Billy Liar (12)

A personal favourite, the iconic British comedy Billy Liar is released in the UK on Blu-ray and DVD today to celebrate it's 50th anniversary.

Billy Liar (12) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Oscar winning director John Schlesinger, best known for Midnight Cowboy (1969) had an early triumph in 1963 with Billy Liar, a challenger for the following year’s Dr. Strangelove as the funniest film ever made.  Tom Courtenay stars as the eponymous hero, a compulsive liar with two fiancées on the go and a vivid imagination in which he is ruler of his own country, ‘Ambrosia’.

Alive with humour and charm, the film feels decades ahead of it’s time in terms of cinematic inventiveness, with Schlesinger announcing himself as a powerful and innovative filmmaker.  The script by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, adapted from Waterhouse’s novel, warmly presents what is now a slice of history: the inner workings of a post-war English town.  The story is of the awkward but inevitable rise of a new generation, born from the freedom of a country victorious after the Second World War and kicking against the creativity-stifling recovery period that followed.

Billy holds a job as a file clerk at the local undertakers, but his ambitions lie elsewhere.  He believes he has what it takes to catch the attention of his favourite comic actor, London based Danny Boon.  The scene in which Billy prepares to tell his boss what he really wants to do in life is genuinely sidesplitting, and one of the most memorable in the film.

Courtenay makes palpable Billy’s frustration at being trapped in such a closed community, with a family who’s aspirations reach no further than his mother’s hopes of having her favourite song played on the radio (something unlikely to happen since Billy forgot to post her request letter).  It’s impossible not to root for him to escape to London and take on the world.

The only person who truly knows Billy is not one of his duo of brides to be, but the alluring free spirit Liz (a young Julie Christie).  She alone is wise to Billy’s playful but alienating penchant to fib, and she disarms him into revealing his vulnerabilities and even inviting her to help govern his beloved Ambrosia.  “I turn over a new leaf everyday” Billy confides in her, “but the blotches soak through.”  She is the perfect foil for Billy’s character, and challenges him to take action and strike out.  Billy’s fantasies however are as much fuelled by guilt at not doing right by his family as they are by his ego, and his loyalties become divided.

Fifty years on Billy Liar remains as irresistible as its titular rogue, and for anyone who can relate to the tension he feels between going his own way and supporting his bewildered but loving family, it’s a film destined to hold a special place in their heart.

Blu-ray extras: Remembering Billy Liar with Tom Courtenay and Helen Fraser, Interview with Richard Ayoade, A look through the Keith Waterhouse Archive with British Library Curator Zoe Wilcox, Interview with Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley, Stills Gallery, Trailer

Army of Shadows (12)

The restored French classic L'armée des ombres is re-released on Blu-ray this Monday.

Army of Shadows (12) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Having been critically panned on release in France in 1969 and subsequently denied a theatrical run in the US, after a thorough restoration over thirty five years later, Army of Shadows has finally found recognition.  It is director Jean-Pierre Melville’s final word on the French resistance in wartime France, of which he himself was a member.

Lino Ventura plays Philippe Gerbier, a chief in the French resistance in German occupied France, 1942.  We first meet Gerbier on his way to a prison camp, having been betrayed by one of his subordinates.  From here Melville unravels a harrowing tale of ethical dilemmas, split loyalties and courage of a type that only those who lived through such times can fully comprehend.

A bleak portrait is painted of life for the resistance members, one of near futility as their efforts seem to consist almost solely of evading capture and risking their lives with no reliable way of knowing who to trust, only to find out that the powers that be consider them of little use against the German war machine.  Melville poses questions such as whether ones own life has any value in the grand scheme of things, particularly if one feels of little use to anyone alive.  The tension between personal friendships and loyalty to a cause is also explored, leaving you with unsettlingly ambiguous thoughts that hint at the kinds of things that kept the resistance members awake at night.

Melville’s typically sparse and minimalist mise-en-scène reinforces the chillingly matter of fact atmosphere.  Characters pace through scenes, their footsteps echoing as the camera lingers in a way that leaves the audience room for a quiet sobriety of thought, of a kind that the fast cutting and handheld camerawork of more recent war films can only dream.

Éric Demarsan’s haunting score is evocative of Cold War-esque melancholy secrecy.  The icy strings and poignant piano melody weave a non-specific yet memorable soundscape to reflect the troubled and cagey characters.  The performances throughout are superbly restrained and affecting, particularly those of Ventura in the lead and Simone Signoret as resistance member Mathilde, a character whose personal ethical hell is perhaps the most sympathetic.

While slow and intellectually demanding, like a ponderous game of chess, Army of Shadows remains a treasure trove for anyone looking for a vivid and challenging insight into the experiences of the French resistance, told in a beautiful cinematic style which is now sadly all but forgotten.

Blu-ray extras: Army of Shadows - The Hidden Side of the Story (Documentary), Booklet on the movie written by Ginette Vincendeau (Professor and Film Critic)

Lincoln (12A)

Spielberg's latest masterpiece (really!) is still in cinemas... catch it before it bags a load of Oscars on the 24th!

This review was first published in The Methodist Recorder (www.methodistrecorder.co.uk).

Lincoln (12A)

Steven Spielberg had to ask three times to convince Daniel Day-Lewis to don the iconic stovepipe, believing Lincoln wouldn’t be worth filming without the talents of the worlds best actor.  The film centres on the abolition of the slave trade, and we first meet Lincoln visiting his battle weary troops, finding black soldiers as earnest and loyal as any.  From there we witness his uphill struggle to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, to outlaw slavery once and for all. 

Like all exceptional biographical films, Lincoln doesn’t simply follow the character from cradle to grave, but tells the story of the choices he made under the greatest pressures of his life, thus revealing the man’s heart.  Spielberg has never made a more mature and thoughtful film, with his carefully tempered use of harrowing battle scenes and gory images serving to demonstrate the cost of the Civil War, and the high stakes with which Lincoln was faced.

A film so steeped in politics risks being dry and laborious, and while there are scenes that require a greater than average investment of attention, they always pay off tenfold thanks to Spielberg’s decision not to shoot until Tony Kushner’s script had been fine tuned to perfection.  The wit and sparkle with which history is brought to life is remarkable, and sets a new standard for historical biopics.

Day-Lewis’ performance has been roundly lauded as uncanny, but there’s no chance of distraction from the story despite awe of his performance, because Day-Lewis has uncovered a character so authentically humble that you forget you’re watching a film, and experience something of what the man himself might have been like.  Tommy Lee Jones is also on top form as Thaddeus Stevens, injecting his incisive insults with delicious venom; just one example of the delightful humour Kushner uses to bring periodic levity.

Another film about slavery is on release concurrently with Lincoln, Django Unchained.  While Django represents a fictional and unrighteous attack on slavery, Lincoln is the opposite, telling a true story of a righteous assault on evil.  Important questions are raised as Lincoln ponders that we don’t choose to be born, and are perhaps therefore made for our time with a specific job to do.  It’s food for thought for Christians considering God’s purpose in their lives, and Lincoln’s ultimate triumph is an encouragement to fight injustice even against odds which, from an earthly perspective, seem insurmountable.