Reviews

Miss Potter

April 9th

Chris Noonan 2007

Starring: Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson, Perdita Weeks, Bill Paterson, Lloyd Owen, Richard Mulholland, Barbara Flynn, Matyelok Gibbs, Anton Lesser.

The members made a very successful choice for the last screening of the Society’s eight film season. ‘Miss Potter’ was thoroughly enjoyed by the members and dozen guests who gave it our highest rating of the season - 96%.

Beautifully filmed, this biopic of Beatrix Potter vividly paints a picture of an inspirational woman who was a literary phenomenon of the 20th century, and went on to become an early environmentalist. She was such a gifted artist that the delightful little books she created over a hundred years ago, entrance even the most sophisticated children today.

The film examines how she rose to fame in Victorian England, a time when women were only expected to marry and run a home. As the story begins, Beatrix, 32, is well-adjusted, despite being unmarried and living with her well-to-do parents. An accomplished painter, she dreams of publishing her animal drawings, as well as the stories that go with them, and in neat, small-sized books, perfect for children. Of course, most publishers scoff, but one decides to publish Beatrix's "bunny book," and soon sets in motion a publishing juggernaut. During the process, Beatrix also falls in love with her young editor, Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor), and their relationship develops as they work together on the publication of her first Peter Rabbit Book, only to end tragically with his early and sudden death.

Zellweger is playing yet another English rose, but this time without the extra weight she carried as Bridget Jones. Although not nearly as endearing and quirky, Zellweger's Beatrix is resolute and outspoken, willing to stand by her beliefs and forge ahead despite the opposition she faces. McGregor, too, seems comfortably fitted for the role of Norman, earnest and with a determination to succeed. He falls completely under the spell of Peter Rabbit and eventually, Miss Potter.

 Veteran British character actors Barbara Flynn and Bill Paterson effectively play Beatrix's parents. Mr Potter is understanding and appreciative of Beatrix’s artistic talent, while Mrs Potter is unable to overcome her snobbishness and disappointment that her daughter has not made a good marriage. Emily Watson plays Norman's spinster sister, Millie, with whom Beatrix finds she has much in common and develops a sisterly relationship. A brash, intelligent woman who also speaks her mind, Millie thoroughly enjoys life as an unmarried woman and quickly takes Beatrix under her wing.

When Norman dies Beatrix puts her energies and royalties from her literary success into buying a farm and increasing acreage of land in the Lake District in order to protect it from developers, and thus is an instigator of the National Trust.

Director Chris Noonan waited a decade after helming the Oscar-nominated ‘Babe’ before finding his follow-up project, setting his sights on ‘Miss Potter’. There's definitely some symmetry to his choice, with both beautifully framed films having much of the same sweet-natured sensibilities, as well as animals. Unfortunately, the film stalls a bit towards the end, and our audience would have liked one more scene to draw the story more naturally to a close.

Chocolat

March 12th

Director, Lasse Hallstrom, 2000, 127mins Cert 12

Starring: Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Alfred Molina, Judi Dench, Carrie-Anne Moss, John Wood, Lesley Carron, Lena Olin.

Nearly everyone that came to see ‘Chocolat’ brought chocolate for the raffle, and soon the table was covered with a wide variety - very fitting for the delicious story to come.

I Saw Three Ships... the children’s clothes boutique, sponsored ‘Chocolat’ and it was preceded by a delightful promotional film made by the society, depicting a mother and her little girl in the shop choosing and buying a new dress.

Director Lasse Hallstrom has a gift for telling poetic stories of people seeking acceptance and a sense of belonging. Previous films like ’My Life As A Dog’, ‘What's Eating Gilbert Grape’ and ‘The Cider House Rules’, all boast characters with vivid imaginations that turn to fantasy to escape the harsh realities of their situation.

In ‘Chocolat’, Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) arrives in a small French town with her daughter, Anouk (Victoire Thivisol), and opens a chocolaterie right opposite the church, during Lent. It is 1959, when life was more simple, and conformity was all. She immediately incurs the displeasure of Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina), the town's moral conscience. The rest of the townsfolk find themselves torn between their faith and the alluring sights and

smells offered by the new shop.

They are however unaware that Vianne’s chocolate has subtle but amazing powers. As their curiosity, plus the warmth and generosity of Vianne draws them into the shop, they fall under the spell of this mysterious stranger.

She is settling in and even making friends, when a band of river Gypsies led by Roux, (Johnny Depp), arrives on the scene to further confuse and unsettle the suspicious natives. But, after a dramatic fire, Vianne teaches the townspeople something about acceptance, and finds love for herself along the way.

An experienced cast of stars bring vividly to life the variety of characters, drawn so beautifully by Joanne Harris in her book. Juliette Binoche is captivating as the enigmatic Rocher. Her ready smile convinces as well as conceals. Judi Dench is typically adept at finding warmth and humour even in the cantankerous, terminally ill, Amande, while Lena Olin (the director’s wife), is painfully effective as the tremulous Josephine who is persuaded to leave her violent husband. The well meaning but lonely Comte, who's struggling to come to terms with his wife's absence and his ever-growing feelings for his secretary (Carrie–Anne Moss), is played with dignity and vulnerability by Alfred Molina. Add to this the opportunity to see John Wood touchingly portray a lonely man devoted to his little dog, and the beauty and elegance of Lesley Caron as the

widow of forty years who is still in mourning.

Beautifully photographed by Roger Pratt, ‘Chocolat’ has a fairy tale look and feel, obviously a European film rather than one made in Hollywood.

It is a tender film full of humour and depth, delivered with a deft touch, and even if it is a little too sweet for some tastes, it is a film that the Chudleigh audience really enjoyed.

Feb 12th

Tsotsi

With yet another clash of events in Chudleigh this season our fears of having a reduced audience were again unfounded when our community cinema in the Woodway Room was almost full for the February film showing; the South African film “Tsotsi. The most notable absentee was our enthusiastic chair who was unfortunately temporarily indisposed. We were delighted to welcome some new faces in the audience, and also Alex the projectionist who stood in admirably for his father so that the show could go on.

Following on from his success with his first advertisement, Ray had made a promotional clip of our second sponsors, Quest for Zest, Chudleigh's very own Well Being and Fitness Centre.

We were also delighted to have Nigel Musgrave with us, the Head of Media Studies at Teign School. Nigel has spent several years in South Africa and he introduced the film set in the township of Soweto twelve years after apartheid with life still a struggle against poverty and crime, such that night drivers don't stop at red traffic lights, but slowed down instead, for fear of car- jacking. And yet Nigel reminded us that there is still beauty in the country and the film showed this with the lovely yellow light of the clear sunsets and sunrises above the shanty roof tops of the township.

The young teenager, Tsotsi, whose name means “thief” or “thug”, lived in the present, alone, showing no feeling of compassion. He was head of a small gang of misfits who lived by crime, routinely using knives or guns to get what they wanted. After the gang killed a man on a crowded train, Tjotse was being taunted by the drunken, Boston about his earlier life and name, until Tsotsi could stand it no longer and beats Boston's face to a pulp. He flees from the gang, ending up in the affluent suburbs of Jo berg when by chance he encountered a mother having trouble opening her security gates, giving Tsotsi the opportunity to steal her car. What he didn't realise was that the car had a baby in it, and after crashing the car he found himself unable to leave the crying baby, taking it away in a carrier bag. He didn't tell anyone he had the baby and being unsuccessful at feeding the it he forces at gun point a mother to feed the baby. The young woman gradually gets Tsotsi to confront his own childhood with his father throwing him out onto the streets, forcing him to live rough in a large pipe on waste ground with other homeless children and families. Tsotsi even takes the baby to see where he had lived before he takes it, still in the carrier bag, back to his own home. But with the police at the house with their guns trained on Tsotsi, we were left not knowing what future Tsotsi might have had.

The Oscar winning film for best foreign language film in 2006 is based on the only novel written in 1980 by playwright Athol Fugard. It is full on and harowing until the baby begins to have a humanising effect on Tsotsi, who is played convincingly by Presley Chweneyagae in his first role. The action is played out to the energy and rhythm of the township music called Kwaito, and the evening showed the Chudleigh audience a completely different life which most of them would never see for themselves.

January 8th

The Italian Job

We thought we might be in trouble for our January film night when Chudleigh was once again deep in snow. But our ever-reliable projectionist, Nick, was certain he could get down from Taunton and home again as long as New Exeter Street and Exeter Road were clear. So we set up the Woodway Room hoping that our loyal members would be able to make their way from the four corners of Chudleigh for another enjoyable evening. And so it proved to be, with your chair rather anxious not to let down our very first sponsor.

We not only had a good turn-out, but several new people came along to give our community cinema a try, as well as members of the South Devon Mini-Owners Club. They helped us promote ‘The Italian Job’ with three of their endearing cars, at Chudleigh Late Night Shopping, and they can claim to have seen Ray’s first attempt at making an advert. This unique promotion for SLJ Auto Services was not only informative but amusing and witty. Well done Ray, and we look forward to the next one for Quest For Zest in February.

 Although revised in 2003 with Mark Wahlberg, and set in America, the original, 1969 version of ’The Italian Job’ that we watched is still the best. At least, as far as the Chudleigh audience is concerned. Featuring some old favourites – Michael Caine, Noel Coward, Benny Hill, Irene Handl, John Le Mesurier - it was still felt by many that it was the cars that stole the show. The iconoclastic Mini Coopers, driven so exuberantly and with such skill, are still received with appreciation and affection. Fiat offered to provide as many cars as the crew could crash, plus a Ferrari and fifty grand, but the filmmakers did the right thing and refused.

 Assembling a motley gang of low rent losers Charlie Croker (Caine) heads out to Turin where, through an audacious piece of traffic management, and with run-ins with the Mafia, the lads rob an armoured car and get away with $4 million in bullion. Except that, as everyone knows, they don’t. Loaded with gags, girls, cars and gold the depiction of plucky Brits making off with Italian loot is fast, funny and always worth another look. And despite it appearing on TV shortly before, it was all the more enjoyable for seeing it on the big screen.

The director Peter Collinson was orphaned as a child, and adopted by Noel Coward, who paid for his education.

This was Coward's final film and it was a struggle for him to remember his lines, so his long-term companion, Graham Payne (who plays Keats in the film), was brought in to help him.

Screen writer, Troy Kennedy Martin should receive his share of credit for the film’s continued popularity. He wrote many scripts for TV, from ‘Z-Cars’ to ‘The Old Men at The Zoo’ and ‘Edge of Darkness’ as well as for Hollywood films. When he died last September, he had just finished scripting an ambitious six-part TV work on global warming called Broken Light, based on the writings of James Lovelock.