craigboney

With a who's who cast of fine British actors (Maggie Smith, Alan Bates, Helen Mirren et al), and Robert Altman at the helm, the portents seemed good. The presence of Emily Watson was also a major factor ('Breaking The Waves' -for me, one of the saddest, most beautiful and most brilliant pieces of cinema ever).

I'd heard this was maybe a little above the usual English country house period drama fodder. Indeed, the start was impressively done, as you get sucked into the world as it was in the 1930's and the way the extended family suckle at the fat belly of Sir William McCordle (played by Michael Gambon). Upon his death, it's rather stultifying to witness the calmness, almost warm wave of apathy that seems to infuse most of the gathering. Unfortunately, this lack of emotion from the characters infected me as well.

It's sometimes difficult with such a large cast simply remembering who is who and how they interrelate with each other. To overcome this, it helps if there is enough depth to encourage repeat viewings. Unfortunately, it takes so long for anything beyond character development and scene setting to occur, that repeat viewings are (for me anyway) unlikely. The volume of characters and their equality in terms of importance unfortunately renders the viewer's relationship with even the most interesting ones - such as Robert Parks (Clive Owen) and Mrs Wilson, The Housekeeper (Helen Mirren) - not necessarily intimate enough to generate any real feeling when their denouement comes.

The absolute nadir of the movie is the atrocious Inspector Thompson (portrayed by Stephen Fry), such a ridiculous unbelievable caricature of an incompetent 1930's Detective that by his appearance he sucks out all seriousness and believability from the final third of the story. Handling unfingerprinted decanters? Ignoring clues found by enterprising Constables? You betcha. Thankfully the good points - the performances of Emily Watson, Maggie Smith and Richard E Grant, the articulation of the class differences and arrogance of the upper-classes - balance this somewhat. Unfortunately, for me, this was still a bit of a sows ear made from a silk purse.

Directed by the 'controversial' Catherine Breillat (she showed a hard-on in her last movie, 'Romance'), the story revolves around a family on holiday with two adolescent sisters, the chubby 13 year old Anaïs (played by Anaïs Reboux) and the rather more svelte Elena (Roxane Mesquida) who is two years her senior, although rather less mature. Both girls are still virgins, although Elena is clearly aware of the power of her beauty over the opposite sex. Effortlessly she pulls Italian law student Fernando (Libero De Rienzo, with whom she begins an intense relationship. Fernando talks of love, but is obviously keen for sex. Poor Anaïs is unfortunately sharing a room with the pair as they fumble towards a deflowering. Indeed, this is one of the most beguiling scenes in the movie; you feel awkward bearing witness to what is going on - the constant demands of Fernando for 'a demonstration of love', which after refusals brings forth the sorts of coercing phrases regarding anal sex that so many girls must dread to hear.

The animosity is often intense between the sisters, Anaïs' bitterness towards her sister combined with a resigned maturity that only rejection and frustration can breed. But at the same time there are wonderful scenes of the two sharing sisterly moments; albeit with bile never far away. The point is well made, the bond is there, no matter how much of a bitch Elena can be. Anaïs is such a lost, sad character; the melancholic beauty of one scene on the beach where she is singing to herself whilst Elena and Fernando 'make out' is incredible. Also well portrayed is the relationship with the parents. Mother is very much like Elena; Father is a workaholic who hates holidays and returns home before the others. Although the parents are mostly secondary in the story, you sense that they tend to reinforce Anaïs insecurities and knock her down further. This is exemplified in the scene the morning after the first Elena & Fernando night together. Anaïs is clearly really low, crying and choked. Her parents offer zero warmth, the only solace coming from a still caustic Elena shoving bread into her mouth to comfort her.

The story climaxes as the sisters and their mother return home from their holiday, after a gloriously comic scene where Fernando's mother (Laura Betti) visits to reclaim a precious ring that he had given to Elena as an engagement ring. The journey toward home is fantastically shot; the claustrophobia of motorway driving - especially since the mother doesn't like driving, and is pretty p****d at Elena's antics and Anaïs' miserableness - metaphoring the unease between the three, even more so as night wears on and mother becomes more wary of the huge dangerous lorries that she overtakes incautiously on the freeway. If I was an absolute ponce (or totally fearless), I would say these trucks are a metaphor for the male predatory sexuality against the tiny feminine car (which still manages to nimbly overtake at will most of the time). But I'm not (?), so I won't. Anyway, the ending comes as a huge shock. So I'm not going to tell you it. But safe to say you don't leave the cinema with a laugh and a giggle.

Overall, I was actually surprised by how deep this story was; there was only one gratuitous erection, and even that was covered by a condom. A brave attempt to analyse adolescent female sexuality, often leaving an unplesant taste in the mouth, but well worth a go if you're in the mood.

Amelie is a beautiful film. Visually it is absolutely stunning, with some marvelous sequences that delight the eye; the story is wonderful, quite well balanced although (only very) occasionally becoming saccharine.

The first third introduces you to Amelie as a child and her family. This is superbly done, at a frenetic pace with delicious jaunty humour and is truly inspiring to watch. Particularly good is the development of the characters; many have endearing quirks which are wonderfully explained in a comical quasi-documentary style. 'Amelie' is perfect in every way up to and including Amelie's first good deed, a moment which is truly wonderful to experience and as life affirming as anything I've seen since The Straight Story.

After this, the movie is a little less inspiring, detailing the peripheral people in Amelie's town and their lives. Were it not for the momentum lost in this section, this would undoubtedly be a 10/10 picture. Some of the repeated jokes (gnomes, confusing grocers) begin to lose their edge. The feel of the film here becomes more reminiscent of 'Delicatessen', also directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

However, the final third picks up on shy Amelie's quest for love and regains some of the vigour previously lost. Audrey Tautou is brilliant in the title role, and it's good to see Matthieu Kassovitz (writer and director of La Haine) in the wonderful role of Nino. All credit, it's a lot harder too make a good 'feelgood' film than a cynical one, and Jeunet has succeeded with aplomb here.

9/10.