The Fighter

Bea says: Not a film I would have actually chosen to see, but it happened to be on at the right time in the right place - 6pm at the Beach Theatre (ca 1940), St Pete's Beach, Florida. It was a downright cool day for Florida and as Cecil and I had celebrated escaping the winter chill of DC by breaking out our spring clothes for a weekend in the Sunshine State, we needed somewhere warm and out of the wind to spend a couple of hours. "The Fighter" it was then.

I was somewhat mollified when I discovered the film was based on a true story - likely to make it better, I thought. And in fact, from the opening credits, I was gripped. The film itself is partly told in documentary style, through the lens of a reality TV film crew who are following the Ward family, and partly in the usual narrative style, as we follow Mickey's (Christian Bale) last ditch effort to make something of his boxing career, and his older has-been brother Dickey's descent into crack addiction and prison as he clings on to his greatest moment - "knocking down" Sugar Ray Leonard in a fight years ago.

Mickey's fights are interesting, although require a strong stomach to watch, but even more interesting is the focus on the relationship between the brothers. It isn't often that the complex nature of sibling relationships is explored this well, and I found much to reflect upon afterwards with Cecil, over burritos and Coronas at a nearby Mexican cantina. I also felt it was a good, honest portrayal of working class life in the USA; a life I could relate to from my own working class upbringing in suburban Australia.

Surprisingly, this film about boxing in the 1990s said a lot to me. Definitely recommended, and it just goes to show that occasionally seeing a film you think you won't like is a good exercise.
***1/2

Cecil says: I love these independent cinemas in the States. Ironically, The Beach is in a more affluent part of the country than some of the other restored palaces we have been to recently, but this cinema, built just before America joined the War, in 1940, was extremely simple in its decor. Nothing of the Byrd in Richmond, here.

But the locals clearly love the place and it was at least three quarters full for this docu-film on a 1990s boxing family I had never heard of.

I wasn't as gripped as Bea early on; I don't like the making-a-film-within-a-film gimmick, so was put off by the cameras following the boxing brothers around. I also felt uncomfortable at the family, though I'm sure I was supposed to be. Too many memories of families I had sat in on in Hull or Brighton over the years which had a similar dynamic designed to exclude outsiders.

So this time I identified with the young brother's girlfriend, though she was a lot more ballsy than I would ever have managed to be in similar circumstances. Pretty brave to jump onto one of the sisters when the other 6 sisters are poised to beat you up...

The fighting is pretty gruesome, as Bea says, but the whole tale was gripping. Hell, I even wanted the American to win by the end, even though he was probably fighting against a Brit in the title fight at the end. But this film was more to do with family than with nationality, and it's the evolving relationships between brothers, parents, sisters and girlfriend that carry you along.

And even the little clip of an interview with the real brothers right at the end was touching; and actually proved how well studied the parts were, and how well the actors recreated the characters.

***

Social Network

Bea says: Think the women's movement is pointless and irrelevant, or has achieved all it needs to? Go and see this film - it might change your mind. Whilst the mostly unsympathetically portrayed, socially inept young men of the film create Facebook, their young female peers' roles are limited to - ignoring them until they become famous due to Facebook, and then obligingly removing their clothes whilst drunk and/or high.
A fascinating film, which left me feeling deeply disturbed, and even, at one point, considering never using my Facebook account again.
***

Cecil says: We saw this at the wonderful Byrd Theatre in Richmond Virginia. 700 people filled the auditorium at my guess:- a real vindication of the $1.99 policy of the cinema. As usual, a great scene-setter with Bob at the Wurlitzer before the feature film.

But, like Bea, I can't say I came out of this film feeling good about the world. Sure, I'm an occasional Facebook user, and have even tracked down some long, lost friends through its system. But I don't buy in at all to this constant need for updates, for gossip, for news in less than bite-sized chunks. And it kind of depressed me that the people in front of us and beside us in the cinema felt the need to check their phones every 20 minutes or so as the film went on.

This is, of course, the story of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook: The social misfit, the obsessive, the angry and vengeful billionaire. Very well acted by Jesse Eisenberg; and it was probably a great script by the maker of the TV series West Wing, but rather like in West Wing everyone spoke so fast in such complex jargon that I could have done with a rewind button every 5 minutes just to keep up with the pace and dialogue.

I'm not sure what message we are supposed to take from the film. My two thoughts were mainly: how awful all these characters were and how empty their lives (though that probably sounds really patronising); and then at the end I was left wondering HOW did they make their millions? How come the guys who put $500,000 into the company decided to invest? If money is the point of all this, how on earth did it actually make money?

But above all it felt soulless, and I left the cinema in much lower spirits than I had as Bob disappeared below stage with his wurlitzer...

**.5

Mao's Last Dancer

Cecil says: It took over a year from this film's release before we finally got the chance to see it in the wonderfully-restored Capitol cinema in York, Pennsylvania. It was worth the wait. What a beautiful film on so many levels.

This is the story of a young boy plucked from his mountain village in the early 1970s to train among China's elite dancers. Li Cunxin ends up going to America where he stars as a 'big ballerino' in the Houston Ballet company.

The film has two stories running in parallel: his early years in China and the gruelling training of the young ballet dancer in the 1970s; and the revelations of life in America.

His own eyes are opened wide: from incredulity at the size of artistic director Ben's house: "Have you got a big family?" "No, I live alone"; to the discovery of romance and lust with fellow dancers. And America's horizons are broadened with the amazing talent of this dancer from China and all the potential of Sino-American co-operation over dance and ballet running alongside the 198os push for a thaw in relations.

Of course it all gets horribly complicated when Li gets married and wants to stay in America...

This film achieves everything that other recent ballet film (Black Swan) fails to do. The dancing is brilliant (unlike Black Swan, it actually makes me want to go to the ballet); the music terrific; the plot is engaging and you hope so strongly for a good outcome. This is cinema at its best.

*****

Bea says: I had been wanting to see this film since its release, as I knew it had strong Australian connections - Li and his second wife settled in Australia, and the film was directed by Bruce Beresford and featured a few well-known Aussie actors (eg Jack Thompson).

The film didn't disappoint. Our hosts in York, Jim and Jean, joined us for the screening and perhaps Jim summed it up best - "that was everything, it was culture, history, emotion - everything". Li's story summed up changing times in China and the Western world through the 70s, 80s and 90s and by the final scenes there was barely a dry eye in the house.

Excellent performances from the cast and a well-written and produced film - a must-see, if you can still catch it.
****1/2

The King's Speech

Bea says: After our return to DC from London, Cecil couldn't wait to take me to see this, and so last night, jet lag and all, we went to our usual hangout - the E Street cinema - for an early evening show. While in London we'd discussed the film with a writer friend, who had told us that the script had sat on hold for a long time, until, in fact, the death of the Queen Mother. I am very glad that this finally got made.

The film was very well-written indeed, with a story that captured me immediately and a stellar cast that could do very little wrong (except, perhaps, casting the brilliant Jennifer Ehle as an Australian? Don't get me wrong, she did a good job, but I did wonder why an Australian actor hadn't been cast for this part.) Colin Firth was excellent as always - "seriously underrated" I said to Cecil on the walk home. When people talk about the great actors of our generation, Firth is rarely mentioned, but he has carried every film or programme I have ever seen him do. He's easy on the eye too - although unfortunately no Mr-Darcy-in-wet-breeches moments here.

Despite taking place 60 or more years ago the story and its exploration of lives and relationships felt surprisingly up to date, and Cecil and I found a lot to discuss afterwards about our own lives and friendships, and how closely they chimed with some of the themes of the film - overcoming personal demons/difficulties, for example, and the portrayal of the relationship between Bertie and Elizabeth (another fantastic performance by Helena Bonham-Carter), which I found I related to strongly.

Cecil had left this film wanting to see it again and again (he'd rung me at an ungodly hour in London to tell me so), and I left it feeling that way too. Having seen it yesterday, there is still so much to think about, and process, and digest. Over the years to come I think I will get to know this film very well.
*****

Cecil says: My second viewing of this film, so a chance to reflect more on some of the story-line, having raved myself about the cast, the script and the soundtrack last time I wrote about it.

The context of 1930s is so well put across. Radio was suddenly forcing men (well there weren't many prominent women at the time) in power to go live, to be heard by the people; and it was not an easy time to be King of England, with relatives in Russia and Germany killed, and that guy Hitler doing rather a good job at public speaking. The pressure was on poor Bertie, and he needn't to overcome his stammer...

This is such a well-observed portayal of the fight to get rid of a stammer and of the relationship between the King and the speech therapist, with no qualifications to his name. There's a wonderful line from Churchill, which makes me wonder if it's true, when he gives the King a word of encouragement before the big speech, and reveals that he too had had a speech impediment as a youngster.

I'm not saying I have the public speaking skills of a Churchill, but I do have to give a lot of public presentations and have had to work through a lot of personal grief myself to get to that stage having also suffered with a stammer for a large chunk of my youth. The gruff "spit it out, boy" or the supposedly encouraging "just relax" or "take your time" are all thrown at Bertie by his father, and I can well remember similar words as a boy myself; or the cruel mimicry of his brother, which I can also remember from schoolmates into my teens.

But it's the exercises with the speech therapist which are perhaps most familiar. Funnily enough, I was also taught to sing by a former actor friend and he used very similar methods, even though my stammer was well hidden by that stage in my life. I just didn't have a girlfriend to sit on my tummy at the time (yes, you'll have to see the film to see that one...).

This film does work on 2nd viewing, and I'd be willing to give it another go if anybody needs accompanying to their first time. Hey, if I see it often enough, I might be able to deliver that King's Speech myself without a text...

*****

The Illusionist

Bea says: I had thought this was going to be a feel-good film, perfect for seeing with friends on a cold, dull day between Christmas and New Year.

We are temporarily back in London at the moment, and so headed up to the great value Prince Charles Cinema, just off Leicester Square, where tickets are half the price of the big name cinemas in Leicester Square itself (although much more expensive than they used to be, during my first days in London in the mid-90s!).

This was exquisite to watch - such beautiful animation, the likes of which are rarely seen now as studios use more and more CGI/3D effects. Paris, London, the Scottish Highlands and Islands, Edinburgh are captured in such true to life, but soft-focus, detail. I know all these places well and felt I was revisiting them through this film (that bench, that street, that train journey). It wasn't just me - our friends said the same.

There was little dialogue through this achingly sweet yet sad story of a mostly washed-up magician, his rabbit, and a hanger-on he picks up on the Scottish Islands, who eventually finds a better meal ticket than him. Music and occasional murmurings in smatterings of English, French and ?Scottish Gaelic set the scene throughout.

Definitely not feel-good, but wistful, and yes, the perfect thing to see with friends on a dull, cold day between Christmas and New Year.
****

Cecil says: This is apparently a story based on a script by Jacques Tati that never made it to the screen (though there is a moment where the main character stumbles into a cinema showing a Tati film and we see a very brief clip of the man himself, almost Hitchcock style...).

Great characters, though I have to say I saw through the young Highlands lass as soon as she appeared on the scene after the magician's first show in the Scottish pub. But the plot itself didn't really matter.

It was the animation that counted in this film. And if you look at the credits at the end, you see that there were different animators for each of the main characters. Amazing how a dozen different artists could come up with cartoon characters that all fitted so well on the screen together, from the rabbit to the Italian trapeze artists and the Scottish highlanders.

I loved some of the detailed observations. Bea is right about the geography: I could picture the shops on Grassmarket in Edinburgh, and we sat on the very same bench looking down over Waverley station last summer.

But I also loved some of the little details like the crunch of a hearty Scottish Highland handshake; or the pawnbrokers called 'Blair & Brown', which gave the whole film a kind of Aardman Animations feel, though using only-style 2D cartoon characters, which really worked well.

Overall I actually liked this film more than I ever enjoyed Tati's old movies from the 50s and 60s, so hats off to the makers.

***

King's Speech

Cecil says: The last time I saw a film on my own in the States, it was 25 years ago and it also starred Helena Bonham-Carter. I ended up seeing 'Room with a View' 5 times at the cinema, and after seeing King's Speech last night in a packed cinema in DC I felt exactly the same.

Fantastic cast - Bonham-Carter, Michael Gambon, Colin Firth, Timothy Spall, Jennifer Ehle, Geoffrey Rush, Derek Jacobi and a host of other familiar faces; great script; wonderful story. Just a joy to watch.

I think I'll edit my review once I get a chance to take Bea because I'd love to hear her take on it at the same time. But so much to relate to for me personally: from the early onset stammer, to the forced right handedness (well, that may not be true in my case, but some say it was...); through the soundtrack - I haven't heard 2nd movement on Beethoven's 7th for years and always loved it as a teenager, after it was soundtrack to another film in the 70s...); and I loved above all the massive historical characters (Churchill, Chamberlain, Wallis Simpson, Queen Liz herself) in cameo roles, all superbly acted.

Is it significant that the soon-to-be-closed UK Film Council was so prominent in the credits?

I'll stop there, give it my five stars and say more once Bea has been with me...

*****

White Material

Cecil says: It's not often you get a chance to see a French film on the big screen in Washington, so we jumped at the chance to see this at our local cinema round the corner.



Beautiful chaos - are the two words that spring to mind, having seen White Material. It's set somewhere in Africa (a never-defined country, but a mixture of Liberia and Somalia would give you an idea); and it's set at some point in time, maybe contemporary, maybe as long ago as the 90s.



It's all beautifully filmed (on location in Cameroon, I think), but the story is disjointed and really quite hard to follow...But that was probably the intention of the director - Claire Denis. She depicts a society in chaos and at war; and a family in the middle of all that which is going through its own chaos



It's the story of a coffee plantation family from France. The family is split over whether to stay and live through the chaos ("Just 5 days left to complete the harvest") or to get out and return to France. Trouble is, it's also a dysfunctional family: three generations are there, but offspring from different relationships make it hard to work out sometimes who is really related to who. But that is all part of the chaos. Through it all, Isabelle Huppert is brilliant as the mother and manager of the coffee plantation.



All around them there is a civil war going on: you have rebels, often boy (and girl) soldiers running amok with guns and spears; soldiers; corrupt mayors with their own personal army; and a reggae-playing rebel DJ announcing the latest names who would do best to get out of the country.



Reading about Claire Denis after the film, I saw that she too had a colonial upbringing in Cameroon, so much of the context is presumably accurate. I've not seen any of her earlier films, but on the evidence of White Material, I'd go again. This was compelling stuff.



And final tips for those who have not yet seen the film: look out for her white dress, because that gives you a hint of what is memory and what is happening now; and then try to work out the significance of the yellow dogs: they open the whole film, but I couldn't for the life of me work them out...

***

Bea says: From the very first moment of this film I was completely caught up in the atmosphere, created by the slow (but never dull) pace, the crackling tension, the African scenery so well filmed I could almost feel the hot wind blowing, and the evocative music by the Tindersticks.

The central female character played by Huppert is at times foolish in the stubbornness of her resolve to remain on the farm despite many warnings to leave, but unusually in cinema she is also strong, capable, resourceful and brave. I enjoyed watching her story unfold.

It was indeed hard at times to follow the jump-cut storyline, and trace the complex family and social relationships of the characters - meaning events would sometimes happen before I had quite figured out how they fit with the story and characters - but this of course is what happens at a time of choas and emergency.

A beautifully made film, well worth a look.
***