Anna Karenina

This is the third time Keira Knightley has collaborated with Joe Wright.

I would like to think that Joe Wright had seen Rita Azevedo Gomes artistic treat A Woman’s Revenge (A Vinganca de uma Mulher) 2011 before he made the latest adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s bittersweet love story Anna Karenina (2012). That was based on a 19^th century story adapted for the screen and it was also very theatrical, resembling a stage play with visuals that at times looked like work’s of art. Wrights third period drama after Pride and Prejudice in 2005 and Atonement in 2007,which also stared the beautiful photogenic Keira Knightley, also has a stage setting in a rather grand theatre where most of the film is based although unlike the Gomes film it feels that it could have included song and dance numbers! But credit to our London born film director he presents a familiar story in a completely different way, a trifle long winded but beautifully made and shot by Seamus McGarvey the DOP responsible for We Need to Talk about Kevin (2011) and The Hours (2002) and many other very well known movies.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson play's a very unpleasant Count Vronsky

It must have been difficult even for a playwright of Tom Stoppard’s unique talents to produce a screenplay from a novel that apparently contained 950 pages. But he made a good job of transposing the obnoxious characters from the written page to the big screen. A story of upper-class tsarist society that become scandalised by the extra marital affair of a married women (a very well cast Keira Knightley) to a young Count Vronsky (a miss casted Aaron Taylor–Johnson) but are not scandalised by the death of the wheel tapper killed by a train on a busy railway station. To my mind it’s not surprising that within 40 years this privileged society was destroyed by the Russian Revolution an event that eventually lead to a Bolshevik government. 

The Iron Lady.

Jadis is the main antagonist in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. She is deemed to be an extraordinary evil being and is commonly referred to as the White Witch; she’s the one who froze Narnia in a hundred year winter. I can remember reading somewhere that this very wicked woman allegedly appears in different forms through out history!

Phyllida Lloyd’s, best known for the embarrassing Mamma Mia (2008), latest offering sets out to evoke sympathy for the former Tory Prime Minister Margaret Hilda Thatcher by allegedly showing the price she paid for power: bullshit you don’t have to be a Baroness to suffer from dementia! Care Homes are full to the brim with people who suffer the same non-specific illness syndrome and have never been any where near her unique position of power.

Mimicking this ‘poor little old lady’, first seen going into a corner shop to buy milk before walking home alone to discuss the price of this acquisition with her ‘dead’ husband Dennis, is Meryl Streep who it must be said deserved her many awards for this role. Although I would argue that Andrea Riseborough played the part much better in the BBC drama The Long Walk to Finchley?

The main problem with The Iron Lady (2011) is its neither a study of a war mongering, working class bashing, greed-encouraging politician or the study of a horrifically restricting illness like 2008’s Away from Her; it fouls on both counts. 

Margaret Thatcher 'eyeballing' a young pretender!

I make no apologies for paraphrasing critic Jeff Sawtell’s comment when he opined as to why would anyone want to make a loving film about a monster that did more harm to Britain’s industrial hinterland than Hitler’s bombers, the Americans I hear you say?

The Lady

Michelle Yeoh plays Burma's rightful leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

 The Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre’s Film Club movie this week was something rather special, other than perhaps Steve McQueen’s Shame (2011) is the best film of this season and one I would encourage everybody to make an effort to see. I can assure you that anyone with any inkling of feeling will truly love The Lady (2011).

As you are probably aware it’s the story of Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced Aung San Soo She) the very brave and charismatic Burmese dissident and non-violent supporter of democracy. She is the daughter of Aung San who founded the modern Burmese army and negotiated Burma’s independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, but was assassinated six months prior to its implementation. Suu Kyi became opposition leader and General Secretary of her National League for Democracy, which she founded in 1988. The film is a very moving love story about her relationship with her husband the Cuban born academic Michael Aris and her two sons Alexander and Kim set against Burma’s political turmoil.

The Lady poster.

The evening started with our host Alec Barclay explaining to a very large audience about the director’s departure from his normal body of work. French filmmaker Luc Besson usually works in fiction but in The Lady he directed and wrote a piece of work based not only on a true story but also on someone that is still politically active, so it was going to be interesting to see how he handled the life of this remarkable women.

Alec went on to explain that Besson has been involved in 62 films in various capacities as: director, writer and producer. He has even been credited as a camera operator in Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra 2001! His greatest successes were from his earlier work with: The Big Blue (1988), Nikita (1990), Léon (1994), and The Fifth Element (1997), (my own personnel favourite is 2005’s Angel-A) his oeuvre is mainly thrillers with larger than life characters and a certain off-the wall humour, which one would expect to find in the graphic comic books, which Besson read in his teens. He works equally well in French and English languages, and his films tend to receive popular but not critical success.

Alec described Besson as a flawed genius with a very economic and skilful way of introducing his characters to an audience, and admitted that he quickly found himself drawn into the stories. Stories where the bad guys will often wear black clothes and dark glasses, and the good guys sometimes wear dresses! In our host’s opinion if you are too critical of his work you will never enjoy it. Advising the viewer it was probably best to suspend your disbelief and just go with story and not worry too much about a few minor plot holes.

Michael Aris ( David Thewlis) and Suu Kyi.

Summing up the introduction Alec tried to think of words to describe the Frenchman’s films: obvious, corny, clichéd, loud, pacey, emotional, violent, stylish, humorous, detailed, extraordinary, tender, over-the-top, escapist, entertaining, silly, unusual, tense, ridiculous, plagiarist, engaging… but never boring (sounds like Ken Russell!!). We then had the privilege of watching this marvellous movie. 

The stubbornness of Aung San Suu Kyi was convincingly depicted by the star of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) the Malaysian born Michelle Yeou. The very experienced actor David Thewlis played Michael Aris and his twin brother Anthony. Both actors portraying the torment of lovers torn apart by events far beyond their control. The final section of the film where Aris is obviously dying and stopped from seeing his wife was particularly poignant. The emotional distress involved was really brought home at this point. A very gripping and effective story shown through the eyes of a loving family and a wake up call to those who are not conversant with Burma’s traumatic political background. Besson did not let himself, or us, down.

Not just a love story!!!!!

Thought that this article about the pirate copies of the film on the streets of Rangoon may be of interest Guardian article Feb 2nd 2012.The Lady 2011