Scary Movie Month 2014

Josh: I just love Scary Movie Month. I've been a horror junkie most of my life, and the devotion to horror movies this time of year, especially within our beloved F This Movie! community, is simply the best thing. I thought it might be nice for us to just talk about horror a bit. How we got into it, what attracts us to it, what we look for in it, that sort of thing.

I'll start with a bit of history for me. Stephen King's It hit paperback when I was 11 years old. I was in a small-town bookstore called The Bookworm with my mom and she bought it for me because I was captivated by the cover and she was always happy to encourage me to read more. The cover showed a tiny paper boat floating toward a sewer grate, and a scaly green clawed hand reaching out of the grate. I was too young for the book and while my mother recognized that, she also knew I was a pack rat and would hold onto the book until I was ready for it.

Cut to less than a month later. My father and my brother were arguing about something, I have no idea what. I only know the yelling was loud and I didn't want any part of it. I went into my room, closed the door and looked for a distraction, any distraction. There on my shelf sat this brick of a book, over 1,000 pages and with that same image of the clawed hand and paper boat on the spine. Desperate to tune out the tension in the house, I plucked it off the shelf and began to read.

The story opens with little Georgie Denbrough, a kid a bit younger than I was at the time but not by very much, folding that little paper boat on the cover. In order for the boat to float, he had to coat the bottom with paraffin wax. Unfortunately, the paraffin was in the basement, and Georgie was afraid to go down to the basement.

At this point, I was already hooked. We were living in New York at the time, and we had a big water heater in the laundry room in our basement. It was loud and had some ancient-looking cobwebby brickwork behind it and I was always scared to go near it. I was amazed that Georgie was so similar to me, I had never encountered a character in a book that had the same fears I did before.

Georgie was afraid to go down the steps into his basement and I was afraid to go with him, but we had to go down there. We needed that wax. So down we went, Georgie Denbrough and I. We went and we both got scared that a scaly green clawed hand was going to reach for us from the darkness, but we charged down those steps, grabbed the wax, and hauled ass back upstairs. We did it. We got the wax, and there was nothing in the basement to be afraid of.

I kept reading, feeling triumphant about braving those basement stairs along with Georgie, and I had forgotten all about the argument going on outside my door. Georgie went outside to sail his boat along the gutter, and a page or so later the world came crashing down. His boat slipped into a sewer grate and when he went to retrieve it, there was something waiting for him behind the grate. Something with scaly green clawed hands. Something with teeth.

That something killed little Georgie Denbrough.

Mere moments after his triumph over his fear of the basement, our triumph dammit, Georgie was dead. Gone. Literally ripped apart. I cried. Boy, did I cry. I was devastated, horrified, sad, and scared out of my mind. I put the book in a drawer, I couldn't look at that cover anymore, and I sobbed and shook with anger and fear. I knew it was coming, after all it was right there on the cover, but I never imagined that Georgie wouldn't survive it. Georgie was just a kid, like me. Kids don't die in books. They just don't. There are rules.

Stephen King broke the rules.

It was years before I went back to that book. I was in high school when I finally read the whole thing, but as long as I live I'll never forget the way it felt reading those first few pages. That was my introduction to horror, to real horror, to that helpless, terrified chill in your bones that real horror gives you. I had been scared of things before (to this day my parents make fun of my blobmares and fear of Jaws) but nothing has ever matched the sheer terror of braving Georgie Denbrough's basement steps only to lose him to the very creature he was so afraid of.

The thing is, as scared as I was after Georgie died, I was also amazed at how completely absorbed in the story I had been. Everything around me fell away, there were no arguments, there was no anger, all of that stuff was going on someplace else. I was in Derry, with Georgie Denbrough. Nothing had ever enveloped me so completely before, and as scared as I was, I was also hooked on that feeling. I had found a new home, odd as that must seem considering the circumstances.

Gabby, was there anything like that for you? Any one book or movie or what have you that got you hooked on horror?

Gabby: I love that story Josh. I wish I had one solid thing that I could point to, but really it was a collection of things. I have mentioned in the comments section on F This Movie a few times my affinity with witches. Even when I was a little girl I loved the Meg and Mog books and wanted to be Meg. I was always obsessed with The Wizard of Oz (that hasn't changed) and fascinated by The Witches (1990). When I was a bit older I got hooked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed. I think fantasy and horror are at least cousins and I soaked up the world of monsters and vampires as well and wanted more. When you're a certain age (is this just girls?) horror is the coolest things ever. Watching a horror movie is THE activity at a slumber party. I remember when it was my turn and I picked The Others, I was so happy to see the reactions of those around me. It spooked them, my choice worked! I watched Blair Witch Project at one and remember being scared out of my wits thinking it was real, even though I still enjoyed that feeling. Despite one traumatic experience with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), which was watching it when I was 11, I loved the world of horror. Still just the idea of the 74' Texas Chainsaw terrifies me, I don't know if I will ever be brave enough to re-watch it. I remember the first time I watched Silence of the Lambs (1991). I was so intoxicated by it. Every detail mattered to me. I was watching it over and over. My dad thought I was so weird. Who the hell watches a movie like that so many times? I did! I was that kind of person all along really.

Do you have any horror movies that you have watched so many times yet you still love getting absorbed in it?
Also do you have any movies that you find essential to Scary Movie Month?

Josh: It's not just girls, I think most kids go through that phase where horror is the coolest thing ever, some of us are just lucky enough to never grow out of that. I think it particularly appeals to kids because it's something that's so often forbidden, and there ain't no fruit sweeter than forbidden fruit. Also, I've never heard of Meg and Mog. Tell me more.

As for movies I still love getting absorbed in, absolutely. In fact, a few months ago I did the unthinkable. I took a DVD off my shelf, I put it in the player, I turned out all the lights, and I (gasp! shriek! other noises of terror!) turned off my phone. I know, right? I turned off my phone as if I was at the movies and I watched a movie on my couch in the dark with no distractions.

That movie was The Shining, and despite the fact that I've seen it multiple times (including once in a theater on 35mm for a Halloween night screening) it completely cast a spell over me. It probably helps that it's a movie so dependent on atmosphere, but it was like seeing it for the first time. I got just as lost in the Overlook as the Torrances and it was glorious.

There are only two movies I find essential for Scary Movie Month and they're Halloween (Carpenter, not Zombie, and I don't like that we live in a world where that qualifier is required) and Halloween III. Other than those, I tend to mix it up. This year my goal has been one new-to-me scary movie every day and so far I've been reaching my goal (I'm writing this on 10/19, on the schedule for today is the brand new director's cut of Clive Barker's Nightbreed, new enough to count). Also, every year since 1996 I've at some point in October listened to or watched Oingo Boingo's farewell concert, recorded on Halloween night in 1995. They were my favorite band growing up and that concert always helps me get into the seasonal mood, especially now that I live in a state where the leaves don't change and the air never cools.

Are there any movies or books or pieces of music that you find essential to Scary Movie Month? I know this year you've taken tons of new-to-you movies out of the library, have there been any that you feel may become Scary Movie Month essentials, or any that really stood out to you as something special?

Gabby: Meg and Mog are a series of books for small children, with large print and lots of pictures. Meg is a witch, Mog is her cat and she has a pet owl... named Owl. They were such fun. I remember one ends with Meg turning her witch friends into mice, flying off, cackling that she would turn them back next Halloween! What a fun way to get young kids into the world of Horror. There are episodes of the animated TV show available on youtube I believe. Wow that screening of The Shining sounds fantastic. I'd love to see that in the cinema.

A Scary Movie Month essential for me is at least one Universal horror. It would be like birthdays with no cake for me!

I think I need to get into horror fiction a bit more. I love a bit of Poe and have read Bram Stoker's Dracula quite a few times. I think the Harry Potter series is another good way of getting the young into scary worlds. Despite it not actually being horror, there are many scary moments within that leaving you wanting more. With music I saw collections of CDs with mixes of different Halloween type songs yesterday. I really want to get one and put it on my Ipod. I think it would be great fun to be able to listen to these every year. One song that I have to play is 'I Put a Spell on you' from Hocus Pocus. I loved that when I was a child (what a surprise) but not in the way most children did. I actually rooted for the witches, which is a bit odd. I loved them. I thought they were hilarious and full of life, particularly Bette Midler. They have some infectious giggly lines that still make me laugh when I re-watch it.

I have been watching quite a bit this year! Christine was new to me and I really enjoyed that one. I think the way Carpenter took on that subject was very well thought through. It was asked on F This Movie what scares you most in Horror and I answered it was the transforming of the soul. A loss of humanity to something that we can all fall into; like greed, obsession or vanity. Christine was Arnold Cunningham loosing his humanity through obsession, which worked on me. I think my favourite that I have rented from either repeat viewings or new ones is The Masque of the Red Death (1964). It is a great example of the distortion of the soul movie. It is filled with intelligence and falls into madness. I tweeted out that it is such a beautiful messed up ballet, a dance into hell. I was surprised the most by Hellraiser, I think that has some really interesting elements to it (another lust and obsession brings a downfall movie). From Netflix my favourite so far has been House of the Devil (thanks Adam Riske), which has really stood out to me as special. That sets up atmosphere so well. One that did it too well was Three... Extremes (2004). It was just terrifying, atmospheric to the point where it made me incredibly uncomfortable. I almost couldn't sit through that one!

What are your highlights so far and have you been scared yet?

Josh: "Birthdays with no cake"...love it! Also, let me jump on the Adam Riske train for a brief moment (wait, what?), I'm so glad you dug House of the Devil because that movie is fantastic. Easily one of the best recent horror movies.

I'm shocked that one of my highlights so far was Big Ass Spider! which is a movie I had never even considered watching before I heard Mike Mendez on Killer POV. Bad Dreams and Creep were also highlights so far, but there's been some pretty rough stuff this month too. Honestly, I even enjoy the bad stuff to an extent because it's still fun to discuss it and wading through the crap sometimes makes the good stuff shine that much brighter.

Nothing I've watched has been particularly scary so far (EDIT: since I wrote this I watched Barry Levinson's The Bay which legitimately scared the hell out of me), but I think that might be my own fault as I haven't really chosen movies that looked scary so much as I picked ones that looked fun or I had heard good things about.

I think you're absolutely right about Harry Potter. Something doesn't have to be horror to be horrific. Hell, two of the scariest things in my childhood were the boat scene in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and, of course, Large Marge. There are elements of horror in so much of our entertainment. I mean, have you seen Pinocchio lately? Because seriously, holy shit. SCARY.

What about movies that haven't really worked for you? Have you had any major disappointments so far this month?

Gabby: The worst thing I watched was Maximum Overdrive, which was made instantly better by F This Movie's commentary track of the film! The original 13 Ghosts turned out to be a real stinker, it did have a certain charm that I can't seem to explain, but it has cupboard cut outs for character. I just think they needed a Vincent Price or something and it would have made it SO much better. The Fearless Vampire Killers I wanted so much much more out of. I am not sure why but I got my hopes up. I was disappointed by that one. The rest though I have really enjoyed.
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It is like you say, even if it has been a mixed bag, I can find a lot of things to like in most of the movies I have seen, which is part of the reason why Scary Movie Month is so fun. Everyone at F This Movie tries to find something interesting to say and it just feels like a great and positive place to have discussions about the movies you are watching. So in that spirit I will say that I saw The Wasp Woman on Full Moon Streaming. It is was a typical Corman in many ways. But something about it struck me. I can't call it a brilliant movie. I would say it is good and entertaining with some interesting themes, but has some obvious flaws. However, when I was going to sleep, I had this image of me slowly turning into the wasp woman. This no budget B flick worked on me. I was so happy about that and maybe it is weird, but heck that's what Scary Movie Month is about!

Have you got anything planned for Halloween?

Josh: I like the original 13 Ghosts! I even like a lot about the remake, but I recognize that it's not very good. Totally agree about Fearless Vampire Killers, the title is great but the movie not so much.

As I write this, Halloween has just passed. Mine was uneventful: horror movies, scary music, and alarmingly few trick-or-treaters, unfortunately. I have so much candy left over that to step into my house is to risk second-hand diabetes.

We should wrap this up, but I want to know what your Halloween was like. I'm sad to see this time of year go by, but I'm already looking forward to next year. I love the focus on scary movies (and books and music and everything else that goes bump on our shelves) all month, and you and the F This Movie! community at large have made it so much better. Scary Movie Month has always been my favorite, but sharing it with all the other F Heads has multiplied that a thousandfold.

Gabby: I had a lot of fun. Thursday 30th I arranged a little night for my younger brother and sister. We carved a pumpkin (Bellatrix the Third) and then they got a surprise. I numbered four doors upstairs. Behind each door was a different plate of treats and a bunch of clothes I could make some kind of costume out of quickly (like a shawl). When I was ready, I called out 'Come up if you dare!' So they came up to the first door and knocked. I open the door as Mrs Witch (from a British children's TV show called Ben and Holly). The rule was after I closed the door they had to go back downstairs until I called them back up. Mrs Witch gave them Boiled frog (chocolates shaped like a frogs) and Eye of Newt (Jelly Beans). The rest were Gruesome Gail the Ghost, Dracula's daughter and Professor Snape (I do a mean Professor Snape impression, so ANY excuse). Then we wrapped things up by watching The Witches, which is one of my favourite Halloweeny type movies from my childhood (shocker). I think I had just as much fun as they did! On Halloween, I spent the night chatting with my friend and we watched Addams Family Values. It was so great seeing so many people in my neighbourhood dressed up this year. And as is tradition in England the fireworks have already started up, celebrating bonfire night as long as possible (still one of the weirdest holidays ever in my opinion)!

I agree, the F this Movie Community, and the people who work there, are just the best. #ScaryMovieMonth forever!

Josh: At some point before the Grim Reaper shows up at my door I'm going to need to hear that Professor Snape impression. By Grabthar's hammer, I must!

Thanks for taking the time to chat about Scary Movie Month with me, Gabby. I'm glad you had as much fun with it as I did...here's to another year of murder, mayhem, and movies!

Find Josh @Dr_David_Banner and 
http://mushniksflorist.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/scary-movie-month-2014-final-chapter.html?m=1

The Train (1964) and the value of art

What is the value of art? It represents the culture, the history, and are irreplaceable but art is far more than that. Poet Amy Lowell stated ‘Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in.’ From that we can imply that art is a way of understanding the human soul and experience something truly unique through it and that is another reason why its value is so high.

The Train shows the value of art in the setting of the Second World War, as the Germans attempt to take highly valuable French art out of Paris and into Germany. A group of French soldiers led by Burt Lancaster is working to attempt to steal it back, they are risking their lives for these paintings and there is an interesting debate raised as to why they should do this. They come to the conclusion that these paintings are worth far more than gold or goods, they are irreplaceable. One character describes these paintings as ‘the glory of France’ history and culture are represented through art and they are celebrated and treasured.

This is the then the incentive for the mission, which sets up the fantastic action set pieces that follow it. One of them includes a chase sequence with a spitfire shooting at them and a bombing of the train station. It is incredibly filmed and the tension created by director John Frankenheimer, who also directed one of my favourite classics The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and editor David Bretherton.

Frankenheimer also uses unusual tilts and angles as well as flowing dolly shots that, along with the music, help build suspense. It is a chilling and powerful end that really makes you reflect on the action that took place before it and it is one that is unusual for a film of this sort.    

The Fisher King (1991)

Josh: I'm angry. I know I shouldn't be, I know that depression is a vicious monster and something that cannot necessarily be tempered or controlled. That being said I see these thousands of pictures of Robin Williams' smiling face flooding the internet today and I get so fucking angry at him that I want to scream until my throat is raw and bleeding. While intellectually I completely understand that depression is not a choice and it can insidiously lead people to believe that suicide is their only way out I still can't seem to stop myself from wanting to blame him for leaving us.

Months ago, Gabby and I decided to write a column on what our friends at F This Movie call exploding heart movies, movies that fill you with such passion and joy that it overwhelms you. I had chosen to write about The Fisher King and The Majestic, but I hope Frank Darabont forgives me for pushing The Majestic aside for the moment because I need to talk about The Fisher King right now. Life got in the way of putting the column together, I started a new job with a more demanding schedule than I had before and I could never quite get the bat off my shoulder when it came time to step up and start writing. Last night, I got punched in the heart by the news of Robin Williams' suicide and Gabby and I spoke about how we've both been haunted by images of The Fisher King since.

The Fisher King is a fable, a story of love and hope and friendship conquering everything else in their way. It's not for all tastes (I believe F This Movie's Patrick referred to it as "too squishy" which is absolutely valid) but it's not even just a movie to me. It's magic. I cry every time I watch it, not from sadness, but from the pure joy it makes me feel. SO MUCH of that joy comes from the performance of Robin Williams as Parry, a homeless "knight" on a quest. There's that expression about wearing one's heart on their sleeve, Williams' performance is all one big, open, beating heart. Parry is a man who went through an impossible tragedy and came out the other side seemingly damaged beyond repair, but his quest is one of healing first and foremost. Williams' performance is, for my money, the best he ever gave. Funny, noble, vulnerable, fearless, and achingly, heartwrenchingly sad. Who knew how real a place that performance came from before today? So many images from it have been floating through my head today, mostly of the Red Knight, a delusion that tortures Parry, chasing him through the city, relentlessly hounding him so he can't find peace even when things start going his way.

Gabby, what images have been haunting you?

Gabby: So many bits from this movie keep coming to me I am finding it hard just to pick one. I know I have to re-watch it but this experience will be heartbreaking. This movie is something I find truly moving and in light of recent events it just got even more so. I will go then to the scene where the film gets its title. The tale of the Fisher King, Parry tells Jack. A story of a King who loses all faith in those around him and even himself, 'He couldn't love, or feel loved. He was sick with experience. He began to die'. The thing that saves him from his pain is a fool who reaches for a cup to quench the King's thirst and hands him the holy grail, which the King was mourning the loss of. This story is used throughout the film but especially when Jack fights to  get what Parry thinks is the grail, when he is catatonic. The grail becomes a symbol in this moment for how much Jack has come to care about Parry, and how he is truly sorry for what he has done. The love Jack shares for Parry in this moment I think is what manages to wake him up. Parry feels comfortable with sharing the grief of losing his wife. His demons when shared are not chasing him and crippling him, the way they are when the Red Knight turns up.

Unfortunately Robin Williams didn't find that soothing drink in real life. He felt the same as the King, he felt the life and love for it fall away. There is a shot just before the Red Knight turns up after his first date with Lydia. There is a crane shot that makes him seem so small.  It comes closer to him as he seems to be wriggling in pain and then he seems so fearful when that knight shows up, and so are we. The hope has gone when this knight is there. Even though it seems Parry has schizophrenia, he has a similar battle to Depression in the fact that events of the past are affecting his present day life, which are pulling him down into a scary and dark place that seems impossible to get out of. Robin lost his battle with that Knight. And we can all feel sad or even mad. It is understandable. But I think the most important thing is to keep spreading awareness about Depression and mental health issues. So that we can handle these illnesses better as a society. It is so tragic for someone to die of anything. But when it is suicide I think it makes us feel how desperate and awful he must have felt to do that.  It took Parry to be at breaking point for Jack to take him to get the right help. We can't let it get this far. We have to start learning and being better towards people who have it. No more bullshit about 'Perk up' or 'What have you got to be so sad about when there's starving children in the world?' This has to stop. Parry's pain is real. And so was Robin's.

One scene that I haven't mentioned yet is the ending where Jack sees how much life has to offer him now as he is surrounded by things he loves and he is able to feel hope. What are your feelings on that moment?

Josh: Before we take on the end, I just want to back up to what you said a bit before that about "perk up" and such. Someone (and I wish I could remember who it was) tweeted something along the lines of "asking someone suffering from depression 'what are you so depressed about?' is akin to asking 'what are you so diabetic about?'" and I think that's a perfect encapsulation of what so many people don't understand about depression.

As for that ending, right now I'm angry about it. I'm angry about it because for the last 23 years it has filled me with hope and now that hope feels like a lie. I'm angry because I love Jack and Parry, I love them like people who have been part of my life for 23 years, and right now I feel betrayed by them, betrayed by that ending. There are so many parallels to be drawn between Parry as a character and Robin Williams as a man that I'm finding it difficult to separate them right now. I'm certain that's unfair of me, but I can't help it. The wound is too fresh, I feel like I'm bleeding all over my keyboard just thinking about it.

I don't know that I have much more I can say about it at the moment. I want to feel that hope again, I want to feel that immeasurable joy that this masterpiece has always brought me (along with the light dusting of melancholy that coats every frame) but I don't know when I'll be ready to face it again. I hate that I feel that way, normally when I celebrity I love dies I'll watch a movie of theirs to celebrate their life but I tried to listen to Robin Williams' A Night at the Met last night and all it made me feel was anger and pain. I can't even fathom facing Parry again. I don't know how.

Gabby: I can understand what you are feeling. It is such a complex issue. The hope that Parry gets in the final moments of the film I see as even more beautiful now. It makes me well up just thinking about it. The happiness and the joy he feels in that moment lets him feel a relief from all the pain he has been through. But it doesn't mean that it has disappeared. We have ups and downs and bumps along the way. Some people unfortunately have worse lows than others. It doesn't mean however that the way they saw the world for the entirety of their lives is the same as the way they saw it in the end. Parry likes New York in June, and I bet Robin appreciated it as many times as he felt hollow and empty to it. For some reason my mind has travelled back to when I was lucky enough to sit in on a lecture with Al Alvarez. He was very close to Sylvia Plath. He talked about his feelings about her suicide and his feelings of anger and hurt. He also had a complex frustration towards her husband Ted Hughes. He talked though, of her life and her ability to see the beauty in the world around her as well as her fierce intelligence and empathy for others. She appreciated the small things in nature as well as the larger moments in life. Her life was full of laughter as well as tears. I think that gave me a lot of perspective on my feeling towards so many people who I admire who killed themselves. Even though it is tragic they were so desperate towards the end of the lives, it doesn't make their road to that any less colourful. It is so desperately sad and grey at the end of their lives but Robin was so loved by many people. Those who met him speak of what a brilliant, loyal and special person he was. He loved and laughed and even though he couldn't pull through like Parry could, maybe he can live on with that hopeful lighter ending he was given through films such as singing 'I love New York in June' surrounded by people he loves.

Josh: I hope you're right. Dear god, I hope you're right.

Gabby: The film has been strongly influenced by Disney’s Pinocchio. Jack even holds a Pinocchio doll. The film has the same fairy tale parallels, such as mixing that sense of wonder and hope with some scary and vulnerable moments for the protagonists that help them learn morally valuable lessons along the way. I think that sense of Pinocchio’s journey can also be seen in Jack’s. He learns the value of others and the world around him beyond himself and his own ego. He becomes a real boy, the pure of heart, thanks to finding connections, friends and things that he believes in that allow him to be redeemed of his previous attitudes and behaviours to the world around him. Some of the strongest elements of the film are the themes of redemption and friendship. Can you comment on how you feel about Jack at the beginning of the film and his slow journey to letting other people in?

Josh: It's weird how perspective changes as you get older. It was Jack's journey that I was focused on when I first saw the movie. He was based quite a bit on Howard Stern (era) and hearing about that was what drew me to the movie in the first place. I was a huge fan of Stern in 1991 (still am) and knowing that Jack was partially a representation of him made me curious. I love the "Jack Lucas Show" Jack that we meet at the beginning, I felt almost immediately in tune with his sensibility, and as the film progressed and he "became a real boy" as you so eloquently put it I was completely invested in that journey, I wanted to see him grow. I was glad to see him grow. As I've gotten older, I find my focus shifting more toward Parry and his pursuit of peace and forgiveness. Even though Jack is the more down-to-earth of the two, Parry strikes me as much more real these days.

Gabby: I also love Anne and Lydia. There are shades to them that stop them from being just stock characters that so many female characters are in Hollywood movies. To wrap up I wanted to quickly go back to what we were saying about Depression. It is simple really, if people could stop being sick they would. That illness is horrible and hard as well as chemical. The film shows this so well. If we ignore the pain and pretend it's not there like Parry tries to do it will catch up with us. If we try and bury it we can end up shutting the world out, like Jack at the beginning, as we feel so misunderstood by those around us. The best option is try, as Jack does at the end, to be supportive and understanding. Just listen and try not to judge. I feel that is another thing which makes this movie special. There is no judgement towards the characters. It just feels like it is embracing the characters and that is so important for mental health issues in our culture. Embracing others and trying to understand them rather than making them feel worse. I hope we get more of it in the future.

Josh: I thoroughly agree, I also agree about Anne & Lydia, especially Lydia. It would have been so easy for her to be unlikable but Amanda Plummer finds a humanity in her that is truly lovely. Thank you for suggesting we do this, Gabby. It's been cathartic. Hopefully soon the pain will fade and we'll be singing that everything's coming up videos.

Ma Vie En Rose (1997) - The quest for identity in suburbia

Ludo is struggling to be accepted as a transgendered child in a suburban area, where the adults are all very concerned about appearances and the status quo. When we first see Ludo, we are encouraged to follow Ludo’s perception of herself as female, as we see her in costume and when it is revealed that Ludo is not Sophie, the parents try to pass her dressing up as a joke. This is one example of the film showing how many people perceive dressing as a woman to be a lowering of status for a male born, as it is viewed as a laughing matter to even pretend to be female. This is shown again throughout the film in the moments of hostility she has to face just because she wishes to be ‘pretty’ rather than ‘handsome’.

When Ludo is taken to a psychiatrist she asks to play with the toys, she stares longingly at the doll and her beautiful hair, but picks up the truck. All around her people are forcing her to confirm to the social norms by stifling who she really is. The film never is over – the- top with showing these moments of hostility. The odd comment here and there and the ease in which these characters say them in a very off – hand manner makes an impact, and we feel each one, the way Ludo would. Small comments, especially when they are taken in all at once, can be devastating. The moment in which she is playing with the truck shows how she has learned that she shouldn’t be who she is comfortable being because she will only be made to feel worse about herself.

The adults in the film are pre – occupied with maintaining an image within the community and therefore preoccupied with what others think of them and their children. It is a very conventional community as the women are expected to stay at home and be subservient to the man, who goes to work and makes the money for the family. Ludo is therefore presenting a dilemma with the way these people view gender. If a male born wishes to become female, this idea challenges their perception of women being lesser is called into question as being female is enticing to this young child.

The femininity that Ludo longs for is shown in her fantasy sequences, where she wears beautiful gowns and is surrounded by pastel coloured buildings and flowers. This is where Ludo’s search for her identity is at peace as she able to break free of the realistic world around her and have an unlimited vision of herself as truly feminine in a world of acceptance, where she is happy and fulfilled.

The film has some beautiful moments in Ludo’s search for acceptance and allows the parents to come to an agreement that Ludo made wear skirts. By the end, they have finally come to a place where they can put their love of their child above their fears of breaking social norms and being judged by others. It does this with grace and subtly, which allows the film to ask questions of its viewers about gender roles, if we care too much about what others think and if we will put this aside to allow for our children freedom to express their identity.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945): The painting that sees into your soul

The Picture of Dorian Gray was a story I remember reading many years ago, and being truly disturbed by it. In a way it is another twist on the Faust tale, which I have a weakness for. A man is willing to give his soul in exchange for something, this time for his youthful appearance. In a moment of pride, Dorian Gray wishes that he will stay as youthful as the portrait that has been painted of him, and the painting would age instead. As he sells his soul, he turns into a man who is capable of terrible acts that further diminish the look of the painting, which becomes a window into his soul. Despite my enjoyment of the story, I have never revisited the book or watched a film adaptation of it, so this was my first viewing of one. The film is at times very effective. The black and white photography is striking; it also adds an eerie quality to the film, made slightly creepier by the unusual score by Herbert Stothart.

On the other hand, the voice – over is unnecessary and spells things out to the viewer far too often. The film also makes the huge mistake of showing you how horrible the painting looks after years have passed by. It would be far more terrifying to allow the viewer to imagine how horrible the painting has become. There is also a very preachy aspect to it where the talks of the human soul and what can destroy it seems a bit too much. For example, those who sin are destined for hell. However, the film can, at times, use it effectively, as hell has always been a horror story in order to try keeping people from straying too far from the moral constraints society tends to hold so highly.  

The film explores the vanity of others as well as Dorian. Harry has many ideas that shock those around him. However, he sometimes voices the unspoken rules of the high society around him: ‘I always choose my friends for their good looks and my enemies for their good intellect’. Harry also expresses the idea that all influences are bad as the purpose of life is self – development and that we should yield to all temptations. Harry is somewhat a devilish character in the film, but again there are some aspects of his ideas that are true. If we were all so worried about not yielding to temptations for fear of hell, we might not enjoy all aspects of life. One guest, Sir Thomas, argues with Henry’s theory that one must live for oneself: ‘But surely if one lives for oneself, one pays a terrible price for doing so... in remorse in suffering, in the consciousness of degradation.’ The film shows Sir Thomas to be a hypocrite as he yields to the temptation of the food, before storming out on principle. They all are full of conceit and judge those around them.

Many around Dorian don’t believe he is capable of any wrong doing because he is attractive. Sybil’s mother for instance states: ‘I don’t know his name but he’s rich’. Sybil herself explains ‘He is good I know it. There is no evil in him. Did you see his face?’ The film, as well as the book comments on the of the hypocritical nature of those in high society. They claim to be moral and yet are vain themselves. They whisper about Dorian and all the acts of evil he might have committed but they pretend to be civil to his face as they wouldn't want to be seen to be impolite to a handsome a wealthy gentleman. 

The film has a lot to like and is still very unsettling. I think this is mainly due to the idea that a window into your soul could reveal you to be all that you despise in others. When Dorian looks into that painting, he is not protected by the formalities of those too polite to confront him. He sees only the truth.

The Swimmer (1968): The mask of happiness in suburban America

The short story by John Cheever that this film is based on, with the same name, is one that I once analysed when doing my BA (in English Literature and Film Studies) and it is one that stuck out to me as I really loved and connected with it. Cheever wrote the story when he began his addiction to alcohol in 1964.  He later managed to stay sober after going to a rehabilitation centre and through support from Alcoholics anonymous.

The film starts with the sun shining down on them, Neddy (Burt Lancaster ) remarks ‘What a Glorious day’ and he is greeted like an old friend in the first pool he visits. Neddy has this idea that he will swim home, by swimming in each person’s pool along the way to his house. He dives into the first pool with vigour and others remark what energy he has. By the third pool he is not greeted warmly, and he finds out that an old friend has died. Neddy didn’t see him at all whilst he was sick. This relates to the shallowness of surbaban life. Up to this point, he greets people like he cares about them and they are friends, but really they don’t really care about each other. They all drink to cover up the feeling of emptiness that this faux glamour has given them. They have ‘everything ‘they could ever desire as one character puts it. However, they do not have true emotional connections to the world around him. Like Neddy the world passes by them. Time flies, as they become bitterer and more dependent on alcohol to help their masks of happiness.

The first pool is owned by Donald Westerhazy who claims ‘I drank too much last night... you know I think everybody drank too much last night’. Alcohol is a theme that is carried throughout the movie and many in the film cling to alcohol as if they could not survive without it. Also at the first pool he greets an old friend and they reminisce about their old days at camp:

Stu: We had nice new transparent lungs in those days!
Neddy: And the water. That transparent light green water. It felt different. God what a beautiful feeling! We could have swum round the world in those days.

Stu: That was before we ever touched a drink or a cigarette

Neddy is someone who doesn’t acknowledge the time passing around him, yet he is nostalgic of the past, where he has an idealised version of those transparent waters, and an idealised version of himself.  He says later, ‘Nothing’s turned out the way I thought it would. When I was a kid I used to believe in things. People seemed to love each other when I was a kid. People used to love each other. What happened?’ The weather, that starts with that ‘glorious’ day, is another motif, as the weather gets worse, and gradually we notice the seasons are changing, and time is passing much quicker than Ned realises.

The more he swims the more worn, tired, cold and distraught he gets. He is however, obsessed by the idea of swimming home, and cannot stop. The swimmer could be a stand in for Cheever himself, slowly becoming more desperate to cling to life but becoming dragged down by his addiction to alcohol. Ned pleads with people he meets to come with him. He is desperate for a meaningful connection but he gets rejected and left by each of them, each time this happened he looks more haggard, which speaks to Burt Lancaster’s abilities as an actor.

The film has the same beautiful lyrical quality of the short story and has an incredible performance by Burt Lancaster who carries every hope and disappointment with grace at the centre of a very sad but resonant story. 

Of Mice and Men (1992): Depression Era Dreamers

I have a long history with the novel that this film is based on and it is a book that I really love. However, I had not watched the movie version until very recently. It seems strange for me not to have seen it by now, as I wasn’t avoiding it. It just became one of those movies on my list of films that I will eventually get to. Now it is on Netflix I finally can check it off my list.

The book, with the same title, was written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937. My grandparents have gave me a beautiful collection of classic novels when I was 13 – 14 over Christmases and Birthday’s ( a collection that is still prized to me and sits happily on my shelf). One of the first books I read from that collection was Of Mice and Men. The book was so beautifully written and something I enjoyed reading so much I read it in one sitting. I have read it many times since then and always read through it very quickly. The dialect leaps off the page and the characters feel real and alive.  

When I was a tutor for a short period of time I got to discuss Of Mice and Men with one of my pupils. I found it interesting discussing the time period and each of the characters, specifically Curly, his wife and George. The film follows the same story of the book, showing loyal friends George and Lenny in the Depression era and find jobs on a ranch, which they have been searching for. I have always been slightly uncomfortable with elements of the story such as the character of Lenny, who was kicked in the head as a child and is now mentally challenged.  He is portrayed as a simpleton and child-like yet George loves him like a brother, and his affection for him redeems a lot of the troubling portrayal of disabled people. One also has to remember the time it was written and the lack of understanding there was. However the portrayal by John Malkovich seems to make these problems surface all the more in this adaptation with his gawping and slurred speech. Despite our knowledge growing the portrayal of Lenny seems as troubling as in  the novel, if not more so given the era this was made. This could be that this film seems more like a direct interpretation of the book  rather bringing anything new or providing any commentary on the original source material.

The film does depict the pain of the characters such as Candy, who really gives the story a weight with a heartbreaking performance from Ray Walstone. It is easy to empathise with the dreams of a golden future that George, Lenny and Candy all are aching to achieve. Their hopes still ring true, especially in this harsh economic environment. Their dreams are even more heartbreaking when you consider the time period this was set in. It was a time where a home and a happy healthy lifestyle with land of their own was as wild as an average person’s dreams of winning millions on the lottery today,  when so many had lost their homes and jobs during the Depression. 

Even though this film doesn’t bring anything new to the material there is solid characters, such as George, brilliantly played in a grounding performance by director Greg Sinsie. It also looks stunning with beautiful cinematography that really brings to life the life on the ranch that so many of the Depression era would recognise as their workplace.