The Homesman.

Tommy Lee Jones is a clever individual, ostensibly an actor he can direct, write and produce and in the case of his latest project – all four at the same time. Although he did have the support of the great French filmmaker Luc Besson in the production of what has been called a feminist western by some commentators. The Homesman (2014) takes place in the 1850’s and is set in the Midwestern United States in Nebraska and Iowa. It’s based on the 1988 novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout who was also responsible for the source novel for John Wayne’s very last film The Shootist (1976) which had a screenplay co written by the novelist son Miles Hood Swarthout, which is coincidently about the last days of a dying gunfighter, played by the then dying Wayne.

 

Mary Bee Cuddy is a 'good woman'.

As well as Tommy Lee Jones the movie features a great performance from Hilary Swank as Mary Bee Cuddy a proud strong middle aged spinster women who is an integral part of the Nebraska farming community, a women with land and “money in the bank” but who is unable to find her self a husband, accused of being “too bossy” and “too plain”. But when three poor women are deemed to have lost their minds it is decided to take them back East to their families to see if they can be ‘cured’. It’s Mary Bee who gets the job to transport the women on what is only expected to be a five-week journey! She rescues a man from being hung and enlists his help to drive the prison type coach and horses across a barren and treacherous country side, battling not only the weather and Indians but her ‘press ganged driver’ George Briggs (Jones) and three dangerously deranged women. 

 

It's a hard journey for Mary Bee and George.

Admittedly not the normal subject for what is an unusual type of western but one that is certainly different.  As well as depicting the harsh life of the early settlers the movie illustrates the effect this life it has on women and how it can not only result in physical bodily damage but also influence their mental well-being. The pressures of a forced marriage and the need to give birth to healthy children on a regular basis do nothing to help this problem.

 

George Briggs come to the rescue of the three women.

The movie features an ensemble cast that includes Meryl Streep, Hailee Steinfeld, John Lithgow, and James Spader. Cinematography is by the celebrated Mexican cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto who won an Academy Award for his camera work in 2005’s Brokeback Mountain. Marco Beltrami is responsible for the films exceptional score. At times the film can be a disturbing watch but its real strength’s are the growing relationship portrayed on the screen between Mary Bee and George Briggs and Jones’s exploration of the ‘female condition in the mid 19^th century American West’[1].

Would you rescue this man from the rope?

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[1] Press Kit Interview with the director.

Grace of Monaco.

To get the most pleasure out of watching Oliver Dahan’s latest movie I would suggest you take note of the following. It’s a film and not a historical fact sheet. Secondly it’s a piece of entertainment and not a political statement, as obviously most of us would not support a tax bolthole for billionaires! And finally it was never meant to be a biopic[1]. Follow these simple guidelines and you will be able to sit back and enjoy his entertainingly lavish Mills and Boon type production.

Princess Grace of Monaco.

Grace of Monaco (2014) is the story of the former Hollywood film star Grace Kelly who married Prince Rainier, ruling monarch of the Principality of Monaco, in 1956 and relinquished a successful acting career. The film covers a short period in the 1960’s when Kelly’s marriage was going through a crisis at the same time as her husband was in tax squabble with Charles de Gaulle President of France and the creepy Alfred Hitchcock was trying to persuade Princess Grace to return to Hollywood to play the leading role in Marnie (1964).

 

The Royal Wedding.

The film itself was almost never released in the USA when Harvey Weinstein was tempted to cowl tail to the Monaco royalty. It stars Nicole Kidman in the role of Grace Kelly/Princess Grace who makes this character study of an unhappy woman in an unhappy situation totally believable although I’m not sure Tim Roth does the same for Rainier? Escapist fiction maybe, but sometimes that can be a relief from the harsh political realities of modern life, but isn’t that one of the reasons for cinema?

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[1] “This is not a biopic or a fictionalized documentary of Grace Kelly, but only a small part of her life where she reveals her great humanity as well as her fears and weaknesses” Nicole Kidman Le Figaro 2012.

The Artist

The que at the RBC on Monday night to see The Artist.

Mr Stephen Pickering was the RBC Film Club’s host for Monday evening and he asks us to imagine we were sitting in a picture house in 1929 and were about to watch a recently released Czech film entitled Erotikon by director Gustav Machaty. We then watched this very interesting clip (that looked more appealing than the film we were about to see). Steve continued with the illusion saying that we, as a 1929 cinema audience, are used to watching silent movies that have been part of our lives and a major entertainment medium since the 1890’s. As regular cinemagoers we have become accustomed to the actor’s mannerisms, the somewhat over emphasised facial contortions, the skilful editing and the close up shots of the actor’s expressive eyes, all designed to help convey the flow of the story silently. The characters were developed, the tension built. We empathised, and are moved to tears, and all without the uttering of a single word. He went on to tell us that, with the introduction of the "Talkies", films would be able to communicate on a whole new level. Like the real world they mirror, the spoken word can add different meanings to situations and one word can create, in our imagination, whole sub plots and parallel storylines not seen on the screen.  He ended this informative and enjoyable introduction with a question to ponder while we watch this evening’s entertainment: Can we travel back in time? Can we recreate instantly for one film the acting and editing skills that the silent actors and technicians honed to perfection over a period of forty years? Or are we about to watch a poor pastiche, whilst the ghostly images of those forgotten actors of the early twentieth century lie forgotten in silent rusting cans of nitrate film? Or is this a wholly new creation deserving of the high acclaim heaped upon it?

Steve took us back to the cinema of the 1920's.

The Artist (2011) (as if you didn’t know) is a silent romantic drama that takes place in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932 just as the ‘talkies’ were replacing the silent movie. It focuses on the relationship between an older silent movie star George Valentin and a rising young actress Peppy Miller. Directed by Frenchman Michel Hazanavicius best known for spy film parody’s and starring Jean Dujardin (Little White Lies (2010)) as George and Hazanavicius’s wife Berenice Bejo as Peppy Miller.

George Valentin won an Oscar for the cheesiest grin.

There’s nothing wrong with a well-made black and white film and there’s nothing wrong with a well-made silent film.  Agreed The Artist (2011) is a very well made black and white silent film with period detail that’s just right but when you look beyond the Emperors new clothes syndrome it's a silent film made in the 21st century, in fact its a novelty film and a second viewing did not change my mind. Like many of the silent movies of the 20s and 30s it's lightweight, frothy and a tad boring. The constant musical overlay becomes annoying although the final dance routine was moderately enjoyable, it certainly did not grip this viewer, with a narrative that’s not particularly stimulating. The best silent movies always have more visual action than 'wordy' interludes. In a nutshell is does not deserve the accolades it has received, unless there's an Oscar for the biggest cheesiest grin, there are a lot more worthy movies than this one. It’s difficult to believe the amount of hype, allegedly due to the work of Harvey Weinstein, that has built up around this crushingly twee film, but credit were credit is due its put bottoms on cinema seats and none more so than at our local Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre, Monday nights film club was no exception.