Films: Another Country & Small Things Like These

This past weekend, I was back to Ireland again - earlier flights, but I managed to skive off early, and it was nice to have the whole of Friday evening to relax. On Friday night, they showed Another Country on telly. The story of the Cambridge spies, it stars (a very young) Colin Firth and Rupert Everett (as Guy Bennett/Burgess) - it is 40 years old! And aside from the story of how these young men were convinced to become spies, it's a very interesting peek at the English public school system. But yeah, I was happier seeing it for free - I don't think I'd have bothered to see it in the cinema.

On Saturday it was Small Things Like These, where Cillian Murphy plays a man living in small-town Ireland in 1985. There are flashbacks to when he was a kid in the 50s - it does take a moment to figure out that's him as a kid, it's not made explicit - and while these are important to explain his motivations, most of the action has him all grown up and married with five daughters, and his own business. Unfortunately, he finds himself living beside a Magdalene Laundry.. determined to do something to help the inmates, he runs up against the implacable head of the institution, Emily Watson. Yes, and it isn't so easy to speak out if you're depending on the self-same institution to educate your little girls, in years to come.. and in those days, a religious education was the only choice. Based on a Booker-prize-winning novel, screenplay by Enda Walsh, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck listed as producers. Showing widely - I saw it in the Omniplex.

Heavy traffic in town meant I could watch these guys for a while - apparently a TikTok stunt, they set themselves up as spoon-playing leprechauns:

Unfortunately, everyone seems to have decided to start their Christmas shopping early, so I was a little late for my film, crawling through the car park. At least, in the late afternoon, people had started to head home, so I didn't actually have much trouble parking. And I made it during the ads - although my seat was taken by someone else in what was quite a packed screen, so I ended up in the row in front of that.

As expected, this film is very far from the spoon-playing leprechaun image of Ireland. In fact, a sense of gloom and despair hangs heavy over the entire thing - even outside the convent. It's not constantly raining - although the fellow beside me wondered out loud to his companion whether it was filmed in Cork, and to be fair, it does resemble it - but actually, it seems to have been filmed in the "sunny southeast"!  Well, they stuck to gloom in this film - even when it's not raining, it looks as though it's thinking about it, with that low-hanging cloud. To be fair, in my experience, that's a pretty accurate depiction of the weather - and it does suit the theme of the film.

Ireland of the 80s was severely economically depressed. I was there, I remember. The young were, as the saying went at the time, "educated for export", with most choosing to emigrate. Living standards weren't terrific - the Celtic Tiger hadn't been born yet - and it was a different world from today, with foreign travel a real luxury. Even though Cillian Murphy has his own business, he and his wife and five daughters live in quite a poky terraced house. And they're the lucky ones - they can afford to live a decent life. We see a couple of kids during the course of the film who are in much worse circumstances.

So that's another thing you need to remember when considering why he didn't act faster - in a world where the Church reigned supreme (the film opens, tellingly, to the sight of two church spires, bells pealing in unison), the way to get ahead was to do as you were told. The Church could be a marvellous ally - or a terrible enemy. And woe betide him when he sees something they didn't intend him to see, during a visit to the convent (his business is supplying fuel, and they are regular customers). Given his history, it's natural that he has an instinct to help. But as those who care for him warn him in the course of the film, he's treading a dangerous path..

It's based on a novel - but from what I've heard, what's depicted in the Magdalene laundry is true-to-life. And I have to say, the nuns in this are scarier than any horror film - swooping around in their black habits like crows. To be fair, as someone remarked to me, there must have been decent ones too - but we only meet about four, none of whom I'd care to meet in real life. Emily Watson, as you might expect, plays a blinder, and her crowning glory is a scene where she entertains him in her study, where she tries to get him on-side, to ensure his silence.. 

Cillian Murphy, for his part, spends most of the film looking toward the ground - an unassuming man, his demeanour was probably ingrained in him from his origins, gradually revealed to us in the film. And it is a joy to see him, as the film progresses, slowly come around to doing what he knows to be right. For my part, I spent the film stunned at this depiction of the sheer audacity and air of superiority of the nuns, even though it wasn't anything I hadn't heard before - it's just depicted so blatantly..

Stunning film. And doing great business, from what I could see - my showing was nearly full, and the next showing was sold out, I noticed. Highly recommended.

Having vowed never again to take a flight as late if I can avoid it, for the return leg to London I'm shunning Ryanair for the rest of the year, and going Aer Lingus, who fly 2.5 hours earlier. And so, I got in last night at a reasonable hour.

These three days promise to be musical ones! Today and tomorrow, I'm with TAC - first time in a while. Tonight, I'm going to see the Fibonacci Quartet, for the Kirckman Concerts at King's Place. And my sometime companion is coming too - we're eating at the Rotunda in King's Place beforehand. Let's just hope they don't keep us waiting all night, as they have a tendency to do!

And tomorrow, I'm seeing The Definitive Rat Pack tribute act, at Boisdale of Canary Wharf.

And on Wednesday, I'm with Over 40 Living the Life, for The Magic of Motown tribute show, at the New Wimbledon Theatre.

On Thursday, I was to be back at Watkin's Occult Bookshop, first time in ages - this was for a talk from the author of a new book - on Book Curses! Eating afterwards at Bella Italia Cranbourn Street again. But I subsequently decided to check out the film list (hence the delay in blogging) - and top of the list was No Other Land, a documentary formed from a young Palestinian boy filming every eviction from his village by Israeli forces. Teams up with a sympathetic Israeli to do it. Sounded more interesting to me. Closest showing to me is in the BFI - and with it mostly sold out, I said I'd better book. Eating in The Archduke beforehand.

Then, a couple more days with Meetup. On Friday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for The Glorious French Revolution at the New Diorama Theatre! Eating beforehand at the nearby Greene Man, which is a Greene King pub, so good food should be had. Most of the group is actually eating at Ravishankar - but with it being vegetarian, I'm not keen.

On Saturday, back with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies, yay! This walk is Baker Street and its Quirky Surrounds.

As is becoming something of a habit, afterwards I'm joining Movie Roadhouse London for a film! This time, it's Gladiator II, at Picturehouse Central, with Paul Mescal replacing Russell Crowe as the gladiator who shows Rome the error of its ways, and a return by Connie Nielsen.. seems I mistook who was whom, and her son is actually the aforementioned Paul Mescal, by Russell Crowe! So yes, he IS his son.. Denzel Washington also shows up as a slave that wants to overthrow Rome. Directed by the very bankable Ridley Scott.

On Sunday, I'm back with the Crick Crack Club! This time, it's Queen of Between, with Sarah Liisa Wilkinson, and it's at the British Museum again - which means I'd better leave a huge chunk of time for queueing!

And next Monday, I'm headed to Reykjavik, in Hampstead Theatre.. which, ironically, UITCS went to a while back..