This film is an example of English whimsy, that delicate humour so suited to a cup of tea and a crumpet, a chortle and a sly wink.
Month: August 2022
Midnight in Paris (2011) – Learning from St Augustine
St Augustine and Woody Allen may not be an obvious connection, but I’m telling you – it’s there.
Becky Sharp (1935) – an attractive oddity
Mamoulian’s use of lighting and colour prefigure the likes of Douglas Sirk, who would perfect the symbolic and vibrant colourisation of otherwise silly melodramas in the 50s and 60s.
Sigrid Undset’s classic biography St Catherine of Siena
A great saint gets the biography she deserves, written by an author who understands inside and out
It’s A Wonderful Life – Subtle moral tale
A film often seen as sickly sweet, this has more punch than you would expect.
The Pianist – Stirring Holocaust drama
Well acted, well directed, the film asks the burning question – why? But Polanski refuses to give any answers.
The Greengage Summer (1961) – a charming adaptation
A gentle adaptation of a fascinating novel, it doesn’t reach the same heights but is worth a watch
(Christ) On the Waterfront
Memorable for Marlon Brando’s performance, this is a film that has no weak link
Sophocles – a great Greek at work
The Greek tragedies by the great playwright Sophocles still have the power to grip an audience 2,500 years on.