September book and film review

BOOK

THE SECRET AGENT, by Joseph Conrad. In the dark, foggy streets of Edwardian London, anarchists plot a dramatic strike against the forces of reaction. But even the best-laid plans... Perhaps Conrad's greatest book, certainly his best shorter novel, containing within its pages some of the most perfectly realised characters in 20th century fiction. From the oily foreign dignitary importuning the outrage, to Stevie, the strange boy who would now be placed somewhere on the autistic spectrum, his his brooding uncle who hides a terrible secret behind the doors of his seedy bookshop, to the society princess who is entranced by the anarchist's revolutionary rhetoric, everything comes together in a climax which still shocks profoundly 100 years after it was written. A classic.

FILMS

COLOMBIANA (2011) D-Oliver Megaton (sic). A young girl witnesses her parent's murder at the hands of drug lords, and swears revenge. Along the way to achieving her goal, like the bad cops in Magnum Force, she wipes out all the other bad guys she can find. What did I just say? I said we were getting fed up with assassin movies, but here comes yet another. Give it a rest, Hollywood and find another theme, will you?

JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN (2011) D- Oliver Parker. Johnny is brought out of forced retirement by MI7 to bring down an evil genius. Or something like that. The plot here is less important than Rowan Atkinson himself, who reprises his role, this time with a black sidekick and no Natalie Imbruglia (shame). Rosamund Pyke and Gillian Anderson support well, but there aren't as many belly laughs this time. Pity.

TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942) D- Ernst Lubitsch. Just as the Wehrmacht is about to invade Poland in 1939, a theatre group, with the help of a British spy, escape the holocaust. Slight problem: he's fallen for the female lead, who happens to be married. An absolutely stunning movie at amny levels, full of laughs, thrills and not a little erotic undertow, this is one of the finest things to come out of Hollywood in the war years. Wow!

LOVE ME TONIGHT (1932) D- Reuben Mamoulian. A tailor, cheated out of his fees by a nobleman, goes to collect his debt and is mistaken for one himself. Hilarity ensues... Maurice Chevalier's finest moment, parodying himself as he always did, but bringing it off with  superb elan. The movie was surprisingly advanced for its day, with many innovatory devices in cinematography and some truly outrageous dialogue, which proved too much for many censors in the US, who slashed some of the funniest lines from the script. Stupid, screwed-up yanks...

RIO (2011) D- Carlos Sandana. A rare blue parrot is abducted from the Amazon rain forest, rescued, then taken back to Brazil to mate with the only other member of its species. But rare parrots are money in the bank, and the baddies are out to get him back, dead or alive. A dazzling piece of animation (computer graphics are taken to a new level here), but, and this has to be crucial for a film based in the land of Samba, the music is rather pedestrian and dull. Even the dialogue lacks the sparkle we might have hoped for. Disappointing.

JANE EYRE (2011) D- Gary Fukanaga. A young orphan has troubled beginnings, but ends up marrying well. One of Britain's best loved stories has been filmed several times; notably with Orson Welles playing Mr Rochester, but this new version also has much to recommend it. The producers have resisted the temptation of vamping it up to a 21st century audience, and have allowed the story to develop in a way Charlotte herself might have approved.. The result is an absorbing piece of cinema story-telling, free of slickness and pretension.

VALENTINO (1977) D- Ken Russell. A two-bit dancer/gigolo is spotted plying his trade in a seedy New York nightclub. The rest, as they say, is history. And a very bad movie. Apparently even Ken didn't like the result, complaining publicly at the premier: "What idiot directed this?" What idiot indeed... Russell is one of those film makers who can't help making interesting films, even when they're awful, like this one. Here the film is (almost) saved by the dancing of Rudolph Nureyev, who plays the eponymous megastar, and whose every movement is a perfection of style and grace.

LILIES OF THE FIELD (1963) D- Ralph Nelson. A laid-back itinerant with building skills is persuaded by a group of nuns to build a church. His engaging personality eventually wins over all his detractors, which are not few, because he's black for starters.... A sweet, lyrical film; we'd say it had the "feelgood" factor today, with a strong performance from its lead, Sydney Poitier, who has never looked more gorgeous. Ralph Nelson went on to make much darker films, like Soldier Blue, but this is perhaps his best work.