Guest opinion articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication. Ed
Read – Stonemouth, by Iain Banks, paperback
I’ve not read anything by Mr Banks before, either as Iain who writes mainstream novels, or Iain M, who writes SF.
This is a stonking story of a young man returning to his hometown somewhere near to Aberdeen in Scotland, after having to leave very suddenly five years before. We’re not told anything at first, and the plot is expertly manipulated to reveal gradually what the problem was, alternating what happens to him when he returns with the story of what happened five years before.
Banks makes the town feel very much like one of those American towns you see in various movies, where there are powerful families who unofficially rule and nobody dares complain. He describes beautifully what it’s like to grow up in such a town, and creates a large cast of unforgettable characters. Great book. I shall read more of his work.
Watched – The Returned, DVD
This was a much-praised TV series from Switzerland, now available on DVD. Expanded from a low-impact hit film, it’s set in a small Alpine town with a dam and a large lake, where for no apparent reason, people who were dead start reappearing, alive and healthy but unable to remember what happened to them.
The story rolls along like a cross between Twin Peaks and Lost, and its enjoyment lies very much in gasping as each next weirdness arrives from nowhere as well as trying to make head or tail of the plot or reasons behind the strange events. Very enjoyable. I’m looking forward to the next series.
Watched – Philomena, cinema
This is the latest film from Stephen Frears, one of my favourite directors. If you haven’t seen Dirty Pretty Thing then you’ve missed a treat.
Frears is a quintessential English director, telling stories of ordinary individuals dealing with extraordinary experiences. This is based on the true story of Philomena, an Irish woman who was put into a Magdalene Home when she was a teenager after becoming pregnant. The nuns put her to work in the laundry, and only allowed her one hour contact with her son each day. Then her son was sold for adoption and she never saw him again.
In late middle age she contacts Martin Sixsmith, the ex-BBC correspondent, who takes up her story because he’s out of a job.
The incomparable Judy Dench plays Philomena, and Steve Coogan is entirely believable as the somewhat grumpy Sixsmith. The film hinges on the difficult relationship between this mismatched pair and the unfolding of their attempts to get at the truth. Prepare to laugh and cry. Brilliant.
Went to – Saint-Malo, France
Brittany Ferries do a wonderful deal. Basically, on Friday evening you get a hovercraft to Portsmouth, climb on board a ferry boat, sleep in a cabin through the night, disembark in Saint-Malo on Saturday morning, spend the day wandering round and shopping, then get back on board Saturday evening, arriving back in Portsmouth Sunday morning, and hover back to the Island, all for about £40 each.
The ferry has good food and bars and cinemas, the cabins are cramped and windowless but not uncomfortable, Saint-Malo has a walled Old Town with lots of places to eat and drink, and French shops. You can walk round the ramparts and see the magnificent views of beaches and rocky islands, there’s a museum and castle and a small tourist train if you get tired. In the winter there’s enough to interest you during a leisurely day, although it could be miserable if the weather’s bad. We arrived in driving rain and a cold wind, but it cleared up and turned into a great day. We also bought lots of Christmas presents. Result!
Watched – Cloud Atlas, DVD
I adore the book, by David Mitchell. No, not the one on television. It’s a book I would have classed as ‘unfilmable’, but when the Wachowski brothers (now brother and sister!), who made the Matrix films, teamed up with Tom Tykwer, the German director of Run Lola Run and Perfume, I was intrigued.
When Tom Hanks and Halle Berry joined up I was excited, and when we finally watched it on DVD I was blown away. OK, if you don’t know the book you’ll need to bear with it. If the book’s familiar, you’ll have to forgive the film for mucking around with its already-complex structure. But it’s beautiful to look at, spans a multitude of places and times, and tells a story that’s not simple but contains a punch.
Also, all the actors keep reappearing in different guises throughout the episodes of the film, so spotting them all becomes a good game too. I could watch it again just to see if I got them all. Watch out especially for some untypical work from Hugh Grant. I watched it with someone who didn’t know the book at all, and she didn’t feel like she needed to have read it first. Give it a go, and read the book too. It’s wonderful.
Watched – Blue Jasmine, cinema
I’ve become so bored over the years with every new Woody Allen film being hailed as a ‘return to form’. I never got his early classics like Manhattan and Annie Hall, and I was bored by most of his other films as well as all the gushy stuff.
The last Woody Allen film I enjoyed was What’s New Pussy Cat, which came out a very long time ago. Now here’s Blue Jasmine, offering Cate Blanchett the role of a lifetime, and she has grabbed it with both hands. It’s about two sisters who were both adopted. One works in a supermarket in San Francisco and the other used to be married to a rich financier and lived the high life in New York. When her husband is convicted of massive fraud she has to move in with her sister, and finds it very hard to adapt. This is a raw portrait of an unsympathetic woman who nonetheless moves us because of her plight.
Cate Blanchett is magnificent, and the other actors, including Sally Hawkins from Happy Go Lucky and Made in Dagenham and playing American, have a wonderful time supporting her. I should think it’s guaranteed a Best Actress Oscar.
Image: centralasian under CC BY 2.0
