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thebigdishman
Reviews
Mansfield Park (2007)
Not the greatest Jane Austen ... but ...
This was not the greatest adaptation I have seen of a Jane Austen novel, but it was by no means the worst, and I feel that some of the comments written by other contributors have been unduly harsh.
To be fair, if you want really great Jane Auten heroines then you should look no further than Keira Knightly (in Pride and Prejudice) or Gwynneth Paltrow (in Emma). But then both of those productions had huge budgets, brilliant casts, and certainly the former benefited from one of the finest pieces of film direction I have ever seen. (If you can get to see Pride and Prejudice with the director's spoken comments, as shown on Sky recently, then it is a very worthwhile exercise.) This made-for-TV production was much lower budget, and it showed. But that does not justify some of the mean criticism levelled by others. Billie Piper seems doomed to be remembered as Dr Who's sidekick or Chris Evans' former wife, while her earlier performance in Ruby in the Smoke demonstrated that she is a very capable actress. So, too, here, and she was really let down by some less able direction within a limited shooting time-frame. Would the BBC have done it better? Probably ... but on the whole this was a fair crack at a slightly lesser known Jane Austen story, and worth a second look with a slightly less critical hat on!!!
La marche de l'empereur (2005)
Absolutely remarkable
I have just watched The March of the Penguins for the fourth time in seven days, and I can honestly say that I have never been so impressed by a piece of natural history documentary film making. Morgan Freeman's narration could probably only have been better had Richard Burton still been available, and the standard of achievement by the film crew, who themselves had to endure the incredibly harsh Antarctic winter, was quite astounding.
There are those who, I must say, have quite cynically slayed this film, but surely they must be in the minority. The pain, the agony, the pathos, the humour and the sheer expansiveness of this film surely merits the highest praise.
10 out of 10 barely does this film justice, and I look forward to more of this standard from the same makers.
Hogfather (2006)
About as weird as I expected
I am not a great one for Terry Pratchett, but this adaptation of Hogfather was very good, with every actor performing to a high standard. Full marks especially to Sir David Jason and to Tony Robinson. If I have any criticism at all it was that the soundtrack, when quiet, was a little too quiet, but I didn't turn up the volume for fear of being deafened at the loud end. I really would appreciate seeing it again without the commercial breaks, and done as a single piece rather than a two episode, ten segment piece. And, by the way Sky, if you ever do re-run it that way, please do so without cutting it just for the sake of the schedules. This needs to be seen in its entirety to really appreciate the story.
The Adventurers (1970)
Shame the plot of the book
Having read the book by Harold Robbins, I was looking forward to the film. But, oh dear, what happened to the main points of the plot? The principal point of the plot is the relationship between Dax and Fat Cat. As a boy, Dax is taken to safety by the guerrilla, and on the first night out on their journey Fat Cat cuddles the shivering boy to him, and says, "Take my hand and I will guide you safely through the mountains." In the final scene, when Dax has overthrown the despotic President helped to power by Dax's father, an embittered rival with a score to settle, shoots both Dax and Fat Cat in the gardens of the Presidential palace, and as they are lying on the ground dying, Fat cat reaches out his hand and says ... (you've guessed it!).
But it's missing from the film, the famous "scabbard" quote is transfered between two differing characters, Marcel's nefarious activities in Macau are totally displaced, and there is an unnecessary time-shift in the entire film.
Oh dear! It could have been so good, but it was fairly mediocre.
Robbins must have been very disappointed.
The English Harem (2005)
A gentle look at the clash of two cultures
This was not vintage Art Malik, but I found it an enjoyable and slightly tongue-in-cheek look at the clash of two cultures. To be fair it was not a particularly realistic plot, indeed at times it was rather thin, but for all that was able to show just how bigoted and inconsiderate some people can be, on both sides of the cultural fence. Martine McCutcheon's role quite delicately displayed just how limited and narrow some people can become in their lives. For me, however, Tony Slattery's slightly bumbling social worker role had distinct shades of Cleveland and Orkney, (older readers will know what I mean), in a situation which affects far too many people in today's society. It had relevance at a time when there is far too little understanding of how other people live, and perhaps should have taught everyone, even those holding more extreme views, that we should always take people's feelings into account. It will certainly get a second and third run in the DVD player.