Longford

I thought this was one of the most powerful pieces of television drama I have seen for a long time. It rates up there both in content, production and fantastic casting and acting with the wonderful Conspiracy (Ken Branagh and others a few years back). I wonder if Longford may come to be seen as Jim Broadbent's finest portrayal. It bears many more than one viewings and I think (as I did of an earlier drama programme this year about the Moors Murders) that it is brave and correct for skilled directors/writers etc to tackle this incredibly difficult subject. Well done to all involved and I look forward to the next project coming from this talented team.

The Myra Hindley/Ian Brady Moors murders of 1963, one of the most heinous crimes in England since Jack the Ripper, has been beautifully transcribed to the screen by writer Peter Morgan and Director Tom Hooper. And though the story is basically about Longford's relationship with the incarcerated Myra Hindley, the film paints a rather complete portrait of a strange man who vacillated during his lifetime among religious beliefs and spoke out strongly for the rights of prisoners and 'unfortunates' who fall out of line with the law all the while riling against pornography and other vices.

Jim Broadbent creates a wholly credible Lord Longford in this amazing performance. Transformed physically to resemble Longford's bizarre appearance, Broadbent manages to convey the spectrum of trust, self-doubt, pity, outrage, compassion and blind religious belief in a manner few actors could match. The remainder of the cast is equally excellent: Samantha Morton finds every nook and cranny of the enigmatic murderess Myra while Andy Serkis gives a chilling depiction of Ian Brady, her accomplice who knew how to manipulate the government and people as well as the infamously wily Myra.

The story is in many ways grounded by the strong forces of Lady Longford (beautifully realized by Lindsay Duncan) and the Lady Tree of Sarah Crowden and Harold Wilson of Robert Pugh. Hooper knows how to magnify the class differences between the gentry and the working class and his choices of locations and pacing of confrontations both in the prison and in the home and in the court are spot on.

This is one of those films for television that teaches us what really fine films can still be. It is a tremendously moving piece of work and Jim Broadbent will long be remember for this classic role. Highly recommended for repeated viewing. Grady Harp

Plans to finally sit down and watch the Rules of the Game by Jean Renoir went by the wayside when I fell into the HBO movie Longford. This is the story of Lord Longford working to try to get Myra Hindley out of prison for child murder. I was vaguely aware of the story prior to seeing the film, but I wasn't really prepared for the twists and turns. Clearly its not about what it seems to be about at first, namely getting an abused woman out of prison. It is ultimately about something else entirely, namely a story about dealing with the mistakes one makes, the ability to change and the ability to forgive. The cast is first rate with Jim Broadbent outstanding as Longford the odd Lord who champions Hindley's case when everyone tells him otherwise. Andy Serkis as Ian Brady, Hindley's lover and co-conspirator is particularly slimy and evil. I really liked this movie a great deal. Forgive me this is one of those movies thats better if you just see it since its just so damn interesting I don't want to spoil it.

I was only a boy at the time of the Moors Murders, so remember very little about them. However, this film has made me want to find out more, especially about Myra Hindley, who was portrayed in this film almost like a brunette Marylin Monroe. She captivated everybody and made them fall in love with her, possibly even Lord Longford.

The performances by all the main characters were first class, especially Jim Broadbent as Lord Longford, and Samantha Morton as Myra. Compared to Charlize Theron who, almost literally, turned herself into a monster for "Monster", Samantha Morton played Myra as a very attractive woman, but equally evil. The way the film was made, even at the end I didn't know who was "really guilty" Brady or Myra. Andy Serkis as Brady made a compelling psychopath, whereas Myra's part was far more ambiguous. Linsday Duncan was brilliant, as ever, as Lady Longford

'Longford' is the coming of age masterpiece of television and film director Tom Hooper. In it a transformed Jim Broadbent becomes walking-self-caricature Lord Longford, the famous, perhaps infamous, campaigner for civil rights and early release for prisoners - most notably Myra Hindley, the female murderer of five schoolchildren in Yorkshire, England in the 1960s.

Samantha Morton is Hindley, tightrope walking above potential seduction and deception of Longford as well as possibly very real repentance. Longford himself is viewed as a man perhaps blinded by Hindley's charms who may be equally as guilty of manipulating her plight in a hobbyist fashion.

Andy Serkis encapsulates the mythical monster and the man that is Ian Brady, yet still the film as a whole carries with it the seed of forgiveness as the way forward in the judiciary and paints the heart of mob rule as blackly as perhaps the hearts of the Moors murderers in fact were.

A compelling film, with no easy answers, and the showcase of some of the most magnetic acting performances ever lensed.