July book and film review

BOOKS

A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME, by Anthony Powell
Vol XI - Temporary Kings
Vol XII- Hearing Secret Harmonies
Temporary Kings finds our intrepid group in Venice in one of the most diverting parts of the entire series, as they are shown around a Venetian palace which houses a near-pornographic Tiepolo ceiling. Then Widmerpool arrives (who else?), but he has never cared about art; no, he has come looking for a man who might get him off the hook of being accused as a Soviet spy. Meanwhile his wife Pamela attracts the attention of American Russell Gwinnett who is preparing a biography of X Trapnel, Pamela's late lover and celebrated novelist. In the final book of the series, Hearing Secret Harmonies,  the time has moved on to the early 1970s and we meet Scorpio Murtlock, an adept of the dark arts and perhaps even the reincarnation of Dr Trelawney himself. Oddly, Widmerpool, now a life-peer, abandons his noble life and throws his lot in with him. We already know Widmerpool must be top dog in any organisation he associates with. But can he match the personal power and charisma of Scorp Murtlock?

Now I have finally reached the end of this great novel cycle, I can confidently pronounce it one of the great works of literature to come out of Britain in the 20th century. No wonder they made Powell a Companion of Honour, even if only just before his death.  Easier to read than Proust, but of an almost equal stature, I am surprised that few people seem to know of the book today. Perhaps I'm getting old. Or perhaps readers today neglect classics even of the very recent past. It's their loss. It doesn't have to be yours.

INVITATION TO THE DANCE, by Hilary Spurling. A companion book to Powell's magnum opus, and in his words "an exhaustive study". Exhaustive yes, quality reading, no. Really more of a guide to the student preparing a dissertation on the subject than a valuable addition for the "casual reader" (that would be me). And despite its length, many vital details are missing, like who the characters were based on "in real life"- there we must consult the Wiki site to learn, for instance, that Dr Trelawney is actually based on that grand wazoo and consummate conman, Aleistair Crowley- and that's the sort of gold we needed Hilary to tell us. Disappointing.

THE BRIDGE IN THE JUNGLE, by B Traven. Deep in the midst of the Mexican jungle primeval, an American oil worker is spending a few days in a remote hamlet when a ten-year-old boy goes missing. Has he wandered off into the forest and been eaten by a jaguar, or been abducted? Both possibilities seem equally remote. But where is he? In this short book, Traven weaves one of his simplest plots with a skill and subtlety that makes this one of his finest offerings, showing, amongst other things, how the native Mexican Indians, ostensibly having been converted to the catholic faith, only too rapidly revert to their ancient, magic-based beliefs when the chips are down. A gripping and highly moving read.

FILMS

THE CAMPAIGN (2012) D- Jay Roach. A complacent senator suddenly finds himself with an unlikely opponent in the upcoming elections. Stung into action by the polls running against him, he will stop at nothing to secure his victory. Think The Candidate meets Ron Burgundy: Anchorman. Shouldn't be too hard. Will Ferrell plays the incumbent senator, and plays it with his now familiar style. Not bad if you've nothing else on.

THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR (1947) D- Joseph Mankewicz. A beautiful widow (Gene Tierney) relocates from London to a Cornish fishing village for a change of scene, but unwittingly buys a cottage inhabited by the shade of a crusty sea captain. Somehow he persuades her to "ghost" his autobiography. Meanwhile, a creepy George Sanders is also trying to snag her, and his intentions are far from honourable. What they used to call "a woman's picture" (I suppose they call them chickflicks now) which don't normally appeal much to me. But the quality of the work demands proper attention. Try it, if you haven't caught it years ago.

RAINING STONES (1993) D- Ken Loach. A young Liverpudlian feels obliged to raise the cash required to buy a first-communion dress for his daughter, but with trimmings it's over a hundred quid, and there's no way he can find that kind of money. A desperate race ensues to come up with the readies, all the way to a fatal involvement with a loan shark. Ken Loach has always been associated with a politically committed view, going right back to Kes, and this is no exception. No balance here, just a tremendously human account of the essentially immoral nature of poverty in the modern world. Terrific.

UNION STATION (1950) D- Rudolph Mate. A blind girl is kidnapped and hidden in the bowels of L.A.'s main railway station. Knarly cop William Holden has the job of tracking her down before she is murdered. Shot in unforgiving monochrome, with good acting and direction, this is a creditable effort, though the blind girl's character is so annoying you almost want her to get her throat slit just to shut her up her incessant whining.

COLD MOUNTAIN (2003) D- Anthony Minghella. In the dying days of the American Civil War, a young man (Jude Law) takes a fancy to a preacher's daughter (Nicole Kidman). But then he is whisked away to join a local militia fighting for the doomed south. But his thoughts never stray far from her face. Will they be re-united?  Meanwhile, she makes the best life she can, assisted by a more practically-minded Rene Zelwegger, with whom she has formed an unlikely alliance.
A film of considerable quality, with Jude Law surprisingly good (normally I am underwhelmed with the young man) and especially Zelwegger, who acts everybody else off the screen. Languid for much of the time, when it occasionally explodes into violence the effect is truly shocking. Worthy.

OF GODS AND MEN (Fr, 2001) D-Xavier Beauvois. A community of monks try to eke out an existence in revolutionary Algeria, but their survival becomes increasingly precarious as the Islamists gain ground. Finely honed piece which demonstrates admirably the inevitable slide to violence when contrasting religions collide in post colonial environments. Some of the most terrible atrocities ever committed in the name of religion occurred in the Algeria of the 1960s, though it all seems almost forgotten today. This film does well to remind us of them.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Swedish, 2009) D- Tomas Alfredson. A normal 12 year old kid lives in an apartment block in Stockholm, growing up with the normal problems, not doing well at school, being bullied etc. Then he discovers a protector living next door: a 12 year old girl. The thing with her is, she's been a 12 year old girl for a long time. That's right folks, she's a vampire. A sort of Scandinavian Twilight, but much more real and much, much scarier than the American franchise. A breath of fresh air in the seemingly endless run of vampire flicks

ST ELMO'S FIRE (1985) D- Joel Shumaker. A bunch of attractive 20-somethings work out their careers and romances in the hedonistic atmosphere of the 80s "Me generation". They make up and break up; they get jobs and lose them. You know. Some people kind of assume actors make up the words they say on the spot, that there's no such thing as script writers. They don't realise they'd be standing around mute if it weren't for writers. However if those writers don't do their job well the effect is little better, and here we find the problem with this film. The actors are fine: Demi Moore looking almost absurdly young, Rob Lowe looking like some sort of tousled Adonis. But the film fails to convince because of the weakness of the screenplay, and the result is we can't wait for it to be over. Pity.

A FIELD IN ENGLAND (2013) D- Ben Wheatley (written by Amy Jump) On a battlefield during the English Civil War, an alchemist's assistant is forced to use his magical skills to find a treasure which has allegedly been buried in a field. In England. The apprentice alchemist speculates that the treasure referred to might be the bonds of friendship that form between human beings during times of crisis, but his tormentor isn't interested in that kind of bullshit and so they keep digging. And digging...
A film heralded for being shown at a London premier, broadcast on TV (Film 4) and streamed on the internet simultaneously, it was also hyped as containing revolutionary techniques of cinematography into the bargain. I didn't see much of that, but I did see an outstanding piece of English cinema, with fine acting and writing, and superior directing, which go to produce a disturbing and powerful film. I'm sure they'll show it again. Catch it when they do.

THEY WON'T FORGET (1937) D- Mervyn Leroy (uncredited) In a sleepy southern town, a pretty young girl (Lana Turner in her first screen role) is savagely murdered, and suspicion falls on a Jewish schoolteacher from the north. A black man might also have done it, but the ambitious DA (Claude Rains) realises he can make a name for himself, not if he goes for the easy target, the black man, but after the white stranger from out of town. The evidence is paper-thin and purely circumstantial, but Rains didn't acquire the reputation of being the smartest guy in town for nothing...
The story is based on a novel which in turn was based on a real case in 1913, which became known as "The Franks Case". The climactic ending, based on real events, is supremely shocking even today, but I don't wish to be a spoil. I bought my copy, though it is one of those films you can download for free from the American Film Archive (annoyingly, it was "unavailable" when we tried).