Hemingway and Gellhorn.

-->

The film covers the affair and subsequent marriage between Ernest Hemingway, the American novelist, and Martha Gellhorn, considered to be one of great war correspondents. They met in 1936 and were married in 1940 for a turbulent five-year period. Together they covered the Spanish Civil War, the war in Europe also they interviewed Chiangmai Kai-shek during the Japanese invasion of China, all of which are covered in this HBO, made for TV, movie.

Nicole Kidman is convincing as Gellhorn, but Clive Owen is the opposite as Hemingway, whereas you only see Owen on the screen rather than the great novelist. Archive footage and the live action are seamlessly knitted together to form some great scenes especially during the Spanish Civil War.

The reason for finally getting round to watching this 2012 movie is due to the fact that I’m reading Lindsey Hilsum’s hard hitting biography of ‘the foremost war reporter of her generation’ Marie Colvin who sited Martha Gellhorn as her heroine and one of her biggest influence’s. There certainly are a great many similarities between these two brave women, the lovers, the drinking but mainly the adrenaline rush of  front line reporting.

-->

Shadow Dancer.

This weeks Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre Film Club screening is a film that captures a twilight world of violence, fear and suspicion showing the sheer misery of its times. It also highlights how divided the authorities were at the time each with its own agenda MI5, Special Branch, the SAS and of course The Royal Ulster Constabulary.   The McVeigh Family.  Shadow Dancer (2012) starts in Belfast in 1973 when we share with the McVeigh family the accidental death of their young son in a crossfire incident. The action then moves to London twenty years later where the young boys grown up sister Colette McVeigh is on a IRA bombing mission that goes wrong. Unable to make her escape she is lifted by the British Secret Service in the guise of Mac (Clive Owen) who threatens her with jail in the UK, which means she we have very restricted access to her young son, if she does not become an IRA informant and spy on her own brothers (Aidan Gillen and Domhnall Gleeson). But as the story progresses we realise that things are not as they seem for either our MI5 agent or his latest Republican mole. Colette McVeigh. The screenplay for this slice of modern history was written by Tom Bradby[1], based on his 1998 novel of the same name. This psychological drama is set at the time of the Northern Irish peace process and its plot driven narrative benefits greatly from Bradby’s insider knowledge gained when at the age of 26 he spent a three-year period between 1993 and 1996 in Belfast working as ITN’s official Northern Ireland correspondent.  His brief was to follow the developing peace process which involved him meeting and talking to members of the IRA, intelligence agents, special branch officers and also at times to informers. Bradby recalls in a recent interview how he became fascinated by the relationship between an informer and his or her handler. Questioning how it could happen to people motivated enough to join the IRA in the first place and than go on to spy on them for the British Government. Obviously the relationship between the two opposites would be extremely intense and dangerous baring in mind that one tiny mistake and the informer would be tortured, dragged into a roadside ditch and shot! The informer meets her handler.  The film was directed by James March who is best known for Man on Wire (2009) his award-winning documentary that told the story of Philippe Petit’s 1974 high wire walk between the Twin Towers. This highly stylish political thriller had its UK Premier at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this year where it won the Michael Powell Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film that went jointly to Andrea Riseborough for her role as Colette and Brin Brennan as Ma.  Gillian Anderson plays Mac's boss. After watching tonight’s film the RBCFT audience felt that the award’s was deserved and agreed that this drama, which unfolded at just the right pace, was very gripping and well made, given more kudos by an exceptional cast which also includes David Wilmot and Gillian Anderson. It was also remarked that the musical score was not intrusive or overpowering and allowed, for once, silences to build the suspense that resonated right throughout the film.

---

[1] Tom Bradby became Royal Correspondent for ITV News,

Trust.

Poster.

I could not help agree with the comment made by one of the members of the RBC Film Club that this seasons films are even more diverse and varied than usual and David Schwimmers second project as director Trust (2010), his debut was the 2007 comedy Run Fatboy Run, is certainly different from what you would expect from the star of the American TV comedy series Friends. The films central character is an insecure Chicago schoolgirl called Annie Cameron who receives a laptop from her father on her 14th birthday. It's on this Apple Mac that she is groomed, which in turn leads to her being raped after agreeing to meet her internet predator and accompanying him to a motel room. Schwimmer sets out to show not only the effects of the rape on Annie but on her family. The 14 year old Liana Liberato gives a outstanding performance as Annie Cameron, British actor Clive Owen does a convincing job of portraying Annie's father Will, a man who quite understandably gets his priorities wrong following his daughters rape. The award winning Catherine Keener gives her normal workman like performance as Annie's mother, Lynn.

Annie Cameron.

A very enjoyable and informative introduction was given by Pat Pickering who firstly pointed out that even the critics and film reviewers could not agree and gave completely differing opinions on Monday nights film and it would be interesting to see what the Film Club thought of the movie? Pat went on to inform us that David Schwimmer has a personal interest in the subject matter, as he is an active director of the Rape Treatment Centre in Santa Monica, California, which specialises in helping victims of date rape and child rape.   He has also campaigned for legislation to ban so-called “date-rape” drugs. The script was written by Andy Bellin and Robert Festinger based on a play written by Bellin and David Schwimmer first performed in 2010 at the Looking Glass Theatre Company in Chicago.

Mum and Dad.

Pat pointed out that the film raises many issues, including where to draw the line between fostering independence and protecting children from harm, and also raised the question, as the director did, if your teenager mistook “grooming” (internet or otherwise) for “love” how would you deal with it as a parent?  In America the film has an “R” rating, which means viewers under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult and even in the UK, the film has a 15 certificate. Which was one of the points raised in the lively discussion that followed.

The film divided the audience, with the younger members arguing that the film did not get it's intended message across, with the older members disagreeing. As the director treated this upsetting subject in a non exploitative manner a lesser certificate could have benefited a much younger audience. Generally it was agreed that the film was powerful, emotional and the actors well cast. But watching the film from a parents viewpoint, was very uncomfortable and I know that for many of us a very hard watch. The only thing that spoilt the film was the ending, I understand that American audience's demand closure but I could not see the point of extending the film beyond the scene with Annie and her father in a reconcilable hug in their garden.