Twelfth Night (Imogen Stubbs)

(Amazon UK link)

We’re trying to work our way through the DVDs we have acquired over the years but have never watched, as well as re-watching some we haven’t seen for ten years or so. Last night my husband decided on the 1996 production of the Shakespeare play ‘Twelfth Night’. I have no idea where we got hold of this; I suspect a charity shop or similar.

We saw an excellent production of this play nearly twenty years ago, and it had not occurred to me that this would be made as a normal film rather than being a stage adaptation. So I was a little startled when it opened with the inside of a ship, in stormy weather. We saw the twins Viola (Imogen Stubbs) and Sebastian (Steven Mackintosh) singing a a double act, shortly followed by the shipwreck which separated them, before any dialogue begins.

This is followed by what I later realised is scene two of the original script. Viola is devastated at (she assumes) the loss of her brother, and decides that it’s safest to dress up as a man. She plans to seek employment at the court of Orsino (Toby Stephens), the Duke who is in love with a lady called Olivia (Helena Bonham Carter). But Olivia’s father and brother have both died recently, and she has renounced the company of men.

The famous opening line, ‘If music be the food of love, play on…’ then shows Viola, already disguised as the man Cesario, playing for Orsino. After that, the story moves forward (if I recall correctly) in the order of the original play, but with the addition of relevant scenery, interspersed with some songs.

I had assumed at first that the setting was in the 16th century, contemporary with Shakespeare. I was then startled by the use of a bicycle in one of the early scenes, something that was not invented until much later. So I adjusted my time-frame, and realised it was set as if in the late 19th or even early 20th century.

It always takes me a few minutes for me to get into Shakespearean dialogue, but it wasn’t too difficult, and I was soon absorbed in the story. The overall plot is well-known: Orsino loves Olivia, but she falls in love with the supposed Cesario who is really Viola. Viola herself then falls in love with Orsino.

There’s a fair bit of comedy inherent in this, but extra comic relief is provided by the drunken Sir Toby (Mel Smith), and the fool Feste (quite unlike any Feste I have previously seen or imagined, brilliantly played by Ben Kingsley). There’s also the pompous Malvolio (Nigel Hawthorne) who has both a comic and a poignant part to play.

I was amazed at how alike Viola and Sebastian looked, and thought they must be close relatives, only to discover later that the two actors are unconnected. Imogen Stubbs is a credible Cesario, with quite a bit of low-key humour in the way she moves, and facial expressions. Helena Bonham Carter is excellent as Olivia, and Nigel Hawthorne as Malvolio was inspired casting, in my view.

It’s not laugh-aloud comedy for the most part, and is quite bawdy in places, but I’ve always liked ‘Twelfth Night’, and thought this an extremely good adaptation. It’s rated U in the UK, PG in the US. Shakespeare’s plays have quite a bit of innuendo and this play has its share, but younger children wouldn’t get them. I doubt if anyone below the age of about eleven or twelve would be particularly interested anyway.

However this would be an excellent version for secondary/high school or university students studying this play, to see realistic backgrounds and scenery, and to see far better the context (albeit a few centuries too late).

Recommended to anyone who would like to see something a bit different.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews

A Taste of Honey (Rita Tushingham)

(Amazon UK link)

Years ago we acquired some DVDs which a relative had collected free with weekend newspapers. ‘A Taste of Honey’ came with a Sunday Telegraph, and has sat in our to-be-watched DVD drawer for five years or more. We knew it was black-and-white, which isn’t necessarily appealing, but last night we finally decided to watch it.

The film, made in 1961, is set in a northern coastal town of the UK. It stars Rita Tushingham as Jo, a young girl of perhaps 15 or 16. She lives with her mother Helen (Dora Bryan) but the two have an acrimonious relationship. Helen likes drinking and dancing, and men… Jo is full of anger at life in general, and her mother in particular.

We see them doing a ‘moonlight flit’ from a rented apartment where they have fallen behind on payments, ending up somewhere worse, though presumably without either means to pay or references. It’s impossible to tell time-frames, as the action moves forward in random jerks; Jo is at school when we first meet her, then employed at a shoe shop, looking after herself.

We thought at first that it might be somewhat amusing, but it’s really all rather depressing. Rita Tushingham’s acting debut is impressive, and apparently she won an award for the role, going on to a lengthy career as an actress. Dora Bryan is also a expressive, if caricatured and rather inconsistent. At one point she seems to care for her daughter, at other points she ignores her or treats her badly. She’s shallow and increasingly dislikeable as the film progresses.

Jo herself is rather blatant; she appears quite shy at first, but makes male friends as easily as her mother clearly has done through the years. There are a lot of issues in this film which were probably very shocking back in 1961. Jo first makes friends with a black sailor, and then with a young man who is gay. Promiscuity is rife, along with casual sex, although it all takes place off set. Indeed, I see that the film was initially rated as X, although there’s no real violence, no bedroom scenes, and no bad language. Our edition is rated 15, but I see that the general UK rating is now 12. That seems about right to me, although I can’t imagine it being of interest to anyone below the age of at least fifteen.

I understand that the genre is that of the ‘kitchen sink drama’ which was popular in the 1950s and early 1960s in contrast to the lavish earlier films that were produced. So we see a slice of what life probably was like for poorer, working class folk of the era. But the conversation is quite stilted in places, the action slow and plodding, the background music irritating. Worst of all, there’s no resolution to any of the storylines.

I was startled to read that the play on which the film was based had quite a run both in the West End and Broadway. I should perhaps have guessed that it began as a play, since there are only five named characters in the play, as far as I recall, although there are a lot of children around as extras. I was even more surprised to learn that this film is highly rated and won several awards.

Perhaps it’s a particularly good example of the kitchen sink genre; maybe caricatured and depressed looking characters are to be expected. But neither of us enjoyed it. It’s only 96 minutes long, but I found myself regularly glancing at the clock. It certainly isn’t the pleasant escapism I look for in watching DVDs.

I really wouldn’t recommend ‘A Taste of Honey’, but don’t necessarily take my word for it. It’s clearly very popular in some circles.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews

Winter Solstice (Sinéad Cusack)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s over eleven years since we watched the made-for-TV film ‘Winter Solstice’, based loosely on a book of the same name written by Rosamunde Pilcher. So it seemed like a good idea to re-watch it last night.

The story opens with Elfrida (Sinéad Cusack) scattering the ashes of her late husband. When I read the book ‘Winter Solstice’, about fourteen years ago, I thought Elfrida was quite elderly. She’s supposed to be sixty-three… and when I was in my early forties that age seemed a long way off. Watching the film last night, it struck me how young and lively she seemed… I would have guessed that she was in her mid-fifties.

Oscar (Jan Niklas) is supposed to be considerably younger than Elfrida, but I’d have put him at around fifty. Not that it mattered. Oscar and Elfrida have a good friendship, and Elfrida becomes very fond of his daughter Francesca. Then disaster strikes… an incident which comes early in the book, and which is dramatic and shocking in the film. I didn't remember Francesca having an older half-brother, the selfish and unpleasant Giles.

Most of the story takes place when several diverse and not entirely compatible people find themselves staying in a remote house in Scotland. There are some unlikely coincidences - two people, connected with the two co- owners of the house, both deciding to stay there at the same time, for instance. More unlikely still is that Sam, a young businessman, happens to arrive at the same time as Carrie, a young woman he sat next to on an aeroplane. I don’t remember if the latter coincidence was in the book; evidently I should re-read it soon.

There are some changed details which didn’t matter too much. Carrie is supposed to be aunt to the teenage Lucy, whose father has remarried in the book. In the film, Carrie is her older half-sister, with a very flaky mother. I don’t remember Lucy being caught up in computer games in the book, but perhaps she was. Nor do I recall anything about a business venture, Sam having to make people redundant, or a whisky distillery. But if those were in the book, I may well have skimmed over them as I prefer the relationship parts of the book.

While the scenery and photography were excellent, in places, I was a tad irritated, as I was the first time I saw the book, that there was so little snow. The book has these unlikely characters snowed up for a few days, not wanting to celebrate Christmas at all. The film has surprisingly balmy weather, where people don’t even need to wrap up particularly warmly, and only a sprinkling of snow after the Christmas Eve midnight communion service.

Overall, I thought it a very enjoyable film. I wasn’t expecting it to be the same as the book this time, so wasn’t disappointed. The characters were well-cast, and I thought the pace about right for a character-driven story of this kind. My husband is happy to watch this kind of film with me, and also enjoyed it although he commented that some of the sound was not quite correct. I hadn’t noticed.

The rating is PG, which I think is probably right. There’s the shocking scene I mentioned earlier, and quite a violent tussle later in the book. There are a couple of ‘morning after’ bedroom scenes, although no explicit nudity or intimacies. There’s not much bad language, although the word ‘God’ is used as an expletive several times, including (rather oddly) at least once by the Vicar.

The story is quite intense in places too, but since it mostly concerns adults and their relationships, the film is unlikely to appeal to anyone below the age of about fifteen.

I would recommend it to anyone who likes this kind of gentle character-driven story, with the proviso that you should not expect it to be closely connected with Rosamunde Pilcher’s novel ‘Winter Solstice’.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews