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The Dark Angel (1987)

Wonderfully Wicked Halloween Fare

This dark tale of Victorian horror really has it all: the splendour of the period, decrepit Gothic mansions, overgrown graveyards, great characters, suspense and a cast of very good actors.

Beatie Edney is lovely and sweet as the young heiress Maud, Jane Lapotaire simply marvelous as the wicked governess, and the great Peter O'Toole - what can I say? He is as wonderful as ever and brings the bright and the dark elements of this tale beautifully together with his ability to make the transition from being charming and seemingly benign to pure spine chilling evil in a split second. It's worth watching this for his performance alone.

They should show this every year for Halloween. It's absolutely wonderful!

Ladies in Lavender (2004)

Two wonderful actresses in a forgettable film

Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are two accomplished actresses and there is nothing wrong with their performances here, even though they seem to be reprising their respective roles in the much superior "Tea with Mussolini" (1999). In fact, the entire plot seems like a variation on a major plot line of that film: Ageing English ladies taking care of a foreign young boy. So there is nothing very original here.

The film itself is full of enchanting English scenery and charming period interiors. And yet, it seems little attention has been paid to detail, there are just too many instances where obvious elements of modern life have crept in (you'll find a good few of them listed in the "goofs" section). The most jarring for me was the appearance of the German woman Olga. She looks like they forgot to put her through make up before filming: Her hair style and make up, especially that pink lipstick, are not congruous with the 1930's, not even in the case of a foreign artist. She looks like a young woman you could meet just about anywhere in Germany today.

Another problem are the accents of Andrea and Olga. Andrea, who's Polish, at times (but not consistently) speaks the flawless German of a native speaker. Olga, on the other hand, is supposed to be German (even though both her first and last name suggest Russian or other Eastern European heritage), yet her German is heavily accented throughout. Since this doesn't lead up to some twist in the story it is ultimately just annoying.

Sadly, all this smacks of lazy carelessness and adds up to a forgettable film, in which very nice performances from the two leading ladies are simply wasted.

Chances Are (1989)

Perfect Hour and a Half of Escapism

This is one of the ultimate feel good films for the female audience: Everybody in it looks wonderful and is terribly nice, the interiors are the stuff of dreams, even the bosses are considerate! Of course you know it's fantasy, the scene above the clouds where Louis' soul is 'recycled' makes that abundantly clear. So don't spoil it for yourself by dwelling on the unlikelihood of events.

The story is rather predictable, but if you want to shut out reality for a little while and lose yourself in a rosy dream that works just fine. You're transported into a world where your beloved ones come back after death, your home is neat and tidy without anybody ever doing the cleaning, and where a man who absolutely adores you has dinner preparations well under way when you come home from work. The list goes on and on,

Also, there is a bit of nostalgia for those viewers who are old enough to remember the 60's, and the scene where Alex meets Miranda in the college library (plus the casting of Ryan O'Neal as the impossibly nice Philip Train) is reminiscent of "Love Story".

This is a film from 1989 and it probably doesn't appeal much to today's younger audience, but if you were around in the 80's you may well enjoy watching it again. It provides a perfect hour and a half of escapism from whatever reality you may find yourself in.

And for those who don't like the idea of Miranda falling for the reincarnation of her own father there is always the alternative that Corinne cheated on Louis with Philip in the first place... The thought is put out there by Philip's reaction to Corinne's news that she's pregnant and once we see Miranda it doesn't seem altogether impossible. If you follow this scenario through, strangely enough the film also works, and everybody gets exactly what they deserve in a much more ironic way.

Sibirskiy tsiryulnik (1998)

Like a Psychedelic Dream

This is a wonderful, funny film! Nikita Mikhalkov uses the same concept of a foreigner (Dzheyn) reminiscing about travels to a romanticized version of Russia, and a love affair with a Russian, he has already used in "Ochi Chernie" (Dark Eyes) several years earlier.

In "The Barber of Siberia" an American woman remembers events that took place twenty years earlier and that affected her life and that of her Russian lover forever. Their romance is the stuff of Russian melodrama, but it provides a great frame for the hilarious events which are so beautifully depicted in the lengthy flashbacks that make up the main part of the film.

The Russia of 1895 we see is highly stylized and all the clichés are included: Onion domes (real buildings in Moscow!), snow and horse-drawn sleighs, drunkenness, pompous officers and mischievous cadets in the army, the tsar galloping onto the parade ground on his white steed with his young son in front of him, the sheer Russian exuberance! This is not meant to be a historically accurate picture of late 19th century Russia. Remember, this is a film made by a Russian director who knows the true history of his country! He consciously creates a story book version of his country for the audience and makes sure everything is exaggerated to such a degree that all but the most dimwitted of viewers get the surrealness of it all. Especially memorable is the delirious "butter week" scene.

And while the emphasis of the film is on comedy, and even slapstick, there also is a lot of subtle irony present, much of it aimed at the Russian society at the time, which is easily missed if you are not familiar with the history and culture of Russia. But it doesn't matter if you don't catch every nuance. It's all about enjoying the film. And that is easy. I found myself smiling throughout the film, and despite of the bittersweet ending, it was like waking up from a delicious psychedelic dream when it was all over. Like many of Mikhalkov's other films "The Barber of Siberia" is a visual masterpiece.

A Good Woman (2004)

Enjoyable, but it could be so much better

First let me say, this is an enjoyable enough film with beautiful pictures, witty dialogue, and pleasant if nondescript music. It's perfect watching for a rainy afternoon.

There are a few problems though. If you know Oscar Wilde's play "Lady Windermere's Fan" (on which the film is based), you will find that much of the wit of Wilde's dialogue is lost. This may have to do with the fact that the main characters in the film are American and not English. Also the action has been transported from the prim and proper Victorian period (the play was written in 1892) to the jazz age of the 1930's, where the mention of the Depression in America firmly puts it. So the director has a double task: to make a Victorian play work in the 1930's, and to create an illusion of that era for the audience. And this is where he struggles.

The period is well researched and painstakingly recreated. The costumes are in keeping with the time, and so are the interiors, cars, and props. Yet somehow one doesn't get a 1930's feeling when watching the film. Everything is too new, too shiny, too perfect. There is no dust in the streets, no litter, no stray cats (remember, this is Italy in the 1930's!). The dialogue is written in the style of the time, but it is delivered, especially in the case of the Americans, in the style of 21st century Hollywood, with too much flashing of flawless teeth. The British characters are a bit more convincing, probably helped by the fact that the cultured English accent they use has not changed that much over the years.

The director has all the right ingredients: good actors, a stunning filming location, period props and costumes. And yet he fails to put them together and produce a convincing picture. Everything is just a bit rushed and clinical. One is left with a feeling of slight dissatisfaction that "this doesn't seem to be quite right, somehow", to quote from another film set in the same period, Peter Bogdanovich's "Paper Moon". Bogdanovich made his film (in 1973) in black and white to achieve a 1930's atmosphere and to make sure his actors didn't come across as too good looking for the time. And he pulled it off to perfection.