High Rise

It’s very appropriate that the last words in this 'unique and dazzling vision of dystopian Britain' are from the wicked witch herself Margaret Thatcher. Directed by Ben Wheatley and adapted from J.G. Ballard's 1975 novel of the same name by Amy Jump, High Rise is vividly brought to life from the pages of a book that depicts an architecturally designed 40 story block of luxury flats within which we witness the deterioration of human behaviour. A story about the downfall of social class and the hierarchy that underpins its own weak structure which in turn leads to the release of the inner being and thereafter a collapse into violent chaos invoking a war footing between the haves and have-nots. The whole thing symbolic of today's society where the rich get richer and the poor sink ever lower into the traps that poverty sets.

 

 Lang.

Shot in Belfast in Northern Ireland the film stars Tom Hiddleston, as the doctor of Physiology Robert Laing an eligible bachelor who is the newest resident of one of the luxurious apartments and whose lofty location places him amongst the upper class. Laing quickly settles into high society life and meets the building’s eccentric tenants: Charlotte (Sienna Miller) a seductive bohemian single mum who is his upstairs neighbour; Wilder (Luke Evans), a charismatic documentarian and sexual predator who lives with his long suffering pregnant wife Helen (Elisabeth Moss); and Mr Royal (Jeremy Irons), the reclusive architect who designed the building. Life seems like paradise to the solitude-seeking Laing. But as power outages become more frequent and building flaws emerge, particularly on the lower floors, the regimented social strata begins to crumble and the building becomes a battlefield in a literal class war.

 

Charlotte.

This vision of Britain could have been lifted from today's newspaper, the suffering of working families at the hands of the moneyed classes and their political lapdogs, the grim reality of people’s lives and the decaying political system that blames the weakest in society for the countries problems. We now follow a world system that sinks further to the extreme right and will decay even further unless the 'high rise' is demolished!

 

Wilder.

I digress from the movie, but that's the affect that this movie has on me, and I imagine many other people of sound mind. The characters are vivid and real, the soundtrack is exceptional, especially the fantastic haunting interpretation of the 1975 Abba hit SOS by Portishead and of course Ballard's story interpreted by Wheatley and Jump is strikingly graphic. If like me you missed this at the cinema it’s now available on DVD. Enjoy while your still able too my friends - its getting ever blacker outside.

Only Lovers Left Alive.

I sit here in my darkened room listening to the soundtrack recording of the film that I’m just about to write about. I not sure whether it’s the hypnotic vibes from this collaboration by SQURL and the Dutch lute player Jozef van Wissem or perhaps it was the fact that ‘breakfast’ was not delivered today but I can’t get Jim Jarmusch latest movie out of my head?

 

Adam and Eve....

A darkly comic tale of a long-term relationship between husband and wife is the main theme of Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)[1]. The average marriage today is said to be only 7 years (barely worth the expense!) so very few marriages last for hundreds of years, with the exception of the aptly named Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton) a vampire couple whose relationship could conceivably last for ever if they can continue to obtain a supply of good quality blood. Adam lives in the run down backwaters of Detroit while Eve lives in the romantic confines of Tangiers.

 

Christopher Marlowe.

Similar to Thomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In (2008) this is not a tale about vampires but a love story between two people who happen to be vampires albeit with heightened perceptions from having lived for such a long period of time. A character study that Jarmusch claimed is a metaphor for the decline of 21^st century America. Note the bankrupt and run down city of Detroit and compare it to the vibrant and mystical Moroccan city of Tangiers.  

 

Sister Ava and Ian.

The biosphere of our two lovers varies. Whereas Eve accepts the present with her mobile phone and modern cultural attitude, Adam seems to be stuck in the culture of the 1960’s and 70’s producing his music on vintage equipment, collecting guitars from that period and driving a vintage Jaguar. He dislikes what he calls ‘zombies’; his only human friend is Ian (Anton Yelchin) who, along with the musical instruments and recording equipment, provides him with a wooden bullet! His only other contact with the zombie world is Doctor Watson who works in a hospital and who provides the clean blood that guarantees Adams survival. Eve, who has come back to join her lover in America, has previously got her ‘supply’ from the English Elizabethan dramatist and poet Christopher Marlowe (John Hurt), the man who allegedly influenced William Shakespeare and died at the age of 29 in 1593, little do the historians know? She also has a younger sister Ava (Mia Waslkowska) whose actions are not appreciated by Adam.

The Taste of Blood is playing again and I’m feeling a little faint……….

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[1] Shown as part of the Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre Film Club and hosted by Julie and Connor McMorran.

Avengers Assemble.

All credit to Joss Whedon’s writing and direction on what amounts to his first Hollywood blockbuster, a sequel to the proceeding five Marvel Cinematic Universe movies Iron Man (2008),  The Incredible Hulk (2008)  Iron Man 2 (2010) Thor (2011) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Avengers Assemble (2012) is an absolute dynamite adaptation of a comic book action adventure and one certainly worthy of the description of ‘action movie’ with CGI that is more than impressive with its post 9/11 imagery and references. It also includes, in abundance, one of the most important ingredients of any comic book movie: humour.

Natasha Romanoff AKA The Black Widow.

Hawkeye.

The plot involves our collective superheroes, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Captain America and the lesser known Hawkeye and the ultra sexy Black Widow, battling a supervillain, well actually a Norse God, who has stolen an energy source resembling a blue translucent cube called a Tesseract, which is powerful enough to destroy earth.

The Norse God Loki.

One of the great strengths of this movie is its villain Loki, played brilliantly by Tom Hiddleston, who you will remember from Thor as the crown prince of Asgard’s adopted renegade brother. The cast’s commitment to their particular character’s help to conjure up a totally realistic Marvel world, Robert Downey Jr as the heir to the Stark dynasty giving the role the eccentricity it deserves, all American hero Captain America is again portrayed by Chris Evans, with Chris Hemsworth reprising his role as Thor and Mark Ruffalo finally giving the kudos that the role of Bruce Banner deserves. Jeremy Renner plays Hawkeye a S.H.l.E.L.D agent whose skill with a bow and arrow gives him the title of the world’s greatest marksman. Scarlett Johansson brings superspy Natasha Romanoff, better known by her code name Black Widow, to life. Also involved is Samuel L. Jackson who plays the director of S.H.l.E.L.D Nick Fury responsible for bringing the superheroes together to help fight world domination by the evil fascistic Loki. To all Marvel Cinematic Universe virgins I challenge you to watch this film and not fall in love with the whole comic book concept.

Commander Nick Fury.

Will the Hulk save the day?

The Deep Blue Sea

Hester reflects.

Terence Davies latest film returns to the period of two of his two best-known movies. The first of which was his debut feature film Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) This film focused on the real life experiences of Davies mother, sisters and brother whose lives were blighted by their brutal sadistic father. It’s a portrait of working class life in the 1940’s and 50’s Liverpool. Davies followed this up with The Long Day Closes (1992) another film that evokes the 1950’s, set in the Liverpool of his childhood. This autobiographical story display’s a montage of memories of the eleven-year-old boy. His latest film moves the location to North London but maintains the same post war timeframe. Davies was approached on behalf of the Sir Terence Rattigan Charitable Trust by producer Sean O’Connor to make The Deep Blue Sea (2011) as part of the writer’s centenary celebrations.

Hester loves Freddie but does Freddie really love Hester?

Davies free adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s 1952 stage play imparts the story of a 40ish married woman who leaves a 50ish loving husband and a comfortable life style for passion and sexual love an unusual thing for a women at that time. The film opens with an attempted suicide in front of an unlit gas fire that’s thwarted by the landlady and other tenants of the shabby boarding house in North London where Hester Collyer now lives with her lover the hard drinking Freddie Page a former RAF pilot who’s never recovered from the heightened experience’s of the Battle of Britain. We discover through flashbacks that Hester had left her kind and adoring husband, the High Court Judge Sir William Collyer in an attempt to find a passionate love affair with the emotionally immature Freddie. The movie very quickly demonstrates that all has not succeeded quite as planned.

This emotional triangle features some beautifully controlled acting from all three main protagonists. Rachel Weisz exposes the barely repressed sexuality of Hester, with Tom Hiddleston as the alluring Freddie, while Simon Russell Beale does a wonderfully restrained portrayal of Sir William. The casting of all three is exquisite each one totally convincingly at depicting the pain and anguish involved in this three-way relationship.

The hurt is obvious in Sir Williams eyes!

Terence Davies is probably one of cinema’s most underrated filmmakers, something I’ve never been able to comprehend. All of his films are exquisitely composed pieces of work. His trademark use of colour and composition of the lighting coupled with softness of focus and fluency of its camera work, this time by German DP Florian Hoffmeister, coupled with innovative use of music that always forms part of the narrative including the requisite communal sing-alongs. Davies is a director that always original and leaves a lasting impression on all connoisseurs of good film.

Coincidently part of the film was shot in Granville Square London WC1 just around the corner from where I first went to school, I had school friends living in the Square at the same time as this wonderfully composed drama was set!