Once more: The Leopard, 1963

We have blogged about Visconti's THE LEOPARD from 1963 a lot here, check label - I had another look at it, it is even more staggering on Blu-ray particularly that long ballroom sequence at the climax, which goes on for about 45 minutes. as Burt Lancaster's Prince of Salina and Claudia Cardinale's Angelica (was she ever more resplendant?) dance to that Verdi waltz as Alain Delon's Tancredi watches, as does the other guests. I was watching a documentary on Silicy the other day and the presenter, Alex Polizzi, visited the palazzo which contained that ballroom and adjoining chambers - its all exactly as it was then. I love Lampedusa's book too and have to return to it every few years, which again makes me want to see the Visconti epic once more ... it was of course a huge influence on Scorsese (check out THE AGE OF INNOCENCE), Coppola and others. 

Claudia of course was at her zenith too in Visconti's 1965 operatic melodrama: SANDRA (or OF A THOUSAND DELIGHTS). Thankfully thats available again now, I loved it when I was 19. She and Jean Sorel are another jaw-droppingly beautiful couple ...  

The Age of Innocence, 1993

I saw THE AGE OF INNOCENCE back in 1993 but had rather forgotten it and had certainly forgot how opulent and lush and sumptuous it looks - it certainly looks like Scorsese's hommage to Visconti - that early scene of Daniel Day Lewis arriving at the grand soiree as the camera pans and glides around certainly suggests Burt Lancaster at the ball in THE LEOPARD, while other scenes suggest SENSO or Visconti's last film L'INNOCENTE in 1976 - this Scorsese film is certainly its equal in showing us the grand surroundings and soirees of the period, and those costumes ...

Society scion Newland Archer is engaged to May Welland, but his well-ordered life is upset when he meets May's unconventional cousin, the Countess Olenska. At first, Newland becomes a defender of the Countess, whose separation from her abusive husband makes her a social outcast in the restrictive high society of late-19th Century New York, but he finds in her a companion spirit and they fall in love.

It is of course Edith Wharton's classic novel (published in 1920) which has become a labour of love for Martin Scorsese in his first period picture, and this one certainly delivers in spades, as one of the most marvellous costume dramas ever - up there with Kubrick's BARRY LYNDON and those Visconti films (and it also suggests Ivory's THE EUROPEANS with that other visiting Countess from Europe, and then theres Jeremy Irons in SWANN IN LOVE) with a superb cast, and brilliant production work, edited by Scorsese regular Thelma Schoonmaker, with an Elmer Bernstein score and the voice-over narration is by Joanne Woodward! 

Daniel Day-Lewis commands the screen as usual as Newland Archer, that prisoner of the conventions and social rules of his social class; with Michelle Pfeiffer as the Countess Olenska, and Winona Ryder as May Welland, Newland's wife, seemingly innocent and naive but really manipulative and cunning, as she thwarts Newland's plans. The supporting cast includes Sian Phillips as his mother, Alexis Smith, Richard E Grant, Geraldine Chaplin, Jonathan Pryce, Alec McEwan, scene-stealing Miriam Margolyes and an uncredited Claire Bloom, whom I unaccountably missed - I shall have to watch it again next time it is on. 

It may seem too long and too slow with nothing much happening for some, but its a film to savour and relish and lose oneself in, and then that perfect final scene, with the older Newland and his adult son, will make it all worthwhile, with lots of marvellous moments along the way. 
Of course New York in the late 19th Century must have been a building site with all those buildings going up, and also a melting pot with all those new arrivals, but we don't see any of that in this rarified world. Scorsese's film is also a worthy companion to all those Henry James and E.M. Forster adaptations. I shall probably now have to read the book and treat myself to the film on Blu-Ray ... Working my way through Scorsese's films it is a super re-discovery, like THE AVIATOR. I will have to see Day Lewis's amazing turn in GANGS OF NEW YORK again too.

In the mood for summer repeats

Rapture! - In the mood for IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE again ... (as per review last year, 2000s label). 

Our heatwave seems to be finally over, as rain and cooler weather arrive,with that autumn nip in the air already! I won't have to be drinking too many cool Italian lagers or Belgian ciders then .... but we often get a good warm late summer here in the British Isles, and over on the West coast of Ireland, where I spend time too, right on the edge of Europe ...

Meanwhile, those summer repeats keep on coming. I have a stack on recent releases to watch: THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, THE GREAT BUDAPEST HOTEL, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, SAVING MR BANKS, THE GREAT BEAUTY etc. as well as been entranced by Visconti's THE LEOPARD now even more stunning on Blu-ray (see post below), as is Lean's LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, but instead its more repeats of favourites on tv: ROBIN AND MARIAN, Channing's THE EAGLE and boxsets like LOVE/HATE, HOUSE OF CARDS, WHITE COLLAR etc, as well as vintage boxsets on Lee Remick as JENNIE (Churchill) and Francesca Annis as LILLIE (Lily Langtry, which also has Peter Egan as an exquisite Oscar Wilde).. See labels here for more on all these:

ISLAND IN THE SUN was on again, from 1957. Nice to look at, thats a perfect Caribbean island, from that best-selling novel and Fox gave it the plush treatment. I love Joan Fontaine's outfit for meeting her sort of lover Harry Belafonte (Joan received hate mail for appearing in scenes with the handsome Harry, meanwhile it was the other Joan - Collins - who was getting intimate with Belafonte..) but her white gloves and pink pencil halter top dress ensures she looks great; the above is a posed shot - they never touch in the film, apart from where he helps down from the bus ! 

meanwhile starlets Joan Collins and Stephen Boyd romance in the surf and Dorothy Dandridge is marvellous with John Justin (whom I have seen quite a bit lately, in 1943's THE GENTLE SEX and those '70s Ken Russell farragos, as reported below). James Mason is also here, married to Patrica Owens, and he kills Michael Rennie in a fit of jealousy as  policeman John Williams puts two and two together ... delirious stuff, I loved that theme song as a kid.

I can never resist another look at RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, now, like BODY HEAT (also scripted by Lawrence Kasdan) one of the key movies of the '80s. It all works perfectly here, from that perfect opening sequence with Alfred Molina to the high-jinks in Nepal before going on to Egypt .... This and Harrison's AIR FORCE ONE may well be my favourite popcorn movies. Amusing touches here too, like the (male) pupil with an apple for teacher .... with Denholm Elliot and Paul Freeman sterling support and Karen Allen as that very spunky heroine.

Two years ago we had a Hitchcock summer here, as the BFI showed all his films, and canonised VERTIGO as the best film of all time, in their "Sight & Sound" magazine (see details at Hitchcock label) - now our Film4 channel starts a 'frightmare' season with PSYCHO and THE BIRDS. I never tire of THE BIRDS and that marvellous interplay between the characters, its a very witty screenplay, Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren are ideal - particularly as she dials the telephone with her pencil - and Suzanne Pleshette is ace too.

PSYCHO continues to amaze me, one notices new things - the opening titles tell us its December 12th, but the only sign of christmas is one shot showing street decorations as Janet drives out of town, and of course its the first time a toilet was flushed in a mainstream American film! Janet Leigh is simply astounding here, and should surely have been nominated for an Award.....

Our Sky Arts channel has discovered Ingmar Bergman's THE SEVENTH SEAL which they are showing frequently, maybe most people's introduction to those foreign arthouse movies. It has of course been parodied many times, but it still has the power to mesmerise us as Death plays chess with the Knight, and the family of simple folk make their escape - the unforgiving medieval world is essayed here as the young witch is burned and people flagellate themselves to hopefully avoid the Black Death ..... its still a stunning film full of indelible images, even simple shots of the sea and the waves and the rocks have a stark power of their own. On his return from the Crusades, a Swedish knight, Antonius Block (Max Von Sydow in his signature role), is accosted by Death but staves off his demise by challenging him to a game of chess. Ingmar Bergman's best known early film is not all existential gloom. Well, all right, it is, but is alleviated by the film's inventiveness and audaciousness, and Death is hilariously sardonic. Pity the doomed souls being led away at the end, dancing on the skyline .... 

THE ELEPHANT MAN, 1980.  Nothing new to say about this apart from that I was stunned and mesmerised all over again. It has to to be one of the most powerful films ever made and David Lynch’s keeper. All the elements are there: that Victorian industrial background, the stunning black and white photography capturing it all, and the superlative cast – did John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins do anything better?, with sterling support from John Gielgud and Wendy Hiller, not to mention Freddie Jones, and that perfect ending as we clear away our sobs. Its still a key 80s movie.

SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER remains deliriously over the top too, as Katharine Hepburn's Mrs Violet Venable descends in her elevator to persuade doctor Montgomery Clift to lobotomise her niece Elizabeth Taylor to remove what she saw happen to Sebastian last summer .... poor Monty seems to be sleepwalking through this as Taylor (in that white swimsuit which was "a scandal to the jaybirds") and Hepburn go head to head ...

And then a large helping of cheese: GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER .....  I tried to avoid it but looked in before the end. It seemed even worse than I remembered, but how we loved it back in 1967. I remember friends and I going to a late night show at 11pm – not so common in London then! Watching it now one can see all the glaring faults – its shot like a tv sitcom, that house full of art and the view over San Francisco are laughably opulent and fake now, and that ghastly score.

Thankfully I missed that excruciating scene at the drive-in ice cream parlour where Tracy comes across as just old and doddery and annoying. The daughter of course is an airhead, and Dr Prentice (Poitier) seems a living saint and they just have to rush to Geneva as he has to work for the World Health Organisation so both sets of parents have to give their approval right away for their union. The black servant ("part of the family") still has to serve dinner though – and don’t get me started on this wealthy liberal family who are not Catholics, with their pet priest (dear twinkly Cecil Kellaway) who is Irish and likes that whiskey !  But of course one has to see it in the context of its time:  race relations were still very problematic then and this sugar-coated pill (along with Poitier's other hits that year IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (which I loved) and TO SIR WITH LOVE) may have helped things along. At least it revitalised Katharine Hepburn’s career (while her contemporaries were mired in cheap guignol flicks, and Kate was even bigger the next year when THE LION IN WINTER was such a hit, winning her another Oscar) – there she was on the cover of LIFE magazine and standing on her head, as a whole new generation fell in love with her - she had really been off the screen since 1959's SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, Lumet's LONG DAYS JOURNEY INTO NIGHT in 1962 was not widely seen at the time despite winning awards at Cannes, in fact I didn't see it until the dvd became available). I love her costumes and little hats in this film which she breezes through, particularly the great scene where she fires the art gallery assistant. Like all Kramer’s films of the time, it seems hopelessly overdone now.   below: Visconti's sumptuous 1963 THE LEOPARD, once again.

The Leopard & Lawrence dazzle in Blu-ray

THE LEOPARD, 1963. Watching Visconti’s opus again on Blu-ray is like seeing it afresh with new eyes. It is even more stunning than ever. Those amazing set-pieces like that long final section at the ball couldn’t be more opulent.  Burt Lancaster of course is quietly marvellous as Don Fabrizio, the Prince of Salina, who observes the changes that will happen to his society, as he embraces and encourages the marriage between his nephew Tancredi and Angelica the daughter of the rising class merchant (Paola Stoppa). Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale shine as the young lovers, particularly that long sequence where they explore that empty old palazzo. Nobody showcased Cardinale so perfectly as Visconti, both here and in his 1965 drama SANDRA (VAGHE STELLE DELL’ORSA). 

There is so much to savour and enjoy here as the unification of Italy, "Il Risorgimento", unfolds in 1860, one could almost say its an Italian GONE WITH THE WIND. Visconti covered the same era in his 1954 romantic drama SENSO (with that great performance by Alida Valli as the Wanton Countess). Don Fabrizo’s family – the wife he no longer finds desirable (Rina Morelli), the plain daughter who loves Tancredi – are shown in detail too, at family prayers and as they travel to their Sicilian summer retreat. 
The classic book by di Lampedusa (which I enjoy reading every few years) is perfectly captured in  Goffredo Lombardo’s production, photographed by Giuseppe Rotunno, costumes by Piero Tosi and the score by Nino Rota, with that great Verdi waltz for that marvellous sequence where the Prince waltzes with Angelica, cinema at its most intoxicating!  With Romolo Valli, Serge Reggiani, Peirre Clementi, Terence Hill. Marvellous that the film is restored to perfection after its initial release in washed-out, cut prints. One can see how this epic has ifluenced the likes of Coppola and Scorsese among others. More on THE LEOPARD at label.

We were also dazzled again too by LAWRENCE OF ARABIA on Blu-Ray, as well as CLEOPATRA, and will be returning to them in due course ...
and I must programme in the Blu-ray of THE GREAT BEAUTY as well ...

1963 - it was 50 years ago today ...

1963 is surely a pivotal year of the 1960s in terms of popular culture, politics and the shift in attitudes that would define the decade. It was also a key year in world events: the assassination of President Kennedy – I was 17 and playing my new Beatles records on my record player in the bedroom in Ireland, when my mother burst in to announce the news on the radio.

It was also the year of the Profumo scandal in England, which also filled the newspapers, and the start of Beatlemania with their first number one and that first album which we played all the time. It was also that year of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, the opening of England’s National Theatre, and the debut of DOCTOR WHO ! as well as the hit TV series THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS ensuring that satire was firmly on the map. 
And the movies – yes, there were some ground-breaking movies too, that we are still seeing and experiencing 50 years later – like Losey’s THE SERVANT, which I saw back on the big screen this year, with co-stars James Fox, Sarah Miles and Wendy Craig present to discuss it, after a gap of 50 years – how often does that happen? Hitch’s THE BIRDS continues to fascinate too, and is aired all the time – and the rare THE VICTORS had a tv outing last week ….

It was a transition year for me from my teenage years in Ireland to arriving in London in April 1964 when I was 18 and began catching up with all those movies (like LA DOLCE VITA which I could not see in Ireland). In 1963 though I was still, at 17, a “small town boy” – like Billy Liar I suppose.  Here is a dozen from 1963, all 50 years old now! – a key year in that transition from old Hollywood to new, and that developing British and European cinema. [Below: Tippi's Mattel Barbie BIRDS doll, complete with the green suit and pecking birds!]

1963's key movies now include Hitch and Tippi and the ever-fascinating THE BIRDS, Visconti’s sumptuous THE LEOPARD, above, Losey’s breakthrough with THE SERVANT – Bogarde’s best role to then too; the film of BILLY LIAR (it was a also a book I loved, and a play) introducing us to Tom Courtenay and Julie Christie – the swinging 60s arrived with her walking around those Northern streets! And I love its affectionate portrait of suburban life.  THE LEOPARD, THE SERVANT and BILLY LIAR now have a new lease of life as are out on Blu-Ray, as per previous posts on them - see Christie, Bogarde, Losey, Visconti labels.



Glossy enduring entertainment too with Audrey dressed by Givenchy in CHARADE and Capucine by Balmain in THE PINK PANTHER delirious fashion treats as well as fabulous movies, art cinema favourites LE FEU FOLLET and BAY OF ANGELS showing Malle and Demy at their best; THE VICTORS that grim anti-war tract with its raft of rising European actresses (Schneider, Moreau, Mercouri etc), and Neame’s I COULD GO ON SINGING – Judy almost playing herself, with Bogarde again – I had the soundtrack album, as I did for CLEOPATRA and that stunning entry into Rome. (I actually did not see that until its general release in 1964 and it certainly was worth the wait). LAWRENCE OF ARABIA was also packing them in during its initial run. In that pre-video world one had to see it on the biggest screen possible.

Back to THE BIRDS and that lovely interplay between Mitch Brenner and Melanie Daniels, as the tension slowly builds; and she looking so soigne in the birdshop, dialling the telephone with her pencil. Hitch makes sure here that she has all the right accessories: the suit, the hair, the gloves, the handbag, the lovebirds... and then there is Annie Hayworth (Pleshette) at Bodega Bay, and that very complicated mother Lydia (Tandy), and then that first gull attacks ....


Other 1963 classics that live on: THE GREAT ESCAPE, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, Julie Harris and Claire Bloom excelled in THE HAUNTING, LORD OF THE FLIES, HUD, TOM JONES (film of the year), Rattigan ran up a little treat for the Burtons and Co in THE V.I.P.s, another Bronston spectacular 55 DAYS AT PEKING, and that amusing Doris comedy THE THRILL OF IT ALL!. Another one I did not catch until London in ’64 was Bergman’s controversial THE SILENCE… and BYE BYE BIRDIE, a recent discovery as per recent post on that!

A vintage year then for a movie-mad teenager with those "Films & Filming" magazines (where I would work for a year in the '70s) and as related before - see label, I had my own personal ad ["boy 17 seeks penfriends male or female under 21...!"] in its May 63 issue [this was before the internet and Facebook] and had replies from all over the world, and I am still in touch with one of them, who is now in San Francisco !
Then there were my first records: that first Beatles album, Francoise Hardy, Peggy Lee, soundtracks of WEST SIDE STORY, SOUTH PACIFIC and the Broadway cast MY FAIR LADY.
Actors of the year: Dirk Bogarde / Maurice Ronet. Actress: Jeanne Moreau / Julie Christie.
Directors: Joseph Losey, Luchino Visconti, Louis Malle, Jacques Demy.
See labels for more on all of these mentioned and those key films ..

Some books I like ... (1)

... and have to re-read every few years. This began as 6, but now its 10. I like to have a book on the go, and discover new writers (like Irish Donal Ryan and Kevin Barry), and keep up with established writers like Colm Toibin; currently I am browsing chunky short story collections by Willian Trevor and Tennessee Williams. Some books though stay with one, and one has to have them to hand. Of course writing about favourite books (or films or music) leaves one open to having one's taste criticised -  Here are the first 5:

THE BELL - Iris Murdoch. I must have been a precocious teenager, I remember reading those early Iris Murdoch novels on the beach in Ireland (it was that pre-internet world). THE BELL first published in 1958 is among her best, funniest and most liked. One can re-read it happily every few years. The misadventures of Dora Greenfield ("Dora hated pointless sacrifices" when she was going to offer up her seat on the crowded train, leads to an amusing sequence of events). 
Imber Abbey is home to an enclosed order of nuns. A new bell is being installed and then the old bell, legendary symbol of religion and magic, is rediscovered by teenager Toby, abetted by Dora the erring wife who returns to her husband. 
Michael Meade, leader of the community outside the convent, is confronted by Nick Fawley, with whom he had disastrous homosexual relations, while the wise old Abbess watches and prays and excercises discreet authority. Religion and sex are the motifs here - Michael also impulsively kisses Toby which sets off another series of events... . Iris Murdoch's funny and wise novel is about religion, the fight between good and evil and the terrible accidents of human frailty, but is also deliciously funny, leading to a hilariously tragic climax. A great introduction to Murdoch's novels like THE SEA THE SEA, THE UNICORN, THE RED AND THE GREEN and many others. BBC did a nice serial of THE BELL in 1982, with Ian Holm, Michael Maloney and others, it would be nice to see that again.

THE LEOPARD - Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa. This chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the Risorgimento. In the spring of 1860, Fabrizio, the charismatic Prince of Salina, still rules over thousands of acres and hundreds of people, including his own numerous family, in mingled splendour and squalor. Then comes Garibaldi's landing in Sicily and the Prince must decide whether to resist the forces of change or come to terms with them. 
Published posthumously in 1958, the book remains a marvellous read. Luchino Visconti of course made one of his best films based on it, released in 1963 (as per my comments at Visconti label). The characters are so vivid: Don Fabrizio the still virile Prince, his large family, Tancredi and Angelica, and that sumptous ball at the end, when the Prince realises that things have to change in order to stay the same. The novel too gives us flash-forwards to the characters, like Angelica, in their later years. I particularly like my early '60s edition, nicely hardbound and embossed. 

THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY - Patricia Highsmith. For a novel first published in the mid-'50s this is surprisingly explicit about Tom Ripley's desires and nature, and those of the crowd he hangs around with in New York. Tom is a small time embezzler but sees his opportunity when sent on a mission to Italy .... We know the story of course from the various films (particularly my favourite, Rene Clement's PLEIN SOLEIL capturing that 1960 era perfectly). The novel has been through many editions and reissues - I have had several - and is, like most Highsmiths, still in print.This led me to devouring all of Highsmith's other novels, including of course STRANGERS ON A TRAIN and EDITH'S DIARY. She was also a master of the short story, with several collections. The collection on animals is marvellous, I love and often re-read her MING'S BIGGEST PREY, about Ming, a very jealous cat in Acapulco - it really feels like the cat is narrating this and is brilliantly done. 

COLLECTED POEMS by C.P. CAVAFY. I cherish my Hogarth Press edition of Cafavy Poems (and also that paperback, a different translation, with the David Hockney illustrations, below). I have now seen this new edition BEFORE TIME COULD CHANGE THEM, 'The complete poems, with an introduction by Gore Vidal' - and just had to have it, so it is on its way to me.

"In the dull village"

Constantine P. Cavafy (1863-1933) of course was the poet of Alexandria, in Egypt, and has come to be recognized as one of the greatest poets of modern times. Elegiac, deeply sensual, and able to plumb the heart with language of immense richness, Cavafy evokes the great lost classical world of the Mediterranean with unparalleled beauty. Much of his poetry - written about 100 years ago, deals with love, specifically homosexual. It speaks of human desire, the experience common to all mankind of love offered, sought, and lost. His verse is beautiful and embracing, and remains as alive and sensuous as it was when he wrote it.
There are so many of his poems I like and return to: "The City", "Candles", "In The 25th Year of His Life", "He Swears", "Before Time Altered Them", "Two Young Men 23 to 24 Years Old", "Days of 1909, '10 and '11", "Kleitos' Illness" as well as specific Greek themes like "Waiting For The Barbarians", "Ithaka", "Nero's Deadline", which splendidly evoke the Ancient World. If you do not know Cavafy, do try to discover his works. 

YEVTUSHENKO: SELECTED POEMS - This Penguin Paperback was an early '60s favourite of mine, it was interesting finding it again the other day. The blurb says: "Yevgeny Yevtushenko is the fearless spokesman of his generation in Russia. In verse that is young, fresh, and outspoken, he frets at restraint and injustice, as in his now famous protest over the Jewish pogrom at Kiev. But he can write lyrically too, of the simple things of all humanity - love, a birthday, a holiday in Georgia. And in "Zima Junction" he brilliant records his impressions on a visit to his home in Siberia". Yevtushenko is now much older, but was the Rudolph Nureyev of poetry then. Even now looking at those titles like "Lies", "Waiting", "Colours", "Encounter", "People", "Babi Yar" and that long marvellous poem "Zima Junction" brings it all back, being 18 or 19 again. 

Part 2 soon (Jane Austen, Muriel Spark, Edna O'Brien, Mary Renault, James Joyce).