January 2015 book and film review

BOOK


THE DIARY OF JOHN EVELYN.
John Evelyn (1620-1705) was a gentleman who kept a meticulous diary throughout the tempestuous age of the English Civil War, the Protectorate, the restoration of King Charles II; onto the accession of catholic James II and the "Glorious Revolution" which replaced him with the protestants William and Mary in 1688. And lots, lots more.


Coming from what we would today call the "landed gentry, born into an old country family in Kent with a capacious family home and 4000 acres we can safely say he was born into great privilege. However he made the most of his advantages and the natural gifts of a keen intelligence to comment on high society and the power players of the 17th century (often the same people: in those days parliament was peopled mainly by aristos and their protégés) who partied hard and schemed long, often to the distinct disapproval of a rather straight-laced Evelyn, who could never quite handle the promiscuities of many of the most powerful people of his day. In this he differed significantly from his long-time friend Samuel Pepys (who he described as "a most entertaining and knowing man") who delighted in the peccadillos of the great and not so good, expressing his envy at their conquests.


And there lies the critical differences in the two diaries. Pepys (who kept his dairy secret during his lifetime) is unafraid to lift the lid on his darkest and most lascivious feelings, and doing so in his incomparable writing style produced one of the greatest works of English literature. Evelyn on the other hand was a devout Christian and believed in astrological portents (to the dismay of his devoutly atheistic friend). Even so, his diary is, like Pepys's, beautifully written and represents a unique and exhaustive analysis of English society in the 17th century. The poor man had to bury five out of his six children, three to the great scourge of the age, smallpox, a pestilence that seemed to affect all levels of society from street urchins to dukes and earls. Yet he must have been a remarkably phlegmatic man. After the loss of his third son to the "sweating fever" (which I take to be typhoid) he is clearly bereft: he goes into seclusion for five weeks, avoiding his usual round of socialising in London. But then he writes: "Feeling now a little more composed, I went to London to a banquet for the King at Whitehall and there had myself a pleasant  time..."


My edition (Everyman Press) runs to 1000 pages and is itself condensed from no less than five volumes of similar length, hence it has taken me a whole month to read just this one book. But I can attest to its great value, both in terms of information and entertainment.
 I would add one postscript: the spelling. Pepys's diary was written in an early form of shorthand, so when the book came down to us all the spelling was corrected to appease our modern eyes. But Evelyn's diary benefits from no such amendment: In this era there was no general consensus for how words should be spelled, hence we might find the same word spelled in three or even more different ways on the same page. There is one extraordinary section dealing with his visit to the French city of Tours, where he spells the word "tower" and the name "Tours" in six completely different ways in the space of 500 words, lending an unintended hilarity to an otherwise straightforward  piece of travel writing. Thank God for Dr Johnson and his famous dictionary. Only problem, it came a generation or two too late for John Evelyn...


FILMS


THE HEAT (2013) D- Paul Feig. Sandra Bullock plays a methodical and rather arrogant FBI agent. Melissa McCarthy is a potty mouthed cop from the wrong side of the tracks. Much against her wishes (her boss threatens her it will damage her career if she doesn't) Bullock is forced to work with McCarthy, and the two eventually form an unlikely alliance in a bid to bring down a drug lord in this entertaining and sometimes hilarious new take on the buddie movie. My favourite moment comes when Mullins (McCarthy) is lighting up in a hospital corridor. A nurse comes over to her and says: "There's no smoking here." McCarthy draws her .357 magnum and puts it right in her face. "How about now?" Good fun.


VERONICA MARS (2014) W/D- Rob Thomas. Kristen Bell (the voice of Anna in Frozen) reprises her role of a youthful private dick in three series on American TV. Now a young adult she agrees to help out an ex who has been accused of murdering his rock star girlfriend.
The project is reasonably well written and Bell herself is engaging as the feisty young gumshoe, but really I found it very difficult to recall much of this film one month after seeing it. And that can't be a good sign...


THE GOLDEN DREAM (2013) W/D- Diego Quemada-Diez (Mexico) A group of Mexican youths, plus a kid from Guatemala they can't seem to shake off know only one thing for sure: life in the U.S. has to be better than the shit existence they endure south of the Rio Grande. So they ride the trains north, hoping they will find a way to get across the border and start leading the good life. But again and again their plans are foiled by the border guards who are superbly equipped to keep the wet-backs out of their country. Meanwhile, the boys gradually get over their racism and accept the Guatemalan into their circle.
A marvellous little tale, full of humanity and compassion, illustrating with great force the problems of having two countries of vastly differing prosperity sharing an equally vast border. Highly recommended.


HEADHUNTERS (2011) D-Morten Tyldum. Norway's most successful headhunter has a sideline: working in a home surveillance company he is able to rob his clients of their most valuable possessions- he especially likes an old master. And when he hears that of one of his biggest clients has inherited a Rubens he formulates an elaborate plan to deprive her of it. But are they already a step ahead of him? And if so, how?
Quite interesting offering from the man who went on to direct The Imitation Game, though it does not have the stature of his later movie. Watchable.


NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT (2011) D- Patricio Guzman (Chile, documentary) The empty, lifeless altiplano of the Chilean Andes is only good for one thing: it's the perfect place to build a telescope. That, and dumping the bodies of anyone you might have murdered during a political coup. And so, as the astronomers train their massive instruments on the skies, mothers travel up to the high plateau to search for signs of their loved ones, sometimes almost in the shadows of those mighty telescopes.
Following the bloody coup that ousted Salvador Allende in 1973, Pinochet's men dug mass graves in remote places (some of which have now been uncovered); sometimes they would simply throw people out of planes over the high deserts, thinking no one would ever find their remains. But the thin, clear air helps preserve the bodies, and some have actually been found by a small group of grieving, but incredibly determined women.
A fascinating and disturbing film, contrasting the insulated world of the scientists, some of whom lived out Pinochet's bloody coup high in the Andes and away from all the suffering, and the women who lived in the thick of the terror and who now find themselves rubbing shoulders with those very same scientists who are now forced to confront the truth of the killing. Absorbing cinema.


IN SECRET (2014) D- Charlie Stratton. In 19th century rural France a young orphan girl (Elizabeth Olsen) is married off to her adoptive parent's only son (Tom Felton). But he is a rather sickly, nerdy character and her attention soon wanders to her husband's best friend, megahunk Oscar Isaac. It isn't long before those two do something about it. Their affair continues when they all move to Paris together, but when the husband wants to move back into the country for the sake of his health the two lovers hatch a dreadful plan...
I quite enjoyed this re-working of Zola's famous novel Therese Raquin, especially the first 45 minutes. But oddly, just at the point in the book where the action really accelerates, the pace of the movie seems to stall, leaving a sense of disappointment. Zola's novels are so cinematic they can almost read like screenplays, so why the writer and director didn't simply reproduce the book faithfully right to the end is something of a mystery. Still watchable though.


THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (2014) D- James Marsh. In 1960s Cambridge a physics graduate is working on his PhD but is finding difficulty finding supervisors gifted enough to keep up with him. Then he discovers true love, his bliss spoilt only by the fact that she's a devout Christian and he has always been a committed atheist. Love conquers all, however, and all seems set for an idyllic marriage and a glittering career in theoretical astrophysics. Then he starts dropping things and falling over...
Based on the memoirs of his first wife, this biopic of Saint Stephen of Hawking is superior movie making and is distinguished especially by the phenomenal performance of Eddie Redmayne as the genius with a funny voice. He is well supported by the cast too, making this one of the best films to come out of Britain last year. The Oscars committee seemed to agree, nominating Redmayne for the best actor Oscar. And knowing how much Hollywood likes disability portrayed on screen, and how much they have fallen in love with Hawking himself, I would say Eddie is a shoe-in for the big prize. We won't have to wait long to find out...


THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (2013) D (and starring) Ben Stiller. A lowly photo editor on Life magazine is given the daunting task of finding the ultimate cover picture for the final edition. Seeking relief from the stress he retreats into a fantasy world which is a lot easier to cope with. But all this fantasising won't help him snag Kirsten Wiig, whom he admires from a distance but is afraid to approach, thinking she must be out of his league. Fantasies are all very well, but never try to make them real...
James Thurber's famous short story was first filmed in 1947 with a Danny Kaye who at that point was one of the world's biggest stars. The result was hilarious and memorable, being firmly built around Kaye's zany, anarchic screen persona. Here we have one of today's most bankable comedic talents directing himself in a creditable remake, but unfortunately despite some very good moments it doesn't work because the film doesn't seem to know which tone to take. Is it going to be a straight comedy or does it aspire to be something more? Woody Allen is probably the finest exponent alive of making riotously funny movies that still have something serious to say (like Crimes and Misdemeanours), but regrettably Stiller is no Allen, hence the film's rather uneven feel. Shame. Keep trying Ben. We still like you.