May 2014 book and film review

BOOKS


THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP, by Charles Dickens. A frail old man faces bankruptcy partly as a result of his gambling addiction, so his 12-year-old granddaughter takes charge and together they flee into the countryside. But a malevolent dwarf is convinced the old man is sitting on a pot of gold and sends his henchmen to seek him out. However, with the help of random acts of kindness from several sources, little Nell and her granddad hide themselves well. But never underestimate the depth of human greed...
The usual high quality fare from the Great One, featuring in the character of little Nell one of the most perfect, in truth saintly, of all Dickens's creations. Their flight into the heart of England is told in truly epic style, and the scene where Nell and her grandfather have to spend the night sheltering from the rain inside a steel foundry is unforgettable. Splendid stuff.


LONDON BRIDGES, by James Patterson. Dr Alex Cross is called in to help track down the Weasel, a nasty piece of work who enjoys hurting people, and his even more unpleasant boss, the Wolf, who is holding the whole world to ransom by threatening to blow up several major cities at once. Cross has all the resources of the CIA, MI5 and Interpol to help him, but the Wolf is so ruthless and well organised the task seems impossible....
It's easy to be scathing about James Patterson's writing, but there's no denying his appeal. His 20-odd books have sold over 70 million copies around the world, so his attraction to the "airport" market is clearly powerful. How does he do it? First, the chapters are short. Very short in fact, at an average of just 4 pages, and sometimes as short as 2. You'd have a job creating a précis of his work because he doesn't waste a single word. The plot grabs you and sweeps you away on its wild ride and the reader is almost powerless to put it down. Verdict: holiday reading at its most irresistible.


THE DIVINE COMEDY PART THREE: PARADISO, by Dante Alighieri. Having descended into Hell and climbed the mountain of Purgatory, our pilgrim now faces his most amazing journey: through the heavenly spheres, one by one, until he reaches the Empyrean, where, his mind's eye sharpened by training through the other levels is finally able to behold God himself.
With his characteristic blend of classical myth, astrology and biblical scripture, Dante has created one of the greatest and most exciting works in the history of literature. Not that this is in any way an easy read. Dante himself in the very first canto warns the unwary reader they will need to be well equipped with a knowledge of the Bible and the classical texts from antiquity as well as a sharp, discerning mind if they are to come to grips with his great poem.
To aid the less sophisticated reader most editions of The Divine Comedy come complete with extensive footnotes, though I would offer the potential reader this advice: consult the Wiki sites first. For once they are well written and extremely informative; in fact much more useful than the voluminous texts found in my copy (the Oxford University Press). For me this work demanded a greater level of sustained concentration than for any book I have read since Ulysses, but my God, was it ever worth it...


FILMS


REDS (1981) D- Warren Beatty. An idealistic young journalist, John Reed (Warren Beatty) is active in the union movement of early 20th century America, but realises that it is Russia where the winds of change are blowing most strongly. He is drawn to it as if by magnetic force, but at home there is distraction in the shape of his great love, fellow journalist Louise Bryant (played by Diane Keaton). Eventually he travels alone and the result is the seminal text Ten Days that Shook the World, Reed's book about the October Revolution. But Louise finds she can't live without him and endures privation and danger to seek him out in that strange and frightening land. For you see, this film is really more about their great love, a love that transcends even the convulsions of a great nation...
An outstanding piece of work, this is Beatty's love-child from start to finish and America, surprisingly considering its content, took it to its heart and awarded Beatty the Oscar for best director. The film would doubtless have won even more plaudits, but for Chariots of Fire, which won almost everything else that year.


THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT (1956) D- Nunnally Johnson. In post-war America, an army captain is threatening to do well in Wall Street, but is haunted by his wartime exploits, one of which was to father a son in the ruins of Naples. Will this come back to haunt him? Damn right.
An interesting film coming out of a highly successful Broadway play, this film may be about taking responsibility for one's past acts, but it is also about business. For it seems there are two kinds of executives: those who wish to work a nine-to-five job and nurture their families, and the real go-getters who sacrifice everything to achieve their goals of wealth and power. Which will our protagonist (Gregory Peck) prove to be?


THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST (2013) D- Mira Nair. A clever Pakistani (Riz Ahmed) wins a scholarship to Princeton and impresses a Wall Street executive (Kiefer Sutherland) so much he is offered a prestigious job in his firm. Then the twin towers are attacked and everything changes... He is suspected of being in Al Qaida and does indeed have sympathy with their cause, but he is no terrorist. Or is he?
Funded by the Doha film institute, this film intelligently portrays some of the cultural conundrums that make up the problems of the post 9/11 world. It is made with a high degree of professionalism and looks great on screen.


TRANCE (2013) D- Danny Boyle. Art thieves recruit an auctioneer to help them steal a masterpiece, but in the melee that ensues after the heist he is hit on the head and forgets where he has stashed the picture. The gang then bring in a hypnotist to see if she can delve into the man's subconscious to find where the picture is hidden. Sounds like a pretty good premise for a movie, but I found it wholly unconvincing and trashy. None of the characters are believable, and the acting is suspect. Poor. Makes you think Danny should stick to organising mega-events...


THE WORLD'S END (2013) D- Edgar Wright. Simon Pegg wants to bring his old schoolpals back together for an epic pub crawl, but as it happens this is the same night a crew of evil robots from beyond the Moon arrive on planet Earth with the plan to take it over...
Third and final episode in Frost and Pegg's Three Flavours Cometto trilogy (the other two being the hilarious Shaun of the dead and the equally riotous Hot Fuzz) this unfortunately fails to live up to the promise of the earlier two, although all the elements seem to be there to produce a cracker: the tried and trusted Pegg and Frost, other great cameos including the excellent Martin Freeman, and high production values. Yet somehow it comes over as a bit too self conscious and self- congratulatory. Shame.


THE SAVAGES (2007) W-D- Tamara Jenkins. A brother and sister living in different parts of the States are brought together when they learn their dad has Alzheimer's and been placed in a "retirement home". They converge on their dad, but, as is often the case between siblings, they have their own issues to work out...
A beautifully written and sensitively directed piece exemplifying the best in American cinema, and notable for the superb performances of Philip Seymour Hoffmann and Laura Linney as the brother and sister. Not easy to watch for anyone with personal experience of a relative with dementia, but with strong resonance also. Brilliant.


HAYWIRE (2011) D- Steven Soderbergh. Mallory is a not just a pretty girl, she is a highly skilled martial artist and assassin. She works for a shadowy black-ops organisation which hires its services to governments around the world, but while working on a hit in Barcelona she realises she has actually been set up to be murdered herself. She swears revenge on those who would kill her, and her enemies soon find they would underestimate her to their cost. To their terrible cost...
Given a rating of only 5.5 by Rotten tomatoes, this shows those ratings (based on viewer's opinions) are not as useful as we might hope. This is a class actioner, thrilling and scary. Gina Carrano (who in real life is a mixed martial arts champion) is excellent as the epitome of the adage that the female of the species is deadlier than the male. My only problem is that the various male leads look so alike they are hard to tell apart. Except for Michael Douglas's cameo. You don't mistake his face for anyone's...


LES BICHES (The Does) (1968) D- Claude Chabrol. A classy Parisian socialite (Stephane Audran, a woman so beautiful Helen of Troy would look like Ena Sharples in comparison) picks up a female pavement artist, then takes her to her estate near St Tropez. Then at a party the younger woman has a one-night stand with a local architect. The older woman appears to take it in her stride, but does she really? Eventually a sort of menage a trois develops, but stresses within the triangle threaten to tear it apart.
Chabrol has been called "the French Hitchcock" and with good reason. He has made some brilliant thrillers, most notably Le Boucher, and this film shows his skills with human character are equally subtle. Most impressive of all, the film has barely dated in nearly fifty years. And you can't say that very often...