Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom

 Mandela – Long Walk to Freedom 2013

• Director: Justin Chadwick
• Also seen by this director: The Other Boleyn Girl, Bleak House
• Based on the autobiography of Nelson Mandela
• Cast: Idris Elba, Naomi Harris
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Idris Elba – The Mountain Between Us, Molly’s Game, The Dark Tower, 100 Streets, Pacific Rim, Prometheus, Thor, Twenty-Eight Weeks Later, The Wire, Crocodile Shoes
• Naomi Harris – Our Kind of Traitor, Spectre, Skyfall, Small Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tristram Shandy, Dinotopia, 28 Days Later, White Teeth
• Why? Mandela. Elba. Harris.
• Seen: 28 November 2021      

       If you haven’t read Nelson Mandel’s Long Walk to Freedom, do it. Mandela has long been my hero. I remember so clearly the day he was released. We happened to be in London at the time. What an historical experience.

       The film covers his life. From lawyer in the 40’s, political activism in the 50’s and 60’s, imprisonment for nearly 30 years, release, divorce from Winnie, the presidency.

       It’s a close, personal and moving portrait of Nelson Mandela the man, and Winnie Mandela the political activist. Elba and Harris had huge demands on them to play these roles. They both did a splendid job.

       If you’re old enough to remember some of this history-in-the-making, see this film. If you are so young that all of it is only history, see this film. 

5 * of 5.

 

Miss Zombie

 Miss Zombie 2013

• Director: SABU
• Based on the book: no.
• Cast: Makoto Nugashi, Ayaka Komatsu, Tôru Tezuka
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why? A Japanese zombie film is a must for any self-respecting cineaste, am I right?
• Seen: 27 10 November 2021      

        A middle-class Japanese couple with a little boy buy a low-grade zombie (Nugashi) to be their servant. She is not deemed dangerous, but they keep her in the storage shed. She’s a sad, pathetic figure, treated well enough by the wife (Komatusu), not so well by the husband (Tezuka), and bullied by the neighbourhood kids.

       Day after day she slowly, slowly scrubs the patio floor, never speaking, never looking up. Until…

       It’s low-key, poetic, painful to watch, and beautifully filmed in black and white (mostly) with Mount Fuji in the background.

       It’s the oddest and saddest zombie film I’ve seen, and it raises all sorts of existential questions about how we treat the Other, and how the Other reacts. There’s a bit of gender drama too.     

      

4* of 5

 

Oklahoma

 Oklahoma 1955

• Director: Fred Zinnemann
• Seen by this director: The Nun’s Story, A Man for All Seasons
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, Charlotte Greenwood, Eddie Albert, James Whitmore, Rod Steiger
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Gordon MacRae – Carousel
• Shirley Jones – The Music Man, Pepe, Elmer Gantry, Carousel
• Gloria Grahame – The Greatest Show on Earth, TV series
• Gene Nelson – The Mod Squad and other TV series
• Eddie Albert – Green Acres
• James Whitmore – Swing Vote, The Shawshank Redemption, TV series
• Rod Steiger – Mars Attacks, The Ballad of the Sad Café, The January Man, Happy Birthday Wanda June, In the Heat of the Night, Dt Zhivago, The Blackboard Jungle, On the Waterfront
• Why? It’s a musical.
• Seen: Once or twice. Now 27 November 2021      

       As a confirmed city slicker, I am really glad I don’t live in rural Oklahoma or rural anywhere, but I do like the songs.

       Simple love intrigues, of which only Ado Annie (Grahame), the girl who cain’t say no, is interesting, is pretty much what this story is about. Oh yes, and the moral of the story is that farmers and cowboys should be friends.  The dream scene is far too long, as is the whole film, but the lyrics still make me laugh. It’s a ways down on my list of favourite musicals but it is on it.      

 3 ½ * of 5.

 

Vertigo

 Vertigo

• Director: Alfred Hitchcock
• Seen by this director: Torn Curtain, Marnie, The Birds, Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Trouble with Harry, Rear Window, Rope, Notorious, Spellbound, Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, The 39 Steps
• Based on the book by Pierre Boileau
• Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• James Stewart – The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Greatest Show on Earth, Bell Book and Candle, Harvey, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rear Window, Rope, maybe others
• Kim Novak – The Mirror Crack’d, Moll Flanders, Pepe, Bell Book and Candle
• Barbara Bel Geddes – The Five Pennies, TV Series
• Tom Helmore – TV series
• Henry Jones – too many to list
• Why? Stewart, Novak, Hitchcock
• Seen: Once before. Now: 26 November 2021       

       Considered by many to be a masterpiece, possibly even the best film ever made, I find myself disappointed. Acrophobic ex-detective John Ferguson (Stewart) is asked by a good friend to follow his wife Madeleine (Kovak) because she’s been acting peculiar, and he’s worried about her. In one of the most unconvincing romances in cinematic history John falls in love with her.

       The first half is slow with endless close-ups of Stewart driving his car. There are enough twists to keep up the interest, but it gets a bit perverted. Is it possible to not like a James Stewart film? It seems so. But because both Stewart and Novak are good with what they’re given, and because Novak and I share a birthday (a good a reason as any) (she's a few years older) it gets      

3* of 5

 

Spotswood

 Spotswood 1991

• Director: Mark Joffe
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Ben Mendelsohn, Alwyn Kurts, Bruno Lawrence, Rebecca Rigg, Toni Colette, Russell Crowe
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Anthony Hopkins – The Human Stain, Titus, Meet Joe Black, Amistad, The Remains of the Day, Howards End, The Silence of the Lambs, 84 Charing Cross Road, Othello, The Elephant Man, The Lion in Winter
• Ben Mendelsohn – Ready Player One, Rogue Wars, The Dark Knight Rises
• Toni Colette – Knives Out, Hereditary, Unlocked, Imperium, A Long Way Down, Enough Said, Mental, Fright Night, The Dead Girl, Night Listener, Little Miss Sunshine, In Her Shoes, The Hours, About a Boy, Hotel Splendide, Sixth Sense, Velvet Goldmine, Muriel’s Wedding
• Russell Crowe – The Water Diviner, Winter’s Tale, Les Misérables, Robin Hood, A Good Year, A Beautiful Mind, Proof of Life, Gladiator
• Why? Hopkins. Collette. Crowe.
• Seen: 25 November 2021      

       Factory paternalism vs efficiency expert in a small Australian town in the 60s. Lacklustre romance intrigues don’t lift it. Great actors, mediocre performance, i.e. cliché roles to play. They did what they could, but there is no sign of the coming greatness of Collett and Crowe.

       A real disappointment. 

2½ * of 5.

 

The Cloverfield Paradox

 The Cloverfield Paradox 2018

• Director: Julius Onah
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowa, Daniel Brühl, John Ortiz, Chris O’Dowd, Aksel Hennie, Ziyi Zhang, Elizabeth Debicki, Roger Davies
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Gugu Mbatha-Raw – Jupiter Ascending, Lost in Austen, Bonekickers, Doctor Who
• David Oyelowa – A United Kingdom, Interstellar, The Butler, The Help, Small Island, Last King of Scotland, As You Like It
• Daniel Brühl – Alone in Berlin, Woman in Gold, Inglorious Basterds, Ladies in Lavender, Good-bye Lenin
• John Ortiz – Ad Astra, Kong Skull Island, Silver Linings Playbook, Amistad
• Chris O’Dowd – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, The Boat That Rocked, Vera Drake
• Aksel Hennie – The Martian
• Ziya Zhang - Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
• Elizabeth Debecki – Tenet, Widows, Breath, The Night Manager, Macbeth, The Great Gatsby
• Why? Third of the Cloverfield trilogy.
• Seen: 18 November 2021

             The energy shortage is critical, and survival is threatened. A space mission is planned that can harness energy forever and save humanity. Ava Hamilton (Mbatha-Raw) is recruited and reluctantly she leaves her loving husband Michael (Davies).

       The mission fails, the crew are trapped in space, the situation on Earth becomes more desperate by the minute.

       Two years pass. The crew try again and again. On the last try they find themselves in an alternative universe.

       This is part of the Cloverfield trilogy, and the connection is slow in coming.

       The film doesn’t necessarily make sense – paradoxes and alternative universes can be like that – but it’s exciting and definitely watchable with a strong international cast.

 3 ½ * of 5.

 

10 Cloverfield Lane

 

Cloverfield 10 Cloverfield Lane 2016

Director: Dan Trachtenberg

Based on the book: no

Cast: John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr

Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

John Goodman – Atomic Blonde, Kong Skull Island, Inside Llewyn Davis, Dancing on the Edge, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Artist, My First Mister, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Bringing Out the Dead, The Big Lebowski, Barton Fink, Sea of Love, Arizona Junior

Mary Elizabeth Winstead – Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Factory Girl

John Gallagher Jr – Short Term 12

Why? Second of the Cloverfield trilogy.

Seen: 14 November 2021      

       Michelle (Winstead) is driven off the road. When she comes to, she’s chained to a bed in a bunker. The man keeping her there, Howard, (Goodman) tells her he’s rescued her and is keeping her alive. There has been an attack – nuclear? alien? – and everybody outside his bomb shelter is dead.

       Is it true? Is he crazy? He’s definitely prepared for a long siege, all mod cons included.

       There is another inhabitant, Emmett (Gallagher). He tells Michelle that he helped build the bunker and that Howard has always been obsessed by conspiration theories. Is Emmett crazy too?

       Those of us who have seen Cloverfield are beginning to see a connection.

       Not as innovative as Cloverfield, it is still well acted and very exciting. 

3 ½ * of 5.

 

Le tout nouveau testament

 Le tout nouveau testament 2015

Director: Jaco Van Dormael

Based on the book: no

Cast: Pili Groyne, Benôit Poelvoorde, Catherine Deneuve, Francois Damiens, Yolande Moureau, Laura Verlinden, Serge Lariviére,

Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

Catherine Deneuve – Dancer in the Dark, Belle du Jour, probably others

Why? It seemed interesting.

Seen: 13 November 2021      

       God lives in Brussels. He’s a swine. We hear a lot about his son but not about his daughter.

       Says his daughter Ea (Groyne), a little girl who lives in isolation with God and his wife, her mother. In his earthly form God is a tyrannical, heavily smoking and drinking, slovenly, and violent father and husband.

       Ea decides to get revenge and escape. Advised by her brother JC, a talking statue, she hacks into God’s computer and tells everyone in the world the date of their death. This undermines God’s credibility completely.

       So far, it’s absurd, hilarious, melancholy and filled with existential nonsense/wisdom. Unfortunately, it loses steam as the six new apostles tell their stories. It loses its bite and becomes whimsical and banal. What a pity.  It started so brilliantly.

       The first half gets a clear 5*, but the second half only 3. So      

4 * of 5.

 

Logan's Run

 Logan’s Run 1976

• Director: Michael Anderson
• Seen by this director: The Wreck of the Mary Deare, Around the World in Eighty Days
• Based on the novel by Nolan and Johnson.
• Cast: Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Anderson Jr, Peter Ustinov
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Michael York – Cabaret, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, The Forsythe Saga
• Jenny Agutter – Queen of the Desert, Glorious 39, Love’s Labour’s Lost
• Richard Jordan – Dune, Klute
• Michael J Anderson – In Search of the Castaways
• Peter Ustinov – Lorenzo’s Oil, Billy Budd, Romanov and Juliet, Spartacus,
• Why? It seems it’s a kind of cult film?
• Seen: 12 November 2021      

       People now live in domed cities. Everything is perfect, including the system whereby you die at the age of thirty if you don’t succeed in reaching the top in the Carousel, an event that attracts crowds of enthusiastic spectators à la gladiators.

       Logan (Yorke) is a cop who gleefully chases and kills ‘runners’, those who try to escape the Carousel. Then he meets Jessica (Agutter), who represents the Sanctuary.

       It’s a colourful dystopia loaded with cool futuristic cityscapes and transport systems.

       The story is thin, and the dialog is stiff and amateurish but when the cats and the Old Man (Ustinov) enter the scene I fall for it. I become quite fond of it and visually it is simply stunning.

       Could it actually be 

4 * of 5?

 

 

 

Judy

 Judy 2019

• Director: Rupert Goold
• Seen by this director: The Hollow Crown
• Based on the book: no.
• Cast: Renée Zellwegger, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon Richard Cordery, Royce Pierreson, Darcy Shaw, Andy Nyman, Daniel Cerqueira, Bella Ramsey, Lewin Lloyd, John Dagleish, Gemma-Leah Devereux
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Renée Zellwegger – Cold Mountain, Chicago, White Oleander, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Nurse Betty, The Whole Wide World, Reality Bites
• Jessie Buckley – The Tempest
• Finn Wittrock – La La Land, Winter’s Tale
• Rufus Sewell – Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, The Tourist, Pillars of the Earth, Holiday, Amazing Grace, Paris je t’aime, The Taming of the Shrew Re-Told, A Knight’s Tale, Hamlet, Cold Comfort Farm, Middlemarch
• Michael Gambon – Fortitude, Victoria & Abdul, The Hollow Crown, Harry Potter, Quirke, The Quartet, Doctor Who, The King’s Speech, The Book of Eli, Cranford and a lot of others
• Royce Pierreson - Misfits
• Lewin Lloyd – Fortitude
• John Dagleish – The Gentlemen, All Is True, The Hollow Crown
• Why? Garland and Zellwegger.
• Seen: 11 November 2021      

       The story of Judy Garland.

       We know she was beloved of millions, we’ve seen her in classics, we know she was plagued by drug and alcohol addiction. We see her here as the teenager (Shaw), struggling against the pressures of being a child star with a slave-driver director, and as a pathetic has-been.

       Was it really this horrible? Poor Judy.

       It’s very depressing but oh, what an ending! Zellwegger is astounding and deserves her Oscar. 

5 * of 5

 

 

Harvey

 Harvey 1950

• Director: Henry Koster
• Seen by this director: Good Morning Miss Dove, The Singin Nun, Flower Drum Song
• Based on the book: no.
• Cast: James Stewart, Wallace Ford, William H Lynn, Victoria Horne, Jesse White, Cecil Kellaway, Charles Drake, Peggy Dow, Josephine Hull
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• James Stewart – The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Greatest Show on Earth, Bell Book and Candle, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rear Window, Rope, maybe others
• Wallace Ford – A Patch of Blue
• Jesse White – TV Series
• Cecil Kellaway – TV series, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, The Proud Rebel
• Charles Drake – TV series
• Josephine Hull – Arsenic and Old Lace
• Why? A childhood favourite.
• Seen: Probably twice before. Now: 10 November 2021      

       Elwood P Down (Stewart) is a mild pleasant middle-aged man who generously offers his card to everyone and who is very solicitous of his dear friend Harvey who just happens to be a giant rabbit. An invisible one.

       This causes great distress to his sister Veta (Hull) and niece Myrtle Mae (Horne), especially when Elwood and Harvey show up at their afternoon tea party. The elegant petit bourgeois ladies rush off in alarm at being introduced to Harvey.

       In despair, Veta tries to have him committed. Instead, the psychiatrist (Drake) commits her.

       The farce thickens.

       James Stewart gives his most loveable roll and Josephine Hull is great fun as the despairing sister.

       What a sweet and endearing film.      

5* of 5

 

Cloverfield

 Cloverfield 2008

• Director: Matt Reeves
• Seen by this director: Homicide Life on the Streets
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan, TJ Miller, Michael Stahl-Davide, Odette Annabel
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Mike Vogel – The Help, Rumour Has It, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
• Lizzy Caplan – 127 Hours
• TJ Miller – Ready Player One
• Why? It seems it’s a kind of cult film?
• Seen: 7 November 2021      

       Manhattan is attacked by an enormous monster. Mass destruction and panic ensue.

       The whole thing is filmed by an amateur who had been asked to film the guests at a party.

       In the chaos, one of them is killed. A few others set off to rescue a friend, pursued by monster and soldiers trying to evacuate then bomb Manhattan.

       A standard monster-attacks-city B-film? You could say that. But then again you could say that it’s a masterpiece of a Blair Witch-genre hand-held camera really scary and extremely realistic film.

       Wow. 

4 * of 5.

 

Saul Fia

 Saul Fia 2015

• Director: László Nemes
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Géza Röhrig, Levente Molnár, Urs Rechne
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why? The subject.
• Seen: 6 November 2021      

       Saul (Röhrig) is one of the prisoners in Auschwitz who work to drive people into the shower, pull them out again, carry them off to be cremated and scrub down the gas chambre.

       He sees a child he believes is his son and becomes obsessed with giving the boy a proper Jewish burial, no matter the risk to others.

       We’ve seen films about the horrors of Holocaust, read books and listened to the testimonials of survivors. This aspect – the logistics of gassing, removing, burying, shovelling ashes into the river, looting, shovelling coal for the ovens, all done by prisoners who know their turn will come soon - is one more dreadful piece of the horrendous unfathomable puzzle.

       How meaningless it all feels.

       Does it work as a film? I don’t know. It won the Oscar and loads of other prizes and many-starred reviews. But I don’t know. It’s a strong film to be sure but something is not quite right. Too monotone? Too remote? Too calculated? I don’t know. It’s good to have seen but it will never be a beloved film to me. 

3 * of 5.

 

Silkwood

 Silkwood 1983

• Director: Mike Nichols
• Seen by this director: Angels in America, Wit, Primary Colors, The Birdcage, Wolf, Postcards from the Edge, Working Girl, Catch 22, The Graduate, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• Based on the book: no.
• Cast: Meryl Streep, Cher, Ken Russell, David Strathairn
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in

• Meryl Streep – Mamma Mia Here We Go Again, August Osage County, Into the Woods, Mamma Mia, A Prairie Home Companion, Angels in America, The Hours, Music of the Heart, Marvin’s Room, The Bridges of Madison County, The House of the Spirits, Defending Your Life, Postcards from the Edge, Ironweed, Out of Africa, Sophie’s Choice, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Kramer vs Kramer, Deer Hunter, Holocaust, Julia
• Cher – Mamma Mia Here We Go Again, Mermaids, Moonstruck, Suspect, The Witches of Eastwick, Mask
• Ken Russell – The Hateful Eight, Once upon a Time in Hollywood, Overboard, various series from the 60’s
• David Strathairn – Hotel Marigold 2, The Tempest, Good Night and Good Luck, The Sopranos, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A League of Their Own, Stars and Bars, Matewan
• Why? Good film
• Seen: Once before. Now 5 November 2021      

       Karen Silkwood (Streep), Drew (Russell) and Dolly (Cher) all work in an Oklahoma factory making plutonium and uranium pellets and fuel rods for nuclear power plants. It’s absolutely safe.

       Yeah, right.

       Karen has a messed-up life with three kids living with their father, a big mouth, unfriendly workmates and complicated relationships with Drew and Dolly.

       There’s a contamination and Karen is exposed to radiation. She gets involved with the union and reveals to them that the company is making illegal shortcuts that put millions of lives at risk.

       It was an important film when it came out. It still is. Streep is outstanding. 

4 * of 5

 

Touching the Void

 Touching the Void 2003

• Director: Kevin Macdonald
• Seen by this director: The Last King of Scotland
• Based on the book by Joe Simpson.
• Cast: Joe Simpson, Simon Yates, Richard Hawking, Brendan Mackey, Nicholas Aaron, Ollie Ryall
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why? I can’t imagine. I’m terrified of heights.
• Seen: 2 November 2021      

       True story. Two young British mountaineers attempt to reach the peak of Siula Grande in Peru. No one had yet succeeded.

       I realise quite early on that I have read the book.

       This is an after-constructed documentary both with Joe Simpson, Simon Yates and Richard Hawking in interviews and the three actors playing the parts of the team. So, we do know that they all survived. But still!

       They reach the top, they start down. Then Joe falls and breaks his leg. Simon helps as much as he can. But Joe falls into a deep crevasse.

       This film is absolutely riveting. 

5 * of 5

 

Stigmata

 Stigmata 1999

• Director: Rupert Wainwright
• Based on the book: no.
• Cast: Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne, Jonathan Pryce, Nia Long, Enrico Colantoni
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Patricia Arquette – Holes, Human Nature, Bringing Out the Dead, Ed Wood, True Romance, The Indian Runner,
• Gabriel Byrne – Hereditary, Quirke, Emotional Arithmetic, Jindabyne, Wah-Wah, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Dead Man, The Usual Suspects, Little Women, Prince of Jutland, Miller’s Crossing, Gothic, Excalibur
• Jonathan Pryce – The Merchant of Venice, The White King, Wolf Hall, Woman in Gold, Hysteria, Cranford, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Brothers Grimm, Very Annie Mary, The Suicide Club, Tomorrow Never Dies, Evita, Glengarry Glen Ross, Timon of Athens, Voyage of the Damned.
• Nia Long – Alfie, Boyz ‘n’ the Hood
• Enrico Colantoni – Veronica Mars, Contagion, Full Frontal, AI, Third Rock from the Sun, Galaxy Quest
• Why? The cast.
• Seen: 28 October 2021      

       There’s a risk that this will be too religious for me, but the cast makes me willing to give it a try.

       The characters: Father Andrew (Byrne) is a Catholic priest who travels around the globe to investigate miracles. Most of them are fake. Frankie (Arquette) is a hip atheist hairdresser who suddenly starts bleeding from her wrists, and forehead, and back…stigmata. Cardinal Houseman (Pryce) sees Frankie and her stigmata as a threat to the established Church and determines that she must die.

       What a silly story. As an atheist I’ve always been fascinated by religion and people who believe in it. This cast deserves a much better film. Still, it’s rather cool, dramatic, and fun to watch. Once anyway. I don’t suppose Catholics like it. 

2 ½ * of 5

 

The Turn of the Screw

 The Turn of the Screw 2009

• Director: Tim Fywell
• Seen by this director: River
• Based on the book by Henry James
• Cast: Michelle Dockery, Eva Sayer, Josef Lindsay, Dan Stevens, Nicola Walker, Sue Johnston, Edward MacLiam
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Michelle Dockery – The Gentlemen, Downton Abbey, The Hollow Crown
• Dan Stevens – Downton Abbey, Summer in February
• Nicola Walker – Unforgotten, Last Tango in Halifax, River, Four Weddings and a Funeral
• Sue Johnston – Downton Abbey, Sex Chips and Rock’n’Roll, Brassed Off
• Why? I don’t remember
• Seen: 27 October 2021      

       We both tried to read the novel, but we gave up. I’ve never cared for Henry James’s writing. By then we’d already bought the DVD so we might as well see it.

       The film starts in a mental institution with the traumatised Ann (Dockery) and the psychiatrist Dr Fisher (Stevens) (yes, they were married on Downton Abbey).

       Flashback to when Ann starts as the new governess for two orphaned children in a rural manse, Bly. Bad things happen with ghosts and things.

       It’s BBC so it’s elegantly filmed with several top-notch British actors so of course it’s well acted. It’s a pity that they didn’t choose a better book. It’s such a muddled and boring story. 

2 ½ * of 5 (Hal liked it and gave it 4 ½*.)