August 2014 book and film review

BOOKS


THE WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. I first learned about this book through Ranulph Fiennes's Captain Scott. Fiennes reported it as being often referred to as one of the six best travel books ever written, which puts it in pretty exalted company. And so it should be. Like T.E. Lawrence when he was writing Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Cherry-Garrard enlisted the help of George Bernard Shaw in the editing process (he was a neighbour) and the result is a magnificent account of hardship, suffering and death at the bottom of the world. But what exactly is the worst journey in the world to which the author refers? Although the book covers the whole, fateful journey of Scott's doomed mission to the South Pole, the title actually refers to the famous "Winter journey", undertaken by the author, along with Henry Bowers and Dr Edward Wilson (both of whom later died on their way back from the Pole), to collect Emperor penguin eggs from a rookery some 100 miles distant from the safety of the expedition's winter quarters at Cape Evans, which lies at the edge of the great Ice Barrier, now known as the Ross Ice Shelf.


Nobody with any sense travels in the Antarctic winter, but that's exactly what these men did, because for reasons best known to them, Emperors lay their eggs in the depths of Winter . They were attempting to prove some evolutionary theory (which later turned out to be wrong). and were literally willing to risk their lives for the cause of science. Pulling a sledge which weighed twice their combined body-weights, their epic venture is told in typical English understatement, but still the horror shines through with unique vividness. Over the course of three terrible months they very nearly died of frostbite and starvation, but unlike the doomed polar party, they were lucky and made it home after what the author calls "the strangest bird's nesting expedition that ever was, or ever will be". Cherry-Garrard, however, was left permanently emotionally scarred, suffering depression and panic attacks for the remainder of his long life.
An absolute must.


ARCHANGEL, by Robert Harris. An Oxford historian is in post Soviet Russia on the hunt for Stalin's secret diary. But the ghost of Uncle Joe has not yet been laid to rest, and there are others who still revere the Great Dictator who want to find it before he does. And they don't care how they go about it...


Robert Harris has been carrying all before him in recent years. His Selling Hitler, an account of the great fiasco of Hitler's forged diaries was well received, and his fictional offerings including Fatherland have been praised by the critics as well as being highly successful. This is my first outing into Robert Harris territory, but it won't be my last. I greatly enjoyed his straightforward style, telling a thrilling story without all the page-by-page plot twists so characteristic of, say, Dan Brown.
Recommended.


FILMS


TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE (2013) D- Steve McQueen. A free black man living in New England in the 1830s is kidnapped and sold into slavery to work on a cotton plantation in the Deep South. Somehow, all the beatings and indignities fail to destroy his spirit. But it seems he will live out his life as another man's property...
British director McQueen tells an extremely harrowing and sometimes horrific tale in great style, enough indeed to secure him a well deserved Oscar as best director earlier this year. Hard to watch, but you can't drag your eyes away from the action.
True quality.


THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (2013) D- Wes Anderson. An educated concierge (Ralph Fiennes) runs his luxury hotel in Bohemia with a kind of relaxed tyranny and couldn't be happier in his work, especially as his style goes down extremely well with the aristocratic ladies who like to stay there just to be served by him. Then the owner of the hotel dies and leaves him an Old Master. Closer relatives are furious and determine to wrest the painting from him.


This is just a fraction of the positively byzantine plot of this sprawling piece of whimsy, which, although I enjoyed Fiennes's performance, did not succeed for me precisely because of that. There are just too many disparate strands to the narrative and in the event it fails to satisfy. Pity, because a lot of the required elements are there to make it exceptional


BEST BOY (1979) D- Ira Wohl. (documentary) Philly is the "best boy" of his parents who live together in New York. Philly is in his 40s but has never left home because he has the mind of a child and cannot live independently. But his parents are getting old: what will happen to him when they die? Indeed, during the three years over which this film was shot, Philly's dad does die. Can mom manage the job of caring for him by herself, or will Philly go to live in a supported setting elsewhere?


A film of great sensitivity and warmth, the director (Philly's cousin) delving deeply into the hearts and minds of the players: the long-suffering mother to whom it never occurs that Philly might be better off elsewhere, but who hides her true feelings under a veil of outward calm, the father who cannot hide his disappointment with how things have turned out, and Best Boy himself, who lives his life as a carefree five year old.
Moving and rather wonderful.


STRIKING DISTANCE (1993) D- Rowdy Harrington. Bruce Willis is a cop determined to uncover corruption in the ranks of his colleagues, but they see him as a loose cannon. Sarah Jessica Parker is brought in to watch him. She does more than that...


A lamentable dog of a movie, poorly written and amateurishly directed (though Willis still convinces). It is almost as if the producers were thinking like Ed Wood: not worrying about technique because the story will carry in the end. It doesn't. I don't usually get too upset by "bloopers", but at one point Willis and SJP are becoming entwined, and earlier in the scene she is clearly seen to be bra-less. But when Bruce whips her dress off she is somehow wearing one. How come?
Execrable.


THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA (1958) D- Keisuke Kinoshita. An everyday story of country-folk in rural Japan in the 19th century. It might as well be the middle ages, however, because one of their quaint little customs is for people over the age of 70 to travel to a nearby mountain top- and die there. Some accept their fate with stoicism, others are less keen. For this latter group, there are always friendly neighbours who will escort them- whether they want to go or not...


An extraordinary effort from one of Japan's most revered film makers, with amazing, almost expressionist colour and a look that is reminiscent of a Hokusai print. But I suspect that my copy was cut substantially from the 2 1/2 hour running time down to little over 90 minutes. Thus I feel I may have been deprived of some of the most glorious and lyrical sequences. I'm not sure how or why such a thing could have happened, but check this if you are considering obtaining a copy. I wish I had, 'cause I feel a bit robbed.


VENUS IN FUR (2013) D- Roman Polanski. A theatre director is casting for his latest play when a woman who hasn't booked turns up and begs him for an audition. He's tired, it's the end of a long day and he isn't keen. But our girl is very persuasive... Soon they are immersed in the minutiae of the play, which is coming to life before their eyes, and in a way neither could have anticipated...


Based on David Ives's Broadway play, Polanski (who has been one of my favourite directors for over 40 years) has taken a big chance. You don't see many movies these days which are confined to just two players on one set, yet it still works brilliantly. This is due in no small part to the two players, Mathieu Almaric and Polanski's famme Emanuelle Seigneur who should have won Oscars but for the fact that Polanski is still a dirty word in some quarters.


SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (2004) D- Kerry Conran. In 1939 (but in a kind of alternate Universe) a journo called Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) is trying to track down an elusive plutocrat (Lawrence Olivier, sic: all clever stuff, n'est pas?) and enlists the willing co-operation of a dashing airman (Jude Law)


This film looks impressive: there are elements of both Metropolis and Things to Come in the plot and also in its appearance. It is an example, so Wiki informs me, of so-called Dieselpunk, which is a style of graphic novel. To me, however, this remains a children's film: fun to watch but really as light as air.
OK for a rainy Sunday afternoon when there's no sport on (or too much sport on, if you're that way inclined.


JERRY MAGUIRE (1996) W/D- Cameron Crowe. Jerry (Tom Cruise) is an agent to sporting superstars. One day he decides to write a memo listing his own failings as a cautionary tale for his colleagues, but his bosses interpret it a resignation letter and fire him. Now he's on his own. Can he claw his way back to the big time?


This film was massive in its day, securing an Oscar for Cuba Gooding Jr as one of Jerry's protégées, and most people believe it was one of Tom Cruise's strongest performances to date. And it certainly is compulsive viewing, though its utter Americanness made it, like the earlier sporting themed movie Field of Dreams, difficult to fully appreciate for audiences outside those shores.
Still worth watching.


DOC HOLLYWOOD (1991) D- Michael Caton Jones. A young doctor misses the Interstate sign and finds himself in Hicksville, USA. Worse, he runs over a judge's flower-bed and is given community service- as the town's doctor. Inevitably (this being Hollywood) he also finds love, risks losing it, all the while slowly winning the grudging respect of the townsfolk. And when the time comes for him to return to his lucrative practice in LA, will he go or will he stay?


Yet another of those "stranger in a strange town movies" which is a favourite Hollywood theme:My Cousin Vinnie springs to mind; later John Lassiter was, with very minor changes, to virtually graft the whole plot of Doc Hollywood on to his animation Cars. Certainly in this vehicle we find the fantastic Mr Fox at his most feisty and engaging. Present as always is his aura of vulnerability which only enhances his appeal.


At this moment in history Michael J Fox was at the zenith of his career. He'd just made the fabulously successful Back to the Future series, and was riding high in the Nielsen ratings with his sitcom Family Ties. He repeated his success with Spin City, but no one, even Fox himself, could know that Doc Hollywood would be his last big movie before Parkinson's disease claimed another victim.


NEBRASKA (2013) D- Alexander Payne. A frail old man (Bruce Dern) convinces himself he's won the lottery: all he has to do is travel two states over to claim his prize. That and convince his family, who believe he is deluded. Finally his son gives in and drives him the 750 miles to "claim" his non-existent prize. Or is it?


Although well supported by Will Forte and Bob Odenkirk (you'll remember him as Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad) who play his two sons, and featuring other fine performances by, inter alia, Marisa Tomei and William H. Macey, the real strength of this movie lies in the brilliant performance by Bruce Dern as the confused old man whose passionate belief threatens humiliation to himself and his family.
American indie film making at its best.


ZOMBIELAND (2009) Ruben Fleischer. First it was mad cow disease. Then it was mad human disease. Next thing you know, you're in a post apocalyptic dystopia inhabited by flesh eating monsters where all you need to survive is a pump action shotgun and a set of wheels. And, preferably, Woody Harrelson by your side, because he's the biggest sonofabitch in the valley and don't take no shit from a bunch of stinking zombies. Anything else is a bonus. Like falling in love for instance: something our co-hero Jessie Eisenberg would like to do, as long as they ain't monsters of course.


Rather entertaining movie with some very good moments, though I was not totally happy with Eisenberg's voice-over. Maybe, like Bladerunner, they'll take it out when we get to the director's cut. They certainly should...