently grand for you?

Sophie Thompson (second from left) as Dorothy in Gosford Park

Dorothy: I believe in love. Not just getting it, but giving it. I think that if you're able to love someone, even if they don't know it, even if they can't love you back, then it's worth it. 

Sophie Thompson as Mafalda Hopkirk in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

She even got a small part in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 as Mafalda Hopkirk. And she also plays Hermione Granger pretending to be Mafalda Hopkirk...oh, it's complicated!

Emma and Sophie Thompson as teenagers

In the old family photo above, you can see that although there is a family resemblance, their eyes are totally different. Sophie has the wide open eyes that gave Lydia from Four Weddings and a Funeral her wonderful look.

Sophie Thompson and Richard Lumsden at the Olivier Awards 2011 (Sophie was nominated)

Sophie lives with her husband Richard Lumsden in London with their sons Ernie and Walter. She met Richard on the set of Sense and Sensibility. He played the coxcomb Robert Ferrars, brother to Hugh Grant's character Edward Ferrars. Her sister Emma married Greg Wise, who played Willoughby in S&S.  Up until recently, she lived on the same street as her mother and her sister. She moved all of a mile away!

I am now going to pop in my recently arrived DVD and see her in The Young Visiters (written by a 9 year old, hence the spelling). Also starring Jim Broadbent and Hugh Laurie, I can't wait to see if she is frumpy or glam. She can do it all!

Run of Anne from Persuasion 2007

Persuasion 1995 & 2007

Persuasion is beloved by many of us as Jane Austen’s swan song, perhaps a look at how she would have liked her own story to have played out.  A tale of second chances.  It has had two recent and affectionate adaptations, one by the BBC in 1995 and one by ITV in 2007.  They are both rated almost equally by IMDb and are both equally well worth watching.  You will find many things to like about both and will probably find a few irritants also, but that is how these films go!

1995-This version rates slightly higher in my estimation for a few reasons.    It is beautifully shot cinematically and I adore the classical music soundtrack which is appropriate and also gives a slightly nautical feel at times (although my husband found the music annoying, so it is all personal taste).  Ciaran Hines is weatherworn and looks like he could have been at sea for 8 years. Amanda Root is quiet, strong and makes you want to root for her (OK, I couldn’t resist the pun). The other reason for placing this adaptation slightly higher on my list would be the fact that they kept the "best scene"  basically intact as Austen wrote it.  When Anne is overheard by Captain Wentworth in the room at Bath, debating with Captain Harville whether man or woman is more constant, my heart soars.  “You pierce my soul.  I am half agony, half hope.”   This is one of Jane Austen’s best scenes and in this film it is very well done.  I also love the minor characters in this one, particularly Phoebe Nicolls as Elizabeth Elliot-”She is a Viscountess!” and Corrin Redgrave as Sir Walter Elliot.  His slight lisp makes me laugh.  Sophie Thompson was at her best, being a just neurotic enough Mary Musgrove who will now always speak in my head as I read the book.  And Susan Fleetwood (sister of Fleetwood Mac’s drummer Mick Fleetwood) was luminous as Lady Russell, although she was battling ovarian cancer while filming this and died soon after.

2007-  This version is also very well done, even though all the running of Anne around the Royal Crescent and through various streets in Bath has been parodied on You Tube and seems very modern, however we do see a lot of lovely Bath scenery this way. The dragged out kiss at the end as well made me want to throw something at the screen so that they would just get on with it, and yet there are many tributes to the ending kiss on YouTube, so many would disagree. Ah, one person finds this scene sexy and another person fixates on the spittle at the side of her mouth.

However I cannot deny that Rupert Penry-Jones makes a delightful Captain Wentworth and that Sally Hawkins does a kick ass job of Anne.  She can even fix a dislocated collar bone.  Why wait for the apothecary?  And it is filmed mostly in Bath, which adds to the visual appeal.  And although they do tinker with my beloved eavesdropping/note writing scene, it is done for plot reasons and comes off fairly well with the letter being delivered to Anne instead of being surreptitiously passed to her.  One does certainly feel Anne’s anxiety as she searches the streets of Bath for her yummy Captain, determined not to lose him once more.  

No, both of these adaptations are quite welcome in my DVD library.  And I like that Wentworth buys her Kellynch Hall at the end of the new one.  Apparently the Elliots really mismanaged their fortune, although wouldn’t Anne sort of be forced to then invite her stupid father and sister to live with her there?  I rather enjoy the end of the older version, where Anne is on board ship with her Captain and leaving her inane family behind in England. OK, I know I am over thinking these adaptations, but when you get fond of a character, you wish to have them really live happily ever after.

And, as Anne always gets her Captain, I will always be happy with the ending.  So I guess we won't have any more Persuasion adaptations for a while.  If we do, perhaps we can get a true longer miniseries so that we get more of the juicy bits between Anne and Wentworth.  Come on BBC, adapt this again like you did with the recent Emma.  Sigh.........

Persuasion (1995) - PART 10 (final)-"The Best Scene"