Mark Haddon's innovative 2003 novel was written in the first person from the perspective of 15 year old Christopher (Scott Reid). Although his medical diagnosis is never stated, he describes himself as "a mathematician with some behavioural difficulties" and shows signs of high functioning autism. The success of the book is down to the way the author takes us inside the head of it's hero, something very difficult to replicate on stage. So, although this production is faithful to the original in much of the story line, it's best to forget about the book and view this production with fresh eyes.
With a set that looks more Star Trek than Swindon, and one that delivers as much to the performance as the actors, it's clear this is going to go well beyond conventional storytelling. It opens with Christopher discovering the body of a neighbour's dog, killed by a pitch fork. We quickly learn that he is very precise, takes everything literally, and definitely doesn't like being touched (when he lashes out at a policemen who does). He has an uneasy relationship with the world, and with his father, his mother having died two years before.
Christopher sets off to investigate the death of the dog and in doing so sets off a chain of events that leads to him finding out more than he bargained for, and running away from home. He writes down his findings in a book and Siobhan, his life tutor at school, encourages him to write it in the form of a story. And the drama becomes his book being acted out, partly through narration from Siobhan and from Christopher himself, partly through scenes being played out on stage. Even though, as our hero tells us, acting is a form of lying, something he himself is incapable of.
The first half is fast paced, makes effective use of technology and a constantly shifting cast to portray the workings of Christopher's mind, his fears and the challenges he faces in undertaking tasks most of us wouldn't have to think about. After the interval the confusion of his unaccompanied journey is impressively choreographed and requires and athletic an trusting performance from Reid. It's a brave effort to portray the terrors the journey holds for him, but there was a sense of the staging taking over from the storytelling and a reminder of why"seen through the medium of interpretative dance" has become such a comedy trope. Later there's a gushingly sentimental moment that jars with the overall tone of the piece. So the second half feels like a disappointment after the rapid fire first, but still manages a satisfactory conclusion.
There's a strong ensemble cast, tight choreography and strong use of lighting and effects. It's just a shame that it loses it's way at times, but this is a difficult subject to bring to the stage. I left having enjoyed the experience, but couldn't help thinking that this is a story crying our for a proper cinematic treatment - there's a great film in there somewhere.
Thursday, 23 February 2017
Monday, 20 February 2017
Manchester by the Sea
It takes only a few short scenes for us to know a lot about the character of Lee (Casey Affleck), a Boston janitor and odd job man. He's unemotional, lacks empathy, keeps his distance and is prone to violent outbursts. It's a beautifully crafted opening and the key to what makes this film so enjoyable - superbly structured, building the drama block by block and using carefully interspersed flashbacks to provide the explanation of who Lee had once been and how he became the person we see now.
A phone call takes Lee, reluctantly, back to the eponymous home town he left years before. His brother has died and left him with an unusual, unexpected and, to him, unwelcome bequest - he is to be the guardian of his teenage nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges) until he comes of age. And that means staying on in Manchester where Lee clearly feels uncomfortable, and where some of the locals are unhappy about his return. While we see Lee and Patrick try to come to terms with their sudden change in circumstances, the traumatic events that lie behind these feelings are gradually unfolded to the audience. Is living so close to the source of Lee's anger and pain ever going to be something he can deal with?
It's a genuinely emotional movie with some heartbreaking moments as we watch the two protagonists try to navigate their way through events they are emotionally ill-equipped to deal with. Lee's efforts at parenting are well intended, but graceless, and too close to the past he needs to keep at bay. In a chance encounter with his ex-wife we can see how distant he has become from the person he once was, and how unable to deal with real life relationships.
This could easily make for an exhausting tear-jerker, but writer/director Kenneth Lonergan is far too smart to fall into that trap. There's a surprising number of laughs throughout. If you enjoy the comedy of social awkwardness there are some outstanding moments here to cherish.
Affleck is superb. His Lee is a masterclass in understatement, replete with small gestures and body language that convey the troubled character underneath. Hedges looks set for a bright future and delivers a Patrick who demonstrates the full range of teenage angst and hope. An excellent supporting cast too, with Michelle Williams the standout in her all too brief appearances as Lee's ex.
At a little over two and a quarter hours this might sound like a marathon. But the ending only left me wishing there was more. It's an ending entirely in line with the blankness of the central character, leaving you questions to ponder as you leave Manchester behind. This is cinema at it's best.
A phone call takes Lee, reluctantly, back to the eponymous home town he left years before. His brother has died and left him with an unusual, unexpected and, to him, unwelcome bequest - he is to be the guardian of his teenage nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges) until he comes of age. And that means staying on in Manchester where Lee clearly feels uncomfortable, and where some of the locals are unhappy about his return. While we see Lee and Patrick try to come to terms with their sudden change in circumstances, the traumatic events that lie behind these feelings are gradually unfolded to the audience. Is living so close to the source of Lee's anger and pain ever going to be something he can deal with?
It's a genuinely emotional movie with some heartbreaking moments as we watch the two protagonists try to navigate their way through events they are emotionally ill-equipped to deal with. Lee's efforts at parenting are well intended, but graceless, and too close to the past he needs to keep at bay. In a chance encounter with his ex-wife we can see how distant he has become from the person he once was, and how unable to deal with real life relationships.
This could easily make for an exhausting tear-jerker, but writer/director Kenneth Lonergan is far too smart to fall into that trap. There's a surprising number of laughs throughout. If you enjoy the comedy of social awkwardness there are some outstanding moments here to cherish.
Affleck is superb. His Lee is a masterclass in understatement, replete with small gestures and body language that convey the troubled character underneath. Hedges looks set for a bright future and delivers a Patrick who demonstrates the full range of teenage angst and hope. An excellent supporting cast too, with Michelle Williams the standout in her all too brief appearances as Lee's ex.
At a little over two and a quarter hours this might sound like a marathon. But the ending only left me wishing there was more. It's an ending entirely in line with the blankness of the central character, leaving you questions to ponder as you leave Manchester behind. This is cinema at it's best.
Tuesday, 14 February 2017
Fences
Starring and directed by Denzel Washington, this is a straight up adaption of August Wilson's award winning stage play. And that is both it's greatest strength and it's major flaw. There's great drama and characters on show, but it's overly wordy, lacks the wider visual treatment, and there isn't the sub plot exploration of a properly cinematic experience. It's also why there are only six characters of any significance.
Washington plays Troy, a fifty three year old bin man in 1950s Pittsburgh. On the face of it he's a good man and has got his life sorted. A steady job, a happy marriage, a best friend he can share a laugh and a drink with. But as the plot unfolds the flaws in his character become apparent. Underneath the man of sense and self-made achievement lie bitterness, a sense of victimhood and a bullying certainty of his own rightness. When the secret he is holding back explodes it damages all around him.
The rock steady contrast to this volatility is his wife Rose (Viola Davis), patient, understanding, committed to her family life. A quiet and subtle presence for much of the action, Davis excels in a snot-fueled, anger-driven rant that is the film's most memorable, and genuinely emotional, moment, and hers is the stand out performance of the movie.
In contrast to the two leads the other characters feel dissatisfying, two dimensional also rans. Worst is Gabriel, Troy's brain damaged brother, who must provide some light relief in a theatre, but is a step too far in pathos for the screen.
The symbolism and metaphors are too overt for the intimacies of the screen. Although racism is addressed itangentilly, the main themes of the story revolve around family relationships, misogyny, secrets and lies. At it's heart is the damage the alpha male stereotype does to all around it, including the person themselves. And that there's more to being a good person than trying to shape others into your own view of goodness.
One further criticism. At 139 minutes it's about half an hour too long, with attention flagging at times. Less respect for the original script and more effective editing could have brought big improvements. Overall it's hard to recommend. Yet the performances of Davis, and to a lesser degree of Washington, are definitely worth watching, and there are universal messages that will resonate with many in the audience.
Washington plays Troy, a fifty three year old bin man in 1950s Pittsburgh. On the face of it he's a good man and has got his life sorted. A steady job, a happy marriage, a best friend he can share a laugh and a drink with. But as the plot unfolds the flaws in his character become apparent. Underneath the man of sense and self-made achievement lie bitterness, a sense of victimhood and a bullying certainty of his own rightness. When the secret he is holding back explodes it damages all around him.
The rock steady contrast to this volatility is his wife Rose (Viola Davis), patient, understanding, committed to her family life. A quiet and subtle presence for much of the action, Davis excels in a snot-fueled, anger-driven rant that is the film's most memorable, and genuinely emotional, moment, and hers is the stand out performance of the movie.
In contrast to the two leads the other characters feel dissatisfying, two dimensional also rans. Worst is Gabriel, Troy's brain damaged brother, who must provide some light relief in a theatre, but is a step too far in pathos for the screen.
The symbolism and metaphors are too overt for the intimacies of the screen. Although racism is addressed itangentilly, the main themes of the story revolve around family relationships, misogyny, secrets and lies. At it's heart is the damage the alpha male stereotype does to all around it, including the person themselves. And that there's more to being a good person than trying to shape others into your own view of goodness.
One further criticism. At 139 minutes it's about half an hour too long, with attention flagging at times. Less respect for the original script and more effective editing could have brought big improvements. Overall it's hard to recommend. Yet the performances of Davis, and to a lesser degree of Washington, are definitely worth watching, and there are universal messages that will resonate with many in the audience.
Tuesday, 7 February 2017
T2 Trainspotting
Sequels are invariably a bad idea.
Danny Boyle invariably confounds expectations.
Which of these two statements wins out when they come together?
Of course a sequel implies continuity, and T2 comes heavily loaded with all that took place in the twenty year old original. I'm not sure how someone who hadn't seen that classic will find the newcomer because it relies so highly on past references. No doubt it can be enjoyed in it's own right, but you would miss out on so much that feeds on that prior knowledge. It also means it's impossible to review the film without spoilers for the 90's film, so if you do plan to see the latter before T2 then look away now.
Twenty years have passed and the same characters (and actors) are at the heart of the drama. Time has treated each differently. No surprise that Begbie is in prison. Sick Boy runs a dying pub, but expends most of his energy on blackmail, scams and cocaine. Spud is back on the heroin, still the eternal loser. And Renton, who walked off with their money last time? Renton is coming home, having 'made it' in Amsterdam.
It's his return that brings change, and reignites the relationships of their twenties. All is not as it first seems in his life, and he soon finds himself drawn, reluctantly, into something like the old world he'd once inhabited in Leith. Each of the characters is trying to break away from their past, and each one is also dominated by it. Their efforts to secure some kind of future is the focus of the drama.
Once again Boyle has provided a movie of stunning images and sequences, and the Edinburgh backdrop is beautiful. It's interspersed with flashbacks to the original, reminders of the men they once were and can never be again. There's also nods to many of the iconic nineties images that make sure the links are never forgotten. (As I mentioned before, much of this richness would be lost to anyone who couldn't get these references,) And Ewan McGregor's Renton delivers a modern reprise of his famous Choose Life riff, part socialist optimism, part nihilist despair.
There's an excellent supporting cast, including James Cosmo, Irvine Welsh himself and a sadly underused Kelly Macdonald in their original roles, but it's the interaction between the four main characters that provides the meat. Reviving old memories brings back old problems, and themes of friendship, addiction and revenge run throughout. As does the search for redemption and some kind of future that provides hope, which may turn up in the most unlikely forms.
McGregor's Renton remains the most rational of the group, and his presence and occasional narrations provide a solid centre to the action. Jonny Lee Miller's Sick Boy has lost some of the charm of his nineties incarnation, but the amorality remains. Spud's haplessness might make him the butt of much of the humour (and there are many laugh out loud moments throughout the two hours), but Ewen Bremner gives the best performance of the movie in making him a much more complex and interesting character. And providing the dark shadow overhanging the story is the psychopathic malevolence of the ever-excellent Robert Carlyle's Begbie, yet even he is given his moment of self realisation and the chance to show the humanity that has been all but squeezed from him.
It's fast, funny, poignant, thrilling and densely packed with cultural references. There might not be anything quite as visually visceral as the famous toilet sequence of the original, but it's no pale shadow and has the performances, cinematography, storyline and humanity to stand on it's own merits. Highly recommended, but do try to catch up on the '96 film first.
The end result? Sequels nil, Danny Boyle four.
Danny Boyle invariably confounds expectations.
Which of these two statements wins out when they come together?
Of course a sequel implies continuity, and T2 comes heavily loaded with all that took place in the twenty year old original. I'm not sure how someone who hadn't seen that classic will find the newcomer because it relies so highly on past references. No doubt it can be enjoyed in it's own right, but you would miss out on so much that feeds on that prior knowledge. It also means it's impossible to review the film without spoilers for the 90's film, so if you do plan to see the latter before T2 then look away now.
Twenty years have passed and the same characters (and actors) are at the heart of the drama. Time has treated each differently. No surprise that Begbie is in prison. Sick Boy runs a dying pub, but expends most of his energy on blackmail, scams and cocaine. Spud is back on the heroin, still the eternal loser. And Renton, who walked off with their money last time? Renton is coming home, having 'made it' in Amsterdam.
It's his return that brings change, and reignites the relationships of their twenties. All is not as it first seems in his life, and he soon finds himself drawn, reluctantly, into something like the old world he'd once inhabited in Leith. Each of the characters is trying to break away from their past, and each one is also dominated by it. Their efforts to secure some kind of future is the focus of the drama.
Once again Boyle has provided a movie of stunning images and sequences, and the Edinburgh backdrop is beautiful. It's interspersed with flashbacks to the original, reminders of the men they once were and can never be again. There's also nods to many of the iconic nineties images that make sure the links are never forgotten. (As I mentioned before, much of this richness would be lost to anyone who couldn't get these references,) And Ewan McGregor's Renton delivers a modern reprise of his famous Choose Life riff, part socialist optimism, part nihilist despair.
There's an excellent supporting cast, including James Cosmo, Irvine Welsh himself and a sadly underused Kelly Macdonald in their original roles, but it's the interaction between the four main characters that provides the meat. Reviving old memories brings back old problems, and themes of friendship, addiction and revenge run throughout. As does the search for redemption and some kind of future that provides hope, which may turn up in the most unlikely forms.
McGregor's Renton remains the most rational of the group, and his presence and occasional narrations provide a solid centre to the action. Jonny Lee Miller's Sick Boy has lost some of the charm of his nineties incarnation, but the amorality remains. Spud's haplessness might make him the butt of much of the humour (and there are many laugh out loud moments throughout the two hours), but Ewen Bremner gives the best performance of the movie in making him a much more complex and interesting character. And providing the dark shadow overhanging the story is the psychopathic malevolence of the ever-excellent Robert Carlyle's Begbie, yet even he is given his moment of self realisation and the chance to show the humanity that has been all but squeezed from him.
It's fast, funny, poignant, thrilling and densely packed with cultural references. There might not be anything quite as visually visceral as the famous toilet sequence of the original, but it's no pale shadow and has the performances, cinematography, storyline and humanity to stand on it's own merits. Highly recommended, but do try to catch up on the '96 film first.
The end result? Sequels nil, Danny Boyle four.
Thursday, 2 February 2017
Jackie
Jackie Kennedy had to endure the trauma of a horrific experience, and do so with much of the global population looking on in fascination. The film portrays the days and weeks following JFK's murder and the events his widow had to get through.
Natalie Portman is mesmeric as the eponymous First Lady. It's a very intimate movie, with Portman almost constantly on screen, often in close up. Two fictional revelatory devices are interspersed throughout. In an interview with a journalist Jackie discloses the events of 22 November 1963 and through to her husband's funeral. And she's seen talking to a priest (it was both saddening and comforting to see the late John Hurt in the role) about her own internal struggles and doubts. These are mixed with scenes of the events described, and flashbacks to her role in the White House where she established herself as a patron of arts and culture.
Peter Sarsgaard plays Kennedy's brother Bobby, coping with his own emotions, trying to provide support to his sister in law, yet still fully involved in the machinations of government. There are hints that he, had he not met the same fate, might have made a better president than his brother. But he also displays the arrogance of the Kennedy clan, even talking disdainfully to the newly installed LBJ.
Our sympathies are clearly with the central figure in the horror of the assassination and having to deal with her grief in public. It would have been all too easy to make this Jackie something of a saint. But Portman's performance is far more human, and we can feel sorry for a character who is, in many ways, rather unsympathetic. Over-privileged, elitist, patrician, used to getting her own way, at times manipulative. Her strong will is evident in her efforts to create her own public image, and to ensure that the predominant memory of her is in bolstering the myth of Camelot in the White House. It's an unsettling, complex portrayal that, however fictional some elements may be, creates a fully rounded human being.
The film has been beautifully shot and there's plenty of stunning images, with Jackie constantly the centre of the maelstrom. But the editing does create some confusion in the timelines, and I found the musical score to be intrusively contrived at times, trying just a bit too hard to dictate the viewer's emotions.
It's by no means a perfect movie, but still enjoyable and thought provoking. And at it's heart is a performance that must, surely, win Natalie Portman an Oscar nomination. It's worth watching just for her portrayal alone.
Natalie Portman is mesmeric as the eponymous First Lady. It's a very intimate movie, with Portman almost constantly on screen, often in close up. Two fictional revelatory devices are interspersed throughout. In an interview with a journalist Jackie discloses the events of 22 November 1963 and through to her husband's funeral. And she's seen talking to a priest (it was both saddening and comforting to see the late John Hurt in the role) about her own internal struggles and doubts. These are mixed with scenes of the events described, and flashbacks to her role in the White House where she established herself as a patron of arts and culture.
Peter Sarsgaard plays Kennedy's brother Bobby, coping with his own emotions, trying to provide support to his sister in law, yet still fully involved in the machinations of government. There are hints that he, had he not met the same fate, might have made a better president than his brother. But he also displays the arrogance of the Kennedy clan, even talking disdainfully to the newly installed LBJ.
Our sympathies are clearly with the central figure in the horror of the assassination and having to deal with her grief in public. It would have been all too easy to make this Jackie something of a saint. But Portman's performance is far more human, and we can feel sorry for a character who is, in many ways, rather unsympathetic. Over-privileged, elitist, patrician, used to getting her own way, at times manipulative. Her strong will is evident in her efforts to create her own public image, and to ensure that the predominant memory of her is in bolstering the myth of Camelot in the White House. It's an unsettling, complex portrayal that, however fictional some elements may be, creates a fully rounded human being.
The film has been beautifully shot and there's plenty of stunning images, with Jackie constantly the centre of the maelstrom. But the editing does create some confusion in the timelines, and I found the musical score to be intrusively contrived at times, trying just a bit too hard to dictate the viewer's emotions.
It's by no means a perfect movie, but still enjoyable and thought provoking. And at it's heart is a performance that must, surely, win Natalie Portman an Oscar nomination. It's worth watching just for her portrayal alone.
Le Vent du Nord & De Temps Antan, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Celtic Connections
Scottish fiddle band Session A9 opened the evening before a packed out concert hall. A group that takes it's name from Scotland's principal northern arterial road is likely to have a decent sense of humour, and so it proved, with an enjoyable amusing few lines to get things going. Keyboard, guitar, mandolin and percussion back up a powerhouse fiddle section playing a wide mix of traditional and modern tunes. Belly Dance gave us eastern Mediterranean rhythms, there was a bluesy song from the pen of the late John Martyn, and lots of clever and imaginative arrangements. Some beauty too, with a few haunting slower numbers, but it was the fast stuff that got the crowd really going and cheering the band from the stage at the interval.
I'd be more than happy to go to a gig with Session A9 as the headline act, but....
Famed French Canadian bands Le Vent Du Nord and De Temps Antan have joined forces to form a Quebecois supergroup. Putting together the trio and quartet provides a range of seven excellent male voices, a wide variety of instruments, and, most crucially, four top class exponents of the foot tapping percussion that defines the unique sound of the region. Oh, and a line up of charismatic jokers.
To the sound of Thus Spake Zarathustra the musicians emerged one by one, each taking away the solo spot from their predecessor, amidst much play acting. And it was immediately apparent why they, and not the local act, were tonight's headliners. Both of the component bands have been at the forefront of advancing the genre and the traditional melodies come with imaginative arrangements and instrumentation. There was even a keyboard solo that owed more to progrock than any folk tradition. But I don't think Rick Wakeman ever had a Jew's harp providing the beat!
The songs are mostly call and response, solos and harmonies, rich vocal quality. A capella numbers had a compelling quality, and to hear that septet of vocalists accompanied only by the complex tapping of four pairs of feet was a special aural and visual experience. The dexterity of the musicians has to be seen to be believed, for it's hard to imagine how one person can play a melody with their hands, complex percussion with their feet, and still have the brain capacity to sing backing vocals....
By the end they had the entire audience on their feet, caught up in the infectious excitement of the music and the joyful personalities of the performers. This was one of the best gigs I've ever attended. Simply fabulous.
I'd be more than happy to go to a gig with Session A9 as the headline act, but....
Famed French Canadian bands Le Vent Du Nord and De Temps Antan have joined forces to form a Quebecois supergroup. Putting together the trio and quartet provides a range of seven excellent male voices, a wide variety of instruments, and, most crucially, four top class exponents of the foot tapping percussion that defines the unique sound of the region. Oh, and a line up of charismatic jokers.
To the sound of Thus Spake Zarathustra the musicians emerged one by one, each taking away the solo spot from their predecessor, amidst much play acting. And it was immediately apparent why they, and not the local act, were tonight's headliners. Both of the component bands have been at the forefront of advancing the genre and the traditional melodies come with imaginative arrangements and instrumentation. There was even a keyboard solo that owed more to progrock than any folk tradition. But I don't think Rick Wakeman ever had a Jew's harp providing the beat!
The songs are mostly call and response, solos and harmonies, rich vocal quality. A capella numbers had a compelling quality, and to hear that septet of vocalists accompanied only by the complex tapping of four pairs of feet was a special aural and visual experience. The dexterity of the musicians has to be seen to be believed, for it's hard to imagine how one person can play a melody with their hands, complex percussion with their feet, and still have the brain capacity to sing backing vocals....
By the end they had the entire audience on their feet, caught up in the infectious excitement of the music and the joyful personalities of the performers. This was one of the best gigs I've ever attended. Simply fabulous.
Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Blueflint, Traverse
With the same line up as the last time I saw this band, and no new album releases since, there's little of substance I can add to add to my review from May last year. (There are also two earlier reviews of Blueflint you can read, from April 2015 and August of the same year).
The fact that I was more than happy to see them again is a good indication of the quality of their performance and material. Despite a rather quiet audience they provided a lively couple of sets, with Debs and Clare chatty between numbers and keen to engage with the punters in conversation during the break and after the show. A couple of well chosen covers were mixed in with their own songs, and there are several gems among the latter. There's a variety of influences at work, with a mix of country, folk and Americana, arranged around the dual banjo set up, and some catchy melodies to back up interesting lyrics. They mentioned the tour where they supported The Proclaimers and This is the Story, the title track of their third album, could easily have fallen from the pens of the Reid brothers.
Blueflint always deliver an enjoyable way to pass an evening. Definitely worth seeing if you get the chance (and aren't banjo-phobic!).
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