Consequent upon my ever-growing interest in classical music I have been listening to and watching more of the Proms this year than ever before. And because it has been Mahler's anniversary year, 2010 has been a particularly good year for me to do so. Having said which, the BBC's rather bizarre broadcasting practices have been something of …
Month: September 2010
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – the film.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009), directed by Niels Arden Oplev, is, as most of the world knows, an adaptation of the first volume of Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy which has so dominated bestseller lists over the past couple of years. The second (The Girl Who Played with Fire) and third (The Girl Who Kicked the …
Continue reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – the film.
The Waves of Feminism
It may seem, and possibly is, something of an absurdity for a man to write on this subject. My excuse is that I keep coming upon the terms 1st, 2nd and 3rd wave feminism, along with 'post-feminism', and am never very clear as to what exactly is meant. It would therefore be helpful for me …
Mother
Ah coincidence! Just last week I was engaged upon an interesting discussion, on my other blog, about whether it is possible to write proper criticism when one has to avoid giving the plot away, and what should happen? I come upon a film for which this holds true more than any mystery I have read …
Rigoletto – The ‘Live Film’
Over the weekend of 4th/5th September BBC2, along with a host of television broadcasters around the world, carried a 'live film' of Rigoletto with Placido Domingo in the title role. This was not the first 'live film' - there have been productions of Tosca and La Traviata previously - but it was certainly the first that …
Reeves on Mill : Chapters 6-7
Chapter 6 In the late 1830's Mill once again became heavily involved with public political events. It was a time of hope for the Radicals; hopes which were centred on achieving a split in the Whigs between the progressive element and the rest, and the introduction of the secret ballot. Mill fretted that he could …
Mahler: His Life, Work and World
In search of a biography of Mahler I borrowed Mahler His Life, Work and World by Kurt and Herta Blaukopf from the library: in the event it turned out not to a be a biography at all but a carefully arranged selection of Mahler-related writings. Letters to, from and about Mahler; reviews of his conducting …
Zimbabwe’s Children
After a few disappointing and shoddy documentaries which shook my faith in the ability of modern British television to produce a decent one, along came a brilliant example. Zimbabwe's Forgotten Children directed by Jezza Neumann and produced and presented by Xoliswa Sithole was intensely, at times unbearably, moving, while at the same time being extremely instructive. The …
A Woman in Berlin
This is a joint review and consideration of the book A Woman in Berlin (1954) and the film of the same name (2008), whose original German title was Anonyma - Eine Frau in Berlin. I saw the film much earlier this year and then by complete chance came across a first edition of the London publication of the book (1955) …
Byron and the Academy
The Newstead Abbey Byron Review is published annually, and consists mainly of papers which have been given at various Byron conferences in the preceding year, book reviews and a few pieces which appear to have been specially written for the Review. The 2010 edition contains quite a lot of interest to the Byron enthusiast. I …
Moving Toyshop 