Shostakovich 10 A wonderful performance of Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony by the CBSO under the mesmerising Andris Nelsons. Shostakovich is a site of ideological battle, his music fiercely contested and debated, with every sort of hidden meaning detected which might make it acceptable to anti-communist listeners. At the root of this is a problem that conventional …
Category: movies
A Collation of Links
This entry is somewhat remarkable in that consists solely of links to other people’s blog entries with almost no discussion or intervention. I do most heartily commend all of the pieces, but admit that it also functions as an easy historical record for me of a period in which I have not blogged. I suppose …
Those Magnificent Ambersons
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) is in some ways the cinematic equivalent of Byron's diaries. Of course the analogy is not too exact, as not all of the film was consigned to the flames, and we do have a remaining movie which might be described as a semi-masterpiece. But what the film would be like had Welles been …
Early October Miscellany (2010)
I have decided to start posting my Miscellanies as and when they are of sufficient length, rather than waiting to the end of the month; the latter practice has resulted in some absurdly long entries. A very interesting article by John Sutherland in The Times on October 2nd. Formerly I would merely have directed readers …
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) is not an easy film. By that I mean to imply both that it is painful to watch as a result of the emotional intensity which it generates, and also that it is not easy to interpret. But let me start with a description. The film is shot …
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.
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 …
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) …
August Miscellany (2010)
So I return to produce the first monthly miscellany since February. It is my intention under my new regime that these miscellanies will actually be shorter and I will have more individual entries. Since my recovery on August 5th (as usual it was fairly sudden and I can therefore be specific) the rest of the …
Moving Toyshop 