Bank Holiday

I try not to compare apples and oranges, but occasionally am driven to it. Last night I watched Martin Scorcese's Shutter Island, an overlong cinematic puzzle jammed with references, a jumbled encyclopedia drawn up from it's director's lifelong adoration of the movies, a film that doubles back upon itself, a film at odds with it's comic asides and serious overtones (i.e. Nazi Death Camps). I found much of it admirable, more of it a chore to experience.

Three On A Weekend, also known as Bank Holiday is a remarkable document to come out of an England preparing for war with Germany in the not too distant future, an early lark from master director Carol Reed (The Third Man), a film that begins in a hospital with a melodramatic event, then churned into the lives of several groups of people who are jammed into holiday trains ending up at the seaside.

I found the one film so sincere in intent, so clear in execution, and felt with such fondness for the peculiarities of the human condition, that after a long, long night of immersion in the twisted labyrinth of Shutter Island and into the frenzied mind of Leonardo DiCaprio as he copes with his own sanity, that this simple trip to the beach (in black and white) and dealing with the romantic and social dilemmas faced by the average man was an entertaining relief; it was so clear that there would be changes, and not all of them simple- minded.

And that, I suppose is my point. Occasionally I weary of repeatedly bludgeoned with gore, visually assaulted with violent behavior, and mystified by unclear motivations; such an approach may be modern, but now and then I miss the spell of simple entertainment in a story of people I can care about. That's what Three On A Weekend delivered in spades, and that's why I recommended it.

I don't think Bank Holiday is for everyone. This thought is reinforced by the other reviews I have read here. But I found the film delightful.

Set during a bank holiday in England, this summer story is about various people who make the trip to seaside Bexborough, filled with various hopes and dreams. During their excursions, they cannot escape the realities of their stations or of life, in general.

The primary couple--Stephen and Catherine (played by the beautiful Margaret Lockwood)--travels to Bexborough under the pretense of love.

There is a young woman and her girlfriend who make their way to Bexborough so that the one can represent Fulham in a beauty pageant. To win would fulfill their dreams.

Then there is a family (parents and three children) who fights the holiday crowds, seeking an escape from the routine of their lives.

The stories intertwine and overlap with each other and with other minor sub-stories, creating a most entertaining patchwork. Moments of comedy are juxtaposed with moments of grave concern. The mood shifts continuously throughout the well-written script.

Bank Holiday has a very strong cast, wonderful black and white photography, and a score that does not intrude. The stories are engaging. Recommended for anyone who appreciates character development.

A lightweight piece that looks at the lives of people during the popular long weekend holidays. It has inventive funny moments and shamefully ends in a dramatic campy style. But worth the look if you are interested in the earlier works of director, Carol Reed.

What a fabulous film! Its description certainly doesn't do justice to this very entertaining and addictive soap-like story about a group people you are immediately interested in. It leaves you wanting more - in just an hour and a half you get to know these people so much so that when it ends you miss them.

I am astonished just how well this as made. Not just in terms of production, acting, writing and all that - in terms of it doing what a film should do, getting inside you, making you feel part of the story, making you live with its characters. To engender an audience's engagement with so many lead characters in a picture is not an easy task but Carol Reed manages to do this instantaneously with everyone. All the stars were aligned for this - there's nothing I can think of which could have been done better, everything blends together perfectly.

I'm not a soap fan but I know that to enjoy those shows takes a while until you get to know the characters. That's what's so exceptional about this - by using stereotypical but not clichéd characters, you know whom these people are right from the start. Because they're so rounded without being clichéd (well ok, a bit clichéd), you instantly like them. You know how they think, how they feel, how they love. You know what they like to do, what they eat, where they're from and where they're going in life. If you had to, you'd probably figure out the names of their pets as well.

A few people have commented that it's a marvellous snapshot in time of life in the late thirties but this is so much more than just something just to watch to get the feel of what it was like to live in 1938. It's a superbly produced drama about what love is. Wuthering Heights' Hindley thinks he's in love with Margaret Lockwood's Cat with whom he's arranged a 'dirty weekend.' She however bizarrely believes she's in love with a man she's only met for about a hour whose wife has literally just died giving birth. And then there's the secondary characters: Rene Ray and her best friend have a deep and loving supportive friendship, is that love? And there's the cockney family - he seems just to want to go to the pub, even at times leaving his wife and family waiting outside in the street for hours. He wouldn't know romance if it punched him in the face but these too seem to love each other in their own way.

Even the most ardent 1930s film fans will admit that a lot of films made in the 1930s were terrible - especially, as much as it pains me to say, films made in England. This however is as professionally produced and as beautifully photographed and scored as anything made decades later - the reason may of course be Carrol Reed. Another reason may be that this was made by Edward Black's Rank-funded Gainsborough Pictures. Another reason may be some of the best acting you'll see in any film from any country in the 1930s. We can fool ourselves into believing that say Jessie Matthews or Joan Blondell are great actresses but then you see Margaret Lockwood and realise, like Edward Black, head of Gainsborough did that she's on a different level altogether. She is particularly outstanding in this, her first headline role. The way she conveys a million emotions in the most subtle gesture is exceptional.

Guy's wife dies in childbirth, nurse says "do you want to see the baby now.?" Guy says "no, never", and nobody seems to think that strange, really?