Film: Disclosure Day & Hever Castle and Gardens
From Friday was supposed to be three more days of Meetup - that day, I booked with The Hideout for Disclosure Day, in which Emily Blunt plays a TV weather forecaster who suddenly finds herself communicating in a strange, clicking language, which only Josh O' Connor finds he can understand. Colin Firth seems to play a bad guy, as per the trailer. Directed by Spielberg again.. Now, when details were finally announced, it was in the Odeon Leicester Square, fair enough - but at 3.45pm?!! Talk about not catering to people with office jobs! So, four of us cancelled our attendance on foot of that - and decided to head, together, to the much more sensible 7.30pm showing in the same cinema! And for anyone that wants to join me, as I said, I booked for Bella Italia beforehand.
The bus drive in was a jolting one, the driver leaning sharply on the brakes - that's happening a lot these days. And the bus was a bit delayed - so I was a little late for the restaurant. One person was joining me there, and as it turned out, beat me to it, giving my name.. and as he remarked to me when I sat down, I was obviously a regular, because when he'd done so, a flash of recognition came across the manager's face.. anyhoo, I had my usual, but when my companion asked for a recommendation, I did warn him that it was quite rich, so he went for a different pasta. Everything was delicious.. all the more so for the £5 pasta offer! which we both availed of. (That finishes on Friday, BTW). And we had a lovely chat.. as he said, he was going to be spending more time in London presently, and wanted to pick my brain.. what to see, where to eat.. so, for one thing, I recommended that magic show to him, as well as the ticket outlet I used..
As we were waiting for the bill, another of the group popped in to say hi - she hadn't been able to make it in time to eat, and was on her way to the cinema, nearby. We joined her - and the fourth member - in the lobby, where I ordered a drink and had to wait ages.. and we were in Screen 1. The complicated one, where you're never let into the Stalls, it's always the Circle. So the seat number on your ticket is purely hypothetical, and will probably not be found. We picked a row and all sat together.
Ooh. This is grand.. that's the first thing that occurred to me. It's an epic, on a grand scale. The music, the camera work, the concepts.. one thing we could agree on, coming out, was that the likes of Spielberg will not be seen again. From the trailers, if you hadn't guessed, you can tell this is about aliens.. coming to Earth, making contact. Shades here, then, of E.T. - but updated to the modern day, with modern technology (and still some extraterrestrial technological wizardry).
The stars that lead this are superb. Colin Firth is indeed the bad guy, working for some conglomerate for which Josh O' Connor used to work, but is now on the run, intending to leak sensitive information that he believes the public have a right to know. Faithfully accompanying him is his girlfriend - and wow, I cannot believe I didn't recognise Eve Hewson! Shame on me.. but I only ever previously saw her in a minor role in Enough Said, playing the daughter of James Gandolfini, whose last film it was - he died shortly afterwards. And then we have Emily Blunt, as a tv weather reporter who suddenly comes over all funny on air..
Someone I was speaking to later wondered about the feasibility of having Colin Firth as a villain - no, I assured them, he does an excellent job! His role is almost entirely supervisory - he's a senior figure, pulling strings: doesn't get involved in running around or shooting people. In fact, in this, he's quite ill, as we discover.
Josh O' Connor is excellent, and quite believable, as the tech guy turned rogue.. and in the more incredible scenes, can be heard muttering to himself phrases such as "what am I doing..?" Loved him in this. And you know, he's sympathetic.
Eve Hewson plays the faithful, but confused, girlfriend, being dragged into something she doesn't even understand. In this, she's an ex-nun - a plot point meant, I think, to imbue her with religious sensibilities - which will be significant later, if only as a mirror to what ultimately happens.
Have to say though, Emily Blunt steals the show, as the ultra-busy careerwoman, who suddenly has the equivalent of a juggernaut throw her life into disarray. She develops abilities she shouldn't have, she goes along with it all with a rather dazed expression - and with a good dollop of humour into the bargain. Superb casting - many scenes, particularly further along in the film, have the camera on her as she stares silently, and we watch breathlessly..
I spent 2/3 of this film in tears. Really. The person beside me said she thought I was suffering from hayfever. But then you see, I'm an awful softie.. and there are animals, communicating with people - jeez, if Spielberg ever does the Chronicles of Narnia, I'm doomed. Because there's nobody like him for tugging at the heartstrings - for making you feel: be it fear, excitement, or sadness.. or mainly, a sense of wonder. There is nobody like Spielberg for making you feel like a kid again.
My companions weren't quite so taken - don't get me wrong, they liked it, but (ahem) thought it was a bit long. It is a long one - 2.5hrs - personally, I didn't find it overlong at all, but each to their own. Mind you now, for all that they were suggesting it be cut, not one of them could suggest what bits should be cut.. Sorry, I think you need it all. To cut it would be to lose.. the grandeur. I thought it was terrific. Go see.
Afterwards, as we chatted, and watched the long queue waiting to enter The Hippodrome, we wondered whether the World Cup might have been the reason for the early showing by The Hideout - anyway, that night, a call went out on The Hideout's WhatsApp group for scores for the film from people who had attended other screenings. I'd collected ours - so I submitted them, under the banner of "the rejected of Hideout". Interestingly, our average was slightly higher than theirs..
Well, we were quite late coming out of that - and I had to be up early. See, the weekend belonged to London Museums A-Z (LoMAZ) - on Saturday, we had a day in Hever Castle! We were to arrive at St. Peter's Church in time for a guided tour thereof by our accomplished organiser, Jonny - well, group organiser, rather than organiser of the event. Travel is convenient for me, with direct trains from London Bridge taking under an hour. Booked my train ticket with Uber, with which I had so much credit, it was nearly free.. made it down to the station a bit early - walking, there was no sign of any buses - and arrived before the platform was announced. Google Maps, however, told me it was Platform 10, and I made my way up there. But it was a good thing that someone else from the group posted a picture when the platform was announced.. because it was Platform 15.. muttering, I made my way over there. We didn't sit together in general, agreeing to meet at Hever Station instead, but one of the group happened to sit across from me, at the table I'd snagged, without even realising!
So yes, we found each other pretty easily at Hever Station.. and then had a longish walk to the castle - or specifically, to the church - along narrow country roads:
Picturesque.. but not a massively pleasant walk, with no footpaths and a fair deal of traffic, particularly as we got closer. It was a relief to get there at last - and yes, as you might expect, the church is picturesque:
And no Jonny! So you know, we spent some time wandering the outside:
Could have turned into a real mystery - the case of the missing man - until he finally emerged, with some story of being up the tower and unable to hear our cries, or receive messages. Ah well.. we were let in at last:
..only to be evicted again, for a tour of the graveyard:
And a little lecture about the church, its orientation, and some of its history. Funny, it had never occurred to me that (many) churches face East..
Back inside, and we had a look at a very old, but quite well-preserved brass, in front of the altar. Interesting for me, as I'd never before seen monumental brasses - they're very rare in Ireland in comparison with England, and the only place you can actually do brass-rubbing in Ireland is in St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, it seems! (Yes, I had to look that up.)
Now, Hever Castle was the home of the Boleyn family, and Thomas, father of Anne, is buried here, with another brass - but a lot of wear and tear to the tomb:
Now, I knew they had Irish connections - see, his mother was a Butler, younger daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormond. And sure enough, as well as being Earl of Wiltshire, he was Earl of Ormond - as testified to on the tomb. Irish title. Speaking of the tomb inscription, we saw a typo, and spent much time musing on why it wasn't corrected - as one person said, probably too complicated and expensive! And we wondered about the bricks on the tomb - possibly indicating the addition of another body: his wife, perhaps? (Meanwhile, as we were listening, a veritable swarm of wasps provided commentary from the window.. sadly, I don't speak wasp, so am clueless as to what their contribution might have been.)
No wasps visible in this picture, of some original stained glass, with a B, just to make the point:
There's also a tomb for Anne's baby brother, who died in infancy:
They're planning a memorial to Anne herself - keep an eye out, it's to be announced at the end of the month!
Also of interest is some writing, uncovered on the wall - seems that how they painted the wall afterwards means it's not feasible to try for more:
Next came lunch, inside the castle grounds - where we ended up split between people who wanted to eat outside, and were happy with hot dogs and chips, and people who wanted something like a restaurant, where we could eat off plates, and get wine. So we did. And were well chatted and nourished when the time came to move on.
Ah, and finally, to the castle itself. I'd been told it was beautiful:
I mean, I remember remarking to someone in the group that it was almost like something that Disney would create - the perfect, fairytale castle.. I particularly love that there's water in the moat.
On entering, we had the option of audioguides - I took one, but honestly, didn't use it for most of the visit. It did come in invaluable at a couple of parts, though.
After the Boleyns, the castle passed to Henry, who gave it to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves - it was apparently during her tenure that the entrance hall was built:
(The picturesque Tudor village at the edge of the castle was built by the Astors too! Well, if you're gonna spend money, make it look nice..)
A scene for a more intimate dinner..?
A rich tapestry hangs in what would have been the master bedroom:
Indeed, the decor was very busy:
Now, the castle currently features a Capturing a Queen exhibition, focusing on what Anne Boleyn, whose childhood home this was, actually looked like. Well, what they do is present you with lots of pictures of her, and ask you to decide which is the most realistic. I mean, it could be this one:
Or this one:
Maybe this one?
As I recall, this following picture was the earliest, and the only one painted in the same century..
Another couple of candidates?
Whichever - I'll leave it to other heads to decide. Meanwhile, I went to look at the room of costumes that have been used in portrayals of her over the years. (I like the middle one, personally.)
Nice little reconstruction of Henry and Anne in their bedchamber..
Plenty more castle to see:
And so the group gradually finished with the castle, and went for a stroll:
Ooh, Tudor chess pieces!
The castle is also hosting a Home Front 1940s exhibition - I didn't take their invitation to dress up accordingly, although many did, and some cut a fine figure. Indeed, Winnie himself was queueing in front of us for ice cream!
Speaking of ice cream, I made the greatest mess possible eating a double scoop of chocolate ice cream.. that top had to go in the wash bag when I went home..
Nearby, a wedding was taking place - stunning location for it!
The day ended with Jonny up another tower - in the middle of a water maze!
Thence to Henry VIII - the pub - where some imbibing was done in the back garden. And Jonny dispensed new, freshly laminated LoMAZ signs - I took a couple, and the first miracle of the day was that I remembered to bring them with me. A couple of kindly members of the group who were driving drove the last of us to the station, and thence we repaired to London. Where I could have blogged.. but simply didn't get around to it. Damnit, it was a long one anyway. But on the plus side, the signs came safely home with me - the second miracle of the day!
Check out the next post for more..
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