Reviews

This is a masterful Bavarian TV production of "The Confessions of Felix Krull" by Thomas Mann. Bernhard Sinkel directs the action with complete attention to detail and a visual feast illustrating the elegance of the Belle Époque. The lush settings of the countryside, together with the extravagance of high society living in the towns are beautifully conveyed in this story of opportunism. John Moulder-Brown as Felix Krull is perfect for the role and gives a tour-de-force performance. His looks, his deportment and his smart clothes all add to the appearance of an increasingly confident young man who engages fully in society, taking all the advantages offered to him. With his boyish good looks and slim figure, he makes full use of these attributes to achieve several amorous adventures. But his goal is as a gentleman with in high society and he is unwilling to have long-term attachments, nevertheless enjoying them while they last. While he tricks his way along, it is more the case of pandering to those who see him in their own particular way than any true deviousness on his part. Ultimately he meets a family where his sensibilities to the mother and daughter, change his nature to a more understanding and compassionate level. Although I have only seen this production in German and yet do not understand the language, the quality of everything throughout overrides any barriers that this may cause. There is humour, passion and elegance throughout and you are left with the satisfied feeling of having had the opportunity of watching drama at its best.

This a kind of Roman beach holiday for boys, with philosophical overtones. In a kind of reality play acted without a script, a group of boys discover freedom on an Italian beach and analyse the conventions that they otherwise obey. Religion is ever present by a character who first advertises for actors in a play and then appears in many guises throughout the film. In their freedom the boys (early teens) frolic on the beach and carry out their 'roles' in a naturist fashion - i.e. without clothes. But the boys are relaxed with their nudity and not at all embarrassed. It is evident that these boys are not professional actors and this, combined the nudity should not be misread as gay movie. The countryside is beautiful and the beach cliffs, dramatic. It's an unusual film and the type that would be considered an art-house film. But if you end up confused and disgusted, then you're watching in the wrong way. This is a film that does have a message, but one that we frequently obscure.

I suppose events happened and people acted in a way during World War II that seem incredible now. And if we didn't occasionally have some evidence for them, we would hardly believe them possible. So looking for your son, who's a British pilot and has been shot down in Germany, seems not only foolhardy but something Hollywood might dream up. On the other hand it's also very courageous. There's the usual bad-mannered Germans and the correct Englishmen. The sets and the actors are fine, but I think what stretched my credulity a bit was the way Dyan Cannon still wore make-up when she was supposed to be in disguise. I doubt if the average prisoner-of-war wore lipstick, except in the shows they put on. The suspicion that it was made for the American market was always in my mind.

From the moment José Berghmans wonderful music loudly bursts through the opening credits, and we see the French countryside spread out before us, the scene is set for some comedic kid's action. And the film doesn't fail in its presentation of kid's war games as adventures of childhood than the adult realities. Full of French flavour and populated with excitable adults and children, it's a hilarious picture of how children play together. The penalty for being captured is the loss of all your buttons and the method of one gang to avoid this is a hoot! I watched it without sub-titles and although I don't speak French, it still had me in fits of laughter. Petit Gibus is so funny when, plied with Calvados, he gets very drunk and very merry. This is a film that belies the fact that films need computer graphics and violence to be watchable. This film recalls an era when simples games and adventures were all that were needed to fill your days.

If you had to choose a film that represented British Cinema at its best, you'd be hard-pressed to find one better than "The Ladykillers". The story, the sets, the actors, the photography, the humour, are all perfect. There isn't a bad performance anywhere, and that goes for everyone, including those who only briefly appear. The ladies who arrive for an afternoon tea party are all wonderful. Even the parrot, who creates mayhem amongst the thieves by escaping and flying around the room, puts in a perfect performance. Curiously the story is by an American, yet he has managed to portray all the idiosyncrasies that makes British humour what is is. The wonderful thing about the bunch of thieves is that they are all equally excellent. Alec Guinness with his crooked teeth, Peter Sellers' spiv, Herbert Lom's dark psychopath, Cecil Parker's colonel character and Danny Green's dumb heavyweight - with the wonderful nickname of one-round. The cameo performances of people like Frankie Howerd, Jack Warner, just add to the completeness of the film. But Katie Johnson is absolutely superb and the house she lives in, a fantastic creation of a Victorian house precariously sitting on top of a railway tunnel. The ending is incredible and if you thought that it might tail off here, well it doesn't. I cannot recommend it enough. Any student of British Cinema or those just wanting a really good laugh, this is the film to start with.

Really there was no need to make another version of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" other than the Hurd Hatfield one. This is a marvellous story from a brilliant writer - Oscar Wilde - and it doesn't need updating to another century. The much darker and more mysterious Hurd Hatfield version keeps you watching all the time. Here, I'm afraid, the frequency of some actions becomes rather boring and tiresome. That said, Helmut Berger does convey the image of beauty that causes the character to try and hold on to it. The degeneration of the painting attempts to convey the debauched life that he realises he can lead, but the painting in the Hurd Hatfield version really provides a vision of extreme moral degradation.

It was a good idea to try and update the story, but it doesn't really work here. The characters are too light and inconsequential. As a vehicle for Helmut Berger, who made a batch of much better films in the early 1970s, it doesn't fully work. Worth seeing in the development of an actor's career, but not satisfying enough to do justice to Oscar Wilde's idea.

Perhaps the most concerning thing about this film is the way many reviewers only see it as controversial, because it deals with young love. Also the ideals it sets out are how we would like to see the world, but are often prevented from doing so.

Get past all this and you have a simple story of a boy and girl, who become friends and develop into lovers; but mostly outside of society's rules. While they pay lip service to certain conventions, they don't allow the rules to control their daily lives. The need for money requires the boy to get a job, but beyond this they live an idealistic existence in the beautiful surroundings of the Camargue.

If you don't get a warm feeling while watching this film, then you have a cynicism that will spoil any innocent storyline. This may not be the Hollywood blockbuster that makes a lot of money, but it's one of those films whose story is very relevant at any time.