rochvelleth

Moonfleet was great. I like the premise - boy is sent to find man (after his dying mother promises the man will look after him). Turns out man was in love with boy's mother, and when he couldn't have her spent his life not really loving anyone but having lots of women anyway. Man manages not to be too friendly to the boy at first.

Also turns out man is the ringleader of a gang of smugglers. And boy's ancestor had this famous diamond that Redbeard (local ghost of the village of Moonfleet) is meant to be looking for.

You can probably guess the rest of the plot. But I shan't give it away, because honestly, you should all go watch it.

What I loved about it, apart from the derring-do (fights, dressing up as soldiers, sneaking about in the countryside, smuggling) and the wonderfulness of Stewart Granger (looks, voice, a real hero persona), was the really touching bits.

OK, I'm about to spoil the ending now. DON'T keep reading if you haven't already seen it.

Man ends up saving the boy's life a couple of times, but still insists he'll leave him behind and go off to his new life of crooked prosperity once he's helped him to find the diamond. They find the diamond, and indeed he leaves him behind (leaving him a note while he's asleep). Just as he's going off to the new life of crooked prosperity, however, he has a change of heart and goes back for the boy. But another guy stabs him in the back, and he's mortally wounded. He goes back to where the boy is still sleeping, takes the note away, and then wakes him up, gives him the diamond, tells him to stay in Moonfleet, doesn't reveal he's dying and promises to come back someday before rowing off into the night. And it was *so darn sad*. I wasn't expecting to cry, but I did - very pathetic, perfect catharsis.

I love a film that leaves you still thinking about the ending for a while.

The Scorpion King is an awful film. Don't watch it, it's bad. Not good. Really, really bad.

I don't mean it's bad for the lack of any kind of historical/factual/atmospheric accuracy (it was in many ways like Xena/Hercules, only bad). I mean it's bad for the lack of convincing plot, the wooden acting of the Rock, the fight scenes (a cross between wrestling moves and something even sillier), the ineffectual characters... Not good in any respect. The bad guy was dressed head to toe in black leather, and that should have been at least menacing and maybe sexy, but he failed spectacularly to be evil or appealing in any way whatsoever.

The best thing about it was the presence of Bernard Hill as a mad inventor, as exemplified by the following exchange:

Hero guy: (bursts into mad inventor's place through door, closes it behind him because he is being pursued by guards) How do I get out of here? Mad inventor: Through that door.

This was the only *intentionally* funny line in the film. However, I was continually amused by the pop culture references - there were pseudo-quotes from things like Indiana Jones, and I'm sure I saw a Star Wars reference somewhere... The biggest attraction, if it is one, is that being filmed in the style of Xena (complete with busty harem girls, unrealistic fighting moves, American accents... but without the depth) - it gave it an almost-charm. I decided it should be renamed 'Up the Pyramid' - though note that there were no pyramids in the making of this motion picture, since it was all set before the pyramids. And, SPOILER, it doesn't have the unhappy ending I was expecting having seen The Mummy Returns.

The Wild Geese stars some wonderful actors: Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, Hardy Kruger, Stewart Granger. Burton in particular was very much on the same form as he was in in the excellent film Where Eagles Dare.

The film is all about a guy who'll do anything for money (Burton) agreeing to go on a mission to rescue an African should-be-president for an evil millionaire (Granger), and teaming up with his old mates (Harris and Moore), some guy recommended by a mate (Kruger), and a bunch of old timers who mostly seem pretty desperate to see some action again. A bit like Dad's Army, only serious.

So, soon enough they're all training. One of the mates (Harris) turns out to be a total idealist, who's promised his son a skiing holiday but then can't take him because he's off being the planning ace on the mission: this is not only sweet but also important to the feel of the movie. The old sergeant major (who's also a good mate, really) gives everyone a really hard time on training. And then suddenly they get the call to go in and do the rescuing. I liked the fact that the preparation for the mission lasted for over an hour - good character development.

Then they're on the mission. This is great. It's a good plan, but you spend the whole time thinking something is about to go wrong - where's the action if they accomplish the rescue? But they do accomplish it, and should-be-president-guy is taken to safety (though he's ill), and they're just about to get away. One thing you notice during this bit is that people die a lot - they're prepared to kill the African soldiers in their sleep because they believe saving should-be-president-guy is for the greater good. Anyway, they're about to get away.

And then the plane that's meant to be picking them up is sent away (by Granger) and they're left stranded (saving some people about a million pounds of fees for their services). Being resourceful, they decide exactly where to go and what to do, and they know they're in a desperate situation, but they trust each other and they're really sweet.

This is where the excitement kicks in. I won't spoil this bit, but let's just say there are some fantastic scenes, and some really heart-warming moments between characters (especially should-be-president-guy and racist-South-African Kruger). They find there *is* a way out, but it's not easy to get to. They don't all make it, of course (indeed, there's lots and lots of bloodshed - I mean, a lot of that was directed at the bad guys, but good guys die too - and I like that in a film sometimes).

Watch it, I promise it's good.

The Patriot is a very good film. It has what I think of as cinematic integrity. When you first watch it, you will spend at least half an hour (it's 2hrs30ish long) thinking it really isn't progressing fast enough and you don't want to know why Mel Gibson cares so much about rocking chairs. But bear with it, because it's exciting and emotional and worth watching.

Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) is a widower looking after seven children and being a peaceful family man when the American war of Independence is on the verge of breaking out; he does however have a good military reputation for some atrocities he now regrets committing during the French and Indian Wars. His oldest son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), joins up to fight for freedom, and then the next son is desperate to do so, and here the action begins.

I won't reveal the plot from here, because it's worth just being surprised by stuff that happens. But there are some things that should be highlighted, the first of which is the very good acting. Jason Isaacs makes a very good and completely amoral villain called Colenel Tavington (occasionally overacted but mostly very good), who manages to persuade General Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson, wonderful) that brutality can be a good idea sometimes. Gibson is outstanding - there is one point where he cries for a reason I won't reveal because it would spoil it, and if you're soft-hearted like me it's impossible not to start crying with him. Ledger is also very good and there's a very sweet romance between Gabriel and his sweetheart, Anne. One of the best things is the Martin children, though some of them are a little underused.

The second thing to say is that, on the subject of cinematic integrity, this is a film that doesn't shy away from bad things happening. A lot of bad thing happen, and people die and people are upset over it and sometimes it's quite depressing (this isn't spoilerish - I didn't tell you *who* dies!). This sense of gloom makes the stirring ideas about freedom and patriotism all the more potent - it's a time that Americans are proud to remember, and rightly so. This isn't about modern patriotism, however much the film's distributors might have had this in mind - it's much more relevant in the sense that it portrays that period in history with great skill.

What I was most impressed by was the attention paid to emotions in the film. Gibson was excellent in conveying anger (with a tomahawk) and grief and did a wonderful job of playing a complicated family man with a past and priorities. There are a number of very poignant scenes, going together to make the atmosphere very affecting. Another gem was the youngest daughter, Susan, who begins the film not speaking, and when she starts speaking still refuses to talk to her father - but, in a very poignant moment that *always* makes me cry, she runs after him shouting, "Daddy! Please don't go! I'll say anything if you don't go!" The film has something for everyone - excitement, adventure, pathos, moral reasoning.

Excellent film, and always a joy, if a slightly depressing one, to watch. Slow in places, but it more than makes up for this in excitement, depth and raw emotion.

Ashanti is a very 70s sort of film (1979, to be precise). It reminded me of The Wild Geese in a way (Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Roger Moore on a mission in Africa). It's a very good film too, and I enjoyed it a lot.

David (Michael Caine) is a doctor working in Africa and is married to a beautiful Ashanti woman called Anansa (Beverley Johnson) who has trained in medicine in America and is also a doctor. While they're doctoring, one day she is snatched by slavers working for an Arabic slave trader called Suleiman (played perfectly by Peter Ustinov, of all people). The rest of the film is David trying to get her back.

Michael Caine is a brilliant actor, of course, and plays a character who is very determined and prepared to do anything to get his wife back, but rather hopeless with a gun and action stuff. He's helped out first by a Englishman campaigning against the slave trade that no one acknowledges is going on (Rex Harrison!), then briefly by a helicopter pilot (William Holden), and then by an Arab called Malik (Kabir Bedi). Malik has a score to settle with Suleiman (he is very intense throughout, a very engaging character), and so rides off with David to find him and get Anansa back - this involves a wonderful scene in which David fails miserably to get on his camel.

Then there's lots of adventure. There's also lots of morality-questioning. The progress of the story is a little predictable from this point, and there are a few liberties taken with plotting to move things along faster, but it's all pretty forgivable. The question is, will David get to Anansa before Peter Ustinov sells her on to Omar Sharif (yes, of course Omar Sharif is in it!)?