This week’s been my last week of term before the Christmas holidays – yay! – so I’ve been a bit useless at getting this blog done. I like to try to post them on Tuesdays, but clearly that has not worked.
My film watching was a bit poor last week, though I did manage to get in three – so I guess it wasn’t too bad a week-, including one cinema trip. I watched “The Kids are Alright” during the week and then at the weekend I saw “My Week with Marilyn” at the cinema and finally got round to viewing “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”.
I very much enjoyed “My Week with Marilyn”. I am a great fan of period films and, though this was only the sixties, it was an interesting view into the film industry 50 years ago. The main character, Colin, coming from a rich, aristocratic family, easily gets a job on a Laurence Olivier/Marilyn Munroe film because he happened to meet Olivier and his wife Vivien Leigh at a party. It’s also really interesting to get an insight into Marilyn behind the scenes, though many critics have argued that obviously the author of the novel it is based on (Colin Clark, on whom the main character is based) could have exaggerated her dependency on him (and indeed other men).
Michelle Williams is just fantastic in everything she does. I have much love for her. I think she’s brilliant in this at capturing Marilyn, especially if you compare scenes of “the Prince and the Showgirl” which they’ve re-enacted with the originals. She adopts a completely different voice and different mannerisms to her own to capture the part. This film perhaps doesn’t deserve an award itself, but maybe Michelle Williams does.
Considering this week’s cinema film was about Marilyn Munroe, I thought my top 5 list this week could be my top 5 films which came out before I was born:
The Godfather trilogy
Ok, so this isn’t one film, but I find it hard to pick a favourite. Obviously 1 and 2 are far superior to 3, though I do not agree with many critics that it is a bad film, it’s just got 2 such fantastic predecessors to compete with. It just has one of the best casts ever, and such a fantastic story. I love Al Pacino in this. He is often criticised for over-acting but I don’t think this is one of those roles. And Diane Keaton as Kay and Robert Duvall as Tom, and of course one of Marlon Brando’s most iconic roles as Vito, the eponymous Godfather in no.1. There’s such a fantastic diversity of characters, it’s such an interesting concept to explore, so surreal and extreme yet based on a system – the mafia – which is very real in America. The music, the look, the acting, the script: Francis Ford Coppola gets it all right as he often does.
A Clockwork Orange
The book is so good and this is one of the few book-to-film adaptations which does its source justice. It’s a fantastic story, and so cleverly thought out: A new language, a complete new way of dressing, a future dystopian world. I watched this film for the first time when I was 15 and I think I watched it 10 times within 10 weeks. I fell in love with Malcolm McDowell who plays such an iconic role and who you become concerned for and follow intently despite his completely evil nature. Though it doesn’t put it across as explicitly as the book, I think it also plays well the true idea behind it, whether conditioning someone to make them act as though they’re good is really making them good.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Here I’ve tried to pick a favourite of the trilogy. I find the first one is mostly introductory and I think everyone usually agrees 2 is the best. I love sci-fi, I love the creation of an alternate world, the fight scenes, the aliens, the brilliant story. I’ve never been too keen on Luke as a protagonist, but Han Solo is epically cool and Darth Vader is such an amazing villain. Also, Alec Guinness (and even later Ewan McGregor) as Obi Wan will always be one of my favourite film characters, even though he only features in a “New Hope” and so I technically shouldn’t mention him here. As you can see, I love a good trilogy.
Blade Runner
Another film where a whole new world has had to be created and that is based on a book i thoroughly enjoyed. it’s also a very intelligent one I find, questioning what makes someone human and moral. It looks amazing, the city, the inhabitants, especially the androids. I actually don’t like Harrison Ford’s character in this film. I think his treatment of women verges on abusive, but Rutger Hauer has such presence and is so cool as the villain and, to be honest, is a very sympathetic character, much more so than Ford’s Deckard. Anyone who likes sci-fi has to see this.
Some Like It Hot
My favourite Marilyn film, though that is because it’s the only one I’ve seen, it’s also my favourite black and white film and one of the few films I consider old that actually makes me laugh. She’s brilliant and so are Jack Lemon and Richard Curtis – though for the life of me I don’t see how Richard is attractive. It’s fun and sweet and timeless.
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