Brideshead Revisited
Never having been a fan of the original series (bit before my time) and having had some unsavoury reviews from the press, I expected Brideshead to be a bit of a posh tosh - watchable but silly, just like the Duchess. Hailing from Paddington ("you live in a station?") Charles Ryder is thrown into the world of Sebastian Flyte, whom he meets whilst studying at Oxford. Having a mutual enjoyment for wine, and high jinx the two form a close if not too close relationship. Ryder soon gets tangled up in the lives of Sebastian, Celia his sister and his unhinged, relgion-obsessed mother, leading to dramatic and suprising climaxes which span over 10 years.
Perhaps I would agree with the bad press about this film if I had seen the original one, which I suspect will be coming out reformated in a luxury dvd boxset soon, but as I haven't I can say that I thorougly enjoyed this film. Despite dragging in sections, it was intruiging and kept me wanting to discover and find out more. The beautiful buildings of Oxford, of Chatsworth House (Brideshead) and lovely footage in Venice completes it as a great film and an interesting new adaptation.
Somers Town
I was unfortunately out of the country when Shane Meadows follow up to the hugely successful "This is England" was released. Luckily for me, the Barbican were showing it as part of their Sunday Matinees and I got to watch the film which has topped the Guardian film list for the last month or so.
Thomas Thurgood (Shaun in This is England) plays Tomo, a young lad who is lured up to the bright lights of London with no money, no idea of what he's doing and within a few minutes of the film, no stuff. He meets Polish Marek, a budding photographer with a big heart who has recently moved to London for his brother to work on the St Pancras Eurostar terminal.
Shot in just two weeks, almost completely in black and white, Somers Town is poignant and thoughtful in places but also funny and heartfelt. Although Meadows has used a typically "of the moment" subject, but managed to make the film was meaningful without preachy. The music is sweet and the acting superb, I only hope Thurgood won't be typecast with the two roles he has been given by Meadows as he is a fantastic young actor.
