March book and film review

Welcome to this month's random collection of stuff which, for whatever reason, I had overlooked so far but caught up with this month.

BOOKS

THE SHADOW OF THE WIND, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. This is one of those world wide bestsellers, touching the soul of millions, etc. There are some powerful characters though; the anti-hero Fermio is a brilliantly horrid creation. But if I were you, I wouldn't go there.
SITTING BULL PRISONER OF WAR, by Dennis C Pope. The author is a Welshman who has taken a lifelong interest in the ways of the Red man. Scrupulously researched and written in a rather engaging style, he tells the story of Sitting Bull's surrender to the US Cavalry in 1881, as his people had been so beaten down, and especially their food supply the buffalo wiped out, they were a community in the process of slowly starving to death. How these great people coped with this terrible humiliation and defeat makes intriguing reading.
BELOVED, by Toni Morrison. This was one of the selections on World Book Night, "she won the Nobel prize for literature in 1993- it's about the black person's struggle in the time of slavery" was my spiel as I passed them out. I'm glad I recommended it. Her style is unique, languid, labyrinthine even, but she can cast a spell with words few can match.

FILMS

THE GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES (1988)P-D- Isao Takahati. A young lad and his younger sister get separated from their parents during the Kobe firebombings and escape to the countryside. But Japanese society in 1945 is imploding, and in this chaotic landscape they slowly realise they are starving to death. A quite extraordinary anime, and one of the most stunning anti-war tracts ever seen.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010) D- David Fincher. I love the tag line for this one:
"You don't get to make 500 million friends without making a few enemies"
A very smart nerd has a brilliant idea. Then it all gets complicated. I loved this very sharp, very observant piece of movie making.
BILLIE TWO HATS (1974) D-Ted Kotcheff. Gregory Peck goes on the run after a robbery, and half breed Desi Arnaz Jr tags along for the ride. Another of those "realistic" westerns with Peck strong as always and Desi strangely magnetic as the quiet half breed.
THE TRIAL OF JOAN OF ARC D-Robert Bresson (1962) Bresson's minimalist style is not for everyone, but here he is at his best with a compelling tale of the last days of Saint Joan. Mind you, sometimes the acting is really quite bizarre...
DJANGO (1966)D- Sergio Corbucci. One of the founding fathers of the Spaghetti Western, with oodles of violence, but a uniquely stylised touch (eg the "hero" carries a coffin with him everywhere, but it turns out to contain a Gatling gun). Strangely appealing in its awful way.
CARLITO'S WAY (1993)D- Brian de Palma. Ex con goes straight but is tempted back into the scene and pushes his luck once too often. de Palma paints a nasty, frightening picture of life in the New York mobs, though Sean Penn as a repellent layer is also noteworthy.
BROADCAST NEWS (1987) D- James L Brooks. Authentic-feeling portrayal of life and love in the electronic media of the 80s. I loved Holly Hunter as the driven producer who delivers the goods but has an emotional breakdown at least once a day.
FRANKENSTEIN (2011) D- Danny Boyle- live broadcast from the National Theatre. It's hard to know how to classify this one: is it a film, or a play? The answer, I suppose, is both. Certainly the production is very skillfully lifted from the performance on the London stage onto our local cinema screen and we were able to relish the fine performances of Johny Lee Miller as Frankenstein and Benedict Cumberbatch as the monster. But one thing worries me. In our provincial city there is already a paucity of good quality theatre. Isn't there a risk that this innovation could seal the fate of provincial theatre for good?