bbhlthph

This is another of the numerous films which chronicle the history of a short affair. Not surprisingly such films became very popular during World War II; and for me 'Brief Encounter' remains the finest erotic film ever created, but in its style and pacing '9 Songs' owes more to '9 1/2 weeks' which provided a template that has been followed by many more recent films. In '9 Songs" the spacing element that controls the timing of the affair is a series of nine rock concerts attended by the couple; but their relationship, although very fresh, is not as impersonal as it was in '9 1/2 weeks'. This film brings out the very real problem young people today face in building a career at the time when strong biological urges dictate that their first call should be to create a family. Whilst not taking sides in any obvious way, it is made very clear that the demands of society can often be impossible to reconcile with our instinctive urges. It features a young man who works as a research scientist in Antarctica except for brief periods of leave in London, England. A common attraction for rock music leads to friendship with a student from the U.S.A., who will only be in London for a very limited time before she has to return to the U.S.A. They can either ignore each other or respond to their mutual attraction whilst recognising that any continuing relationship appears virtually impossible, and they choose to accept the latter alternative. This award winning film provides a very sensitive and thought provoking glimpse of the type of relationship that can develop under such circumstances.

Like many similar films, '9 Songs' started as a film festival project. It was featured at Sundance, the Toronto Festival and also at San Sebastian where it was an award winner. It then received a limited general circulation on the strength of its festival record, but its backers probably recognised from the start that its greatest returns should come from DVD sales, a situation which often makes it hard to decide whether the theatrical release or the Director's Cut DVD should be regarded as the definitive version. Whilst the latter is usually sexually more graphic, the greater differences in this case appear to be regionally based.

The storm began when Michael Winterbottom, the Director, went on record as wishing to blur or break the distinction between softcore and hardcore sex which is currently maintained by the mainstream movie industry. I have strong reservations about this. Films are created by actors trained to simulate every kind of activity and emotion. There seems no reason why the simulation of sexual activity should necessarily be any less satisfactory for a normal audience than its actual performance.. An actor is never going to be asked to kill or wound his colleagues, we readily accept that when this appears to take place it is simulated. Today the same is true even of sequences involving the apparent death of animals, and there is no reason why it should not also be true of explicit sexual activities. However I watched the unrated Canadian version of the DVD which runs for five minutes less than at least one of the versions referred to in other IMDb user reviews, and did not include some sequences IMDb viewers in Europe have discussed. It contained nothing that I have not also seen in many other mainstream films. Those who are uncomfortable with any nudity or any simulation of sexual activity will of course choose to give this DVD a miss - others need feel no concern. The film is a serious attempt to take a realistic look at one of the problems associated with the society in which we live today, and in my view drawing attention to such problems can do nothing but good. My version of the DVD made no implicit attempt to preach to us - it simply presented an entertaining and well made story which brought out some of the problems inherent in our present day lifestyles.

Basic requirements for viewer enjoyment are fully satisfied. The film-script is largely believable; the cinematography is competently done (some of the sequences featuring Antarctica are alone sufficient to justify watching the film); the acting, particularly by the young couple who carry most of the acting burden right through the entire film, was, I felt, remarkably natural; and the all important rock music sound track (which I am too deaf to assess for myself) has been commended by many others. This film is not intended to be a tearjerker, the couple concerned knew the implications of the situation in which they found themselves and got as much pleasure and satisfaction out of their brief romance as they could possibly have expected. But many older viewers who have been blessed with lifelong supportive relationships starting at a similar stage in their own lives, will probably look back over their own good fortune, and may even experience a hint of damp eyes from sympathy with the dilemma faced by the couple portrayed here.

Unfortunately however, whilst remaining an enjoyable movie, '9 Songs' was too documentary in style and too short to enable its principal characters to become adequately developed, a problem that also led to unacceptably frequent and over-abrupt switches from domestic bliss to frenzied rock concerts - filmed in totally incompatible ways. I first intended to give '9 Songs' an IMDb rating of 6, but I unexpectedly found the film quite hard to forget - not because of any of the controversial sexual sequences, but because of its treatment of an affair that circumstances would never allow to become a romance. This aspect of the film has had little discussion here, but because of it I am raising my rating to 7.

'Evening' is a film to ponder over rather than to enjoy. It currently has an IMDb user rating of 6.5 stars, but in general it has only received a moderate reception from film critics. We are told that it is a film about an elderly lady who is on her deathbed throughout the entire movie and is looking back on her life to review the mistakes that she feels she has made. Supported by two daughters who had different fathers, she tells us very early on that she has had 'several' husbands. The film opens when in a half conscious state she keeps speaking the name of another man of whom neither of her daughters are even aware. The story behind this emerges slowly through a series of half remembered flashbacks - often in a way that is quite difficult to follow on first viewing. 'Evening' is clearly intended to be a film of some significance, its theme, the self-assessment of ones own life as it draws to a close, is a universal one, and it must be reviewed on this basis - not simply by a trite comment that it was less (or more) enjoyable than expected. Unfortunately the unfolding of this story is an integral part of its appeal, so a detailed discussion would completely spoil the film for anyone yet to see it. Rather than this I have decided to restrict my comments to impressions formed when first watching it, followed by a brief assessment made after the second viewing which I found was necessary before I could fully follow the story. Readers should be aware that 'Evening' is much more polished than most new films and this critique may therefore not adequately reflect its very considerable qualities.

1. 'Evening' is ultimately a 'soap opera' - probably intended to appeal primarily to women - but it is more profound than most films of this type and should provides equally enjoyable viewing for both sexes.

2. Good points include its overall visual appeal and superb photography (which reminded me of Jack Cardiff's work at many points). Also I am hard of hearing and I appreciated that the optional DVD subtitles were firmly located in the black band below the wide-screen image. Oh how many fine films have been spoiled for me by a line of script superimposed along the bottom edge of the image and often unreadable.

3. Next in importance to the general image quality is the acting, the cast here were given the opportunity to create real characters - not cardboard cut-outs - and they largely succeeded in this. Most films that include so many great actors feature several cameo performances presented largely in isolation, but here the interaction between these characters was exceptional. In particular I must rate a reminiscences sequence between Vanessa Redgrave (Anne) and Meryl Streep (Lila) as truly superb cinematography.

4. The flashbacks feature a Newport "Blue blood' family which still believes in arranged marriages to secure the continuance of the family line and fortune. This is not P.C. today and is intrinsically hard to fully accept.

5. The sound track is an abomination - whenever a Director fails to appreciate the proper impact of periods of silence many scenes become ruined by totally intrusive background music. If I want to see a musical I will pick one and enjoy what I am expecting, but too many dramas today are presented as half baked musicals and I have no time for this.

6. The flashbacks are not presented as fragmentary dreamlike recollections but as an ongoing almost continuous story, which is very confusing

7. Much of the sequencing seemed all wrong. Anne on her deathbed appeared as if she should have had teenage grandchildren around her; instead one of her daughters was just considering starting a family. Anne tells us that she has had several husbands but the story as presented seems very incomplete as all the flashbacks relate to one of her pre-wedding romances.

My final assessment after later consideration:.

This film would have been better scripted sequentially. with the story gradually developing, and viewers left unaware of how things worked out in advance. This would have eliminated a lot of confusion, but might have conflicted even more with the original novel (which I have not read). Many database users have commented that the film already departs too far from this novel - but they have also suggested that the novel as written is almost unfilmable. Whether based on history, literature or drama; a film must never distort its source, but there is a solution to that problem.. Instead of claiming to represent the source material, the film can claim only to be a story inspired by it. By mutual agreement the necessary recognition can be paid in this way without inhibiting the screenwriter from doing his job properly.

Ultimately we go to the cinema to be entertained, and I have to report that despite all its qualities I did not enjoy this film as much as 'Soft Fruit' - an Australian film with a very similar theme but clearly made with a much lower budget. Directed by Christina Andreef and produced by Jane Campion (the conjoint creators of 'The Piano'); this was filmed with a much less experienced cast, but somehow by the time it ended I found I was feeling as if I really knew the characters (and was wanting to root for them too!}. This never happened with the much more reserved characters portrayed in 'Evening" - leaving the viewer with something of the feeling of having watched a documentary presentation which gave no real sense of involvement.