I Really Wouldn't Bother .... (Charlotte Gray (DVD))

Member Name: sidneygee

Product:	Charlotte Gray (DVD)
Date:	27/02/02 (119 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well Filmed

Disadvantages: Wished I could have looked to see what was on the other channels.

I don't normally 'do' movies, for the simple reason that neither Heather nor I are great fans of the silver screen. Indeed, over the 32 years since I met Heather, I reckon that we have been to the cinema together, just the two of us, only five times, so this review is on more than just this film - it covers the whole 2001 Cinema Experience from our point of view.

OK, before you go rushing off to report us to Social Services for mental cruelty, I must insist that our children were never deprived of the 'rites of passage' cinema visits when they were younger. Either I took them, or our friend Caroline did. She is a neighbours older daughter and she now runs a successful private Nursery in Edinburgh. In effect, she was allowed to 'practice' (to a limited extent) on our three children when they were young through occasional baby-sitting and accompanying them to Sunday School and on occasional trips. She only had an elder brother and no cousins you see, and Heather was very grateful for the help that was offered, particularly when she had the three ‘monsters’ under school age (shudders at the memory!!).

So, any films that Heather & I really wanted to see we would wait until they were on video, or even on a terrestrial television channel. We were always very patient. However, we broke the habit on last Saturday night. One particular couple of our friends and neighbours are enthusiastic Francophiles. Having read Sebastian Faulks book "Charlotte Gray" they decided that they now wanted to see the film - that is "Charlotte Gray"- being keen to see which French scenery had been used for the filming. An invitation came from these friends - and so, wham-bang, for the first time in at least 29 years, Heather & I went to "the pictures" together (showing our age now!). We really did not know what to expect.

The Story
The film is adapted from a Sebastian Faulks book. I h
ave now started to read it (a loan having been grated) and I did enjoy his 'Birdsong'. Thus, I am anticipating several good evening's entertainment - which is substantially more than I reckon we got from the film itself. This author really seems to do so much research for his novels, so I was interested to see this adaptation by Gillian Armstrong for Ecosse Films. I thought that if it was good, I might be persuaded to get 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' out on video (another of her adaptations - and Heather did enjoy that book). I wonder if Ecosse Films received any Lottery money to help with production costs ....

The film opens with Cate Blanchett in the title role, on a train, supposed to be travelling from St Andrews to London in 1942. A guy gets on the train and seeing that she is reading a book in French starts talking to her. Having established that she had lived in France for a number of years and was patriotic, he gives her an invitation to visit a book launch in London where she is enrolled into the Special Operations Group.

Coincidentally, she meets a young RAF pilot at this book launch and embarks on a torrid (extra-quick-drawer-dropping) love affair before he becomes 'lost in action'. Coincidentally, the first assignment in France is in an area close to where he was reported missing and she is parachuted into the Toulouse area, after learning that he is being 'sheltered' there ....

France at that time was divided into two parts. The Northern sector was occupied by the Germans. The Southern part was under control of the collaborating Vichy Government. I'll bet that the old-uns' in the area of France used for the filming will not want reminding of the amount of collaboration with the enemy that took place in this period ...

Attempts to locate him fail, and she did not meet him again until much later in the Film when she is back in London after her adventures. B
y this time, she has transferred her affections to a young French Communist rebel (Vive l'auld Alliance !), and this pilot does not seem quite so smitten, so our parents (and possible YOUR grandparents) could seem to be an amoral and fickle lot during the conflict of 1939 - 1945 .... I always wondered about my Auntie Hannah (who was in her late 20’s/early 30’s and single during the war). According to my Mum, she was a great ‘comfort’ to ‘those in peril on the sea’ during that time.

Interesting that the film has not seemed to make much impact so far on the USA market. After all, it has the appropriate elements to make it 'attractive' over the pond. The Germans are particularly beastly to Jews -sending a Jewish couple to a Concentration Camp. Eventually they also catch up with their two young sons, who are sent to the same fate, along with the French-born land-owner character (played by Michael Gambon) where one set of his grandparents were Jewish. This was considered sufficient for him to be considered as part of the ‘Jewish problem’. His own son was judged at that stage to have his 'Jewishness' sufficiently diluted to allow him to remain 'at large' – probably only until the backlog of high Jewish content was cleared. Oh, and most of the local Communist 'cell' to which this son belongs is betrayed by the British when their usefulness is judged to be at an end.. I'll not be surprised if that scene was 'enjoyed' by a number of viewers over the pond. Somehow, I cannot see the film being quite so popular in France ... or in Germany.

The 'Credits'.
It now amazes me how many people from such a diverse number of trades are involved in film production. The credits took an age to roll, and there were a number of 'trades' and 'professions' that I really did not recognise. For example, what is the job of a 'Hod-Pain
ter' ? I never saw any Hods, let alone any that were obviously painted. Perhaps there is a module of an Art Course, or a postgraduate diploma in this ?

But the credits were useful to establish that most filming took place in the French Town of St. 'Antonin Noble Val' and our friends say they will make a point of visiting it next summer.

The Setting
OK, I will admit, it was beautiful filming. From shots of what appeared to be either the West Highlands Line or Beattock Summit (under steam), through to beautiful scenery in South West France, little criticism can be made of this aspect. However, I am certain that I saw just a glimpse of a modern plate glass frontage through the corner of a sheet of board painted to resemble an ancient French crumbling plaster. So how much of the scenery seen in the film will be actual and real when our neighbours get to France next summer became a matter of debate later ....

The Characters
To give credit where it is due, Cate Blanchett made a very reasonable job of portraying a slightly feisty Scottish lady (which made the early 'drawers-off' incidents all the more surprising, to me). I found the airman character to be rather forgetful (I didn't even notice who played the part !). The young Communist was played by the American Billy Crudup (who had me convinced that he ponged of Gauloises and Garlic) and his (25% Jewish) father by the excellent Michael Gambon. A number of other familiar British actors faces were glimpsed.

Quibbles
They used Douglas Dakota aircraft for transport. Cannot see that would be correct. No shots of Lysanders or any other period aircraft ....

The motor vehicles used were not quite right at times , I felt. I would have anticipated quite a number of pre-war, 1920's style vehicles in the area, and more older 1920's and 1930's vehicles in the London scenes. They were mainly 1940's vehicles. As a former DooYo
o Motors Guide I do tend to notice such things, and pointed them out at the wine-drinking session back at our place afterwards.

Sorry, but it was all Hungarian wine - I don't buy so much French wine since the Great Wine Scandal.

The Stunts
The Communists blew up a train and blew it up well. That was very realistic and, with the Dolby-Surround Sound coming into play, created an aura that is probably impossible to re-create at home, even with the best equipment. But this occasional use of surround-sound facilities I find intrusive. My son just reckons that I am getting very old ....

Conclusions
So how did we enjoy this 'experience'. Well, as regards the Cinema itself (an Odeon opened about 2 years' ago), I cannot say that I was totally impressed. As indicated above, the Dolby 'surround sound' came over when it felt like it (whenever it wanted to 'frighten us', said Heather).

The seats were apparently comfortable, but after approaching two and a half hours, I was aching something rotten in my lower back region because of their lack of proper support.

Oh, and when I paid my "one shilling and ninepence" (about £0.09) at the (superior) Theatre Royal in Barry in my youth, I would get a 90 -120 minutes main feature and a one hour second feature. Now, you get just a two hour film (with about 3 minutes of credits at the end) and nothing else (apart from advertising) for £5.30 each !!!! At the local 'bug-house (The Palace) you could even see the same films a month later for "one shilling and thruppence" (about £0.06) ... grumble ...grumble ...

Oh, and as for the film itself ....

Over-all, I am certain that this story would have been much better served as a 4 or 5 part TV series. That would give, say 200 - 250 minutes of performance. That could have explored far more aspects of what I am certain is an excellent, well-researched novel (pub
lished by Vintage Books in 1999 - 496 pages). I found the film rather disjointed, and if I had been watching it on television, I reckon I would have been checking to see if anything better was coming up on another channel.

I still wonder if any lottery money was squandered on the making of this film ? The waste of this 'Resource of the People' is beginning to become a national scandal ....

Oh and the "two stars" rating that I give is for the film alone. If I was rating the whole experience with the cinema, it would have been just the one star.

© Sidneygee 2002

Summary: