Film Reviews by SB

Before watching this film I saw a good deal of comment, critical and Austenite, about it. Most was negative. However I decided to try and watch it with an open mind. Afterwards, my thoughts are as follows:

Positive

The film looks good. The production design and cinematography are consistent and beautiful. One scene was like a Caspar David Friedrich painting. The settings are in fact probably too opulent for the social classes involved (especially the Musgroves) but that is not a huge fault. I am not comptent to judge the accuracy of the costuming but it was effective as part of the overall mise-en-scene, albeit with one serious flaw (see below).

Some of the performances are good: Henry Golding as Mr Elliott, and Mia McKenna-Bruce as Mary Musgrove especially. Richard E Grant plays himself to some effect as Sir Walter. Nia Towle captures Louisa's effervescence well.

There are individual effective moments: Louisa's jump is done much better than in previous adaptations, and makes us believe she is really injured.

The colour blind casting works well and is applied consistently. It is a pity that many commentators seem to not understand, perhaps wilfully, what the purposes and principles of colour-blind casting are, and condemn the results as anachronistic or tokenistic. They are not.

Negative

The script seriously misrepresents the character of Anne. She is far too sharp, mutinous and dominant. She is an alcoholic, and rude. As a mistaken version of an Austen character it is even worse than the 1999 and 2007 versions of Fanny Price in Mansfield Park. Her self doubt is mostly represented by laying on a bed crying or talking to her rabbit. The script also topedoes the strained relationship between Anne and Wentworth when he returns. This should be mostly agonised silence on both sides. In this version they have far too much to say to each other. The wholly inserted conversation on the beach is horrible to watch and listen to, it is so wrong. The letter scene is seriously mishandled. The script and the relationship between Anne and Wentworth form the central failing of the film.

Dakota Johnson plays the part well, even if it is not Austen's Anne in any real sense. But her appearance makes no real transition from downtrodden mouse to second bloom. Her beauty dominates every scene from start to finish and the costuming and hair styling simply intensify this. This is a great pity because a different approach to costume, make-up etc could have yielded a stunning transformation.

Wentworth comes across as a gormless git. This is partly the script, but also, Cosmo Jarvis' performance is totally inadequate and lacks all chemistry with Johnson. Anne's assertion that he should try to become an admiral sounds especially ludicrous. It is very hard indeed to see why Anne wants to marry him when Mr Elliott is available.

Mrs Clay's character, which here is represented as a crude voluptuary, should be much more refined. It is not believable that she represents a danger to Mr Elliott's dynastic ambitions. And the scene where he is snogging her in the street is ridiculous.

Neutral

There has been a lot of comment on the breaking of the fourth wall by Anne. This is not a first (the 1999 Mansfield Park and 2007 Persuasion both did it, though to a much smaller extent). In this film it works on its own terms; the question is whether the character thus revealed is the right one for the novel. It isn't, and so the problems of the script are reinforced.

This review is really of the first 6 episodes which go up to 1943, because I have never seen the rest and don't intend to as I am not interested in the more modern times.

This series will not appeal to everyone, especially those who need 'action'. But those with the temperament to enjoy it will be rewarded with a total masterpiece. Making a film about everyday life which accurately reflects the life of real people and what concerns them, and is not artificially enhanced with improbable events or characters, is one of the hardest things of all to do. Reitz succeeds brilliantly with Heimat; it is if we are actually there as the years pass. The way that external events of great significance are filtered without fuss into everyday life is an object lesson. There is creative use of voiceover and colorisation.

This film, set in small town desert America, is a sort of knowing tribute to film noir and B movies, adopting many of their cliches. But it is still good to watch, especially the more languorous first half in which the atmosphere of place is carefully established and the few main characters sketched in. The second half, which is full of sexual and violent action of various sorts, does occasionally strain credibility, though there is a fight scene which is unusually well staged. The period feel is well done, and Don Johnson is good as the cool, dishonest but essentially innocent male lead role. Virginia Madsen is appropriately outrageous as the sexy manipulative wife who likes people to dance to her tune, but a very young Jennifer Connelly is the heart of this film, doomed to disappointment but still full of possibilities.

The cause of the fire which engulfed the Hindenberg upon its arrival in the US in 1936 has never been properly established. This film (which, irritatingly for something 3 hours long, is on two DVDS rather than a single double-sided disk) quite cleverly overlays onto the basic story a fictional account of a political plot which provides a reason why the explosion could have occurred. It also manages to cram in action thriller, romance, persecution of the Jews and so on. The production design, costumes etc are quite well done in a consistent dark palette, and you can really believe that you are on board the vast airship. The acting is somewhat variable, with Stacy Keach dialling in a performance as the grizzled tycoon paterfamilias and Maximilian Simonischek smouldering rather than acting as the male hero. Great Scacchi plays the irritating mother well; she is very irritating. Lauren Lee Smith makes a winning and dynamic heroine, and a young Alicia von Rittberg is a convincing frightened and puzzled Jewish girl caught up in a world she does not understand.

This is a muted film, both in tone and appearance, and is the tale of a weak man whose failure to stand up to his wife exposes him when an outsider who is naïve but understanding of him appears in the family's life. His weakness leads him to value that understanding above his responsibilities, and leads him to disaster – a disaster which leaves him more firmly trapped than ever. There is a nice sub-plot which shows the hell of American High School in an understated way.

The script and direction avoid the temptation to take the sexual angle further than is required; in fact, it is hard to see why the film is rated 15. The performances are good, especially from Felicity Jones believably playing an 18 year old, despite being 27 at the time of filming. The settings and design are all that is necessary. In the last third credibility seems a bit stretched, but maybe not; the combination of youth and middle aged idiocy can be a potent one.

Although set in the 1930s, this version has a definite modern sensibility and does not gain from it. The performances are highly variable, and Dan Stevens is unfortunately not great as the author. Judi Dench plays Judi Dench in a silly costume. The design, costumes etc are nice. But the light, witty style of Coward is entirely lost.

If you are a fan of quirky, confident films and/or Emily Browning's unusual beauty, you will enjoy this film. If not, you may find it slow and peculiar. Not for the prudish as a considerable amount of flesh, both male and female, is on display, and also the lead character is highly amoral in virtually every part of her life except perhaps one. In the end it is somewhat nihilistic, but still oddly compelling.

This film is about the artistic process. It is slow and meaningful. Very little happens, although much is said. Jane Birkin has perhaps the most interesting character. Emanuelle Beart spends a good deal of the film virtually naked, but there is nothing erotic about the way she is manhandled into posing positions by the elderly artist. The setting, the mood, the talk, is so 'French Film' that you can drown in it.

This independent British film is a road movie based on a conceit – that two female friends go round the country scattering the ashes of a deceased friend, at his behest. They both have problems, and the film is really about them. On the way they encounter various people, some odder than others. Some of the film is sad, some mildly funny. It is always engrossing. Julian Rhind-Tutt is good as the obnoxious, self centred and now dead Dan, who only appears on a laptop. It is good to see Laura Carmichael in something less buttoned-up than Downton Abbey. But the centre of this film is Chloe Pirrie's performance as closed-up Alex, burdened with secrets she can't talk about. Well worth seeing.

An unfamiliar slant on resistance activities, centering on the efforts of a group of Jewish resistance workers to smuggle Jewish children to safety. Mostly acted well, and has good pace. The framing device with General Patton is unnecessary and a distraction. Strains cedulity a bit on times and distance in the final climactic sequence, and the sequence where Barbie's wife questions his activities seems artificial. The question the film asks about whether it is better to make life difficult for an occupying power or to ameliorate the effect of the occupation could perhaps have been explored in greater depth.

Unfortunate that this is another recent film that insists on presenting the Nazis as some sort of evil creatures from outer space by avoiding any reference to German soldiers, German activities, etc.

than the 2021 remake, in that it has really good acting, and an understanding of Coward's style. I don't care much for Rex Harrison, but he is ideal for this sort of witty comedy; nothing ever seems forced. I don't care for Margaret Rutherford much either, but she is very good as the extravagant and over-enthusiastic Madame Arcati. Perhaps Elvira does look a bit too much like a Venusian woman, but overall this is well worth watching.

Hamlet retold from Ophelia's point of view. Daisy Ridley gives a strong performance in the lead; Naomi Watts is adequate; Clive Owen somewhat wasted as a thuggish Claudius. The pace is good. The second half changes the story in a fairly credible way, although it involves a conceit which seems unlikely to work in reality. But this is Shakespeare....there are elements of witchcraft mixed in and clear influences from fantasy series.

This is a visually arresting film, very beautiful to look at, even if the Czech Republic, where it was filmed, makes a rather hilly Denmark.

Like some others I would have preferred that this film be done in Russian with subtitles rather than English, although the effect is less discordant than might have been the case. Some of the film is conjecture, which is fair enough when the full facts may never be known. The scene-setting is done fairly well, and also the increase in tension after the accident and the rescue attempts. But 'Das Boot' this is not. It's telling that the most effective scenes by far are those with the families rather than those with the crew on board. Colin Firth plays his usual slightly pompous commander figure, and is perhaps given too much screen time.

The storyline - woman already out of synch with society is attracted to outsider who arouses hostility in local society - is hardly orginal. But the script is careful not to overdo each element, and the events are all fairly credible especially as they are mostly so mundane. Johnny Flynn manages to combine the wildman look with a certain vulnerability and uncertainty. But the mainspring of the film is Buckley's savage, damaged Moll who has suffered a lot already from other people. Always engrossing and well-paced.

Trivia note: Emily Taaffe, who in a brief scene plays the woman Moll once attacked, in the BBC's in the 2016 War and Peace played the maidservant for Princess Maria Bolksonskaya , who was portrayed by Jessie Buckley.

I have seen the first two stories in the series, Shroud for a Nightingale and The Black Tower. Carvil turns in a quiet, thoughtful performance as Dalgliesh which contrasts greatly with previous portrayals but is valid on its own terms. The supporting casts are mostly good., and the period details (set in the seventies) seem mostly fair enough. It is a pity that the scriptwriters seemed to feel a need to enhance the storylines in places. The first one, Shroud for a Nightingale, is spoilt by an over-the-top portrayal of a sergeant whose attitude would never have been tolerated, especially at that time.

Subsequently I have also watched A Taste for Death on Disc 2. This is probably the best of the three stories, although it suffers from the same defect of an unrealistic portrayal of a cocky subordinate. It also adds racism to the sexism of the original story, in a rather heavy handed way. But overall, it is the best.

The extras also on this disk are okay - as usual the 'making of' feature starts well and then descends into a mutual admiration society; and very badly, the content of the second feature, about Dalegliesh, virtually all appears in the first feature anyway. The first feature also includes statements about earlier adaptations which are very debatable.

Update - Having recently re-watched the Roy Marsden ITV versions of these stories, I have realised how much has been cut out of all them in order to get down to a certain length. This is a serious flaw.