Saturday, 28 November 2015

Brooklyn (12A)

The live and loves of a 1950s Irish emigrant girl between her native Ireland and New York is brought to life on film, in ‘Brooklyn’, from Colm Toibin’s longlisted Booker prize novel of the same name.
The movie, writes David Flynn has certainly brought to life the small-town Ireland of the 1950s, in a very unflattering light.  People queuing up in a small grocer shop, and taking the sarcasm of proprietor, Miss Kelly, played splendidly by Brid Brennan really brings home the lack of choice of customers without the big superstores of today.
Enniscorthy is the town in question, which is beautifully photographed throughout, as indeed is the whole ‘Brooklyn’ film, most especially the Irish beach scene, and the exteriors of 1950s New York.
Eilis, played by Irish star, Saoirse Ronan, is a girl living at home with her widowed mother and older sister.  She works in the grocery shop, but her sister wants a better life for her, and arranges safe passage for Eilis to emigrate to Brooklyn.  Vivid images of the boat over to America showed the sea sicknesses suffered, and the loneliness of the trip.
The early scenes of America show the loneliness and despair of living and working as an emigrant. However happiness happens for Eilis when she meets a boyfriend, but then news of Ireland brings her home again, where she faces much different challenges than were there before she emigrated.
The set dressings of ‘Brooklyn’ are oh so cosy, and the many different sets, ie Eilis's mother’s kitchen, the US landlady’s dining room, and also her private sitting room are displayed in a very warm setting of furnishings and other props. Well done to whoever was involved in that.
Acting by Saoirse Ronan puts her as a cert for the BAFTA, and in strong contention for the Oscars and Globe Globe.  Emory Cohen played the role of Tony, Eilis’s New York love interest, and Domhnall Gleeson plays Jim Farrell from back home in Enniscorthy.  Gleeson had the edge in the acting stakes, but while he wasn’t on screen as long, his part was also better written than the Tony part.
Mention has to go to Julie Walters for her increased cameo role as the landlady. 
Intense is the best way to describe Saoirse Ronan’s performance.  It tied in with the storyline of Eilis in Wexford and New York. 
The movie is good for youngsters to see what communications was like in an era of not so long ago.  It felt odd; watching people waiting in priest’s offices to phone loved ones across the world, telling them about the deaths from home.  No mobile phones or internet then.
The colour of ‘Brooklyn’ the movie is very vivid, and it’s a rare window to 1950s Ireland, with a great production that is ahead of the storyline.
 

 

Wednesday, 4 November 2015

Spectre (12A)

Bond is Back, even though it seems only a few weeks ago since his last outing, in the brilliant ‘Skyfall’.  However that was three years ago, and the story of Bond follows on from the death of the most popular of the M figures (Judi Dench). 
In 'Spectre', Bond discovers M has one last message for him from beyond the dead.
The message leads to Daniel Craig on his fourth outing as James Bond.  The licensed to kill spy heads from Mexico City to the middle of Europe to meet a beautiful widow, Lucia, played by the oldest Bond girl ever – 51 years old, Monica Belucci.  Lucia is connected to a crime conglomerate, which after their love tryst, Bond attempts to infiltrate, which leads him to an even deadlier group called Spectre.  At the pulse of Spectre, is a force which begins a personal battle for Bond.  The head of Spectre is played by character actor, Christoph Waltz.
What appears to be a subplot of this Bond 24 story, is Irish actor, Andrew Scott playing Max, the head of a new security group, which is aiming to bring down MI6 and its spy programme.  Along the way Max comes head to head with the new M, played by Ralph Fiennes.  So therefore we get two Bond villains in this feature film. 
Bond forms an alliance with Madeline Swann, (played by Lea Seydoux) the daughter of a legendary assassin, to help bring down Spectre and its enemies.
Since Daniel Craig took over the Bond lead in the 2006 movie, ‘Casino Royale’, it has been a back to basics, rebooting journey for the character.  Here we have another part of his backstory, which uses elements of the many other Bond features since the 1960s. 
‘Spectre’ is an unsatisfying movie, which at 148 minutes is way too long.  The main storyline falls flat, and comes across almost as a clone of a lot of the earlier feature films.  Daniel Craig did his best with the script, but he seems tired, and rumours abound that he is not interested in playing the role again.  Lea Seydoux and Andrew Scott also do their acting best with the script, as does Christopher Waltz, but it’s hard to have any enthusiasm for the storyline.  It’s surprising that Ralph Fiennes found himself in this franchise, and pardon the pun, he seems out of character.

David Flynn