Nov
02
2007
Writ & Dir: Hal Hatley
- Sarah Polley … Beatrice
- Robert John Burke … The Monster
- Julie Christie … Dr. Anna
- Erica Gimpel … Judy
- Helen Mirren … The Boss
- Baltasar Kormákur … Artaud
So there I was, flicking around this afternoon when I came across No Such Thing. My wonderful browse feature told me it was the story of a young female reporter who tried to find out what happened her missing fiancée only to discover a foul-mouthed monster whom she befriends.
Only it was a lot stranger than that. The first hour or so was all about Beatrice. On her way to Iceland to track down her fiancée her plane crashed into the sea. She was the sole survivor, but was terribly injured. In the world of this film the media have taken over and pretty much run the world, but must contend with a public who grow bored of anything after only a few hours.[1] Beatrice’s boss tried to make her go public and tell her story, but Beatrice doesn’t want to so she is pretty much abandoned in the hospital, where she must undergo an extremely painful operation, with only limited painkiller/anaesthetic.
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Linknotes:
- I reckon there is some meaning there, I just cant quite figure out what it is… ↩
Tags:
7 Stars,
Baltasar Kormákur,
beauty and the beast,
Erica Gimpel,
fable,
Hal Hartley,
Helen Mirren,
humanity,
Iceland,
Julie Christie,
metaphor,
monster,
No Such Thing,
preachy,
Robert John Burke,
Sarah Polley,
sff,
too much message,
weird
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Sep
29
2006
Dir: Stephen Frears
Writ: Peter Morgan
- Helen Mirren - HM Queen Elizabeth II
- Michael Sheen - Tony Blair
- James Cromwell - Prince Philip
- Sylvia Syms - HM The Queen Mother
- Paul Barrett - Trevor Rees-Jones
- Helen McCrory - Cherie Blair
This is an odd sort of film. Parts of it are very good, but other parts, well I just don’t think they work. The film is mostly set in the few days surrounding the death of Diana, as the British public went into public mourning over the “People’s Princess” while the Royal Family seemed to remain aloof and distant. Thereby earning a lot of criticism from their subjects.
Maybe my main problem with the film was that I never understood the huge out pourings of grief over Diana, and I really don’t get why she still manages to sell papers, almost 10 years after her death. The hundreds of thousands of people who went into the streets in tears didn’t know her at all, yet her death still impacted hugely on them. And the Queen of England didn’t appear to get it either. Prefering to stay in Balmoral with the family, dealing with the family’s grief in private. In a dignified manner.
And Helen Mirren does a good job at portraying this woman raised to be dignified and in control. Raised in a different generation so that to some she appears cold-hearted and distant. The rest of the casting I wasn’t so impressed with. James Cromwell is too dignified to really excel as Prince Phillip, although on occasion he does get it right. While many of the other actors looked to similar to the characters they were portraying and so came across more as a skit show rather than as actors. And I wouldn’t be happy if I was Cherie Blair as written for this film.
Also the fact that “the boys” were never shown was a bit of a mistake from the story’s perspective, although I can see why the film makers would want to respect the privacy of William and whatever the other one is called. And I suppose you could argue that the film is about the Queen, not the family, but it didin’t really work for me.
Overall I felt the film was effective in parts, especially in its mixing real footage of the time, but it just didn’t work as a whole. As a character study of the Queen, yes. But apart from that it wasn’t great, maybe because instead of characters we got imitations of the other main players.
Or then again, maybe it is just the fact that I really don’t seen the point in having a monarchy at all, and that political opinion coloured my interpretation of the film.
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Tags:
7 Stars,
British royalty - Diana,
British royalty - Elizabeth II,
character study,
fictional bio,
Helen McCrory,
Helen Mirren,
James Cromwell,
Michael Sheen,
Paul Barrett,
Peter Morgan,
politicians - Tony Blair,
Stephen Frears,
Sylvia Syms,
The Queen
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