| Adam Lambert to play it safe for Malaysia concert By JULIA ZAPPEI 2010-10-12T13:27:33ZKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Adam Lambert pledged Tuesday to obey Malaysian government rules that forbid the flamboyant, openly gay glam rocker from kissing anyone onstage at a planned concert this week, but called it "a tough decision."... hosted.ap.org |
Brief Encounter: No 1 David Lean, 1945In how many other countries would a poll pick Brief Encounter as the best movie romance of all time? Even in Britain, I wonder how many people born since, say, 1975 would rate it so highly. But for a generation that remembers when the trains ran on time and station buffets were as tidy and inviting as the one in this movie, Brief Encounter is etched in nostalgia for an era when trapped middle-class lives contemplated adultery but set the disturbing thought aside. On the face of it, it would seem that Britain has changed; but is it possible that the David Lean-NoĂ«l Coward film is still the model for repressed feelings as an English ideal? We are accustomed to attributing films to directors, but it's only proper to regard Coward as an equal author of this movie. He wrote the script, taking it from his own one-act play, Still Life. He made the leads "nice" people (Laura and Alec, a housewife and a doctor) and the supporting characters clear-cut English types – Stanley Holloway as the naughty, good-hearted station master and Joyce Carey as the bossy, buffet manageress, as well as Cyril Raymond who is quite exquisite as Laura's husband, Fred, a decent dullard who senses that his wife has "been away" but cannot dream of what she has been up to or how close they have all come to disaster. It is Coward's preference, too, that family and stability are so respected in this film. Never married, and discreetly gay, Coward knew enough not to offend middle-class propriety. David Lean, on the other hand, was raised a strict Quaker and was always in rebellion against restraint – so he was married six times and, on his own, he might have pushed Laura and Alec a degree or two further than made Coward comfortable. If that sounds odd, you have to remember the extent to which Lean was Coward's protege. The young editor had been noticed by Coward and promoted to help direct and then take over directing In Which We Serve, This Happy Breed, Blithe Spirit and finally Brief Encounter.So the relationship that begins at the Milford railway station (it's two metaphorical stops down the line from Borchester – The Archers began five years after Brief Encounter) with a piece of grit in Laura's eye and Alec's unquestionably clean handkerchief will lead to afternoons together, lunch and a visit to the cinema (their silly movie is called Flames of Passion), a country drive, and an awkward trip to a friend's flat (the supercilious Valentine Dyall). Nothing happens, and Alec will soon take his family to a new job in South Africa – in 1945 that was still a destination of some hope. "Nothing happens" is hardly a motto for movies today. But at the end of the second world war, when cinemas were packed, desire on the screen was fabulously (and sometimes hysterically) inflamed by self-denial, shyness and censorship. It's an open question, of course, but consider the possibility that movie romance, and its dream of desire, were stimulated by the various controls that blocked abandon. Those devices include our innocence. In 1945, there wasn't a hint of irony or parody in the film's pounding Rachmaninov score (the second piano concerto, played to the hilt by Eileen Joyce). Today, the set-up begs for satire. But Brief Encounter has survived such threats, because it is so well made, because Laura's voiceover narration is truly anguished and dreamy, because the music suckers all of us, and because Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard are perfect. I realise, "perfect" seems dangerously prim and old-hat, an ultimate proof of hopeless gentility. But that's not fair. Howard could be a wild man – as we know from his later work – and you feel recklessness and revolution as a wind tugging at him. As for Celia Johnson, it is due largely to her that the film is still so moving. Her agony and her rapture stay interior, and they flip-flop like nerves in this beautiful, grave black-and-white movie. Her voice is measured but the eyes are desperate. That she holds the film together is beyond doubt.RomanceNoel CowardDavid Thomsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Mulholland Dr.: No 2 David Lynch, 2001Not many films have managed to have their cake and eat it quite like Mulholland Drive (technically it's "Dr." not "Drive", which is important). It is a movie about the worst of Hollywood and the best; the dark, brutal undercurrents and the sparkly celebrity froth, the dream and the reality. But it's the way it twists the two into some unfathomable Moebius strip that makes Mulholland Drive such a work of art. The film's greatest feat is to give us all the thrills of a classic Hollywood movie within an avant-garde framework – and to get away with it. First-time viewers unfamiliar with Lynch's ways will be taken in by the initial set-up: an amnesiac car-crash victim (Laura Harring) staggers into the house of an aspiring actress recently arrived in town (Naomi Watts), but three-quarters of the way through, having been drawn into a glossy noir fantasy, the rug is pulled out from under us completely. The same actors now appear to be completely different characters. The glamour has all evaporated. The relationships have all changed. Nothing's nice and sunny any more. Who's dreaming who? What goes where? What does it all mean?Piecing Mulholland Drive together is half the film's appeal – and there's still no guarantee it all makes sense. Lynch even issued a set of clues shortly after the release to guide people through the mystery – "notice appearances of the red lampshade" – which only made the story more cryptic. But even after we think we've deciphered it, the film somehow loses none of its power. That sense of being taken in, only to realise we understood nothing, gives us some emotional connection to Watts's character. And even as he's tying our brains in knots, Lynch is showing us behind the curtain in Mulholland Drive – showing us this is all really just his dream. But the illusions remain intact even after they've been dismantled. Lynch can still create charged scenes out of nothing but a few skilled actors and our own subconscious. He knows how to push our buttons, and he shows us that he knows how to push our buttons. And we love it.DramaDavid LynchSteve Roseguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Unsung Creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Alex Anderson Dies Animation has had plenty of unknown geniuses but few were more obscure, or more important, than Alexander Anderson, who died Friday at 90 in Carmel, Cal. feedproxy.google.com |
Greg Dyke welcomes BFI takeover of UK Film Council role BFI chairman hails government 'vote of confidence' in handing Institute greater responsibility for British film productionThe chairman of the British Film Institute (BFI), Greg Dyke, today welcomed a government plan that instals his organisation at the helm of UK film policy. Earlier today, culture minister Ed Vaizey announced that the BFI would take on the bulk of the responsibilities previously handled by the outgoing UK Film Council. Vaizey also pledged an increase in lottery funding from ÂŁ27m today to ÂŁ43m by 2014."The decision is a great vote of confidence in the BFI," Dyke said. "It is a bold move to create a single champion for film in the UK and we welcome it. We want to achieve a greater coherence across the whole film sector and to strike a balance between cultural and commercial."Dyke went on to hail the move as "a major transformation for the BFI" and promised to work closely with staff at the UK Film Council to ensure a smooth transition. Details of the new BFI management structure have yet to be announced as the body moves towards a more active, hands-on role in domestic film production.The government's announcement was also welcomed by the UK's network of regional film agencies, which will now be coordinated by a new body, Creative England. "We believe we have arrived at a framework that will deliver effective and streamlined support to the regions," said John Newbigin, who leaves his old job as chair of Screen England to become head of Creative England.The British Screen Advisory Council reacted similarly. David Elstein, chair of the BSAC's working group on UK film policy, gave evidence to the culture, media and sport select committee during its inquiry into future funding for the arts. He said the restructuring "should result in decisions which encourage successful creative and commercial risk-taking and which facilitate movement towards a more sustainable film industry". The chief executive of the BSAC, Fiona Clarke-Hackston, added: "Today's announcement provides clarity for film in the UK and demonstrates government's commitment to the sector."BFIUK Film CouncilArts policyArts fundingXan Brooksguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |