november book and film review

BOOKS

ZEN IN THE ART OF WRITING, by Ray Bradbury. One of the books recommended to me my eminent author friend/patient, this books goes into the category of books I did not finish. I have always been suspicious of books on "how to write"; I have never (yet) been on a "creative writing course". To me you've either got it or you ain't, and if you have, then the best thing to do is do it, and keep doing it until you get results. I'm afraid this book fulfilled these reservations. Bradbury enjoins the writer to engage his passion (sounds good) and then write, furiously. My writer friend told me all that in a handful of sentences: I didn't need a whole book to underline its truth. In summary: if you wanna write, then write, damn you!

MRS DALLOWAY, by Virginia Woolf. Now here's someone who has it all right. It is the story of 1 day in the life of an upper-class lady as she organises a high society party in her Mayfair home. Not the easiest book to read, but my God, once you get into it it more than repays the effort. Its subtlety, its beauty of language is quite sublime. Wonderful.

FILMS

DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST (1951) d-Robert Bresson. A young priest with what today we would call a serious eating disorder (he confines himself to red wine in which he dunks dry bread) upsets everyone in the community he serves, from the peasants to the ruling class. His efforts to raise the spiritual tone of his parish are well intentioned but horribly misguided. An odd piece of work, but still somehow gripping.

LANCELOT DU LAC (1974) d- Robert Bresson. Some call this a "highly stylised" take on the Arthurian legends, others might say Bresson's budget was so hopelessly limited he had no option but to make it look like it was shot in a barn and a small adjoining copse. But even so, such is the skill of this great french auteur it remains highly watchable.

LA NOTTE (1961) d- Michaelangelo Antonioni. A man visits his dying friend in hospital, then distracts himself from his woe by taking his wife to a fashionable party, where all kinds of romantic misunderstandings take place. Kubrick cited it as one of his 10 favourite films, and it certainly is an outstanding piece of Italian cinema. Try it.

CELEBRITY (1998) w-d- Woody Allen. There are always beautiful women in Allen's movies, but in this offering everyone is so stunning it almost gives you a headache. Allen was a bit hit-and-miss in this part of his career, but I liked this: it's often very funny and sometimes delightfully ironic. My only problem: Kenneth Branagh's performance. It is abundantly clear that Allen mus have told him: "Just do me" and the result is indeed a watered down version of Allen himself.

TWILIGHT NEW MOON (2009) d- Chris Weitz. Edward wanders off and leaves Kristen Stewart to her own devices, proving the folly of leaving a beautiful woman alone. Soon she's pursued either by people who want to love her, or eat her. If you liked the first one in this series, I guess you'll like this too.

JULIA (1977)d- Fred Zinnemann. Jane Fonda plays Lilian Hellmann, who, hypnotised by the charisma of her friend Julia (played superbly by Vanessa Redgrave), tries to find her when she goes to ground in pre-war Germany. If Fred Zinnemann ever made a poor movie, I haven't seen it. Catch this if you haven't seen it already.

A KISS BEFORE DYING (1956) d-Gerd Oswald. Robert Wagner, who has never looked more gorgeous, plays an all-American heart-throb and psychopathic killer. Everyone seems to take a long time to rumble him; meanwhile people are popping off at a rate of knots. It looks sumptuous on the screen and is quite worthwhile.

2012 d- Roland Emerich. This date is predicted by several sources (the Maya calendar, Nostradamus, etc) as when the World will end. Turns out this is the year all the continents decide to rearrange themselves, leading to mega-tsunamis and hypervolcanic eruptions (yawn) More of the same old same old from the guy who made "The Day After" which was quite enjoyable hocum, whereas this is just annoying. Give us a break will ya?