September 2016 book and film review

BOOKS

SEBASTIAN BERGMAN, by Hjorth Rosenfeldt.
A teenage boy is found horribly murdered and there are no clues as to the perp. An eminent, but of late discredited forensic psychologist insinuates himself into the investigation, but he has a hidden agenda: he has learned he might have a daughter he has never met, and perhaps the IT resources available to the police might help him find her...
The character of Sebastian Bergman has been incorporated into a TV series, highly successful in the Nordic states though it hasn't made it over here yet (it's only a matter of time; our appetite for Nordic noir seems to know no bounds), and some of the later books come over like novelisations of the TV programmes. But this is the original and genuine article, and does read like a proper novel. It is well written, certainly, though some of the twists and turns seem slightly improbable, to say the least. We know our Sebastian has a past, but would a seasoned pro like him really seduce not one, but two women closely linked to the investigation? I thinknottle. Still, if you like your Scandi crime thrillers, this one will do nicely.

DR MUKTI, AND OTHER TALES OF WOE, by Will Self.
Dr Mukti is an Asian shrink working in a provincial London hospital, and a rivalry develops between him and another shrink who works in a more prestigious institution. To begin with, this takes the form of one referring a particularly troublesome or otherwise difficult patient to the other, who returns the favour with an even bigger clinical conundrum. But then it gets darker, much darker...
There is a grain of authenticity to this story. I myself have deliberately referred nightmare patients to clinicians I didn't like, thinking "Hah! This'll fuck 'em up a treat". Usually, of course, that's where it ends.
I chose to read this after being thoroughly blown away by the genius of The Book of Dave, and I
wasn't disappointed. Will Self is a frighteningly intelligent writer who has developed his own unique style. He doesn't insult the reader's intelligence; indeed in this book I had to look up more than 30 words I didn't know. I just love the way he writes. Try this, for example, which appears in the story 161:
...against the left-hand wall was a row of armchairs, as grim and overstuffed as unwelcome elderly relatives watching the dancing at a wedding. One was covered in green plush velveteen, the next in greasy brown leatherette, while the third along had foam rubber bursting from its wounded shoulders. A fourth canted painfully, one short leg broken beneath its sagging arse...
See?

A HEART SO WHITE, by Javier Marias
A newly married man should be enjoying his honeymoon in Havana, but is continually distracted by thoughts of father and his two wives, or is it three? He knows one died young, possibly by her own hand, but this is a family that knows how to keep its secrets... While staring out of the window he overhears a conversation coming from next door. A woman is trying to persuade her boyfriend to leave his wife for her, if necessary by murdering her. He tries not to listen in, but can't help it. Will these characters come back to haunt him later?
I discovered this book entirely by chance. My wife came across it in a charity shop and recommended it to me (I owe her an enormous debt of gratitude for all the wonderful books she has endorsed over the years). And despite the fact that the writing is dense and meticulous I soon realised I was in the presence of greatness. Yes, this is a great novel, putting even the likes of Will Self into the shade. I hear the smart money is on him to win the Nobel Prize in the not too distant future; I can't think of any other living writer who deserves it more.

FILMS

SOMEWHERE (2010) D- Sophia Coppola. An extremely famous movie star (think Brad Pitt, say) seems to be possessed by an unusually severe case of ennui, to the point where even hiring a gorgeous pair of identical strippers to perform for him barely piques his interest. Is it his failed marriage, perhaps? It certainly isn't his daughter, who he occasionally has custody of,  a delightful teenager (Elle Fanning), the only player in the film who isn't completely fucked up. Or is it some deeper, existential angst? To be honest, we never really find out, and I'm not sure we care either. As with her recent film The Bling Ring, Sophia Coppola seems to specialist in empty, vapid types which perhaps reflect her own experience of the Hollywood scene, growing up as she did as the daughter of a famous director. Whatever, the result is disappointing, except as I say for the delightful performance of Elle Fanning.

 CAFE SOCIETY (2016) D- Woody Allen. A young man in the 1930s wants to break into Hollywood and is lucky enough to have a distant relative in a powerful role. Unfortunately he only gets extra parts and like stuff, though he does fall for the mogul's secretary. She likes him, but belongs to another. He becomes disillusioned and returns to New York, where he falls on his feet and manages a successful night club. But then, who should he run into... Woody Allen is over 80 now, which doesn't seem to stop him churning out film after film, year after year. How does he do it? Christ knows. All I know is, his poorer efforts (which this is) are better than most people's best.

 FRANK (2014) D- Lennie Abrahamson. A talented but unemployed musician hears an avant grade group one day and decides he could be part of their ensemble. Small point: the leader wears a large, papier-mâché head and never, ever, takes it off. OK, never mind, that's all part of the experimental nature of the band, right? Our boy puts his life savings into renting a cabin in the country for a year, which the band inhabit and make their beautiful, obscure music. Maybe some day they'll take their show on the road. Won't they? This strange, and rather wonderful tale is based on the character of "Frank Sidebottom" a persona created by the British DJ and notable eccentric Chris Sievey back in the 90s. He really did go round for prolonged periods of time with his strange head, and was apparently deeply loved by a select coterie of admirers in the Manchester area. It all passed me by, but I'm glad this film didn't. Weird, but excellent.

 HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT (2015) D- Kent Jones. In 1962, rookie auteur Francois Truffaut, entranced by his hero Alfred Hitchcock, wrote to him requesting he film a series of in depth interviews on the rotund one's canon of extraordinary films. Understandably flattered, Hitch graciously agreed. From these interviews came the book "Hitchcock/Truffaut" published later that year, which remains one of the most intimate and detailed analyses of any film maker. Now director Abrahamson has unearthed the source material, namely all those filmed interviews and edited them down into one fascinating little piece. What we see is a totally unaffected Hitchcock expounding on his favorite subject, his own work, while a star-struck Truffaut interjects only an occasional brief question to keep him going. We learn a lot, but above all we find that what Hitchcock wants to do is to affect the audience, make them feel what he wants them to: lust, longing, fear, joy, the whole gamut in fact if he can, and my goodness he can, if movies like Stangers on a Train, Psycho or Vertigo anything to go by. A must for anyone who'd like to think they were a film buff.