March book and film review

BOOKS

A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME, by Anthony Powell. Vol 3: THE ACCEPTANCE WORLD; Vol 4: AT LADY MOLLY'S.
Nick Jenkins's voyage through the 20th century continues. Widmerpool has gone into the city, specialising in financial deals known as "Acceptance Transactions". Powell points out that as we grow older, acceptance is the inevitable course of all our lives. In Vol 4, Widmerpool announces he has snagged, improbably, the daughter of an earl, but she has baggage: two children by a previous marriage. Will it happen? Powell takes us on his sedate, meticulously worded journey and this reader, on the strength of what he has seen so far, is glad to go with him.

BLOOD RIVER, by Tim Butcher. A South African journalist decides to re-create Stanley's epic 19th century voyage, tracing the course of the great Congo river through highly dangerous territory in the heart of the lawless "democratic" Republic of Congo. Very few people would be brave, or foolish enough to undertake such a journey, so Butcher does it for us in order that, thank God, we don't have to. If the mosquitoes or foul water doesn't get you, the stoned-out children toting AK47s will. This is a journalist's book, and as so often in these cases the writing is not necessarily of the best. But the tale told is gripping and, at times, truly terrifying. A good, quick read.

FILMS

ARGO (2012) D- Ben Affleck/ During the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, six Americans hide out in the Canadian embassy, and the CIA devise a fiendishly cunning subterfuge to recover them. Americans being brave and getting one over on the Iranians was doubtless part of the film's appeal to the Academy folks as an ideal vehicle to win an Oscar, but really this film is no great shakes: exciting in parts (the most nail-biting scene, at the airport, where the crew must blag its way through security, never actually happened, but what the hey?), but ultimately unsatisfying.

DARK WATER (2002) D-Hideo Nakata. You watch a video. then 1 week later you die horribly. As people start dying off like flies, a mum desperately tries to prevent her child from seeing it. Remade in Hollywood, this Japanese original is far better; genuinely scary and gripping, and indeed the movie turned out to be highly influential.

BIUTIFUL (2010) D- Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu. A man slowly dying of cancer (Javier Bardem) has the gift of communicating with the recently deceased. He is also deeply involved in a sweat shop turning out counterfeit handbags. An interesting, if over-long film, which holds the attention through to the end, partly on the strength of Bardem's performance. Not bad.

4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS ((2007) D- Cristian Munglu. In the dying days of the Caucescu regime in Romania, where abortion is illegal, a young woman helps her friend to procure a back street abortion. A deeply moving and beautifully crafted film, full of humanity and devastating honesty. Excellent.

BLACKBALL (2012) D- Mel Smith. Into the hidebound ranks of top flight bowls, an audacious new talent emerges, but manages to upset everyone along the way. Fairly amusing Britcom, reminiscent of films like Blades of Fury in its content, but somehow lacking real flair.

A BUNCH OF AMATEURS (2012) D- Andy Cadiff. An ageing American superstar (Burt Reynolds, virtually playing himself) agrees to play Lear at a theatre in the UK because his agent thinks it will re-boot his career. But then he realises the play is being mounted, not by the RSC, but by a strictly amateur village crew. Initially reluctant, he soon immerses himself in  the role. A superior offering, thoughtfully written and very well acted, especially by Reynolds himself, who shows himself to be a considerable trooper. Great fun.

TELL NO ONE ( 2006) D- Guillaume Canet. A man believes his wife has been murdered, but then years later begins to doubt she is really dead. A long, highly involved story that at one point had me wondering if I really cared what happened (never a good sign), but in the event I hung in with to the really quite intriguing denouement.

PROJECT A (1983) D- Jackie Chan. The leader of a special police task force in 80s Hong Kong (Jackie Chan) makes it his business to bring down a cadre of bad guys. In this he is ably assisted by his friend Sammo Hung. With these two adepts of the martial arts, we can only be in for a high-kicking, acrobatic slugfest, and we are not disappointed. Chan and Hung started out in the Shanghai circus school, and the skills learnt there held them in good stead for decades of films like this before Hollywood eventually discovered them years later, and made them learn a sort of English. Pretty good if you enjoy a top class kick-and-punch movie. Which I do, as it happens.
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