Remains of the Day, Where Angels Fear to Tread, and other stuff

Remains of the Day is one of those films I thought I had seen, but I think I had only seen snippets of it on television. It's much better when you see the beginning and the end of it!

Based on the 1989 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro who is a Japanese born but English raised author, this Merchant Ivory film ends up being a fascinating look at English sensibility through the eyes of an outsider. Nuanced and yet intense it is a very riveting film, but I can't say it is one of my faves.

Fabulous performances from Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson along with some pretty gorgeous period locations certainly make this one stand out. Great supporting performances from Hugh Grant, Christopher Reeve, Tim Piggott-Smith and James Fox are absolutely worth mentioning.

The only question remains, why did it take me so long to see this film?

Where Angels Fear to Tread was one I had never heard of. I am afraid my science background didn't give me a good grounding in E.M. Forster. I certainly knew about A Room with a View, Howard's End and A Passage to India, but this, his first novel, was not on my radar.

Again, with a cast that includes Helen Mirren, Helena Bonham-Carter, Judy Davis and Rupert Graves it is certainly worth watching. And again, the setting of Italy a century ago (and the gorgeous Italian actor Giovanni Guidelli) makes it a pleasure to watch.

And yet again, this one is down in my book as well worth seeing, but not one of my faves. I think my faves all have happy endings, so perhaps this reflects more on me, than on these films.

Sweet Revenge is a silly little farce, adapted from an Alan Ayckbourn play called The Revengers' Comedies. If you like dark comedies and tongue in cheek farce then this is for you. If you don't like the idea of the two main characters plotting revenge on each others' nemeses, not stopping far short of murder (played for laughs the whole way) then give this one a pass.

Personally, this one gave me more than a few belly laughs. I was in the mood for something silly and this hit the spot. By the way, keep IMDb handy for this film as every single one of the actors save one was well known to me from other British gems. Helena Bonham Carter, Kristin Scott Thomas and Sam Neill are only the beginning of the star studded cast.

Speaking of silly comedies, Family Tree is one of the oddest and most hilarious things I have seen on TV in a while. A Christopher Guest mockumentary, it follows in the footsteps of This is Spinal Tap and Best in Show but this time he takes on genealogy, an unlikely target for comedy. Apparently the idea came from Guest himself tracing his ancestors and thinking there may be some fodder for laughs. And it works.

It is a bit twisted and bear in mind that it airs on HBO, so not appropriate for children or sensitive types. But again, if you are in the mood for some quirky British comedy starring adorable Irish actor Chris O'Dowd this is your show. I am looking forward to a new episode tonight. The sister's ventriloquist dummy monkey really cracks me up. Try to see the first show if you can, as it really explains the crazy story line. You might be lost otherwise.

Cheers and happy viewing!

My Brilliant Career 1979

Well I finally got to see My Brilliant Career! This film was released when I was in high school and I would have eaten it up at the time, as Judy Davis plays a headstrong independent 18 year old trapped in the Australian outback in the early 1900s. She has vague ideas of some sort of life ahead of her which involves music or literature or the arts in some form but has no idea of how to achieve it.

A film adaptation of the book by Miles Franklin  the entire supporting cast seems determined to marry off Judy's character Sybylla Melvyn as the only way to tame the "wild beast" she has become.

After being sent to her more genteel grandmother's house and gentrified by her gorgeous Aunt Helen she falls for a very young Sam Neill (well who wouldn't, I ask you?) and then the struggle inside of her really begins. Will she chose the career or will she chose Harry?

Personally, I would have tried to have both, but that is just me. You'll have to watch the film yourself to see how it ends but let's just say this is not Anne of Green Gables, even though these two redheads in the colonies have their similarities!

This is just a lovely little film for a night where you need a lovely little film. It has a definite feminist feel to it which is not surprising as it was written by an Australian woman at the turn of the century and then adapted by women (producer, director and screenwriter) in the post bra burning seventies I remember so well.

You go girls!!!!!

The Tudors Marathon

While I have been recuperating from a bad throat infection, I have had the pleasure of watching the miniseries The Tudors for the first time.  It was lent to me by a friend who knows my weakness for Period Drama just before Christmas, so I obviously hadn't had time to watch it yet.  When I started feeling better, I popped the first episode in the DVD player and was quickly hooked. My friend said she had bought the first season because she and her teenage daughters had enjoyed it so much.  Apparently, the fourth and final season has just recently wound up on TV.

Henry ripping the bodice off yet another Lady in Waiting!

I have to state at the outset here that the DVD version is UNCUT!  Yes, lots of breasts and naked butts in this one, so if that is not to your taste, beware.  But, this is the Tudor period we are talking about, and it all seems to come down to political intrigue and sexual politics as well as a fair number of beheadings.  Whether you read about the period, or watch any of the various films about Henry VIII or his daughter Elizabeth I, there is always a lot of violence, and a fair bit of sex and political maneuvering.  Now, the nice thing about this series is that there is very little violence in it, considering the time period in which it is set (you know, beheadings and burning at the stake and all).  I am a person who doesn't mind the sex and nudity much but I do object to too much violence.  So this production suited me just fine.  And this is a very beautiful production.  Almost too beautiful, as I am often pondering the unlikelihood of the perfect teeth and hair on the actors.  Not much orthodonture in the 16th century!  Nor blow driers for that matter.  Alas, modern audiences expect beauty, so there you go.

I mean seriously, did their Ladies maids have blow driers?

And of course, it wouldn't be a Tudor/Elizabethan historical drama without messing with the facts and rearranging history a little.  So far, I have seen Henry's sister Mary, who in real life married the King of France who died a few months after marrying her, get switched to being Henry's sister Margaret (OK there are really too many Marys...) who in this series marries the King of Portugal and then smothers him with a pillow within days of the wedding, as he was too old and ugly for her taste (oops...should have given a spoiler alert).  He truly was disgusting, so I don't really blame her.  Especially when you see who she ends up with instead, and I won't spoil this one, but he is very yummy looking.

I actually learned a bit of correct history as well, in that along with all of the plagues and illnesses we are used to hearing about, they had another one in the 15th and 16th century called sweating sickness.  I looked this up on Wikipedia, where we all seem to end up while googling things these days, and apparently this was a true illness (and a frightening one at that as you could be dead within hours of contracting it) and which disappeared after the year 1551.  They don't know what the cause of the illness was, but they suspect a variation of hantavirus.  So you get the real history mixed in with the rewritten stuff.

In any case, the reason to watch this one is for a rollicking good story, gorgeous locations and costumes (as well as impossibly gorgeous actors) not for historical accuracy.  Although, my 16 year old son ended up learning a fair bit about the English Reformation by sitting down beside me every time he walked by and there were nipples visible on the screen, which happened regularly to his delight!  I managed to slip in an English history lesson here and there between the bodice ripping, without him really even noticing....

Overall, two thumbs up, even though the more genteel 19th century is more to my taste.  My sister used to devour books on this era (as well as on the Medieval times a la Mary Stewart) so she will love this one, as will her 13 year old son I suspect!

N.B.  I just finished the whole first season.  Really wonderful!  Who cares if the history is a bit dodgy?  Now I have to get Season 2, 3 and 4.  Hmmm....rent or buy?  Or perhaps it would be worth getting Netflicks for?  I'll post later when I have worked my way through season 2.  Can't wait to see how they portray the Reformation and how Henry gets rid of all of those wives!  I think I may have to buy the entire boxed set with all 4 seasons...