Drama

This is, perhaps, one of the most lavish productions I've ever seen on the BBC and certainly the most visually stunning. It's quality all the way through - the cast is stellar with the likes of Christopher Lee, Stephen Fry, Richard Griffiths, Warren Mitchell, John Sessions and other sundry comedians (including Spike Milligan!); the script is sublime, witty and fast moving (without losing sense of the story) and the music is lush and suitably grand.

The thing I like most about Gormenghast is that it's tremendously quirky -all the characters have their own excessive idiosyncrasies and this highlights just how trapped they all are in their own little worlds. Their trapped by the weight of the past and tradition, whilst Steerpike, who hearkens from the kitchens, wishes he could be more like them. (the irony is that, if given a choice, they would probably wish to be free... or would they?)

Nothings ever what it seems to be - all the characters undergo dramatic changes, and those that are able to adapt to those changes are able to survive -and it's not always the obvious ones. The character of Steerpike is multi-faceted and Jonathan Rhys Meyers' performance captures all of these brilliantly. It's difficult to know whether to loathe or pity him. His actions are dastardly, but in relation to the yoke of tyranny that the Royal Family it becomes harder to judge.

This is a really great tv series and I'm really proud that the BBC gave the novels, by Mervyn Peake the treatment they so rightly deserved.

Originally conceived as a televised novel, Pennies From Heaven gave Dennis Potter the chance to flex his creative muscles. Potter had previously written many one-off drama's for the BBC in such programmes as Wednesdays Play and Play For Today, but Pennies From Heaven was the first multi-part production which allowed Potter to embellish and mix complex drama with darkly laced, musical fantasy.

This is a masterpiece, with a career-making performance from Bob Hoskins, which looks at the dark underbelly of post-war (WWII) Britain. Hoskins plays Arthur, a frustrated sheet music sales man; frustrated, though, in more ways than one. All he wants is to be loved by his wife, Joan (played masterfully by Gemma Craven), who is repressed and less than willing to give herself to Arthur's desires. Whilst on a business trip he falls in love with the innocent, but passionate schoolteacher Eileen (Cheryl Campbell) and when she becomes pregnant with his baby his life starts to slowly unravel.

This was groundbreaking and thought provoking when it first came out - the fact that, at any given moment the cast break out into song & dance routines from the 1930's is never explained, and heightens the unreality of the series. It also helps to further distance Arthur from his reality - in some respects I wonder if the whole series is portrayed from Arthur's point of view; even when we look at what is happening to the other characters, it's possible that we're seeing Arthur's own fantasies being enacted. This mixture of music hall and drama would be solidified with The Singing Detective and taken to new heights.

Pennies From Heaven has not aged at all and it is still far better and deeper than many drama's that have been produced since. All the performances are exemplary and Bob Hoskins proved to the world just how talented he really was. A timeless classic!

This ranks as 20th on the BFI's list of 100 Greatest British Television Programmes and, to me, is Dennis Potter's crown achievement.

The story is fabulously labyrinthine blending flasbacks; music-hall routines; hallucinations and fantasy. Michael Gambon gives the performance of his career as crime writer, Philip Marlow who is in hospital recovering from psoriasis. Whilst in the hospital he undergoes therapy to try and determine the psychological causes of the horrible affliction.

This is as deep as television can possibly get as Marlow is forced to come to terms with past torment and repressed memories as they threaten to erupt into his present and possibly destroy any chance of him ever having a future.

Throughout this epic mini-series Marlow's personality is peeled away as we see, through various invasive flashbacks, his childhood is laid bare. Inter-cut throughout this are various music-hall numbers -which were introduced thematically in Pennies From Heaven- but are actually given context throughout one of Marlow's hallucinations (he has an alter-ego, a private eye hired to clear another character's name).

It's so difficult to do The Singing Detective justice in a small review; it has to be seen to be believed. It's not an easy series to get into as it switches between past; present and fantasy (seemingly) at the drop of a hat, but it does reward the persistent. This is British drama at it's best and certainly deserves to be in the BFI's top one hundred!

Although this wasn't the first large scale historical drama the BBC had ever produced, it was by far the most sensational with -in retrospect- a stellar cast and cutting story. At the time it was seen as a huge risk with a cast of unknowns. Brian Blessed was seen as a huge risk as his previous roles had been in pedestrian police shows such as Z Cars, and bit parts. It was thought that he might not be able to carry off such a serious role as the Emperor Augustus.

It was also unheard of to have a historical drama, set in ancient Roman times, laced with contemporary speech and mannerisms and it caused quite a stir at the time (the same furore erupted when the book was released), however now it is seen as the norm.

It's hard to see just how revolutionary I,Claudius was and the question could be posed as to whether it can stand up with todays epics. There is only one answer and it is undoubtedly a yes! The quality of the acting is sublime - Derek Jacobi's Claudius is multi-layered, and so subtle. Forget the stammers and stutters - they're as much a part of Claudius' act as Jacobi's... even when we see him as an old man, Claudius is lightyears ahead of his contemporaries. I've already mention Brian Blessed, but I have to say that his performance as Augustus is superb. Yes, it's a blustering powerhouse (and would be caricatured to great affect by him in Blackadder) but beneath it is a man who knows he's past his prime and is actually frightened by the Sybiline prophecies he was witness to years before.

John Hurt plays a beautifully manic and mad Caligula, both fragile and dangerous by degrees. Sian Phillips is masterful as the cunning Livia, the powerful matriarch of the family - who's goal all along was the perpetuation of the empire, even at the cost of her own husband.

In I, Claudius the story is central - there are no grandstanding action scenes (mostly because of the budget more than anything I suppose) and the emphasis is placed on the characterisations and the dramatic script. It's a masterpiece of storytelling - due to the outstanding source material of Robert Graves' novels, and Jack Pulmans script - and needs to be seen as an great example of British television at its best!

To my blinkered, Hollywood-ised eyes this film should not have worked. It's an obscure story about a visionary entrepreneur / madman who dreams of building the first Opera House, in the middle of the Amazon! To do this he opens up a shipping route in order to transport huge quantities of rubber in an old passenger liner and at one point he enlists the help of the rain forest inhabitants in transporting this liner up a mountain to a parallel river running down hill! This is a scene that needs to be watched in order to be believed - it is truly remarkable and only Werner Herzog would have both the genius and tenacity to conceive of it!
Klaus Kinski is electrifying as the title character -and his performance onscreen was as "exhilarating" off-camera as it was on - there was even a documentary made of his many exploits.

This is a stunning film and once seen never forgotten - it's a dark reflection to David Lean's epics and deals with personal obsession and determination to a obscene scale! Be warned, it is a long film but ultimately rewarding.

There is something about this film that, for me, defies explanation. The plot is epic and labyrinthine as it follows Mick Travis - yes, that Mick Travis... - in various stages of his life, his various ups and downs to his final enlightenment through a form of shakubuku.
The characters and situations are quite complex with many of the actors play multiple roles. Throughout the film I got the feeling that there was more to the film than what I thought, that there was a layer of meaning that I hadn't quite penetrated. The first time I saw this film I understood the zen-like ending and it had quite an impact on me, and each time I see it I still feel the same way, but not how it linked into the rest of the story.

Now, I think it has more to do with the path to enlightenment that we all must take -from innocence to ruin, to finding ourselves once again...!

Malcolm McDowell is superb as Mick Travis, a multi-layered, multi-faceted character - this is, for me, his best role.

The music plays an important part for me. The soundtrack is by Alan Price, and all the songs are uniformly charming and wonderful -especially the title track.

It's a shame this film isn't more widely recognised - it's a classic for so many reasons, and needs to be seen by more people!!

A masterful film - cinematic sleight of hand. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale star as rival magicians, with a supporting cast including a barely recognisable David Bowie.

Of all the scenes in this film, two images stand out: a snowy hillside covered in top hats and an abandoned warehouse filled with glass cabinets that hide an awful secret which illustrate the lengths that the characters are willing to go to in order to perfect their "illusions".

I was haunted by this film for ages and couldn't put my finger on why it had such an impact on me. I still can't, if I'm honest. It defies my attempts to catagorise it - it's not a thriller, or a drama.. not really. It has aspects of each, but, at a push, I'd say its about the human condition - the darker side of obsession. There is no magic here - the enchantment has been stripped of it's gloss and glamour (there's another scene where Christian Bale manages to make a dove disappear in a cage by squashing both it and the cage!) leaving a murky world where there is no black and white, just a murky grey.

Both Bale and Jackman are superb, and make the film more believable - because if you don't believe in the characters then how can you care for the film, or the story?

This is a film for anyone who likes who-dunnits (because, at heart, that's what this is... in a way) and will reward those people brave enough to dare the Prestige!

There is one scene in particular which sums up the entire movie for me -and it's not the obvious one either... Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro in his best performance) is in "conversation" with another cabbie in an all night diner and he's just put two alka-seltzer in a glass of water. The camera moves into an extreme close up on the seltzer as they bubble and froth in the glass. This is a mirror to Travis's own breed of madness and alienation.

This is a brilliant film and certainly one of a kind - Taxi Driver summed up a whole generation and firmly entrenched itself into popular culture with the immortal lines "you talkin' to me?"

The dialogue is sparse and direct, especially in the case of De Niro who has to be able to convey Travis's growing estrangement without making it seem too overt, and Scorcese's direction is inspired. There are several scenes where the camera moves in unexpected ways constantly keeping the viewer off guard, making it impossible to figure out what's going to happen next.
The conclusion of the film is shocking and unavoidable -there have been forebodings throughout the entire film, as if Travis Bickle becomes the city's voice box - amplifying the violence, fear and paranoid hatred until it has no choice but to explode.

The music, by complete contrast, is chilled and jazzy - courtesy of Bernad Herrman who died soon after completing the score- but also strangely disassociated as well and it acts as a perfect counterpoint to the story sometimes accentuating the mood whilst other times softening it ready for the next burst.

This is one of the most important films of the seventies - and although both De Niro and Scorcese would work together several times to me this is their best collaboration.

This is a complex and moving film and show's Jack Nicolson at his finest. Nicholson plays Robert Dupea who on the surface seems like any other failure -working on an oil platform in the desert, drinking his life away whilst involved in a totally unfulfilling relationship with his girlfriend. As the film develops though we realise that Dupea is not only an accomplished pianist but comes from an upper-class family of musicians. It also becomes apparent that Dupea is on the run -not only from his past, but also himself.

When he learns that his father is dying he realises that he has no choice but to confront that past before it's too late. The film then becomes a kind of existential, but quirky road movie.

I really enjoyed this film - it was completely different to what I originally expected it to be when I first saw it years ago. I'd only known Nicholson through Batman (yes, I know... I can hardly look myself in the eye!!); The Shining and A Few Good Men. All his roles had been over-the-top and it surprised me that he could play such a complex and subtle character. Of course, I then realised that he'd starred in Chinatown and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest!

This is a film that has been criminally passed by both Chinatown & Cuckoo and really deserves more recognition. To me it has a more resonant story as I can really relate to Nicholson's character. Spread the word and find out for yourself - you won't be disappointed!

Oh -and look out for a hilarious scene in the diner, about half way through!!

Watching a Peter Greenway film... is an experience. He confounds and delights me every time I peruse and interrogate one of his marvellous and epic stories. Epic? Not in scale, or in scope, or in undertaking but in their ramifications. None of what is shown or heard can be taken at face value - take the initial simple premise of Mrs Herbert asking an artiste to prepare 12 portraits of her outstanding grounds. When this turns out to be have more serious ramifications the artiste is in far too deep to back out, and as co-conspirators, so are we, the viewer.

The cinematography, as usual, is lush and beautiful and Michael Nyman's music is haunting and minimalist. I always watch a Peter Greenway feeling like I've eaten a wonderful 4 course meal - I feel completely satisfied but always looking forwards to the next instalment!