Artmanjosephgrech

2233 Seven Films brilliant to bad at the end of January 2012

2012-01-29T02:01:00.000-08:00

The news that Ralph Fiennes was directing Coriolanus for the cinema was greeted by me with enthusiasm until I realised I had confused this Shakespearean tragedy with Titus Androdonicus which I had seen at Stratford as well as when the RSC visited Newcastle. Coriolanus the character is in fact a fascist soldier with aristocratic contempt for the people, the plebeians, and for the concept of democracy. He is a tragic figure because he is the product of an ambition warmongering dominating mother who is also in control of his wife and son,

Mr Fiennes is best known for his performances in the English Patient, the Constant Gardener and the Duke of Devonshire in the Duchess once more on BBC on Saturday evening. He is also to appear in a remake film of Great Expectations as Magwitch.

He is faithful to the story and to much of the Text and to the setting of the play in Rome and Italy, but here is where the liberty is taken because the period is not the Latin era of the Consuls but the twentieth century and filmed in a grim war torn Serbia. He also brings the fore the role of his mother and of his wife. An aspect where performances were understandably limited with boys playing female figures at the time the works were written.

As with the text and various examples throughout history there are food shortages to an extent that the people do not have sufficient grain to make bread and what exists is controlled with priority given to the military and the patricians. The mob has been stirred by political agitators with their personal as well as civic agenda, written in an era within fifty years of the British Civil War.

Their anger has been directed on the military hero and deputy commander Caius Marcius who has already made known his contempt for the masses while distinguishing him repeatedly in battles. The agitation is led by Senators Brutus and Scinius played by Paul Jesson as the behind the scenes manipulator and James Nesbitt as the front man.

His wife is anxious for his welfare but his mother chides her for being soft hearted declaring she would rather have a dozen sons killed in battle that one living who puts his wife and personal welfare before the honour of combat and the acquisition of the scars of battle which should then be shown to the people to maintain their adoration and continuing support. Her main ally and supporter of Caius is Menenius Agrippa a kind of Speaker in the House, who with the support of the present Consul, a combined state head and Prime Minister rolled into one, are keen for Caius to be appointed when circumstances are propitious. To become Consul one must have the voice of the Senate and of the people at the Forum. While Menenius controls the body of the Senate, Nesbitt and co know the minds and the emotions of the people, and more importantly how to press the right buttons to get the people worked up and taking their lead.

When news comes that the leader of the Volscians, Tullus Aufidius, has launched a new campaign to right the grievances against the Roman state Caius concentrates on what interests him best, the business of fighting and in the film we are treated to an exposition of contemporary warfare with high powered rapid firing weapons and hand delivered rockets. When ordered you advance whatever the personal cost is likely to be and I was remind of this continuing principle of military authority with a Blackadder episode in which the men were told to go over the top and die in combat rather than retreat in cowardly dishonour.

The Volscians are defeated but Tullus escapes after a direct confrontation with Caius who returns to the acclaim of the Senate and the honour of being renamed Coriolanus after the place of the victory. Menenius and the mother of Coriolanus determine this is the moment for the warrior to become the state leader. The appearance before the Senate goes according to although Coriolanus refuses to listen to the acclamation speech on his behalf and he is reluctant to respond other than to accept the honour.

He agrees to attend the Forum (market place in the film) with reluctance and refuses to show his war wounds which is the required custom. He returns to the senate for confirmation and inauguration but makes the mistake of wanting to first change his clothing. This provides the opportunity for the conspirators to psyche the crowd into changing their minds and demand the impeachment of Coriolanus.

Coriolanus then resists the counselling of Menenius, his mother and other supporters including the existing Consul, to moderate his approach and say what is needed to convince the people. The device which the film uses is a modern day Television appearance after he agrees to do what is necessary. The conspirators have a few placed supporters in the audience to respond to the signal of Nesbitt to demand the trial and sentencing of Coriolanus for his contempt of the people. He does his best to cooperate with the wishes of his supporters but is quickly goaded into exposing his real feelings. Nesbitt calls for banishment which is quickly taken up by the studio audience. The conspirators are elated and keep the political status quo.

Coriolanus is bitter and determines on revenge and makes his way to the Volscians capital and demands to be presented to Tullus where he offers his life as a means of humiliating Rome. However his aim is to offer his services to help Tullus and his countryman wage war again on Rome and they seize on this with enthusiasm. The problem is that Coriolanus is too successful and the men begin to support him rather than Tullus and his leadership. They begin to try and look like their idol, shaving their heads like him and Tullus and his advisers begin to worry about their position.

As the invaders advance on the capital there is growing panic among the leadership and the citizenry and against his better judgement Menenius is commissioned to go and seek a peaceful settlement. When the mission fails he is sent away with a flea in his ear and commits suicide.

This leaves the mother, wife and son who previously attempted to get the conspirators to reverse the banishment, to now plead for the city, humiliating themselves, prepared to say and do whatever he asks of them. When it appears he is so wedded to his need for revenge that he will yield nothing, he relents, consults Tullus who agrees that to a peace deal. In the play it is only when The Volscians returns to their capital that they turn of Coriolanus and kill him. In the film Tullus and his men wait outside of Rome for the Peace deal to be signed during which time he becomes concerned about the reaction of the Volscians given that they had Rome at their mercy and fearing the response make a scapegoat of Coriolanus.

Both play and film make the point that Generals should stick to their profession and not enter politics and that in a democracy the masses can be manipulated one way or their other by demagogues. It is also a statement about the power that some parents can exert over their children. It is also clear that the play will be used by those on the extreme right as a statement in favour of fascism and dictatorships.

I attend the performance at the Tyneside Film Theatre on Friday afternoon after first going into thee town centre for a four pack set of black ink cartridges for £8 and just under a pound of cherries for £2, 20 at the greengrocers under the Metro platform. I then made a hasty visit to Marks and Spencer’s to see if they had a second paid of the black track suit bottom which are warm and soft. I thought I had properly checked the label regarding waist and leg length but it was only when I checked about a third of the way to the film theatre than I realised I had the wrong waist size. I returned and fortunately they had one pair left which needed to be exchanged with a new receipt at the cash desk. I then made my way in haste to the cinema. In once sense I need not have rushed because although scheduled for a 3.05 pm start it was 3.15 when the programme commenced. However with the film being shown in the Roxy theatre where the seats are most uncomfortable the only seat in a midway position was to sit with someone on one side. This proved uncomfortable as the film progressed. I was home by 6.30 pm debating whether to take out a subscription to ESPN with a view to watching a cup game that evening and the Newcastle game at Brighton. I deferred the decision until to day and went ahead.

This is a speculative decision as yesterday Andy Murray lost a tremendous five set match in the semi final of the Australian open and where he had the opportunity break the service of his opponent when the game was 5 sets apiece and therefore he would have then been able to serve for the match. The games lasted close on ten minutes and when Djkovic held out it was almost inevitable that Murray would fail on his service. He had gone into a two sets to one lead and then went to pieces losing the fourth set 6.1. Many neutrals had said this is one of he great matches of all time because of the quality of tennis maintained throughout its five hours in length, The effort required to win this game means that even with a day’s rest it is unlikely the winner will go on to take the title from Nadal who beat Roger Federer and for once the greatest tennis players of the present era reached the last four. Murray will not play Federer for the third place prize money.

It also looked that England would win the second Test after they dismissed Pakistan in their second innings with a lead of only 146 runs. Only once in past 100 years have England not won a match with such a low total. They not only failed but were humiliated all out for 72 runs. It was awful. Earlier in the day I won £2.70 in the Euro lottery having invested £2 a net gain of 70 pence.

I do not understand why I had not previously added a review of the remake of True Grit alongside the original with John Wayne as I saw in theatre at the time it was released at the end of 2010 just before Christmas. The film was made by the splendid Coen brothers whose work is always interesting although not always enjoyable and satisfying.

The story is an engaging one with a fourteen year old girl taking it upon herself to arrange for the return of the body of her father who has been killed when intervening in a conflict involving one of his hired hands while in town Fort Smith Arkansas purchasing two animals. The man Tom Cheney has headed into Indian country with two of her fathers special gold coin pieces. She comes to town just for the day with another hired hand as escort although she sends him home with the body staying in town to undertake unfinished business. Her first task is to cancel the purchase and claim compensation for the loss of her father’s horse which she negotiates hard. She sees the local Justices who have no interest in pursuing the murderer so she seeks advice as to who might be willing to undertake the task offering to pay $50 over the state terms. This is then raised to an additional $50 on success of the mission. She is given three names and approaches the old timer Rooster Coburn played by Jeff Bridges in the remake. While John Wayne remained distinctly John Wayne in the original Mr Bridges has become famed for his characterisation where you would not know who the actor is without being informed. This is to his credit although both performances are outstanding.

Roster Cockburn is not anti social as such but prefers to follow his business without encumbrances so the idea of being accompanied let alone commissioned by a fourteen year girl is understandably not something he is prepared to countenance. She begins to have misgivings about him after finding him a drunken state and wishes she had first approached Texas Ranger LaBoeuf played by Matt Damon who is also after the same man for the murder a Texan senator, especially as he knows the territory involved. While she is staying at the same boarding house where her father lodged The Texan and Rooster make an early start without her, telling the ferry man that she is a runaway and not to let her cross. She crosses the river anyway with the horse swimming.

The two men first fall out over the treatment of the girl and allowing her to go with them. Mattie Ross is played by Oscar nominated Hailee Steinfield who had to compete with 15000 applicants for the role (She is to play Juliet in a remake film of Shakespeare’s play.

With the onset of winter and snow falling the two make for a an overnight lodge on the advice of a medicine man they encounter but find that outlaws have taken up residence. They smoke them out and plan to stay overnight after a fight before finding out that a well known gang is to arrive accompanied by the man they are after. The two wait in ambush on a hill overlooking the cabin. The plan misfires when the Texas Ranger arrives before the outlaw gang. Rooster is able to his aid at a distance although the man is injured. Some of the outlaws escape to join the rest of the gang.

Unfortunately the two men argue again this time over the Civil War and La Beuof again goes off and Mattie is then caught by the gang when she is getting water from the river and confronts Chaney. Fortunately La Boeuf comes to the rescue just before Chaney is about to the kill Mattie. who has been taken hostage. They devise a plan to take on the gang which involves Rooster taking on four men a kind of jousting conflict. After killing three, Rooster falls and is trapped by his horse. LaBoeuf makes an amazing shot of 400 yards to down the fourth man. Having also killed Chaney the mission is over. Unfortunately Mattie falls down into a cave full of snakes and is bitten and Rooster rides in desperation to where he knows she will get appropriate help. She recovers but loses an arm.

Twenty five years later Mattie gets a note from Rooster with a hand bill saying that he is performing in a Wild West Show nearby. She visits only to find that he died a few days before her arrival. She arranges for the coffin to be moved to the family plot on the family farm. She reflects on their adventure together.

Although the film was nominated for 10 awards at the Oscars and 8 at the Bafta’s it only won the Cinematic Bafta. This is one of the rare situations where both films can be enjoyed and stand alongside each other.

Now to a group of films in varying awfulness although I maintained interest in Killing Bono, because The film is based loosely on a true story against a background of the success of U.2, the best known rock band in the world. Neil McCormick went to school with Bono and the Edge from U2 but beyond this fact I have no idea how much of his autobiography memoir of the same title sub headed I was Bono‘s doppelganger bears resemblance to the truth. Apart from the US appearance at the original I was there Live Aid concert, the closest I have got to see the band performing live is a tribute band who played at the Custom’s House one evening and who I encountered in their van searching for their lodging house which I was able to show them the way after their Sat Nav went awry. They were and I assume are still the loudest band I have ever experienced, so much so that some of the audience could not cope and left at the interval.

The story is how McCormick decided to form a band which would rival U2 when working an entertainment journalist for a weekly a magazine. He was so determined his young brother from joining the group bit telling him of the offer. In order to gain experience he arranges a gig at a stripper drinks club run by a notorious criminal who he persuades to provide £10000 to sponsor the duo make it big in London. They take up accommodation in a large dilapidated factory office type of building run by the outstanding actor Pete Posltethwaite in his last film. He plays a gay landlord who is under the impression the brothers are a couple. There is a gay party at which they get know their neighbour who has been involved in the music industry but has become an actor.

They also appear to strike it lucky with a Tin Pan Alley entrepreneur who asks them to creates another demo as the one submitted is about rape and therefore not commercial. He is enthusiastic enough to promise a contract however when they return they find that he has left the firm and the man who has taken over rejects them because they were to be signed by the man he has replaced.

The core theme of the film is the way the writer keeps stuffing up. For example he arranges a concert coinciding with the visit of the Pope to Ireland. He returns to Ireland to persuade the backer to put up even more money to hold a concert as a promoter is interested but wants to see them perform. He arranges the concert on the same day as Live Aid. They arrange the concert which is a great success. The girl living in the next door loft agrees to become their manager. They meet up with the Music entrepreneur who had promised a contract. They eventually get a record contract and a tour however out hero stuffs up again by having sex with the wife of their sponsor although she had doing the leading and as a consequence the rest of the ban including his brother send him packing.

He returns to Ireland and reforms the original group less his brother. The film charts the world wide success of U2 and without knowing they have split up Bob contacts to offer them a gig opening their Irish concert dates. He fails to disclose this to his brother and as per the title in the film he seriously considers killing Bono in London when he arrives on the promotion of their latest Album the Joshua Tree. Fortunately the younger brother is also at the promotion and is able to intervene. They make up and plan to attend the gig however they end up being dumped in the country side by their sponsor and attempt to make a local bus which might get them in time to perform. They fail and the film explaining that he became a professional writer which I was able to check that he writes show business pieces for the Daily Telegraph. What made the film enjoyable is the musical background of U 2. Hits.

The opportunity is taken to mention an interesting and at times moving Sky Arts Channel programme on Big Brother and the Holding Company who provided a platform for Janice Joplin to begin her career. The band established themselves as the House band at the Avalon in San Francisco. They recruited Janice on the recommendation of one member and for a short period of time she was an integral part of the band participating in the making of their first album on which she features.

Before the record was released they were invited to perform at the Monterey Free Pop Festival in June 1967. The artists had to agree to be filmed and the organisers hoped to make money from a film of the production. The band less Janice refused to sign up for the film for free so when it came to be made there are only close up shots of her and not of the Band Members. This brought her instant international success with insiders referring her to the successor to legendary blue singer Bessie Smith. This aroused great interest in their forthcoming album. The problem was that while Janice understood the need for professionalism and commenced to be supported by background professional the others found it difficult to adjust. They would require scores of takes to get one number right while Janice would record her numbers in a couple of takes both capable of being used. There was also a problem that the band had not yet worked out its identity.

The original title of the album was to be Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills which for commercial reasons was changed to Cheap Thrills. The album became the biggest seller of 1969 earning more than £1 million and eventually had over one million sales. She played her last live concert with the band in December 1868 forming her own group as a solo artist, the Kosmic Blues Band.

The band continued without Janice for 3 years and then apart from one concert performance they came together again in 1987 with almost all the original members except for one who disagreed with the policy of recruiting a female singer to replace the role of Janice. The band continues to perform and make records to this day but does not use one female singer with a least a dozen having been involved to date.

The programme included interviews about their time with Janice and contained archive interviews and sessions. I have an original tape of Janice singing which I must cover one day. One could ask if it would have been if the career Janice had not been so short lived and she along with Billie Holiday became two of the great jazz/blues and her case female icons of my generation with sadly the latest brilliant and troubled singer dying last least year- Amy Winehouse I put her work higher than Janice because she was such a great song creator as well as singer and she could have gone on to rival Billie Holiday had she lived.

The Last Air Bender should have been a better film given the subject marrying ancient mysticism and folklore with the latest computer generated the use of 3 D. The concept is that of an earth populated by human beings with the capacity to bend (make use) of the air, water, fire and earth in superhuman magical ways. These uses can be for positive or negative purposes and in order to ensure the abilities are in balance there is a being called the Avatar who is able to command all four elements. Unfortunately the Avatar abandoned the world and those in command of Fire waged war in everyone else subjugating or destroying all those who stood in the way of world domination.

When an adolescent girl who is a secret water bender and her young brother are hunting food among the ice of the South Pole that come across a phenomenon which leads to the emergence of a young boy and a flying bison.

Immediately unbeknown to the adolescents 112 years before the boy had been identified within the people of who bend Air that this young man was destined to become the Avatar after training in all four arts. It is explained to him after the discovery that as the chosen one he must remain single and devote himself to the duties of the role. This frightens and devastates the young man who runs way rather than takes the oath of loyalty from and to the air bending subjects. He had become trapped by the water spirits and is unaware for how long.

Because he exhibits banned abilities by the people who can bend the earth his presence becomes known to the son of the Fire Nation who is on a quest to gain control over the Avatar and re-establish good relations with his father who regards him as a failure. His father’s senior Commander General Hao is also out to locate the Avatar which he hopes will end once and for all the relationship with the son who he is working at replacing in the affections and patronage of the Fire Lord Ozai.

The trio are captured when taking sanctuary with earth bending people are have been forbidden to use their arts and where anyone who shows abilities has been killed or imprisoned. They incite the people to use their latent powers to rebel from their conquerors.

They journey to the land where the Air benders used to reside and from the training centre from where he had run away.

He discovers that as a direct consequence of running away all the Air benders have been destroyed by the Fire Nation. He finds it even more difficult to live with himself than before. The problem is that apart from becoming a successful Air bender he was yet to learn the other three skills before he had run away.

He is taken to an isolated city of Water people able to teach and practice their art because they are protected by their isolation, their art and protecting spirits.

On their journey they experience various adventures and dangers including a betrayal, At one point they are rescued by the son of the Fire Lord and in return they save his life.

On arrival at the Water bending Kingdom they adjust to their new situation and the Avatar still appears unable to progress because of the continuing guilt he feels about his failure to accept his role as when boy and because of what has happened to the world since then. Here also the brother of Katara “ falls“ for the Water Princess and Katara and the Avatar bond closer in their commitment to the task of saving the world.

What they do not know is that the full army and fleet of the Fire Lord has set sail because they have learned of the whereabouts of the spirits protecting and giving to the water people The Aviator is able to enter a trance communicating with the spirit world for guidance and he does this as the fleet of the Fire Lord arrive and imperils the city with their fire machines and then with their destruction of the water spirits. The son of the Fire Lord has captured the Aviator when in a trance but Katara manages to rescue him by placing the son in\water freeze. However the people appear unable to use their power because of the killing of the Moon spirit when their powers are at their height. It is at his point that the Princes realises that her destiny is to pass from her mortal life to join the spirit world replacing the Moon and water spirits. She is afraid to make the transition but is helped through her friendship with Katara’s brother. Released from the control of the son of the Fire Lord, the Avatar has created a great wall of the sea protecting the fleet. The consequence is that the force for the Fire Lord within the walls of the city makes peace recognising the role of the Avatar as do the Water people. The rest of the fleet make tracks home.

Thus the Avatar and his companions are able to move onto the next stage of his question to gain master of the Earth bending and then of Fire. Learning of he Defeat the Fire Lord appoints his daughter to capture the Avatar.

There is some similarity with The Lion Witch and Wardrobe, Harry Potter etc where the main characters are children/teenagers.

Two graphic novels have been written The Last Airbender Zuko’s Story a Prequel and the Last Airbender drawn in the manga style. The film failed to impress the critics and audiences alike given that the production cost $150 million. It will be interesting to see if what appears to be trailed as at least one sequel, possibility two are made and released.

In some respects Pirates of the Carribbean On Stranger Tides is a similar kind of film also shown in 3D but again without helping to overcome the limitations of the basic formula. However whereas the Last Airbender was a moderate financial success grossing double its substantial expenditure the Pirates series had made fortunes in this instance taking over $1 billion at the box office costing between $150 million to £250 million. I think Johnny Depp is a fine actor but I cannot stand his approach as Captain Jack Sparrow.

The interest of young people in Treasure hunting and pirates was created by Treasure Island written by Robert Louis Stevenson, the Victorian author of Kidnapped, the Master of Ballantrae and the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. There is also the story of Peter Pan J M Barrie with both books being made into the earliest of Pirate films in the 1920’s. Sea Hawk, Black Swan, The Spanish Main and Captain Kidd were released in the 1940’s and were part of my childhood. The genre came to the fore in the 1950’s with Treasure Island, The return to Treasure Island and Long John Silver, together with Hornblower, Moonfleet. The Crimson Pirate 1952 and Blackbeard the Pirate remembered.

1960’s saw the return of Blackbeard(Ghost) and the arrival of Captain Morgan and also of Captain Blood. Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island was made into a film and spawned various films and TV series. The Swiss Family Robinson was great hit and High Wind in Jamaica from one of the great books about the inner thoughts of child, There was another version of Treasure Island and with a major version again in the 1970’s when the genre seemed to go out of fashion. There were three versions of Treasure Island in the 1980’s and Yellow Beard. Peter Pan was Shipwrecked in the 90’s along with the Muppets who went too Treasure Island where there was also a made for TV series, Cuttroat Island was also notable.

The first three Pirates of the Carribbean appeared in the naughties along with Pirates 1 and Pirates 2 and Pirate Planet and as well Space Pirates although I cannot remember what year the film or the concept was born, There was also a contemporary version of Peter Pan and Master and Commander was a serious look at exploring the New worlds in the southern waters. So given this pedigree of adventuring the Carribbean series can be said to be high on visual trickery and with a 12 year certificate appears aimed at families who enjoy pantomimes where there is little genuine humour but shouting at the screen is to be commended.

The main story of the last epic which lasts 2 hours and 16 minutes is a search for the island location of the Fountain of Youth with three separate parties. The first is the Spanish with the aim of destroying the magical idolatry after a fisherman turns up in a net a man still alive carrying a notebook locating the Fountain. The second party is Captain Hector Barbossa Geoffrey Rush with the Kings Commission (Richard Griffiths) but whose aim is not the Fountain but his long term conflict with Blackbeared who on their last encounter took part of his leg. They have access to the shipmate of Captain Sparrow who steals his map in a complicated opening which follows the James Bond formula of a great action sequence to begin the proceedings. Hector is now a privateer and not a Pirate having lost the Black Peal. Jack’s beloved ship.

Jack is captured in London on behalf of the King after impersonating high court judge he has kidnapped to get his shipmate friend released. Judy Dench as a few seconds appearance in the opening. The King summons Jack on learning he is seeking a crew to go in search of the Fountain which the King does not want to fall into the hands of the Spanish,

In fact Jacks not attempting to get a crew which he discovers is someone impersonating him who is none other than the gorgeous Penélope Cruz as the daughter of Blackbeard played by Ian McShane. She has a love hate relationship with Jack after he seduced from a convent she was to enter. Jack learns of her activities and whereabouts from his father played by Keith Richards no less who provides him a map and warns of the perils in store.

The story is that to benefit from the Fountain you have to put the water into one of two chalices together with tear from a Mermaid. In the films there are always computer generated creatures. In this instance bare back Mermaids who are a kind of sea vampire seducing sailors to their deaths within the ocean depths when it is alleged they provide food.

Jack is press ganged into service on Blackbeard’s vessel where Cruz is the first Mate and her father practices a kind of voodoo black magic which enables him to counter a successful mutiny take over led by Jack by converting ship’s ropes into snake like capturers. He also has a dangerous sword with powers of its own. On board there is a religious zealot who has been strung up by the yard arm because of his preaching and it he who manages to capture a mermaid alive and it is she who provides a tear( of Joy) when she finds he is alive after a fake throat cut to achieve the desire outcome.

There are many adventures, the finding of the Fountain and its destruction with at the end Jack admitting he loves Crux as she admits she loves him but he still leaves her castaway on a tiny atoll while he goes off to further adventuring. The young bible quoting Christian appears to live happy ever after in the depth with the rescued mermaid. Blackbeard has sacrificed himself after being poisoned by Barbossa and Cruz is also life threatened by removing the sword from the body of her father. Jack uses one chalice to save the life of Crux while Blackbeard is freed from the curse of physical being and turned instantly into a skeleton drinking from the other. Barbossa abandons the Kings Commission after the Spanish destroy the Fountain of Youth site to become a privateer.

Bluebeard has a collection of special ship‘s in bottles in a kind of safe on his ship. One of these is the Black Pearl. These are minaturized originals which can be brought back to life with the whole fleet of ships taken into Jack‘s custody at one point, just as well as the ship nd its crew is destroyed by a bevy of mermaids.

The money making will continue until Mr Depp gets bored.

I can just about keep myself awake the early hours of Sunday with the briefest mentions of Romeo is Bleeding The plot can be summer as the story of another Jack, Jack Grimaldi a corrupt cop with a loving wife and mistress and steady extra income from the Mafia. He loses everything when coming across a sociopath Russian mob assassin called Mona Demarkov. Despite being found out and arrested he is commended and starts a new life running a road house in the middle of nowhere way out west with few customers where he remembers and imagines his wife will one day return to him.

The character is played by Garry Oldfield who ought to have known better. The film is said to have been made in the UK in 1993 for £10 million making less than a third of this at the box office. I am not surprised. What was he thinking!

I was tempted to say nothing about the worst film ever Jackass 3 D which I kept one eye on its entirety just to ensure that it was bad really bad. However given the huge financial success of film and series allegedly turning $20 million into $170 million I must comment on what it says about some of the present generation. The film comprises a crew of stunt men of various sizes and ages who engage in a series of happenings which they find extremely funny. They hit each other painfully hard, they jump or try to fly with various devices which fail and hurt and there is lots of farting, eating shit and making crude jokes about their genitalia finally ending the flilm with various forms of blowing themselves and each other up, The audience is warned not to try and imitate the stunts back home. The film is suitable for a squaddies night out without the girls.

2232 Sopranos reign over sports week

2012-01-27T02:25:00.000-08:00

There have not been the usual references to sport of late although this does not mean I have not been watching and listening to events over the past two weeks.

First cricket, my consistent sporting love, and where unlike football I have supported the national side regularly attending a Test Match day each year until the past couple of seasons. England are playing Pakistan in the Middle East with a humiliating defeat in the first Test held in a near empty stadium in Dubai although there were a few more people attending the second Test in Abu Dhabi. England ended the first day having taken 7 wickets for 256 runs. Yesterday Pakistan were only able to add 1 more run and England survive the morning with the loss of one wicket and making 48 runs. The going was slow but keeping wickets must be the priority given the two collapses of the first game. I will watch and listen until Leveson, then watch while listening to Leveson.

England appeared to be doing well after the early loss of Captain Strauss with Cook 94 and Trott 74 and a total of 197 for 2 but then 4 wickets fell cheaply. This morning before I arrived down stairs England had progressed well with an excellent innings from all rounder Stewart Broad of Nottinghamshire who was left all out at 58 when the innings quickly ended immediately after the lunch with the two last men out in the first over. It is now up to the opening bowlers not just to bowl accurately but take wickets if the lead of 70 runs is to have impact. I switched channels to watch Scotland‘s Andy Murray start his semi final game against world champion Djokovitch and the opening games suggested the difference between top man and nearly man is as wide as ever.

I have not mentioned American Football much over recent years, rarely watching a full game on TV except the annual Super Bowl. In part this is because of the demise of the two teams I commenced to support in the mid 1980’s seeing two live games at Wembley as well as regularly staying up on Sunday nights to see live relays. My chosen team was the Chicago Bears but after being given a shirt one season for the San Francisco 49ers I also followed their fortunes. This weekend I watched the play off between the 49ers and the New York Giants. They lost in a thrilling game in extra time having had the chance to win it.

Another disappointment was on Tuesday in the penalty shoot out of the second leg of the semi final of the League Cup competition in which my boyhood club, Crystal Palace, down to 10 men, held out to and through extra time before collapsing to Cardiff City when it came to the penalties.

Newcastle were smashed at Fulham in strange game which they dominated throughout the first half and then went to pieces in one crazy period in which they gave away three goals and lost 5. 2 in the end.

The only bright light was Sunderland who managed a hard fought 2.0 at home win against Swansea with two great goals and who are now out of the relegation quagmire in mid table but still 9 points adrift of Newcastle who remain in 6th a point above Liverpool having played he same number of game. The Sunderland Newcastle F A cup game is on television lunchtime Sunday which is excellent news. Newcastle visit to Brighton is the featured game on ESPN where I regarded the additional premium a luxury.

My game playing against the computer has improved in several respects so that after three years of trying I managed to achieve 18 million points at Luxor Mah-jong. I have also now won 2000 games at Spider patience out of 10047 and achieved another run of 101 games but still short of the maximum of 243 to date. Having decided to move up between levels in Chess each time I manage a run of 101 games I am stuck within level 3 because of lapses of concentration. The main success continues to be with Patience Hearts where my record breaking run is now over 2250 wins where previously it was only over 1000. Over all I have won 6400 games losing only a dozen early on before I got the hang of the play and maintain the 99point something average.

The crime/adventure/thriller/fantasy series that I like watching came to an end before Christmas except for the showing of the Soprano’s series back to back an episode a week which I shall update in a moment. A second season of the four episode crime caper set on Spanish Island. Mad Dogs has commenced as very enjoyable. Will be reported in about three weeks time as I assume there will also only be four episodes. One other development is the commencing of series 9 of the Naval CIS series which I have enjoyed because of the characterization although the first two episodes shown back to back on Friday were formula productions. A second season of Spartacus Blood and Thunder with soft porn beings on Sunday, called Vengeance. Last year there were two series with a prequel shown at the end. The Huge George Martin Books commencing with Game of Thrones 850 pages proved so engaging that I acquired the first five published works with the second over 900 pages, A Feast for Crowns, already being advertised for serialization in April although under the series banner Game of Thrones. I must also try and remember the ending of Merlin before Christmas now almost forgotten. Tremé is to have a third season the bets of the best because of the Jazz foreground and Blue Bloods can be expected to appear again. Given the ongoing programme with Leveson which should take me into the Cricket season and the amount of scheduled to cover, I am resisting the temptation to widen my interest further.

Now to the latest episodes of the Sopranos which brings to an end the 12 episode Season 4. Previously we learned that Tony had acquired an interest in a Horse Pie -O-My (44) which Ralphie was said to have acquired, the thoroughbred begins to win so that Ralphie ingratiates himself by ensuring Tony makes good winnings. Tony became so caught up in the horse that he takes Carmela to see the creature at its stables and commissions a large portrait of himself with the horse. His affection grows to the extent of protesting at the use of the whip in a race despite demanding more and more winnings. He stays up all night with the horse when it becomes ill after Ralphie calls Tony after having not paid the vets Bills. Tony settles the account but becomes more obsessed with the horse. I have given this story top billing because it demonstrates that on one hand we have the ruthless killer and hard man crime boss earning a major living from crime which involves stealing from others yet he is has a soft centre in relation to an animal.

Tony continues to have a volatile relationship with his psychiatrist accusing her of failure when he discovers that his former girl friend Gloria Trillo had killed herself by hanging. He is able to understand the guilt he feels for his treatment of her but not that he will only feel better if he stops his whoring and getting involved with challenging women as well as ending his criminal activities. He has a frightening nightmare about Gloria. However she is soon forgotten when Tony is attracted to the girlfriend of Ralphie and they begin an affair. It is Valentina who persuaded Tony to have a portrait of him with the horse Pie O My painted. She responds to Tony’s advances because she dislikes Ralphie masochistic fantasies which Tony learns was also one of the reasons why Janice threw him out. This is also part of Tony wanting to always t be powerful and in control.

Tony is devastated when he learns that there has been a fire at the stables and that Pie O My has to be put down. He discusses the loss of the horse with Dr Melfi and she comments on his different outward emotions and reactions between the animal and people. In relation to people he becomes angry and goes into denial. He gets angry at this and says going to see Dr Melfi is a waste of time and money.

He announces he is ending the relationship once more at a subsequent session and Dr Melfi expresses concern pointing out the progress he has made no longer having life threatening panic attacks. She urges him to get into contact if problems arise. The precipitating cause of his reaction is her refusal to explain the meaning of a dream he brings to her. He is in a car (Calling all Cars) episode 50, sitting at the back with his wife the Ralphie the driver of his father’s Cadillac and Carmela sitting next to the driver. There is a caterpillar at the back of Ralphie’s head which turns into an attractive butterfly. Sitting next to Tony is Gloria Trillo one of his recent mistresses and then another Svetlana Kirilenko.

Immediately Tony leaves the office Dr Melfi announces to her psychiatrist counsellor that she has been released from her most troubling and personally challenging client. Tony then has another panic attack when on a brief visit to Miami. As with his wife you know that they have become so important to each other than the link with Dr Melfi is unlikely to ever be broken permanently.

While there are moments of affection between Tony and Carmela and they still share a marital bed, under the influence of her priest and having attended individual and joint sessions with psychiatrists she has become more disaffected especially as she transfers her affections to Tony’s driver and hard man Furio who he brought back from Italy after his visit there to take over enterprises previously controlled by Uncle Junior. Carmela encourages Furio to arrive early and come in for coffee, or some home baking when he calls and later when he needs work undertaken on his home. She mentions him when in bed with Tony although Tony does not mention appear to see the significance. She arranges to see Furio for a meal with his girlfriend. Furio calls on her on the pretext of having left his sunglasses.

Her feelings come to the fore when Furio goes back to Italy following the death of his father. Tony remonstrates with him on return for being emotional. Furio admits to Carmela he has nothing in common with his family anymore or his background in Italy and that his future is in the USA. Carmela has talked about him getting a regular job career as a dental technician for example.

She discusses her feelings with her psychiatrist who urges her to take no action but this appears only to act as a spur. She has her haircut to make her look younger which angers Tony because she has changed her appearance without his permission. Furio who has broken with his girl friend senses the come on and backs out. He is shocked by Tony’s behaviour when they make a visit to the native American run Casino and Tony is clearly having an instant relationship with a buxom house girl. Tony had commented to Dr Melfi that he could have bought a fast car with all the money he had spent $300 a session a week and with that he would have a blow job. Tony needs to get back for an important meeting so having spent $15000 at the tables a helicopter transport to the airport is provided and at one point we are led to believed that Furio is about to push Tony into the rotating blades, Furio backs out and when Tony asks what is going on, Furio says he got hold of Tony because he had got too close to the blades. Immediately afterwards Furio disappears and Tony appears is angry on learning that the man has packed up and gone back to Italy, Carmela, fearing Tony is responsible for the departure finds that his home has been cleared of all possessions and she is devastated. She becomes angry with everyone including her daughter Meadow and son CJ as well as Tony, finding fault at every opportunity. Meadow begins to work out the position and in a conversation with Tony where it is evident he does not realise what has happened.

Previously Carmela nags Tony about what happens to her and the family if Tony goes to prison or he is killed and presses him to make official provision. Tony is in fact secreting huge amounts of funds around the property and made other arrangement through his Counsel and a Russian contact for such a situation. He resists the pressure from Carmela after realising his wife and family will benefit from the Trust only through his death and he will not have access to the funds if his circumstances dramatically changed. Eventually going through one of his feeling guilty phases he gives in and signs the papers for the Trust creating a good atmosphere between the two for a short lived while. Carmela discovers where Tony is stashing cash and takes some money assuming he will not notice and which she invests in stocks and shares. When C J comes into the room one day Tony asks if he has been in the backyard alerting Carmela that Tony is aware some of the money is missing adding to the tension which is growing between them. In part this is because she has become aware that Tony is seeing someone when she finds a broken fingernail within his clothing (Mergers and Acquisitions(47))

Their getting into trouble son CJ settled down in a new High school again after his expulsion and threatened sending to an army training establishment after establishing a relationship with an attractive girl Devin with his mother ensuring that the two are not allowed time together when at home. When he visits Devin’s home he finds that her family is even wealthier than his.

C J has revealed to his friends that his father runs a Pole Dance club the Bada Bada and they go off in search but fortunately he is confused about the location and end up elsewhere. He is told off for staying out after the family imposed curfew.

He tries to find somewhere to be alone with Devin through his sister Meadow who has become a leading volunteer is a law/welfare and support, as well as doing well on her courses and making friend with Ivy Leaguers from normal middle and upper class families. She moves into shared accommodation with other Ivy leaguers and Tony and Camilla help with the move and settling in party to meet the other house sharers and their families. One of the parents comments how lucky her son is to have Meadow in the house because she is such a good cook, and is a model because of her work at the centre as well as getting high grades for her work. She knows more about their daughter than they do. Meadow has a new boyfriend who comes for a good family and is going to skiing with him at the family holiday home.

Mother and daughter have their annual birthday meal together and after a good start it develops into an argument. Meadow states that the problem is that she has become everything that Carmela wanted having had to drop out of college to marry Tony and that she now resents her daughter. Tony attempts to be a peacemaker and reminds Carmela that she has created the wonderful human being her daughter has become. This only serves to underline the misery Carmela now feels with the departure of Furio. Worse is to come when C J accuses his mother of treating him as a child and not recognising that he has become a sexual active young adult because she is aging. Tony has suggested to Meadow that he mother is possibly reaching the menopause. Meadow is surprised to learn that her father has been in therapy and also attending joint session with her mother. The impression gained is that she is seeing her father in a new light. CJ remains CJ as a subsequent event will demonstrate. This leaves three members of Tony’s immediate family to cover.

His sister Janice has commenced to take an interest in the widower Bobby Baccalieri and his two children after throwing out Ralphie. Seeing other women take an interest in the loyal gang member with a soft heart and good father she pretends that some lasagne prepared by Carmela is her own. She successfully gets Bobby to return to work for Uncle Junior who gets him to strong arm a union official to fix votes. She hopes this will stop him grieving for his wife. Tony approves the relationship which brings brother and sister together and they remember good family times. The relationship develops between the two

Janice begins to believe she has found a new good relationship unaware that Booby is grieving hard for his wife and visiting her grave daily. His daughter questions what happened to the birthday cake she saw in his car when he collected her from school. Bobby by admits that he buried it alongside the grave and Janice realises he is far from moving on and that her position is precarious.

The Court Case against Uncle Junior is continues to his growing disquiet at the way it is going and how he is being portrayed in the media. When he leaves court one day in (Whoever Did this) (48) he falls down the steps and hits his head. He is anxious to leave hospital as quickly as he can but Tony has the idea that Junior should use the accident to his advantage and claim that mental instability renders him unfit to plead and therefore encourages Junior to pretend he has lost part of his cognitive functions and is confused. He prepares for the various Tests the Court will require before it accepts the position. Arrangements are made for him to have a nurse to care for him and this is arranged by Tony through Svetlana the Russian with one leg who Tony arranged to care for his mother and who had the conflict with Janice who at one point stole her special leg.

As might be expected Tony cannot resist making with the woman but she then decides not to have a continuing relationship because he is likely to be too much trouble. The Uncle Junior plan also goes wrong when the official doctors determine he is fit to continue and the Trial judge anyway insists on going ahead. This causes them to go to plan B which is to get at a Juror.

Tony’s nephew and protégée Christopher backslides on his commitment to live in girl friend Adriana to give up drugs while she is concerned that the live music bar she has been given is being more and more used as an alternative hang out for members of the extended crime family. Having forced to spy for Christopher and his associates by the Feds she becomes paranoid at being found out, hurt and killed but no one has any idea this has happened although with the court case they assume they are being kept under close surveillance. Meadow has taken the lamp to university where the bug was planted to overhear the conversations in the basement. For some reason the Feds have decided not to mount another operation to replace the listening device.

After watching TV Adriana believes that if she and Christopher are married she will not be able to testify against him. A marital lawyer explains that this will only apply after they marry and therefore does not cover what happened beforehand and this has separately been discussed within the FBI who make no objection to the marriage as a consequence.

The most important and far reaching development of the series to date happens when Tony reveals to Christopher, who is full of drugs that he proposes to make him his eventual successor and therefore a confidante above his official number two. He says he wants Tony to bring the family into the 21st century. Christopher is so hyped up he comments that they are already in the 21st century a point which Tony fortunately overlooks. Soon Christopher is called upon to show he is worthy of the trust been shown.

Things go from bad to worse for Ralphie. When he has the care of his son for the day the boy plays with the son of a neighbour who is unsupervised shooting real arrows into the air and asking the son to allow these to fall on a hand held target. Off camera the son misjudges the flight of an arrow and his chest is pierced. Although the child survives he lives in a state of coma which understandably aroused much anger on the part of her ex wife and makes Ralphie feel great guilt to the extent he goes to visit a priest. Worse is come when Tony is called out to the fire at the stables and sees his horse destroyed. When Tony breaks the news that the horse has died Ralphie appears disinterested and tells Tony that his son is showing signs of improvement. Tony believes that Ralphie caused the fire after taking out $200000 insurance and asks if he has been contact with the man who they arranged to set fire to the old restaurant of Artie Bucco to avoid a murderous hit being staged there. The two men fight and in his rage over the death of the horse Tony kills Ralphie and then contacts Christopher who is in a drug haze to help him get rid of the body.

Tony is concerned about the state of Christopher which is not helped when the young man points out that one of their own captains getting whacked could be a problem. Tony tells Christopher that he is the only one who knows and therefore any problem is with him. Tony does not feel as guilty about killing Ralphie as some of his other victims because of what the man did to one of the strippers at the Bada Bada.

In the tradition of the Sopranos end of series it is in the penultimate episode that issues which have been simmering hot up and in some instances explode. We have already had the death of Ralphie as yet one more of the originals gangster crew is killed usually the hands of another members rather than by someone outside or the intervention of the law.

There is no personal concern or regret at the disappearance of Ralphie who it will be remembered alienated h the New York Under Boss Johnny Sacks because of a joke made about his wife and indeed it was Tony attempt to broker peace reminding that conflicts within the families are settled by sitting down and negotiation and not by unilateral action such as Whacking in the episode- The Strong Silent Type (49).

Paulie Walnuts is released from prison full of anger that Tony and his other colleagues have not visited him in prison for fear of being targeted even more than they are present. He ignores the fact that he has been given no show jobs at the new development site which Tony runs in association with one of the New York families. He is not appeased by the coming out party at the Bada Bada

The release of Paulie leads to information coming to the family of a way to defraud the US Federal Government of millions of dollars through buying up run down and inexpensive properties and doing them up for re-letting This leads Christopher into a black ghetto neighbourhood where drug dealing predominates. It also has implications for relationships with the New York family where Sacks lives with his wife in a grand country house within the New England territory controlled by Tony(Watching Too Much Television) (46). Paulie need for more money arises from deciding to place his mother in the top retirement complex where Tony had placed his mother Livia. When Paulie finds that his mother is not going to be able to join regular social activities with former friends who are also in the home, Paulie begins to lean on their children and including the use of his crew to persuade a reluctant son to exert pressure on his mother. He also maintains an association with Sacks who implies to the New York boss is appreciative of his contact and that Soprano is not highly regarded.

There is now a move by the New York boss via Sacks to gain more money from activities controlled by Tony, The first is the housing fraud. When Tony refuses to contribute a portion of the profits, Sacks arranged for the man who does the official property assessments for the government funding application to switch to them or be beaten up. The man is then beaten up by Tony’s crew for not fulfilling his undertakings to them. This is a regular occurrence for anyone who works for the Mafia.

There is also a request for an ongoing percentage of the new Hotel/apartment complex which is progressed with the main structures completed and the fitting out in process so when negotiations fail another union official comes along and calls a full strike from his members because there is no union Labour on site. When Tony is persuaded that a sit down settlement is the way forward he goes down to Miami to see the son of the New York Crime boss Carmine for assistance with the father and Sacks. Carmine and his son play golf with Sacks in an effort to broker a deal. When Tony arrives at the sitdown he finds the New York boss is not present and the terms are the same as before so he walks out. However there is an exchange between Sacks and Tony suggesting that they ought to take action to end the reign of Carmine

Tony has expressed concern that Paulie is not delivering the same weekly tribute as his other captains. Paulie attends a wedding where he approaches the New York boss and finds that he has no special position. He therefore decides to regain the confidence of Tony by breaking into the home of one his mother‘s friends when he thinks she is out. She returns and threatens to call the police so he has to kill her. However he is then able to impress Tony with the amount of his tribute that week.

Tony was at the Bada Bada club when the large portrait of him and the Horse arrives and he orders it to be burnt. When he is not there Paulie says it is worth $25000 and takes it home and hangs it up in his living room. The pictures seems to grow in size which each camera visit and to have a haunting effect on Paulie.

It is Christopher who becomes Tony’s main concern. In a drug and drunken state he sits on Adriana’s dog without realising what he is doing and when she returns she finds the dog has a broken neck and is dead. When she protests he beats her up so she turns to Carmela for help and Tony is furious saying that if Christopher had not been kin he would have whacked him. They bring in a Counsellor who gets everyone to write down the negative way that Christopher has behaved and when he is in a sound condition they confront him with the home truths on the basis they will do this in a non judgemental way. However when Christopher refuses to cooperate they lose their temper and beat him up so that he ends up in hospital.

The Feds have already told Adriana they have arranged a place for Christopher in a rehabilitation centre because in his present condition he is of no potential use to them as a witness. Tony insists he is admitted as a voluntary patient and lets him know that he has one of his men at a nearby motel with the authority to whack him if he attempts to leave before he is considered ready. The sequence is an amusing one. There is a similar light hand aspect when Janice brings around Bobby and his children for an evening meal and insists that C J stays in to entertain the children. Devin comes round for coffee and CJ takes her two his room on their own until Carmela finds out and takes the visiting children up insisting that they play a game with them. C J‘s solution is get out the ouija board and frightens them pretending their mother’s spirit is with them.

This then is the setting for the final episode of the series. (Whitecaps)52 when as is custom some matters are resolved while other are left for season five.

Adriana collects Christopher after he has been declared rehabilitated under observation from Tony’s appointed minder. Also keeping watch are the Feds. Adriana had admitted to Christopher that she is unlikely to have children because of an abortion that when wrong. Christopher had seen marriage as a means for starting a family and is devastated but eventually forgives her. There sis the impression that they are starting out again in contrast to what happens between Tony and Carmela. Everything else is placed in perspective. Things start off well when Tony says he wants to buy a beach home on the Jersey shore -Whitecaps. He takes Carmela and the family to see it saying he is buying as a future holiday home for his children to enjoy and Carmela is thrilled at the development although worries about the cost. There is a further complication in that the house is under sale to someone else and Tony uses the influence of his position to persuade the owner to sell to him and Carmela says it is a good investment because of size and location reminding of her career attempt as a Home sales agent.
The disaster strikes as one of Tony previous mistresses rings Carmela in a disturbed condition and spills the beans on her relationship with Tony. This is Irena who was taken up by another member of the Crew who Tony beat up because the man had dared to have a relationship with the woman even though they had broken up, The beating up caused the man to separate from Irena which was the catalyst for her desperate call to the house and speaking to Carmela. This is the last straw for Carmela so that when Tony returns home he runs over his golf clubs which have been thrown into the driveway and where Carmela is throwing out all his clothes and possessions from upstairs windows, She demands that he leaves and will get a restraining order when he refuses.

He does leave and goes to Irena’s place where he finds Svetlana who explains the background. He goes off and stays at Whitecaps. Tony tries to back out of the purchase because of the changed circumstances but is held to it.

Meadow and Carmela fight over the situation with Meadow raising the relationship with Furio which Carmela vehemently denies. Meadow demands to know why Carmela was prepared to eat shit for years until now and storms off.

Meanwhile Tony has set on forcing the owner of the property to back off from the purchase and return his $20000 deposit. He load his home cinema speakers onto his boat and offshore plays as loud as possible disrupting a lunch party the owners are having. Tony repeats this including at night until they give in.

Tony returns home and tries to exert his rights but Carmela stands her ground. A J helps Tony clear out the pool house cinema so that he can stay there. However this does not work and the couple continues to row going over the history of their marriage and Carmela admits she her only recent happy moments have been the visits of Furio. Tony nearly punches her but punches holes in the wall instead and she calls him a fucking hypocrite. A J pleads to go and live with Tony but Tony says he must now be a man for his mother. Meadow wants them to return to Counselling and thinks over the extent to which she has taken her parents and home for granted. Tony tries to ring Dr Melfi but puts the phone down when she answers. She tries to ring him back but finds the number is now blocked. Carmela and A J watch Tony leave the home. There is something final about this, or so it seems.

Meanwhile Uncle Junior get his mistrial when the threatened Juror fails to agree the verdict. Uncle Junior appears far from elated with the result and takes it out on his crew member Bobby Scalerico whose relationship with Janice appears to have taken a turn for the better. Junior appears to spike this wanting attention from Bobby.

Johnny Sacks admits to Tony his hatred for the way his boss has treated him over the years and Tony tells Christopher to take out a contract on Carmine to make it look like a one of car jack killing.. He arranges for the two men involved in taking his car when he went into their neighbourhood for drugs to do the killing, Meanwhile at the race track Johnny advises Toy that his boss wants to settle so they arrange a meet. They settle for 15% instead of 40% much to the horror of Sacks. Carmine expresses sympathy over the marital break up and Tony commends the man’s son. The behaviour makes Tony wonder if Carmine has got wind of the hit on him. Tony calls off the hit and Chris meets the two men and kills them. Sacks lets his tongue rip about the behaviour of his boss and says Tony can trust him and should not have backed out of the assassination and take over deal. Tony keeps repeating that Sacks should not be saying this now to him. It is possible to read from this how things might go in season six.

2331 Wajda's Katyn

2012-01-25T12:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I wrote of a film The Aryan Couple made for television which added the survival of two young ordinary Jewish individuals from the holocaust in a story to mark the handful of Hungarian wealthy and powerful men who managed to buy their and their family’s freedom. The film was a good reminder to more recent generations why Israel and the Jewish people in general have cause for continuing concern about their future in a world which has been largely hostile since their history was first put to paper. One reason for this hostility appears to be that they have not engaged in the wholesale slaughter of their own kind as have the Christians, the Muslims and the Communists have engaged for generation upon generation. It is therefore their overall sense of being one as a people which others find threatening although within that there is a spectrum of religious and political perspectives and differences over individual subjects and issues.

It was coincidental that that late last night, after an unsuccessful day and feeling tired, I decided to watch Katyn, the film by Andrzej Wajda, one of the great directors alongside Ingmar Bergman and Frederico Fellini. The film is his reminder to present and future generations of the most significant atrocity committed by the Russian Communists against the Polish People, second, albeit by a long way to the industrial slaughter of the Polish Jews by Germany.

I say it was coincidental although on refection given the mood I was in and the choice of a number of new films on available on the Sky Premier channel, together with seven DVD’s of Le Carré books made into films waiting with ten books to be read, I decided it was time to face an event which continues to upset and anger whenever I read to see references. The mood commenced yesterday when as I commented the reality involved in the purchasing of freedom of wealthy and powerful Jewish people in Hungry was a more relevant subject than the chosen vehicle of the film. The genocide actions of the Nazi Himmler, Eichmann and the controversial role of Becher along with those of Kastner who was responsible for the train which took over 1850 Jews to freedom merit continual examination by each new generation of young adults. For the Polish people Katyn remains a painful reality which has significance beyond its horror and the impact on the relatives of the government officials, the police the intellectuals and creative artists as well as about half the officers of the army, because everyone was forced for decades to confirm in public the lie perpetrated by the Russians that it was the German Nazi’s who had committed the atrocity, when it was them, and not their allies at the time. They were birds of a feather on the extreme right and left and which should serve as a reminder that those on the extremes of the right and left of politics who embrace the use of violence are always to be feared and opposed.

The DVD contains a long thoughtful interview with Wajda whose films produced as the height of the Communist rule in Poland- A Generation 1954, Kanal 1956 and Ashes and Diamonds 1958 brought him international recognition followed by Man of Iron which won the Palme d’Ot at Cannes in 1981 and which together with The Promised Land 1974, Maids of Wilko 1979 and Katyn(2007) were nominated for best foreign language film Oscars. He is also one of the few to be honoured by an Honary Oscar, awarded in 2000. Wadja explained that there was mo question of producing a film on the subject during the Russian occupation for reason which he makes evident in the film.

Nor was the subject one just a shared national horror because his father was one of the officers murdered and he witnessed the impact on his mother when his father failed to return home. He reached the conclusion that it was important to portray the cover up as much as the event itself and also to present the impact on the mothers, the wives, sisters and girl friends of those who executed.

The known facts are that the massacres took place in April and May 1940 and involved at least 21768 individuals including about 8000 military officers, 6000 police officers and others describes at the time as intelligence agents, gendarmes, landowners, saboteurs, factory owners, lawyers, officials and priests but who covered the middle and upper classes who the communists decided to eliminate.

The Russians did this on a grander scale to their own people as did the Germans and later the Chinese. Although a large part of the shooting in the back of the head took place in the Katyn Forest there were simultaneous executions elsewhere in Poland and Russia where the prisoners were taken after the 1939 invasion succeeded. The Russian Government denied responsibility and blamed the Germans until 1990 and a decade later Stalin and others were officially blamed. Documentation has been released from time to time but remains far from complete.

Wajda tells the story through the wife and mother of one of the captured officers. When the film opens she and her daughter have travelled across Poland from German occupied zone to the Russian to find the captured husband and plead with him to come home. He is a man of honour who had sworn allegiance in the service of his country and feels bound to accept the conditions of his captivity. At least in this instance the couple and their daughter have the opportunity to say what proves to be a final goodbye. She is then prevented from returning across the new border between the divided nation and told to stay to await the return of her husband. She lodges with a sympathetic Russian officer who knowing what is going to happen advises her to marry him. Understandably she rejects this but is grateful when shortly afterwards he hides the couple when the authorities come for her and a neighbour. The Russians are said to have moved hundreds of thousands of civilians from Poland into Russia for various purposes of whom many never returned. Following her narrow escape she is advised to try and make her way to the capital where her father and mother in law live. The film does not cover her journey except that she had to bribe her way across the border using her wedding rings.

On arrival she finds that her father in law, a University Professor, has been sent to a Labour Camp and the University closed. Again his wife had pleaded with him not to go to the meeting between the university Head and a Nazi leader. He wanted to support the proposed request that the university should remain an independent body. Instead they are met with tirade of complaint at having continued to operate without seeking permission and having shown anti occupation sentiments and anti occupation activities. The are immediately bundled in vehicles for the Labour camp. The husband is a later reported to have died from untreated heart problems.

Following the break up of alliance between Germany and Russia and the German occupation of the whole of Poland and move into Russian territory, the Katyn graves- many open site- are revealed, and the German command makes as much capital as possible. They excavated the site and carried out post mortems which they filmed together with placing in large envelopes any personal effects found on the bodies together with lists of names of those where identification was possible. Mother in law, wife and child are relieved when their loved one is not on the list, but her husband’s closest friend in the service is.

At the end of the war they are shocked when the friend arrives wearing the uniform of the Polish army under the control of the Russians. He brings tinned meat for the family but the main reason is to explain that her husband had been wearing a tagged pieces of clothing of his. He is therefore a Katyn victim. Later under pressure because he is working for the Russians and colluding in the state myth that the atrocity was a German one he commits suicide. Not before he has pleaded with those holding the personal effects and other recovered documentation to return anything belonging to the husband to his widow.

After the war the widow works at or manages a photography business and one day she encounters a young relative who proposes to enrol at a local teaching institution. He states on the application form that his father died at the Soviet Katyn atrocity and refuses to revise the application. The official in charge of the institution tells a colleague that she will find a way to admit the young man without the state offending declaration. Later full of anger about the situation he has found in the capital destroying a government poster in view of the military who give chase and he is helped by a young woman to hide on a roof. When the coast is clear they leave and she agrees to meet him for a date at a nearby cinema the following evening. He then is seen by the military who were looking for him and in the effort to get away he is knocked down and killed by a passing motorist,

The educational institution female head is one of two sisters whose brother is another Katyn victim, a man who is not religious but is given a rosary, a rosary found on his person when he is killed. It is passed by a priest who was part of the filmed Russian revision of the discovery of the atrocity blaming the Germans, to another sister who has become a Polish activist trying to free the country from the Russians. She later sells her long hair to a theatrical company to make up a wig for an actress who has lost all her hair in a concentration camp, using the payment to have to have a memorial slab created in memory of her brother which the priest. When she arrives with the stone plaque she finds that the priest has been removed by the authorities and the replacement priest is unwilling to have the monument in the church. The sister takes the memorial to family cemetery and is joined by the other sister who tries to persuade her to desist from the action. This other sister makes the point that resistance is futile and the country will never be free from the Russians and other occupiers. The activist is picked up by the authorities and offered the opportunity to recant and when she refuses she is taken away with the implication that she is to be executed.

The film also covers the experience of the wife of one of the Generals who takes time to digest and accept that her husband will not return. After the war she and her adult daughter are visited by their former maid who now appears to be a well dressed woman with a chauffer car. Her husband has been appointed a local mayor. The purpose is to bring the General’s ceremonial sword which she had been asked to keep for him. She asks for the trunk of her possession which the family had kept to be given to the poor people as she no longer has need.

During the war the General’s widow had been asked by the German authorities to make a recording of her condemnation of the massacre. She declined and was taken next door leaving her child in distress thinking the worse when in fact she was being shown a film of the discovered Katyn graves. Years later she cannot accept the same film with a new commentary placing responsibility for the atrocity on the Germans. Her fate also becomes in question.

The final sequence is when someone brings the envelope of belongings to the wife of the central character. This contains his diary notebook in which he attempted to record the main events of what happened since their capture and the names of those with whom he was captured and imprisoned. Reading this enables the film to show what happened when her husband and a substantial numbers of fellow officers are taken from one camp on a journey which leads to an execution centre near the forest and to the forest graveyard. In both instances the film shows the execution of characters which we have come to know, The diary ends with his arrival at the Forest. The films ends with a blank screen and then a sung liturgy and them credits rolled in silence.

2230 Facts about Himmler, Eichmann, Richmann, Becher, Kastner and Weiss connection

2012-01-24T11:27:00.000-08:00

Last night I saw a compelling film about someone I had not heard previously of but who with his wife, children and extended family bought their way from a journey to a German Nazi extermination camp by signing over his substantial and significant industrial empire and family holdings of property. As with all such films where the film announces that it is based on a true story, however loosely, my first action after viewing the film was to attempt to find the facts.

The man was Manfred Weiss but I could only find one reference of value which I shall come to later because of the what I discovered about the man who took over the huge industrial holdings with 30000 employees and who went on to become one of the most wealthy men in Western Germany after the War.

Kurt Becher was a member of the Nazi S S who from his experience in Poland and Russia was responsible for the techniques of the genocide of the Jewish people and was then appointed Chief of Economic Development of the SS Command in Hungary by Heinrich Himmler in 1944.

It is sometimes forgotten by the media especially the entertainment media that Eichmann worked directly to Himmler on the extermination of the Jewish people in the German occupied territories and Himmler was head of the Gestapo as Minister for the Interior as well as responsible for the security and policing of all occupied countries. In this respect he was more powerful that Hitler in terms of his power over the German civilian population as well as the occupied territories.

Belcher responsible for extracting the maximum financial profit from all those exterminated, not just their possessions but everything from their body, including teeth, hair and using body fat for soap as well as enabling some wealthy Jews to officially buy their way out of the country. He was therefore by definition in terms of his role a monster of a human being yet he survived the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials where although arrested he was not charged and was used as witness.

Yet on arrival in the Hungarian capital in March 1944 his first task was to “ negotiate” the taking over of the most important Jewish businesses which were still owned and managed and he did this for the benefit of himself contrary to Himmler’s approach, a fact which the film deplorably stands on its head as the film argues Himmler coveted the art collection of the central characters which was housed in a provincial and rural located Palace, which because of the removal of Jews was looked after by a couple who posed as Aryans who were not only Jews but in touch with those monitoring and helping Jews to escape the Terror. Himmler is shown to attend the Palace for a meal with the Industrialist and his wife, plus the Hungarian Commander, presumably intended to be Becher and other local senior officers with Eichmann being invited for coffee to witness the signing of the agreement.

The films begins with a moving and challenging portrayal of the Terror in terms of the way Jews of all ages and backgrounds were herded into cattle trucks together with pictures of an extermination centre as it remains to day. Becher only remained in Hungary for the rest of that year in which he negotiated with another figure of controversy over the transport of 1685 Jews out of the country to places of safety for money, negotiating first with Eichmann and then through Becher with Himmler.

By the beginning of 1945 Becher was promoted by Himmler and Hitler in charge of all concentration camps until his arrest by the allies in May and by which time it is alleged that he had personally acquired in objects and money to the value of 10 million Swiss francs in the six large suitcases accompanying him on his travels.

He was protected at Nuremberg by Rudolf Kastner. Kastner was a Hungarian Jew who led an organisation which purchased from Himmler the safe departure from Hungary of the documented 1685 Jews for substantial payments but at a time when an estimated 12000 a day where being transported to the extermination centres. After the war Kastner moved to Israel where he came to hold a position in the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1952.

However shortly after this he was subject to accusation that he had in fact been a profiteer not just failing warn others of what was in store for them but encouraging them to comply with the authorities, reassuring that they would be safe. Although a court found that the case against him was not proven this was after a judge had criticised his role and led to his assassination in in 1957 and the judgement had a lasting and damaging effect on his family. My understanding is that Mr Kastner undertook work prior to the War helping Jewish refugees to resettle in Romania before moving to Budapest.

It was in 1944 that Kastner negotiated direct with Eichmann for the passage of a number of Jews by train to Switzerland and onward out of German control and with the details being agreed with Kurt Becher acting with the authority of Himmler and who required 50 of seats on the train for those he personally sponsored. In fact at first Eichmann broke the agreement and routed the train to Belsen however the agreement was then kept with those involved including artists, scientists, religious leaders and political activist being allowed to leave in two contingents via Switzerland.

Part of the subsequent campaign against Kastner was his support for Becher at the Nuremberg trials although again the view has been expressed that Kastner did this with the approval of Jewish leaders because of the wish to find and prosecute Eichmann and to recover property that Becher had removed for himself and for the Reich.

The real story was to have a twist because in what many regarded as an extraordinary move, after the capture of Eichmann Becher was called as a witness for the Defence at re Eichmann trial in 1961. He provided testimony from Germany unwilling to travel to Jerusalem where the trial was held, possibly sensing this was a trap. His testimony was not allowed because he was provided with questions in advance of the relay to the court. He was regarded as one of the wealthiest men in Western Germany at the time.

Writing after the event one important source, Hannah Arrendt, said “It was a great pity that Eichmann and Becher could not have been confronted with each other and this not merely for judicial reasons. Such a confrontation would have revealed another part of the "general picture," which, even legally, was far from irrelevant”

After describing his career she said “His relations with Himmler were excellent, he could see him whenever he wished. His "special mission" was clear enough. He was to obtain control of major Jewish business concerns behind the backs of the Hungarian government, and, in return, to give the owners free passage out of the country, plus a sizable amount of money in foreign currency.

“His most important transaction was with the Manfred Weiss steel combine, a mammoth enterprise, with thirty thousand workers, which produced everything from airplanes, trucks, and bicycles to tinned goods, pins, and needles. The result was that forty-five members of the Weiss family immigrated to Portugal while Mr. Becher became head of their business.

When Eichmann heard of this Schweinerei, he was outraged; the deal threatened to compromise his good relations with the Hungarians, who naturally expected to take possession of Jewish property confiscated on their own soil. He had some reason for his indignation, since these deals were contrary to the regular Nazi policy. Which had been quite generous.

For their help in solving the Jewish question in any country, the Germans had demanded no part of the Jews' property, only the costs of their deportation and extermination, and these costs had varied widely from country to country-the Slovaks had been supposed to pay between three hundred and five hundred Reichsmarks per Jew, the Croats only thirty, the French seven hundred, and the Belgians two hundred and fifty. (It seems that no one ever paid except the Croats.) In Hungary, at this late stage of the war, the Germans were demanding payment in goods-shipments of food to the Reich, in quantities determined by the amount of food the deported Jews would have consumed.

So how does the film deal with these issues. As I said it begins well with scenes sending thousands by train to their extermination and with a sight of a centre as it is today. The story in fact centres on the young couple who look after the Palace and where the attractive wife is pregnant and flirts with a guard at a control post which they pass on their regular visits into the nearest town where in fact they keep watch on the transport of Jewish people and appear to report to some kind of underground movement. They are suddenly contact by their employers to get the Palace ready for the visit of Himmler and three others and this poses as challenged for the young man as they are in fact also Jews and he wants to assassinate Himmler and Eichmann when he learns they are to be involved, The wife persuades him not to do this because of the implications for them and for others.( This is one of several irrational moments in the film introduced for dramatic tension. The situation for them deteriorates when the on the ground appointed security man takes a shine to the wife who he believes is Aryan hence the Title of the film The Aryan Couple, He has learned from Eichmann who appears as a kind of chief of Gestapo that the couple are to be killed once the deal has been completed and the employers leave from a local air field by plane. He asks Eichmann to arrange sound proof facility at the Gestapo HQ where he intimates he wishes to rape and then kill the young woman for amusement.

It is fact that Himmler and Eichmann did not get on as personalities and approaches. It is arranged that all the relatives of the industrialist played by Martin Landau as a Joseph Krausenberg should be held together at the Gestapo Headquarters and for Joseph to be summoned from his office to the Gestapo HQ where he is made to wait, roughly treated and told to calm his relatives nerves before going to his country home for the dinner and departure. This action is designed to ensure that he signs the papers handing over the possessions to Himmler including the art collection. This is all fabrication because as has been shown the intention was to hand over the property to Aryan Hungarians in return for their payments for the elimination of the Jewish people.

The antipathy between Himmler and Eichmann is shown when Himmler insists that Eichmann kisses the hand of Joseph’s wife. The reality of what would have been such a situation is also shown by the hesitancy of the wife to sign the document without guarantees and her scathing and dangerous in the circumstances comments about the treatment of her countrymen and women. Before the couple depart and do leave with their extended family of some 45 individuals on the plane to Switzerland the young couple disclose their truth identity and fears and ask their employers to help them.
By this time Eichmann and the aggressive would be rapist have found out the young couple are Jews and he decision taken to order the senior office left to clear up the situation and take charge of the Palace, to kill the couple and bury them in the grounds in a grave which the young control point soldier who flirted with the young wife is asked to dig and then participate in their execution.

However unbeknown to the audience the employers have provided the senior officer with gold for him to enable the couple with exit papers signed by Himmler presumably of the kind which were issued for the Becher train and indeed the couple are to leave the capital by a special train which the officer escort them from the central station. In the meantime Eichmann has ordered the execution of the couple so he can hear their deaths over the phone. The irrationality is that in order to confuse or mislead the audience there are no cries as the shots are fired which in reality would have led someone over the phone to question. In the meantime the young soldier waiting by the open grave commits suicide because the situation he is in thus absolving the young German soldiers in general from the behaviour of their seniors, the SS and the Gestapo and the political leaders.

However there is a further twist because Eichmann’s fanatical henchman goes to Palace and discovers the officer has lied who is then apprehended his gold. The henchman undertakes to go off and take the couple from the train before they reach the border. However meanwhile Himmler having learned of the situation and fearing his plans to take over the industrial empire and the Palace will be thwarted at the last moment instructs a colleague to ensure the couple depart and join their employer. This colleague has to shoot the fanatical henchman who refuses to accept the order and is about to shoot the couple before they can reboard the train as it slowly leaves the station.

The film which I presume was made for TV is well done but it is a pity there is such a gulf between fact and fiction although some of he key elements of the reality are faithfully recounted I came across one reference to the death of one the daughters who I presume travelled with her father. She had become New York based and is understood to have devoted much of her life to supporting Human Rights Charities.

2229 Films for Sunday Never Let me Go. Another Time Another Place and Abandoned

2012-01-22T13:27:00.000-08:00

I missed the publicity and the critical evaluations of the 2010 British film Never Left me Go. The film raises important issues and is the story of a group of children attending from the age of 11 an isolated special school which young people they later encounter saying they wish they had been given the opportunity to also attend. The one thing all the children have in common is that they do not have relatives who visit. They are warned against leaving the school unless supervised something about which they are obedient. In fact obedience is something which appears all the children have in common although in other respects they appear normal each having friends within the school, some rivalries and picking on someone who appears different, in this instance Tommy who is not good at sport but also at art which appears to be highly regarded with the best paintings, sculpture and other art selected to appear in the “gallery.” He is befriended by two girls who are also friends.

While the children are still at school a teacher played by Charlotte Rampling breaks the news that they are special because they are clones whose originals have paid for them to have a better life than other clones brought up in secret establishments, the different between battery hens and free range. However as with hens who all end up in the cooking pot, once they are adults they will be used for body parts, up to four organs after which their use will be completed and are terminated unless this has happened beforehand because of complications with the transplanting of body parts. The teacher disappears.

When they become adults they able to live in cottages in the area close to the school and are free go out and about and enjoy life until their time.

One of the girls played by Keira Knightly has a relationship with the now young man Tommy (Andrew Garfield) until the harvesting commences and she dies on the operating table because of complications. She has been supported by the other girl Kathy (Carey Mulligan) who becomes a carer, someone who travels the country visiting and supporting other clones when ready for transplant and the post operative experience, if it is explained why she has been selected and has not as yet been asked to donate transplant, I missed this.

Tommy and Kathy meet up and fall in love and he persuades her to go and see Madame, the former school head at her home after learning that the school has closed. The purpose of the visit is to show Madame the art work that Tommy has created since being an adult and the hope that this will enable him to have deferment similar to the position of Kathy. It is Kathy who grasps the there is no such thing as deferment and the purpose of the artwork was to establish if the clones had “souls” A twist in the tale is that the sacked teacher shares the home of the Madam. We see Kathy helping Tommy to cope with another transplant before completion.

The film as with the book by Kazuo Ishiguro in 2005 was highly regarded with the film receiving several nominations in the lesser institutions and groups with Carey Mulligan winning best actress by UK Independent film awards and Andrew Garfield also winning in others competitions. The film well acted and thought provoking and may well sit in the memory.

The film is based on an alternative reality claiming that as early as 1952 the ability to clone humans meant that we all had a life expectancy of 100 years. It not stated but presumed that some clones were used for medical experiments to eradicate diseases such as the cancers. The story is told by Kathy when she and Tommy are 28 and she looks back. Although between 1950 and 1980 the film has a feel of the 1950’s throughout, apart from the medical centres.

Those brought up at the residential school are fortunate because their originals have paid the extra to enable them to have a good childhood and free adulthood until the body parts are needed. The film does not explain why the clones accept their fate without revolt. The school is closed when originals are unwilling to pay the additional costs and society in general does not want to see the clones out and about thus raising the issue that we tend not to want know about the price paid for our way of life... The lives led by those who make the cheap food and clothing or who die because the food, water and medicines which they need and are available are not provided.

The subject of transplants is not knew and I remember the fuss which Oh Lucky Man created when it was released some 50 years ago and the hero attends a clinic when there are experiments in transplanting with one young man finding his head and brain attached to a pig. I still have the Long Play record of the excellent music composed and played by local Jarrow man Alan Price of the Animals with Eric Burden.

It could also be argued that the film is more about the choices we make as a society collectively and the implications as much as the issue of cloning. All those years ago some 50 now I decided to go to prison for six months when I was given an alternative as a statement that I could not accept the potential use of weapons of mass destruction.

Another film set in the 1940 and 1950 also released in 1958 is Another Time, Another Place starting a young Sean Connery as the male lead who plays an international journalist and radio broadcaster who at the start of film reports on the dismantling of a bomb. He has an affair with Lana Turner who is also a Journalist from America covering the war in Europe and engaged to her employer who travels to the UK and France to cover the allied invasion as well as the creation of the United Nations.

Sid James plays the personal assistant to the boss in Europe with whom Turner confess that she has decided to break the engagement with the boss because of her affair with Connery. However coinciding with this intention Connery who is about to leave for Paris, has decided to break with Turner because he has a wife and child in Cornwall who he also loves. Earlier in the film we see Connery declaring his eternal love for his future wife promising to be always together. We also witness saying as much to Turner during their love affair. The wife is played by the excellent actress of my childhood and youth, Glynis Johns, who has take her son to live in a Cornish fishing port to get away from the bombings in London. Connery also has a Journalist/BBC colleague who is also a family friend and has been against he relationship with Turner persuading Connery to remain with his family.

When the boss arrives he senses relations between them has cooled and presses James to reveal what is going on. Turner admits the relationship but also the irony of the situation because she has been rejected. The following day the boss calls on Turner when she is about to listen to the next broadcast of Connery from Paris. He attempted to stop her listening but understandably she insists only to learn this way that thee plane Connery travelled in had crashed and he had been killed. She is devasted has has a emotional breakdown and admitted to a residential clinic headed by John Le Mesurier. The boss visits after about six months when she is ready to leave although still in a state of shock. The boss played by Barry Sullivan arranged for her take a cruise back to the USA from Plymouth Devon. She agrees but arranges to go for the day to Connery’s hometown on the day beforehand. Finding that with the peace the local hotel is fully booked she leaves her overnight case with the rest of the luggage sent on to the ship and goes on a walkabout until the evening train.

She visits the outside of his home where she meets his son out playing and is invited in for a cuppa and then because the boy takes to the American and wants to know all about the USA, she stays for an evening meal and then missing the train is asked to stay. She is overcome by the situation and the following morning goes off a panic. I am not clear what happens next except that she is brought back in a collapsed state and is cared for by the wife until she recovers. She agrees to stay on and write a book about the life of Connery with the help of the wife much to the horror of Connery’s former colleague who survived he crash and who know also lives in the same community. He is understandably concerned that the looking back will arouse concerns which the wife had expressed to him about the fact that Connery’s letters to her shortly before his death had become brief as if something had changed or was wrong. Lana’s boss also arrives to take her back to America but too late to prevent the widow realising what had happened and then the woman was Lana. Lana is asked to immediately leave but at the station Glynis and the longstanding friend come to say goodbye with Lana leaving for the USA able to move forward.

According it a brief Wikipedia article during the making of the film the gangster boyfriend of Lana Turned arrived on set with a gun to warn Connery not to get involved with the actress. There was a struggle with the gun firing but fortunately no one was injured. The film looks as if there was some location shooting in Cornwall although it could have all been created in a studio .is is a pleasant film full of nostalgia for Cornish fishing ports. I do have a Newlyn Pottery vase bought from the pottery shop in St Ives.

Abandoned is a 2010 released thrills and actions film which requires a considerable stretch of credulity. The films can be said to be in two parts. In the first a young woman accompanies her boyfriend to a hospital for day surgery. She accompanies him to the ward where a nurse asks him to get ready and tell the girl friend when to leave and how long the process will take. The hospital is in the processing of closing down with transfers to a new building already in hand. It is never explained why it is closing and transferring as the building is modern with modern facilities. While she waits she shares a cup of coffee with an elderly man who is spending his days at the hospital visiting his wife. When the boyfriend does not return at the time expected she makes inquiries and there is no record of him, or the nurse who she has encountered or the doctor he was supposed to be seeing and that the area where he was admitted and which she visited had been cleared and was no longer in use.

She makes various inquiries and eventually the hospital administrator is called because she making a nuisance of herself. When he is not found after extensive searching the girl calls a female friend who surprisingly appears the reinforce the hospital view that maybe the man used the visit as an excuse to break with her. She calls the police and the selected nearest officer is also sceptical but does a search of the large multifloor building without success. The direction of the film is to add to the sense that there is some great conspiracy especially when we learn that the man’s laptop has disappeared from his car. That he worked from home and other planted clues suggesting he has been kidnapped for some reason and with staff at the at the hospital colluding. When she spills her purse to reveal a bottle of anti depressants, although why should carry round such a large bottle is not explained, the suggestion is that she is making everything up and is in need of psychiatric help and with the doctor again appearing part of he conspiracy. The policeman leaves although calls at the home of the boyfriend and after breaking from the psychiatrist the girl goes on another search and gets a phone call from the boyfriend saying he is being kept prisoner within the hospital.

A key aspect of the film is that the girl works as an electronic expert for a bank and by phone she is told to transfer $10 million from the bank to an International account. She does this demanding to see her boyfriend before submitting the final transfer code.

We now come to the second part which occurs from the moment she pus through the transfer on seeing her boyfriend. Only then she realises she has been part of an elaborate hoax of which the boyfriend is the leader. His partners in crime include the man with whom she had a cup of tea, the nurse and the head security officer, with the latter responsible for erasing the CCTV record of his entering the hospital and going to the ward from which he official disappeared without ever having been there. This trio go off leaving the security chief to kill the girl and dispose of the body in a part of the hospital that is to be demolished but he wants to test out a comment from the boyfriend that she is great in bed. This provides the opportunity to escape and eventually to kill him with a piece of pipe.

Throughout the film she has been carrying a novel given to her by the boyfriend. At one point she uses the cover to do a paper trace for his National Insurance number as he used the book as a rest to complete a form. This number proves false as does the phone number of his mother he had put into her mobile. She gives the book to the policeman and when he gets home he looks at the final pages which appears to be include a story similar to what the young woman had explained happened to her boyfriend. The last part reveals that it was a scam and that the life of the victim is in danger. He calls for back up and make his way to the hospital.

Meanwhile the boyfriend, the girlfriend and the partner have made their getaway but a phone call reveals that the transfer has not in fact gone through. They arrive back as the girl is about to make her getaway so there follows a chase back through hospital during which the girl has the gun from the security guard and shoots the partner. The policeman gets back and captures the nurse girlfriend who is waiting in the car and then shoot the boyfriend just before he shoots the girl. The extent and levels of implausibility should be self evident. This is a three out of ten film with the rating shared by the critics.

2228 Important events and a first class film about J Edgar Hoover

2012-01-22T05:05:00.000-08:00

After devoting the early part of the week to the Leveson Inquiry and reading Great Expectations it has been a time for TV catch up some films, including one in theatre, one planned events which I viewed with mixed feelings and one exciting and most unexpected with which I shall begin.

I have previously explained that in 1999 after learning the identity of my father I commenced to explore the family background of my mother. The rationale being I had a basis for commencing with mother leaving that of my father until l had acquired some further information and which would merit a first visit to Gibraltar.

The precipitating key to unlocking the past was to be given information about the grandfather of my mother who had served in the British Arms going to Gibraltar where he had met and married a Spanish girl who appeared to accompany him on his subsequent service, at least to the far East and then back to Ireland before his medical discharge and allocation of an out pension by the Royal Hospital at Chelsea. His first son, my mother’s father, had been born in Gibraltar and a second son in the far East. Subsequent inquiries indicated that he also married a woman from Spain, someone older than himself and that they had one child and that no one was aware what had subsequently happened to this boy. On returning to Gibraltar as a pensioner the couple had two more children, a girl who became a young widow and then married a man much younger than herself. The second daughter was born in Spain and was said to have married a member of the J Lyons family. There was said to have been another son who apart from his name and that he had died, no one appears to now know more about him.

My maternal father had seven daughters and four sons and between them 19 children of which I was one. And with the spread of ages of their parents six have died including the youngest and one in a Japanese Prison of War Camp in World War II. One is also missing

I had then attempted to explore the background of the young man who had mislead about his age when joining the army and whose final resting place remains unknown as does that of his wife- that of Sergeant Henry James Smart of Calne.

With the help of other family history researches who had traced their families to the town of Calne in Wiltshire I had eventually found a Tithe Map with index which showed where the core family had lived prior to the first national census in 1841 and the extraordinary parents of the great grandfather in that they had seven daughters born in succession followed by five sons, of whom he was the second youngest. I had traced the lives of all the siblings and their descendents until the 1901 census but despite publishing a detailed account of all the various branches no one had contacted from the branch until this week.

The individual has spent a great deal of time and money and only recently managed to get a certificate of birth which showed that their grandfather was the son of the same great grandfather, moreover their grandfather had also joined the army as a boy, misleading about his age and then also served in what was then the various parts of the British Empire. Between the two they served in Ireland, Gibraltar, Malta, Hong King Singapore, Penang and Malacca, South Africa and India and then throughout World War I in France. He had married and his wife had born nine children so that together these two sons had twenty children so there are a lot of second cousins as well as first cousins of my generation. Wow. Neither clan knew of the other until this week. More Wow.

On Friday I made a visit to the GP following the events of reported two weeks ago after having tests and the referral from Casualty. Next stop is to see a consultant although at present there appears to be nothing immediately life threatening which is a comfort and means that I continue working at the level which has developed over the past eight years.

I decided to celebrate these events by going to see the just generally released film about the life of J Edgar Hoover which is directed by Clint Eastwood and where many of his films are outstanding such as Play Misty for Me, High Plains Drifter, Pale Rider, Unforgiven, the Bridges of Madison County, Mystic River. Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iow Jima, Invictus and now J Edgar. The other feature films which he has directed are The Eiger Sanction, Breezy, The Outlaw Josy Wales, The Gauntlet, Bronco Billy, and FireFox. Honkey Tonk Man, Sudden Impact, Heartbreak Ridge, Changeling, White Hunter Black Heart, The Rookie, A Perfect World, Absolute Power, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, True Crime, Space Cowboys, Bloodwork, Million Door Baby, Grand Torino, and Hereafter. I have seen most but not the recent Hereafter

J Edgar Hoover is a figure who many feared including several Presidents, those left of centre hated him akin to Margaret Thatcher while the majority regarded him as a heroic figure who was responsible for the creation of modern national policing methods which were exported throughout the world.

He was born in 1895 whose parents were of German, Swiss and English descent. His mother‘s uncle was a Swiss honorary consul general in Washington and she is portrayed by Dame Judy Dench in the film as a strong dominating woman conscious of family standing and with a strong moral sense which declares at one point that it would be better for a man to kill himself/be dead that become a transvestite/homosexual. His father is portrayed as a sick man who played little or no part in his upbringing and which leads to the proposition that he found relationships with men easier than with women and led to allegations of homosexuality. The film makes an important distinction between having a close relation relationship with one man akin to a brother and a physical relationship although it also suggests that the other man involved, his deputy Clyde Tolson, did hope for a more intimate relationship. For a long period they dined together every day and went on holidays and to the races.

The film suggests that Hoover considered marriage to a two years younger than him secretary, Helen Gandy and that he took her out three times including to the Library of Congress where he showed her the filing system he inaugurated which enabled a book to be located with a few minutes, but that when he was about to propose to her on this visit she explained that she did not wish to marry and that her work was her life. It is alleged that it was after this, and because of this he appointed her his personal assistant, a post which she held for 54 years until his death when she retired going on to live for another sixteen years.

While what happened is still a matter for speculation it is widely accepted that she was responsible for the destruction of secret confidential files which he used to stay in power and exercise great influence. The implication of the film is that had she not done this President Nixon would have used the file to reinforce his position.

His conflict of personal identity and sexual orientation is one of the two core themes of the film. He arranges to take his deputy for a holiday going to the races where Hoover admits he is treated like royalty and if he wins he keeps the money but if he loses the bets are cancelled. He arranged a suite with adjoining bedrooms which leads to Tolson believing the relationship is to progress however when they are together the common living room Edgar confides he has been out several times with a well known film star, unbeknown to Clyde, and that he is considering asking her to marry him. Clyde is enraged and they fight during which Clyde kisses Edgar and Edgar tells him never to do that again. The incident is portrayed as creating a strong bond between them so that when Clyde has a stroke Edgar shows him affection and similar Clyde is the first to attend to the body after being contacted by the housekeeper who notifies Miss Gandy.

The President’s men sealed Hoover’s office when in fact he had arranged for Gandy to secure the documents elsewhere so that only she and he knew their location and would enable destruction should he become no longer in charge of the bureau. It is against this background that the story of Hoover and the FBI is presented for the two were in reality interlinked and interdependent.

Edgar obtained a law degree from George Washington University in 1916 and Master of Laws in 1917. He was appointed to the Justice Department direct from University and made responsible for the Enemy Aliens Section and at the age of 24 appointed head of a new General Intelligence Division within the Bureau of Investigation, rising to Deputy head in 1924 and then Acting Director because of his dedication to work and high standards.

I am familiar with what happens when one achieves recognition and rapid advancement, there is a continuing expectation as well as resentment by some and an increasing number of those who want to end the reign, tarnish and or just control. There is also fear of the individual because of the knowledge acquired or becomes believed has been acquired.

There is no doubt that Edgar insisted and maintained high standards and possessed a clear vision of what he thought America was and should become, to a great extent influenced by his mother but also by his experience. The film begins with a set of several coordinated bombings which killed politicians and was aimed at other leading figures in Washington including the Justice Department chief organised by a fanatical communist group and that once put in charge of the aliens bureau he pressed for the expulsion of anyone and everyone who appeared to him to be working against the interests of his country, This was the first aspect of his character emphasised. Edgar had his vision which was only in part determined by the constitution of the country and quickly he came to distrust everyone except his mother in being able to maintain the standards he considered necessary.

The film also suggests that he personally decided who would work for him and who was not, suggesting that he rejected one experienced officer because he was wearing facial hair and others because of their clothes or lack of loyalty or showing him respect or because something trivial or perceived by him a slight. It is also fair comment to say that he is turned on those closest to him including Tolson and Gandy although learned to cope cesspit being wounded at times and to hit back or challenge some of his extremely risky ventures. The film is excellent in bringing out the problem that what ever one achieves remains only appreciated by those closest to one unless there has been significant recognition and even then it becomes fixed in a moment of time. The best of example in the UK is that of Winston Churchill a hero because of his leadership during World War 2 but then rejected as Prime Minister in the post war General Election and later even his greatest achievement was critical examined and placed in the perspective of his whole life. Few individuals have learned to accept what has been and is no more and move forward successfully.

There is one aspect which the films fails to communicate and this is the size of the bureau in that when he took over the Investigations it had 650 employees of which 441 were special agents. It now as 35000 and a budget of $8 billion.

Much of the film is a retrospective look back at what the scriptwriter and director have selected as the key events in the creation of the bureau which he recounts to an officer he has brought into his personal office to write a history of the FBI which would place him at the centre. There is an important scene when Tolson recites the instances in the published account where he bent the facts to improve his position.

The main individual case is that of the kidnapping from their home, the son of Charles Lindberg, the aviator and suggested in the film to have been the most well known and loved American of first part of the twentieth century. The film explains that although at the request of the President and other leading Government and national figures Hoover attempted to take charge of the investigation the offer was rejected by the local police and the Lindbergh himself. The FBI had not jurisdiction although after the baby was found dead two months later (the film only shows the skeleton which would not have been the situation after so short a time. A law was passed, allegedly at the insistence of Hoover than the FBI would have authority on the basis of interstate movement, which is also the basis for other situations when the Bureau has authority over State and County authorities which in the USA is often regarded as akin the intrusion into the rights and duties of one country by another.

However the main argument in the film is that the kidnapper was only caught because Hoover insisted that the bureau should apply the latest scientific forensic methods. The ladder used was examined and its manufacture traced although there was no record to whom. When the ransom request was met the notes were marked and their use suggested an area in the same part of the USA as the ladder manufacture and then a petrol station attendant had noted the number of car where the owner had passed one of the bills. Much use was made of the similarity between the hand writing, use of words and spelling of the owner of the vehicle a German background Hauptmann who was convicted and executed despite protesting his innocence. The film alleges that he was only responsible for making the ransom demands, collecting and using some of the money and that other were involved. The film makes the point that the kidnapping did lead to the Bureau establishing forensic science and a national fingerprinting index as well as inter state authority, Hoover’s claim to have been present at the arrest was a false one.

The films makes the point that that a Congressional committee criticised the cult of personality which had built up over the Bureau’s partially successful war on gangster crime which led to the making of G Men with James Cagney as an early version of the Sweeney which brought John Thaw and Dennis Waterman, actors to national acclaim here is the UK. They made the point that Hoover was taking personal credit for a direct involvement when in fact he was never present but overall in charge. Not only did he encourage the cult but profited financially.

Worse still he took action against anyone within the bureau who gained the limelight however justified. Special agent Melvin Purvis for example was responsible for braking up and capturing gangsters but Hoover became so jealous that he drove the man out of the service. It is my understanding that despite his campaign against gangster and violent criminal he appeared to turn a blind eye to the mafia, particularly their involvement in gambling as he himself gamble heavily on the horses placing $100 bets a time

There is no doubt that he was also responsible for the illegal surveillance of senior politicians, their wives and their relationships. The film alleges that he had a secret file on Mrs Roosevelt preventing the President from dismissing him from office and similarly that he used surveillance information on President Kennedy’s affairs to prevent his brother then Attorney General and politically responsible for the Bureau from taking control and that he was listening to a tape of the relationship between the President and Marylyn Monroe when he learned the news of the assassination. There is a comment in the film that when he went to see Nixon he was shocked by Nixon’s demand that he used his surveillance capacity to reinforce Nixon’s political position.

The other area where the evidence is that Hoover went way beyond the law and gave vent to his prejudices spreading misinformation and lies about people was his opposition to radical groups as well as extremists with the most well known case his actions to discredit Martin Luther King and his attempt to get him to refuse the Nobel Peace Prize. There is no doubt he did much of what he did for his country but he also acted for himself and in that that was also a wicked man as well as a patriot. It is accurate that he was able to hold power long after he should have been retired because of the information he possessed or was thought to have. In the UK the similarities with the power of the Murdoch family over Government, the Police and public opinion is obvious. Hoover was a prominent Freemason which I suggest also explains the power and the protection which some have in the UK.

Dr Mark Kermode on Friday argued that the film was limited because of its balance, something for which Clint Eastwood is justifiably famed for, and the performance of Caprio was similarly limited because the use of make up to make him, Tolson and Gandy appear throughout the film as their natural age as well as old. I regard the film as the best film I have seen in theatre this award season year although admittedly I have seen few in theatre. I regard the performance of di Caprio as Oscar winning and certainly do not share Mark’s continued enthusiasms for Tinker Tailor which has been listed for a raft of awards at the Bafta’s. However I did appreciate his views on War Horse which is a film aimed at young people rather than a condemnation for the wholesale industrial scale human slaughter in the first world war.

His rant against the Madonna film, as a film and as an historical travesty was the best ever as many listener also joined into congratulate. The film has been trailed dishonestly as a film about the Duchess and former when in fact half its length is devoted to a contemporary couple used to suggest the problems the couple faced are timeless in terms of being the victims of prejudice and misinformation. There is no doubt that the British Media led by government and national figures did do all they could to destroy the reputation of the Mrs Simpson and that whether she had been a whore and indulged in questionable sexual behaviour is open to question. However she nearly destroyed the British Monarchy at a time when the country needed leadership and unity. However I always thought she played an important role in getting rid of a very dangerous man who was right of centre and thought Hitler was a big cheese. The result was we got a great King and Queen and their daughter. I maybe a republican at heart but that does not prevent recognising quality and ability wherever it exists. Long may she reign for I fear what happens when she does not.

2227 Leveson 14 An importand High Court Judgement and Trinity Mirror Day

2012-01-21T03:54:00.001-08:00

It has been an important week for the Leveson Inquiry when together with the contributions since the Inquiry restarted after the recess, a full and balanced understanding of the national and regional media press has been obtained, together the views of such magazines such as OK. Hullo and Heat magazines was presented.

The main event was however outside the Inquiry, but in the same set of buildings, as Associated Newspapers challenged the ruling of Lord Leveson on the question of some witnesses being allowed to give their testimony anonymously. In addition to Counsel for Lord Leveson, the National Union of Journalists were represented, together with the Core Participants and the Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police. Not only was the application for Judicial review rejected but Associated Newspapers were told not to waste time and money again!

The 19 page document sets out the Law under the Inquiries Act 2005 and explained the ruling which the Chairman had made on the issue and this is summarised in detail, if not in full. The Judgement then reminded of that had been said by the National Union of Journalists about the importance of hearing from some journalists anonymously because of the likelihood of reprisals and for the Inquiry to be given the full story. The opening statement of Mr Rusbridger was also mentioned on how in fact the Guardian had been able to get the story.

Then the position of claimant was put by Mr Caplan to the inquiry was covered as stated on 17th. He conceded that there was a problem regarding retribution in the workplace in terms of loss of prevention or loss of job now or in the future but he argued there was another solution to the problem making reference to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. Lord Justice Leveson had then made a supplementary ruling which is reported in detail.

The Claimant argued that that to allow anonymous evidence would be unfair and contravene the principal of natural justice (The hypocrisy of this given the behaviour of some press and some journalists is noteworthy); that the decision fails to give effect to open justice (again pathetic and laughable) given that the press is not open when it suits them such as failing to report in their papers any critical comments made by others at the Inquiry); that the ruling infringed the rights of the claimant (there is also the rights of everyone else which is far greater including those of the victims of media persecution and misrepresentation) and finally that the decision failed to justify the public interest( which is again rich given that the papers have repeatedly failed to make the case for the public interest in their stories which interest the public!)

The judgement explained that the primary responsibility of the Chairman was to be fair in the context in which the inquiry was set up and its terms of reference. The Judgement explained that the critical challenge was the issue of fairness and covered the point made by the applicants that in the Northern Ireland Inquiry the House of Lords had held that anonymity should not be given to police officers who feared for their futures. The claimant argued that the ruling had been premature whereas for the Inquiry it was argued the application was premature because the ruling had been a protocol for the approach to be taken rather than the position in relation to all or any individual request for anonymity. In the discussion of the case the judgement explained that evidence had been presented by some twenty victims and the newspapers had been given opportunity to present their viewpoint providing oral and written testimony. There had been submission from Nick Davies and Mr Rusbridger which referred to off the record and confidential statements. Direct evidence from these journalists remains the missing piece in the jigsaw. The Northern Ireland situation was different because the police witnesses were known in advance and had been compelled to attend where as in this situation the witnesses were not known and therefore not compelled in advance. They are willing to come forward if anonymity is provided.

The judgement placed emphasis that it was for the Chairman to conduct the Inquiry as he considered appropriate and that the only grounds for intervention would be if it was satisfied that the chairman was wrong in his understanding of what was fair in the particular circumstances of the Inquiry. Appropriate consideration was given to the authority of previous judgements and attached important weight that the public needed to satisfied that it had been thorough and balanced in every respect. Although it can be said that newspapers are in the Dock in a metaphorical sense, the Inquiry is an Inquiry and not a criminal trial.

I think this is the best point made by the applicant in that I have been pleasantly surprised by the tone and approach taken by the Inquiry given the nature of the first part and when I had anticipated that much of what has taken place would only occur at the conclusion of the police investigation and of any legal proceedings. These should help to remedy the failures under Motorman and at the time of the Goodman Mulcaire trials and the subsequent cover ups and which I hope the Inquiry will cover in similar fashion as it has to date when it comes to dealing with the police and politicians in its next phases.

The judgement made the point that throughout the inquiry to date the chairman has been concerned about the interests of the public who do not have access to media lawyers. This point was made to emphasise that the issues being investigated by the inquiry affect the public as a whole.

The judgement accepted that the ruling could result in damage to the claimant and other newspaper proprietors in a general sense but as Lord Leveson had made it clear any evidence given anonymously would not be used by him when assessing a finding against a particular organisation

The Commissioner for the Metropolitan police has expressed concern that the Chairman should only grant protective measures to an applicant whose evidence is exculpatory of any individual or company in exceptional circumstances and only after having invited representation on the matter from the core participants. The Chairman had rejected this because the chairman would only grant protective measures to an applicant whose evidence is exculpatory of individual to be low and that he would approach any request with the expressed concerns in mind.

The point was made that judicial review is a means of correcting unlawfulness. It is not for the court to micromanage the conduct of the Inquiry by the Chairman, least of all in relation to hypothetical situations the likelihood of which appears to the chairman to be remote. Such matters are properly for the Chairman. I would refuse the application for judicial review. For the future how the Chairman deals with individual anonymity in the context of the general ruling and protocol will be matters of detailed consideration by him which should not foreseeable give rise to further requests for judicial interference which is a political and judicial way of saying do not waste time and money coming again.

There were no earth shattering revelations as such in the inquiry but was able to place the contributions from individuals such as Kelvin McKenzie, Piers Morgan and Paul Desmond in perspective. The missing ingredient is Paul Dacre. Bring him on although I expect he will prove an anticlimax of reasonableness.

There are only three laps to go of this first section of part one, a mixed bag next week which includes the BBC, ITN and CNN News but not SKY who have submitted a written statement, Google and Facebook. Mazher Mahmood is to return along with Jack of Kent! Together with various groups such as Violence against women, PEN, Index on censorship, followed by the anonymous ones and then the retrospective overview summing up so to speak of the core participants and anything which presumably Counsel for the Inquiry and Lord Justice Leveson has to say. We then move to the Police and then to the politicians.

On Monday 16th January 2012 The Trinity Mirror Group of national and regional newspapers and magazines presented its evidence to Inquiry. The main tittles are the Daily and Sunday Mirror and the People Sunday newspapers in England where all three current editors gave written and oral evidence. (They manage two nationals in Scotland.

The main event was the admission by the present editor of the Daily Mirror Richard Wallace that although he was the Entertainment Editor of the Daily Mirror at a time when a witness (James Hipwell) confidently said that phone hacking was a daily occurrence; he had no direct knowledge but accepted it may have gone on without his knowledge.

His deputy at the time (Deputy Entertainment Editor) Kevin Christopher O’Sullivan also provided a witness statement as the present the TV critic for the Sunday Mirror restricting his evidence to the present rather that to his past experience past the Daily Mirror or his overall 33 years of professional experience in journalist. Given what else has happened it is assumed that there are good reasons why he was not pressed to make a comprehensive statement about the past time or was asked to give oral evidence. The evidence of Mr Wallace follows.

The second event on Monday was the appearance of the Sly Bailey, the Chief of Executive of the Group from the time that the Motorman evidence was reported by the Information Commissioner. She is regarded as one of the top 50 successful, powerful, and influential business women outside of the USA. She was extraordinary with an exceptional command of her subject, except when it came to explaining why under her leadership she had taken the decision not to investigate the evidence presented by the information commissioner despite two of her papers, the Mirror and the Sunday Mirror appearing high on the lists of those using Whittamore and of those where the Commissioner found there was evidence of illegal activity.

She said she took the decision on the grounds that the Commissioner had taken the lead to look forward rather than back and that although three Mirror staff had been interviewed by the police no charges had been brought. She and her colleagues claimed that there had been strict adherence to the code since that time although her editors admitted that mistakes had been made, some of a very serious nature and in my view of the same order which led to the departure of Piers Morgan

It will be interesting to read what Lord Leveson and his team has to say about the position of the Trinity Mirror Group but for my own part I am clear that that they have failed to rebut the case that phone hacking was widespread over a decade ago at the Daily Mirror during the tenure of Piers Morgan as its editor. The issue of the credibility of his memoirs and his memory was raised on the argument that the diaries had not been written contemporaneously. Presumably it is up to Mr Morgan Murdoch to rebut these claims as did former Prime Minister Mr Brown over the Morgan/Murdoch allegation that at the Labour Party Conference of September 2009- “That night a furious Brown called Murdoch and in Rupert’s words, roared at me for 20 minutes. “

When asked for the source of the story Mr McKenzie replied. “It was Mr Murdoch: His evidence was that “At The end Brown Said, You’re trying to destroy me and my party, I will destroy you and my company.”

Lawyers for the former Prime Minister stated that the story is completely untrue; Mr Brown has no such conversation with Mr Murdoch at any time during the conference. The letter added that he had a clear recollection of his calls to Mr Murdoch when Prime Minister. The statement does not categorically deny that Mr Brown has not said words to the same effect to others when he was Prime Minister or subsequently. It is surprising that the lawyers did not make this point clearly.

I will begin with the star of hearings on Monday, Mrs Sly Sylvia Bailey and over the weekend I hope to write about the star of Tuesday morning, and of the week Ian Hislop of Private Eye and on Wednesday, the editors of Hullo, Heat and OK Magazines.

Mrs Bailey went to school in Dulwich and her father was a freelance financial journalist. She commenced her career as a make-up artist for Revlon. In 1984 she joined the Guardian newspaper working in advertising sales and then became advertising manager at The Independent newspaper in 1987. Before joining Trinity Mirror as chief executive in 2003, she was chief executive of AOL Time Warner's IPC Media group, the UK's leading consumer magazine publishing group.

She was elected to the board of IPC at the age of 31, and she was subsequently named chief executive at the age of 37. In October 2001, at the age of 39, she successfully led the £1.15 billion sale of the IPC to Time Inc, the publishing division of AOL Time Warner.

Her success at Trinity Mirror has brought her and her company financial and personal success through what some would describe as a ruthless approach to balance sheet and shareholder contentment. In 2006 one report states that the group had 11000 staff whereas at present she stated the number is in the 6000‘s and still reducing, The annual revenue budget is over £1 billion with pre tax gross profits of the order of £190 millions. The group which has traded as high at 550 pence a share in recent times was recently reported to be under 50p. In her statement to the Inquiry dated October 13th of last year the Group had 165 titles and 6350 staff but at the hearing she explained that the number of titles had to be reduced to 145 titles because of the dramatic loss of revenue from job advertising which has fallen from £150 million to less than £20 million. Here is the North East the group own the Evening Chronicle which used to have a joint website with the Journal which the company also owned together with the regional Sunday paper, called the Sunday sun. The Journal now as a separate website.

I cannot resist making the comment that given this company’s market and financial decline it is understandable that the group decided not to turn the spotlight on past behaviour but have concentrated on the future. The fundamental question which I touched on in the last Leveson report and something which Lord Leveson has repeatedly said is that OK everyone is behaving themselves now in terms of setting standards and their monitoring but experience indicates that in all fields, not just the media those involved become more relaxed, significant problems occur again unless there is a framework which everyone signs up or is persuaded to sign up to, and is then put into practice and monitored.

(Vijay Lakman Vaghela is the Group Finance Director working as an external auditor after qualification and joining the Mirror group in 1994 presented written evidence. He since has become Executive Finance Director on the Board of the group and his statement indicated his accountability to the Chief Executive. He made a point which others have also mentioned that expensive promotional activity whether because of exclusive or special stories, gifts, reduce price initiatives may increase circulation volume but then fall back when the promotion ends. He provided the framework of various control, including payment to agencies and employee expenses).

Richard David Wallace is the present Editor of the Daily Mirror. He has spent 21 of his thirty years in journalism; He introduced his written evidence by reminding that the Daily Mirror has a 110-year tradition. It was launched in 1903 as a paper for women, edited by women. It then became a picture-led publication aimed at the middle classes before evolving, during the 1930s, “into the paper we would recognise today.”

“It positioned itself as a paper that stands up for ordinary working men and women while holding lawmakers and the privileged to account, a stance it still maintains to this day. During World War II it came under threat of closure for questioning the government over its execution of the war effort. It came out for Labour in the 1945 General Election and has backed Labour ever since. (This is also the position of the Sunday Mirror but since the present editor of the People took over he has switched the paper from Labour to neutral, a position which the Chief Executive described in positive terms).

The Daily Mirror sells around 1.2 million copies a day, and is read by nearly three million each day. Content on mirror.co.uk is read by 800,000 unique users, seven days a week. The average age of our newspaper readers is 50. Thirty per cent are retired. Fifteen per cent are from ethnic minorities, the highest percentage in the tabloid / midmarket sector. A number of national and regional editors made the point that the advent of the Internet and more recently Tablets and smart phone has meant that the number of people reading their titles has increased but the problem is that while readership of the paying titles is falling, the technology readers wish to read their information free. The challenge is how to attract the on line readership and get them to pay. The present and on going economic situation is having major impact with the dramatic reduction in revenue loss from job advertising mentioned by all those questioned on the subject.

Mr Wallace stated that the core values of the group were “fairness, justice and compassion. But we also provide entertainment and fun for our readers, which is critical in the popular newspaper sector. We, like most papers in the popular market, provide a vigorous and exciting gateway to the news agenda. We deliver everything from celebrity news to hardcore economic stories in a vibrant, digestible manner that engages and informs the reader. Media and privacy law silk Hugh Tomlinson QC said at a Law Society public debate "Privacy, Free Press and the Public Interest" held in September 2011: tabloid that can explain complex issues in a comprehensible form is a good democratic resource". I agree with that comment.”

He confirmed that after the jailing of Goodman and Mulcaire the Chief Executive and Legal Secretary circulated an email explaining the zero tolerance policy which was then relayed to all staff insisting strict adherence to the Code and to Data Protection Law. Thus confirming my view which appears to be shared by Lord Leveson that the national media won’t obey, monitor and enforce unless they are required to. Mr Wallace agreed that it would be difficult to argue that all the 641 instances when Whittamore provided information was on the basis of lawful pubic interest.

Mr Wallace confirmed that he had periodic meetings with Prime Ministers and other politicians, with the police including one Metropolitan Commissioner and that it was custom and practice for the Group to meet the bill of any breakfasts, lunches or dinners provided. He had attended a private lunch arranged by the present Prime Minister with the Chief Executive and other editors in the Group and the Milibands, Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper had attended his 50th birthday party in a pub.

Mr Wallace was required to submit a second statement on the position of the Daily Mirror in relation to Christopher Jefferies. He referred to one of the journalists involved Ryan Parry whose statement has not so far been taken which I presumes means he will be called in relation to the section of evidence concerned with the police. The nub of the evidence is that when the police arrested Mr Jefferies on December 30th they briefed the media that they were confident Mr Jefferies was the murderer and this governed his decisions. Lord Justice Leveson intervened expressing concern that this was so given that the investigation was ongoing and that no charges had been brought. Mr Wallace expressed continuing regret about the approach taken by the Daily Mirror and said that it was a black mark on his career.

Tina Lorraine Weaver is the Editor of the Sunday Mirror with 20 years experience working for the Daily Mirror and the Sunday People; She has been in her present post since 2001. There are 68 full time editorial and seven part time staff with production journalists who only work on Saturday. The executive team covers news, features, pictures and the magazine.

Lorraine disclosed something which had been revealed over the previous week that since the ban on the use of private investigators imposed by most of nation newsprint the titles have used “search agents” This was explained later. She also disclosed having been invited to Chequers by Gordon Brown and having meetings and lunches with Tony Blair. She provided seven examples where decisions had been taken on matters covering private lives of public figures/subterfuge investigations (Rio Ferdinand; Lord Strahclyde(Conservative); David Cameron’s (Conservative Office re a luxury holiday in Turkey; Hammersmith Housing official Nazi Role playing on website bully boy bailiff tactics; surveillance cameras to show theft of clothes from charity drop off banks; CCTV footage published of Nathan Dyer stealing from handbags of two female night club employees.

She provided a second memorandum dealing with the Chris Atkins film Starsuckers in which he used subterfuge to get Mirror news desk journalist to say the paper would pay £3000 per story which covered the medical records of personalities. The editor said that they had noy been contacted by the film maker but by the Guardian that the story was being published. She justified the journalist agreeing to have a meeting as it was their role to establish the authenticity of information offers, and she said did not think it was inappropriate for the meeting to take place. She made the point that the decision to publish would have been hers so the journalist saying that they would be able to get away with re a personality even if there was no public interest. Any material obtained would not have got part the newsdesk editors. There was a clear attempt to put Mr Owens part in the conversation in the best light but she concluded that the journalist did not act wisely. There is no evidence the reporter asked for or commissioned the getting of a medical document. He was reprimanded but no other disciplinary action was taken.

Early on in her oral evidence she confirmed that she had written the story of the pregnancy of the wife of the Prime Minister on information she obtained from Piers Morgan, then Editor, who had purchased the story from Max Clifford. The Inquiry then quickly moved to the fact that she has been a member of the PCC since 2008. She wanted to see the Commission kept in its present form accepting that the composition needed to be changed and that they had a an effective regulation arms which she referred to as standards, greater teeth with perhaps financial penalties for publishers who consistently breach the code. She had never seen the issue of commercial rivalry affecting judgements. She went as far to regard the suggested arbitration function as having to be mandatory, that is, set up by Parliament within a legal framework to ensure that everyone used the system as a first step. Everyone has accepted that one cannot rule out someone still wanting to put their case to the courts but they would have to demonstrate why the PCC stage ruling should be set aside. Otherwise while the new system would apply to most people those with great wealth would still go to the courts with a view to bringing a particular title down ( which from my viewpoint would be no bad thing if a court felt the circumstances were of merit).

I now turn to what has become a feature of the Trinity Mirror Evidence, that although significant accusations have been made, the Group either corporately or the individual editors have not investigated allegations. In this instance the allegation by the BBC Newsnight team phone hacking was a regular event in the Sunday Times Newsroom, a claim made 23 July 2011. The allegations were anonymous in that individual journalists and particular stories are not mentioned. No complaint had been made to the BBC! The editor said she did not believe the allegations were true. However because there had been no internal investigation she could not categorically say that any specific allegation regarding an individual was not true. She had no knowledge or spoken with Piers Morgan regarding what he had said about listening to a recorded message of Sir Paul McCartney. She could not comment on the People which was regarded as a completely separate paper although part of the Trinity Mirror group.

She was then asked about Operation Motorman where there was reference to 143 transactions from 25 Journalists. She said she believed that they had not used Mr Whittamore for about two years before his arrest (She was not asked if she knew why he had then not been used but she accepted that without detailed investigation it was impossible to assert that all the information had been obtained within the law.

Her paper had followed the move of some other national titles to place their corrections/apologies page on Page 2 which as someone else commented appeared to becoming an industry standard which if accepted everyone would follow. Others had stated this was a good page because it was looked at by most readers for the weather forecast and the response from everyone else is that if this is agreed as the industry standard it would followed although some of these preferred the letters pages. There was agreement about having one standard page to avoid long negotiations about where in the paper the apology/correction should be set.

She explained she did not use kiss and tell but stories about a relationship in which there is legitimate public interest. She said this was a straight face. She also said “We do no advertise to reveal infidelities. We do ask people to come forward if they have stories we might like to publish.” She was away from the office when the paper published a small story about Mr Jefferies for which it was censured. She was reminded that the story was lengthier than she had remembered. She explained the complaint was about a small section of the story. She was questioned in detail about the Starsuckers disclosures but continued to maintain a different interpretation of what have been recorded was possible.

Mr Andrew William Penman writes the Penman abs Sommerland column in the Daily Mirror, this the highly regarded consumer investigations into wrong doing which has won prizes as well as being short listed for awards. He argued that prior notification would be a problem in his area of journalism given the ability of crooks to avoid discovery and identification.

He gave the example of land banking where there were three operators selling worthless parts of fields to investors claiming that the value would rocket when land gets planning permission for housing. He found that three directors of two of the companies had been put into compulsory liquidation in the High Court in the public interest in various part of the UK. They had personalised car number plates. There was a director of a fourth many that had ripped the public off £20 million. The liquidator’s figures after the sole director had done a bunk to Cyprus a neutral territory. Under prior notification he was able to write about the first three directors but he would not about the second who he did not know where he was.

One regular and major source of complaint is from readers who buy from web based businesses where they have not received the goods or cannot get a refund. While there is a contact us form there is no name address telephone but you send in your details but hear nothing, He believed there was a public interest right for him to undertake effective inquiries. Lord Justice Leveson said it was not the intention to stifle the media in disclosing acts of moral obloquy or criminality.

Lloyd William Emberly is the Editor of the Sunday People, a rival to the Sunday Mirror but owned by the same Group. He as appointed acting Editor in 2007 and Editor in 2008 having been deputy Editor for four and half years. His experience was in regional journalism before joining the Daily Mirror in 1994 holding various positions including that of night Editor. The People sells 800000 copies with a readership of 1.8 million and an average age of 52. Others have commented similarly but that the on line readership is younger.

He provided information on various successful campaigns and to the decision to become politically independent after its previous position as supporting the Labour Party and movement. He explained the decision to print a story about Coalition Cabinet Minister Chris Hulne and a relationship with one of his aides despite pressure from the Party that this was a private matter. He explained the Alfie Patten case in which a 13 year old was claimed to be the father of a child. The DNA test proved he was not the father.

There is reference to the children learning to Pole dance story where the faces of the children had been pixielated or blacked out. Paragraph 67 of his written submission has been removed from general distribution. He confirmed that the paper used recognised search agencies for birth, death and divorce records and such public available information.

He admitted that they had to apologise over the Charlotte Church story which had been based on a single source, a former Daly Mirror chief reporter. This was a mistake. It cost £100000 in damages. The Motorman disclosures where before his time and he had no knowledge of phone hacking

An important issue raised and which is one other editors are taking up is the protection provided if they keep records of ethical and legal problems as hey arise including and audit trail

The second statement referred to the Starsuckers programme and that a member of the staff of the People Sarah Jellema said the People would consider paying for medical record information. As with the Sunday Mirror the story was brought to the attention of the Editor by the Guardian. Mr Atkins had first spoken to Tom Carling on the Newsdesk who is recorded as saying that the paper was definitely interested in purchasing confidential medical records. For Mr Carling the written response is that the he had indicated an interest in these kind of stories, Mr Carling had not been disciplined for reason stated in the statement. The Editor said he had not been provided with a transcript of the conversations. Sarah Jellema has provided a witness (not disclosed) in which she is said to explain that she had pursued the inquiry because it could have led to exposing the individual prepared to disclose medical records for payment. He did agree that her comments about the PCC did not reflect the views of the newspaper as a whole. (She is reported to have said that the most that could happen is slap on the wrist and no fines). The Editor then explained that even if the matter had proceeded as suggested by the programme the news desk, deputy editor or himself would have sanction payments or approved publication.

Vincent Peter Moss Political Editor at the Sunday Mirror since 2006 has 16 years of experience working at the House of Commons and provide the Committee with examples where he had uncovered questionable behaviour/ practices by politicians of all parties including that of the present Culture Secretary when he held the position in opposition. (Wider issue of political involvements (Statement Read and not interviewed

Paul Andres Vickers is the Executive Director of the Group as Secretary and Legal Director and among the matters covered in his statement are Business ethics and anti bribery policies, data protection, fraud policy, Dignity at Work at Work and Equal Opportunities, Whistleblowers/Charter, Disciplinary policy and policies in relation to sources of information for stories. And this included use and payment of external sources. In the third part of the statement he made reference to the establishment of a new IT editorial system of content watch group in July 2011 and a review of editorial controls and procedures.

The review found that Trinity Mirror’s controls and procedures had developed since the post-Hutton review and that, in general, controls are robust. The review identified a number of areas in which controls could be strengthened and practices and procedures updated to reflect best practice in the current environment. The review made a number of recommendations for specific areas.

These include that editorial executives will be reminded that it is their responsibility to understand the provenance of material and to satisfy themselves that it has been appropriately obtained. This authority may need to be delegated where it is impractical for one person to have oversight, however, it will be made clear that story provenance is ultimately the responsibility of the Editor.

The Editor should take any issues over provenance (particularly the identity of sources) into account when making their judgement on whether to publish, ask pertinent questions, and seek legal advice if necessary. The review recommended editorial departments in all the Group’s National and Regional newspapers should implement best practice whereby an editor holds a weekly review of any legal issues with their team. A training plan should be developed to ensure all journalistic staff are fully aware of the need to verify sources and of the relevant legal, regulatory and compliance issues which may affect the approach to obtaining a story. In addition, a formal guidance note will be issued to all editorial staff setting out working practices when considering the public interest, in particular establishing a protocol for the Editor signing off in on a public interest defence. In respect of contract agencies and third parties, recommendations were made to ensure that Trinity Mirror’s requirements in respect of compliance with the PCC Code and the law are understood and adhered to.

The review’s recommendations were accepted and adopted by the Board on 28th September 2011 and now form Group policy. There are several ways of looking at this information. The first is that the previous situation was deficient and would not have changed but for the public and political interest which led to the setting up of the Inquiry. Another is that the senior management want to protect themselves in the future by insisting on a belt and braces standards and system so if individuals do not implement any part management can dismiss and claim the actions were of individuals and not the Group or its standards and systems.

2226 Great Expectations the ending

2012-01-18T20:10:00.000-08:00

And I come to recount the final part of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens in book form and the 1946 film and BBC 3 part series of 2012. Again as with the second part I must begin with something of a correction although this time I was more accurate than previously in stating that Herbert Pocket was overseas when Abel Magwitch descended upon the amazed and disappointed Pip. Technically Herbert was abroad but travelling back from his long absence, arriving some five days after Pip adjusted to reality of his position.

His visitor had been described to all those who attended to his rooms and as his uncle and on advising Jaggers of the development he immediately took his cue from Jaggers not to imply that that the contact was in person as it would have been the duty of the officer of the courts to report the arrival of someone who had been told they would be executed if returning to land of birth and the sentencing.

It was a few days later Abel told Pip how he had encountered Mr Campeyson. Abel admitted that he had lived as a tramp, begging, sometimes thieving and working when he could. Twenty years ago at the Epsom races he had encountered Campeyson a man who had been to a public school and had learning and dressed and lived as a gentleman but who also lived outside the law, forging, swindling and passing on stolen banknotes and such like. Campeyson lived with his wife and friend, also met at Epson who was dying. Abel and Campeyson formed an association but when they were apprehended and charged with a felon it appears that Campeyson made much of his background and lack of previous conviction, placing all responsibility on Abel where the judge and court were against him so he was convicted and sent away for life but the lead criminal escaped with a little sentence. Thus Abel had determined to escape to smash the man in the face and worse and thus he had been captured after being showed kindness by Pip and determined to repay that kindness.

Pip had set about visiting Estella to explain his new situation but also to declare his love but on reaching Richmond found she had returned to Miss Haversham on her own something she had not done before or indicated she would do again soon. He had made his way to the Inn on the excuse of keeping a promise to visit Joe and discovered the presence of Bentley Drummle who was scathing about the location saying he was bored and dismissing Pip’s suggestion that the country was similar to that of Shropshire, the man’s home county.

He then visited Miss Haversham who expressed surprise at his visit and who he reproached for misleading him by giving the impression she was his benefactor. Then as Estella reminded of her warnings in the past about the true nature of her mother by adoption and they way she been brought up she broke his heart by announcing it was her intention to marry Drummle with the blessing of her mother, despite Pip declaring that he had always loved her and always would.

He decided he could not face Drummle and made his way back to London arriving at midnight and arrival he received a note from a watchman at a Temple gateway who he knew well, in the hand of Wemmick the chief clerk of Jaggers, saying do not go home. He therefore went to lodgings in Covent Garden which he knew were open all hours and obtained a bed for the night. He had a troubled night after all the disappointments of the day with the words ring in his ears. At least he had managed to make a request to Miss Haversham, a closing of their account so to speak, to cover his expenditure owed on securing the position for his friend Herbert. She promised to give consideration.

At the first opportunity he made his way to Wemmick’s who was toasting sausages with his hot rolls and tea and said he had left a note with all the watchmen at the gates to the Temple area. Wemmick then provides lots of advice indirectly that is to say not return home, but to a place along the Thames that he could recommend. This was in fact the home of a woman who acted as a mother figure the girl friend of Herbert with whom Pip had established good relations and after helping Herbert gain position so he could marry the girl and set home on their own. The girl had no mother of her own or other kinsfolk. And here too they had secreted Abel under an assumed name. The plan was that he and Herbert who were already good watermen and enjoyed rowing on the Thames would continue to do so but this time with the purpose that when it was possible to join a ship making its way from the Thames to the continent they would take Abel to join it and get him thus safely out of country. It was at this point he returned to his lodging and set about acquiring a boat to put their plan into operation.

Weeks went by and he began to have problems with his finances having returned Abel’s pocket book of cash unopened because of the circumstances and uncertainty for the future. He made do by selling possessions while waiting to hear of ship from Wemmick. He avoided reading the papers for fear of seeing the announcement of the marriage between Estella and Drummle and he reacquainted himself with Mr Wopsle from his home area who he encountered before in London when the man acted in a performance of Hamlet. The contact was timely because Wopsle was able to tell Pip that he was being followed/watched... And then reminded Pip of the Christmas lunch all those years ago when Pip was still a boy and the soldiers had come and they gone out with them and come across the two convicts fighting in the ditch. It was one of them, and from further questions Pip established it was Campeyson.

Pip arrived back home after midnight and held Counsel with Herbert although there was nothing to be done until he reported the development to Wemmick.

There was then an event which commenced to complete the background picture and which was to achieve a most unexpected illumination for he encountered Jaggers who establishing that he had no plans for his evening meal invited him to his home where also Mr Wemmick would be participating. The meal provide opportunity for his closer study of the woman acting as the maidservant and he suddenly realised why he been so fascinated before because of the eyes and a look which he had come to know so well. Afterwards he questioned Wemmick about the circumstances of the woman that he had saved from the gallows and who he had previously described as a tamed wild beast. The charge had been that of murdering an older, larger and more powerful woman and Wemmick tells the story in such a way as to suggest the woman was guilty but by dressing her differently and in such a way as to disguise her strength she had been acquitted. There was also a child which had disappeared as was believed to have been murdered. There was also reference to both women having been associated with the same tramping men. The child was female.

Pip had also been given a note from Miss Haversham to visit, This was also to have various important consequences. He made his way but this time did not stay at the main Inn but selected another because of the association with Drummle and the information that he was being watched by the enemy of his benefactor. Miss Haversham was willing to make available to him a sum of £900 payable by Mr Jaggers to settle his debt in arranging employment for Herbert Pocket and this in effect settled his account with Miss Haversham, claiming nothing for himself.

Then there i an exchange in which Pip comes to ask whether Estella has married and in which Miss Haversham admits with great feeling the realization that of the impact of her approach to the raising of Estella had on the young woman and on their relationship. her approach has had the opposite effect to what had been. She had originally meant to save her from a similar misery to her own.

The opportunity was taken to question Miss Haversham about the parentage of the child but she said that after years of shutting herself away alone she had intimated her desire and Jaggers had brought her the child possible two or three years of age, who as asleep at the time and was said to be an orphan. Pip then left an fortunately before departing from the property he looked back and say the room in which he had been with Miss Haversham was on fire and he returned to rescue her, badly burning his hands but saving the life although the woman was very ill as a consequence.

It was while he also recovered from the experience under the care of Herbert Pocket and the friend had also obtained information from Abel which was to change his understanding of the situation for Magwitch had told Herbert a version of the same tale that Wemmick had stated thus revealing that Magwitch was the father of Estella although that she was alive and married and Pip not only had known her but loved her he remained unaware of this.

Recovered sufficiently he had visited Jaggers to present the authority for the payment of funds to settle the position of Herbert and had also given an account of the accident. Mr Jaggers appeared concerned that Pip had not gained financially from the visit. Pip took the opportunity to press Jaggers about the parentage of Estella pretending that the information gained from Wemmick had come from Miss Haversham as well as relayed by Herbert from Magwitch. Jaggers in his fashion as an experienced man of law speculated the reason why it had been best and remained best for none of the parties know the placement and what had subsequently happened. Pip was persuaded that there was no good to be gained from changing decisions made in the past now.

It then time to pursue the plan to leave England for the continent without worrying about the port of destination of the first ship available to them and which they could join from along the river rather than the official point of embarkation. It was shortly after the arrangements were made that he received a letter requesting him to return to his the area of his childhood for information concerning his uncle under the name that Magwitch had been using.

This led him to meet old Orlick again who disclosed his knowledge of the plan and the events leading to the proposed flight and his resentment of Pip since the boy’s childhood, including getting the man the sack from his position with Miss Haversham. Orlick planned to end the life of Pip revealing that he had been responsible for the injuries to the sister. It was therefore fortunate that with the help of a local contact of Pip, Herbert and another friend from his arrival in London had decided that Pip should not venture alone and had kept their distance. Pip had lost consciousness while Orlick struggles with some men who only when he recovered did Pip appreciate they were his friends. Orlick had gone off and although Herbert had wanted the magistrate Pip made the priority Magwitch who he realised was under even great threat than had was previously appreciated.

The novel is more successful that in either films in conveying the tension experienced by Pip as they got Abel to their rowing boat and proceeded down the Thames to the point when they would meet the vessel that had agreed to pick them up, In the 1946 film there is reference to reaching a point when the authority of the London warrant/ court decision had no effect while the BBC this year added the plan that Magwitch would be dressed as pilot and board the vessel at the point where such a move was usually made.

The climax comes when as their ship is sighted and they make way another craft approaches and demands the giving up of Abel; The man making the demand is none other than Campeyson his long standing enemy. Then two adversaries get into a fight in which Campeyson dies and Magwitch is captured. Pip and his associates return to the land. It has also been revealed that Campeyson was he man who cheated and ruined the life of Miss Haversham, and consequentially that of Esteela.

This is an important moment for Pip because on one hand he assesses the care and concern which Abel Magwitch had shown to him over many years because of a brief encounter and some kindness and on the other he evaluates his own behaviour over recent years towards Joe.

There followed the process by which evidence against Magwitch was presented and he committed to the assizes and consideration given by his friend to the future of Pip including offer of employment and a home with Herbert. Pip says he needs two to three months to decide on his future. He finds himself unexpectedly acting as best man Mr Wemmick when he says he is taking his first holiday for 12 years and insists they take a walk in London that morning.

As in the 1946 film Abel is condemned to death with thirty one others, the trial not having been postponed for a session despite the knowledge that because of injuries Abel was unlikely to live until then and was being kept in the prison infirmary. Pip was able to visit him daily and attempt to bring comfort. It is as the life draws to its end that Pip decides to reveal to his benefactor that his child had lived and become a beautiful young woman, who Pip loved and always would, omitting the unhappy aspects of the position.

Following the death Pip struggles to settle his affairs and then became ill with fever at the point it was about to be arrested for debt. He breaks from the fever to find that he is being cared by Joe and this fills him again with guilt at his treatment of the man over recent years. As his health improves he learns that Joe is to marry Biddy who has become the village school mistress and taught Joe to read and write and that it was she that had insisted Joe took care of Pip as soon as they heard he was so ill and among strangers. He was able to give an account that Miss Haversham had been given varying sums of money to individuals of their acquaintance and that Orlick was in the County Jail after breaking in to the premises of Pip’s real uncle. Pip in turns tells Joe about his benefactor not being Miss Haversham, as he grows in strength and is able to go out of the home. Pip then discovers that it is Joe who settled the debt for which he had been arrested.

Discovering this after Joe had departed he decided to return to the forge first staying at the Blue Boar only to find that being an individual without expectation he was assigned to inferior accommodation. He then discovered that the former home of Miss Haversham and Estella was up for auction for its building materials and demolition. Returning to the coffee shop of the Inn he encounters his uncle who is disturbed at his appearance and circumstances.

Pip then encounters Joe and Biddy as they are married. There is a postscript more than epilogue that Joe accepted the offer of employment with Herbert and accordingly settled all his debt being given due time to discharge them, He resided with Herbert and his wife and several years went by before he also became a partner in the firm as he had purchased for Herbert in secret.

Eleven years were to pass before he visited Joe and Biddy and found they had a boy who they had named Pip. He had then visited with the home of Miss Haversham and Estella had been because this had long since been knocked down and cleared with only the outer walls and fencing remaining. It is here he is said to encounter Estella who like him claims this is the first she has returned since the decades have passed. They agree to be friends but at a distance. It is left to the reader to decide if the chance meeting is real or one of the imagination.

The ending is different from that in the films where they meet and embrace. Estella husband has died in a riding accident in the BBC rendering and she praises the horse for giving her the freedom. It is understandable that in both productions as one of two hours and the other of three, incidents are telescoped such as the number of visits made to see Miss Haversham after Pip becomes an adult and some characters and events are not included. There have been occasion when I have considered that a film is true to a fictional work and even enhanced the original text. In this instance both films do more that provide the essence of the story and portrayal of the period, and some parts are a vivid re-enactment, but in this instance there is much reward in reading the book as it was written one hundred and fifty years ago. That I suggest is a unique achievement for a writer and not an isolated example in relation to his body of work.

2225 Leveson 13 The Gold Standard

2012-01-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

It is inevitable that in reporting on the day to day happening at the Leveson Inquiry the national media of which I include myself as an infinitesimal part should focus on those contributions which go to the core of why the Inquiry was set up, the victims, the major events in which they became unwilling players on the media stage and those who created the events or have become notorious for their attitude to exposure and revelations of what others seek or believe should be private and confidential. In this my thirteenth report I am concentrating on what the Inquiry may conclude is the Gold Standard approach, that of the Financial Times

The following Executives of the Financial Times submitted statements and documentation to the Inquiry associated with the written and oral testimony of the Editor which took place on the morning Tuesday of January 2012.

Alison Fortescue Financial Times Company Secretary had her statement of 15.09.2011 taken as read and attested that the documents requested by the Inquiry were provided attached to statements of Tim Bratton General Counsel to the Financial Times, and Les MacLleod Managing Editor.

Tim Bratton the General Legal Counsel stated that he advised colleagues in relation to leaked documents and related confidentiality issues and on the recording by editorial staff of their conversation by telephone but not any of the matters regarding legality of information obtained by other methods, He controls a budget which also covers the training of staff and himself on all aspects of the legal affairs of the company. He and his team have not been asked to advise on the legality of making any payments. In July of 2011 all staff was provided with an email on the issue of FT Gifts Corporate Hospitality, Freelancing and Anti Bribery policy. Since his first appointment in 2000 he has not been engaged in any enquiries re illegal or questionable practices because his company has not had cause to do so. He responded at length to the issue of corporate Governance. It has not proved necessary to ask a member of the editorial staff to disclose the source of information used in an article.

He defined ethics as decency and honesty and within the law and he emphasised their importance in terms of the guiding principle of the FT “Without fear or favour.” While everyone including the legal team is subjected to commercial pressures these have never affected how the team functions and the remuneration of the team is unrelated to the performance of the paper within the market on a month by month or other basis for measuring circulation or success. He had never been asked to advise on payments to private investigators, police, public officials or mobile phone companies because the Financial Times does not pay such sources for information. He provided a summary of the documents attached to his statement of 15 09 2011.

Mr Scot Henderson the Chief Financial and Operating Officer also provided a written statement The financial practices at the paper reflect compliance with applicable laws, accounting standards, best practice and checks and balances. He explained that the FT was governed by the standards and procedures of the parent company (Pearsons). After describing procedures for control of expenses and payments to suppliers he records that 20 individuals within the Editorial staff (of some 600) are authorised to approve expenses and 22 individuals with the FT Company are able to approve payments to suppliers. There are internal monthly and quarterly checking and monitoring systems as well as the annual external review. 15.09.2011
Lisa MacLoad is the Managing Editor of the Financial Times since 2010 and has been with the company since 2003. The Paper maintains a register which include any investments held by employees or that they do not hold any investments. An electronic version of the register was created in 2004.

Because of the resignation of a member of staff for an alleged breach of their code of conduct employed by Thomson Reuters there was a review of practice at the FT and in October 10 an email on the subject was sent to all staff and attached. 75% of staff had completed the requested compliance form. The remaining percentage has been reminded of the request. All new starters will be approached on an annual basis. A substantial number of documents were listed and attached. (The figure was updated to 99.9% of editorial staff at the Inquiry)

John Riding responded as the Chief Executive Officer since 2006 having been with the company for 24 years. In his statement he made the point that although the company has a zero tolerance towards bribery they reviewed policy and practice to ensure they were in compliance with the latest Act(2010) He was subject to appropriate pressure to meet financial targets and budget as any other business leader but he had never been under pressure to bend or break rules and he commented that the Editorial department has full independence to publish stories and was only subject to the standards and practices adopted by the company.

Lionel Barber the Editor of the Financial Times has worked for the company for 26 years including 16 years as Foreign Correspondent in Brussels and Washington. He remains a member of the Board of the New York based Internal Centre for Journalism promoting quality journalism world wide.
In the written statement Mr Barber provided information on the limited circumstances when the FT did report private behaviour issues directly relating to the position held by the individual and the related matters which had become newsworthy. This issue was taken up by Ms Patsy Hoskins with Mr Barber when he gave oral evidence in the morning of January 10th. He mentioned the story that the Chief Executive of Lloyds Banking Group had developed a stress problem which required medical attention and had to step back from his role. They established two confirmation sources and published because of the significance to shareholders. They regarded the reference of his personal health problem as legitimate in the particular circumstances.

In the written statement he explained the importance which the FT gave to all stories having a minimum of two sources. While responsibility first rests with the individual journalist the news editors and their deputies are responsible for asking appropriate questions and ensuring appropriate checks have been made. This issue was followed up at length in the oral questions and Lord Leveson also intervened. Mr Barber made the point that what they said could affect markets in terms of individual companies and the national economy. It was essential that those reading the paper correctly assumed every story was accurate and published in its proper context.

He mentioned a situation where he received reliable information that Shell was going to revise its policy on oil reserves. He had known the sources for ten years but they could not find another source so they did not publish. Shell confirmed the position the following day. He would rather be right than first. While the FT did publish exclusives from time to time he considered they were over valued in the age of 24 hours TV News and the Internet. When the FT published an exclusive they were not proactive in making this aspect newsworthy or as a promotional vehicle.
There was some confusion over the term prior publication notification. Mr Barber first explained that the did not advise in advance of their interest, and his reasons included the problem of affecting share price and attempted story manipulation but when they were ready to publish they always informed the party of their intentions and provide the opportunity for comment. That comment could alter the timing of publication or indeed the substance so it was essential to do this before publication. But the story had been cooked so to speak and was ready for publication.

He preferred to talk in terms of standards rather than ethics. When a reporter wanted to go undercover they would have to first discuss the proposal with their editor, He touched on a possible example of journalist who did not enter Burma as a journalist because of the attitude of the authorities but had made is position and purpose clear to those with whom he communicated once inside the country.

In dismissing all illegal and questionable practices he made the point that it was part and parcel for journalists to
entertain their sources over lunch, dinner or a drink or taken them to an event for the purpose of developing a relationship. He said that some sources might request expenses such as the cost of a travel ticket although this happened infrequently. They might use sources such as Kroll and Control Risks but these are not paid for information.

As Tim Bratton stated the FT did use a reputable Investigation firm when defending a libel claim several years previously. The claim was settled and the information from the investigators became a non issue. This was the only kind of situation when the use of a paid private investigator would be considered.

Counsel for the Inquiry raised his criticism of the Daily Telegraph action to get Vince Cable to disclose his view of the Murdoch bid to own 100% of BskyB. The comments were made in a Hugh Cudlip lecture. He had praised the Telegraph for its exposures of the Members of Parliament misuse of expenses. He confirmed that he felt the Vince Cable story was an example of entrapment journalism and wrong. He put his words in context but maintained his viewpoint and as an illustration that the FT did not engage in misrepresentation. He quoted from Harold Evans that “Deception may ultimately be justified in the most exceptional of circumstances. The reason is that it can be deeply corrosive not just to the newspaper’s bond with its readers but also with the body politic.”

The paper also touched on the relationship with politicians and Mr Barber commented that it was interesting that a number of leading politicians had worked in the media business or were connected to it with David Cameron having worked in a TV company and Jeremy Hunt running a publishing business. Ed Balls had been an editorial writer for the FT. There had been too close a relationship developed in the Blair Brown years between government and sections of the press, notably the Murdoch Empire. There was some excellent marketing by Kelvin McKenzie who agued that the Sun had won the 1992 election for the Conservatives. But why would a Prime Minster with a 179 Majority care so much about the popular press? It was extraordinary how much time Tony Blair spent in the company of Piers Morgan.

In response to a question from Lord Leveson Mr Barber explained that over the past three decades it had become the practice for the Prime Minister to employ someone close to them on a day to day basis who understood the tabloid press and who fed the med stories 24/7. These people almost assumed the role of policy makers. He suggested this was a little bit dangerous. Why was this necessary with such a huge majority after the first and second Blair won General elections?

On the issue of Press regulation he was asked if online blogger could be regulated, Mr Barber said no and he would not seek to regulate the Internet. There are questions of a two tier media market. If individuals broke the law, libel someone or engaged in a contempt of court they could be brought to the law, could be brought before the courts.

Mr Barber suggested that the inquiry should not restrict itself to just the print media but consider the press as part of news reporting in general and its ecosystem (This is a point where I am in complete agreement as I do not understand why a distinction has been made between the position of the print media and that of the news media in general). Where the News Media the Internet then this aspect should also be regulated. He did not expect individual blogger to join in such regulation but those drawing on mainstream media content should be encouraged to be part of a quality system of independent regulation in this country,

He then made reference to what happened with the situation reading Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII. The British media could not print a word because of an agreement with Buckingham Palace but the story was fully reported in the New York Times and other overseas publications. Lord Leveson said that the difference between factual reporting and making comments. Mr Barber said that in the USA where he had experience the journalists who also provide Blogs believe they can say what they like and that mistakes will be corrected by their peers using the same media. They do not feel required to publish to the same level of crafted journalism as the FT or tabloids considered necessary for the printed paper.

There was then a discussion about the PCC and future regulation which I will cover separately expect to make the point of the Lord Leveson intervention that the press media had been placed in the last chance saloon 20 years ago, and therefore account had to be taken that lesson of the past had not been learned and this in turn must govern how the situation can be dealt with for the future. Given the number of intervention and the length of the discussion about any new framework, that everyone should participate and the need for a framework to cover such issues such as a financial arbitration system within the new framework it was evident Lord Leveson believe the contribution from the FT had weight. This is not imply more weight than from other contributors although I might have independently concluded that Mr Barber was a voice to be respected and listened to compared to some of the other contributors who have held or continue to hold such positions.

2224 Factual Fiction about special forces in World War II

2012-01-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

It is Sunday January 15th 2012 and I have had a quiet but enjoyable day where I had enjoyed food, watch sport and undertaken some writing. I purchased some mushrooms and tomatoes last evening and used my new microwave dish holder to great effect. For lunch I had defrost a good piece of steak together with some fresh vegetables boiled. I used the microwave and dish holder again for a portion of apple (one) and custard. In the evening I used a giant pizza stone for a modest meat pizza bought yesterday frozen for £1.

Yesterday Sunderland lost by one goal at Chelsea where visiting supporters were required pay £45 or £50 for their seats. A 50000 crowd at St James Park saw the team win 1.0 in a workmanlike performance for the new arrivals from the Championship now struggling and replacing the manager who gained the team promotion, Neil Warnock, with former Manchester United forward, Mark Hughes. Newcastle is facing up to two months without their star forward and midfield players on duty in the African Cup. There was rumour in the week that Any Carroll was to return to Newcastle a year after he was sold to Liverpool for £35 million, a rumour which was denied by both clubs. The team climbed to sixth position with the win, equal point with Arsenal in 5th who then were away to Swansea another of the teams who gained promotion to the Premiership at the end of the last season. Swansea have a good record at home and have gained supporters for attempting to play attractive attacking football. They excited their home supported and neutral viewers by another outstanding performance in which they equalised after Arsenal score within minutes of the game commencing. They went to a 2.1 lead and then has the second half progressed Arsenal brought the score to 2.2 but Swansea made no attempt to settle and within what seemed a matter of seconds they had taken the lead again 3.2, a lead which the held thus creating a situation that only a minus 2 goal difference separate Newcastle from the 5th position. Swansea also consolidated their position away from the relegation contenders.

A brief TV blip interrupted the Antiques Road show which I shall attempt to view the i Player recording when available. I enjoyed Dancing on Ice where Chico the comic singer from a previous X factor amazed the audience and the critics, and most of all himself by his first performance gaining the highest marks of the sixteen performers spread over the two weeks,

Yesterday I watched what I thought was a standard training and war special force film which it is, but was intrigued to discover that the training and subsequent action was close to what happened in reality.

The Devil’s Brigade, The Black Devil’s Brigade or Freddie’s Frieghters are names given to the famous Second World War special forces American Canadian Commando Unit created in 1942 in a mountain area of Montana, originally with the intention of participating in an expedition to Norway. The Unit only functioned for two years seeing service in the Aleutian Islands, Italy and Southern France.

The idea for such a small unit to work behind enemy lines originated in the UK and was approved my Lord Mountbatten, The project was then offered to the USA at the Chequers Conference in March 1942.

The commanding officer responsible for establishing the unit had a raft of objections doubting its effectiveness and predicting high casualties but because it had been agreed with the British High Command the project went ahead. The first officer appointed to lead the unit argued with the Mountbatten and Eisenhower and was removed.

In July 1942 it was decided that given the shortage of Norwegians available half the proposed force of 1800 should be Canadians with some 700 officers and men recruited to form a parachute regiment. Technically the Canadian Unit was unofficial and part of the US Army although they were paid for by the Canadian government. They were well trained professional soldier. The USA involvement was through volunteers such as former lumberjacks, rangers, game wardens, prospectors, hunters and explorers and tended to be individualists who found it difficult to adjust to traditional military discipline.

The first structure comprised three regiments each led by a colonel, thirty two officers and 385 men. Each regiment was divided into two battalions, each with three companies and three platoons and each platoon had two sections.

It is with the bringing together of a ragbag of individualists and commencing their training that the 1968 film The Devil’s Brigade commences. The film plays up the separate Canadian and USA mixture and the rivalry that initially developed and the challenge of integrating professional soldiers with the oddball volunteers.

The film emphasises the hard physical endurance training with a route march of 30 miles with each man carrying a pack filled with fifty pounds of rocks. In fact six days a week they would rise at 4.30 and breakfast at 6.30. The obstacle course would be tackled four days a week at 8.00 am followed by full day’s training. They tackled route marches on a 60 mille 97 K course completed in 20 hours. They were trained in unarmed combat by a specialist who is also part of the film introduced in a dramatic way although in fact the men sustained many injuries some serious because of training with knives and bayonets. They were also taught to ski, not shown in the film and they were allocated several new weapons not generally available and designed for winter alpine conditions. The plan was for the force to become operational after the Christmas holiday at the end of the year.

In the film not only is the mission cancelled when the British are alleged to have decided to go ahead themselves but the unit was to disband. My understanding is that the Norway project did not go ahead. The Commanding Officer goes to Washington on Christmas Eve to plead the cause and is able to persuade that they should be used.

In reality after an aborted action in the sense that the enemy had vacated the Islands to be reclaimed, the force was sent to Italy via Casablanca arriving in Naples in 1943. In the film before the unit is fully deployed they are tested with a project to capture enemy soldiers for intelligence gathering. They capture a fortified town with the minimum of casualties which impresses the doubters about the value of this kind of unit and methods. Where the film and reality merge is in the main action which brought them lasting fame. The allies had been held up on their progress to Rome by the German command of a mountain area which they controlled through artillery emplacements and substantial forces. The allies had attempted to dislodge by frontal assault after shelling. The plan was devised to scale a sheer rock face with some overhangs within a matter of hours from the side and come upon the Germans from above while were preoccupied with the shelling from the allies anticipate more of what had happened previously.

Although the mission was successful the participating regiment suffered substantial casualties with 91 dead plus 9 missing with 313 wounded and over 100 exhausted. The film ends at this morning mentioning that the unit continued with high casualties.

The Brigade was then given an important role at Anzio penetrating behind enemy lines on reconnaissance and disruptions, A German communiqué was subsequently found which described the American Canadian force as treacherous, unmerciful and clever and that the first soldier or group capturing one of these men would be given a ten day holiday. They acquired the title- the Devils Brigade because at night the soldiers blacked their faces with boot polish. Thy carried stickers in German which read The Worst is yet to Come.

They also served in Southern France. The 1800 force were responsible for the death of 12000 German troops and captured at total of 7000 men. The members of the force were then placed in other standard combat units for the remainder of the war. Survivors have continued to meet once a year at their original training base in Montana.

William Holden and Cliff Robertson performed in the 1968 film and there have been a number of documentaries and mini series about the Brigade.

2223 Expectation disappointment and a proposed end to an unfished Dickens novel

2012-01-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

In the second part of the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Pip sets off to London with some apprehension but also enthusiastic for his new life in the belief that it is part of the plan of Miss Haversham to one day enable him to marry her adopted daughter Estella. The second part covers the years to his 21st birthday and then to when in his twenty third year his actual benefactor declares himself.

I have been given further reflection to the character of Pip an ordinary working class young man who espouses middle class pretensions through the misguided and untreatable rather than Machiavellian actions of Miss Haversham who herself is the victim of cruel confidence trick in which she had given money to a rogue who had proposed marriage and then left her alone with her guest and the weeding breakfast arranged.

Both the 1946 film and the 2012 BBC TV adaptation in three episodes corresponding to the divisions in the book are loyal to the text sometimes in detail, sometimes with dramatic licence but always in the spirit of the book. Both the film and series fail to give appropriate recognition to the role of Biddy and the development of her relationship with Joe as well as the influence she exerted on the development of Pip prior to his departure to London. The 1946 film excludes a number of characters while the recent series alters their role and involvements to varying degrees.

The visit of Joe to London, his older brother in role rather than father substitute, is covered and Pips realization that he has little in common with Joe and would have preferred not to be reminded of his past until realizing that the purpose is to advise that he is summoned to Miss Haversham as Estella has returned from Paris. Instead of staying at his former home he takes a room at the hotel in the closest town used by the gentry.
When Miss Haversham tells Pip to love Estella he believes that his dream is to become true and has no idea that her intention is for her adopted daughter to break his heart and that of as many as she can encourage to fall in love with her. She is to be Miss Haversham’s weapon in the world.

Pip also returns home after he is informed that his sister has died and he reacts angrily when Biddy criticises him for failing to keep in touch. Joe in his gentle manner, played brilliantly by Bernard Miles in the 1946 film mentions as if in passing that he and Biddy talk of Pip and what is happening to him every evening when sitting in the kitchen after their meal. Joe understands that Pip now lives in a different world; he has no expectation but hopes

There is great excitement when Estella writes to say she is coming to live in London and that Miss Haversham has decreed that Pip should meet her off the coach and then escort her to Richmond where she is live and participate in London society with a view to becoming engaged and married. Pip cannot wait for the arrival and spends the greater part of the day exploring the area around the coach station. They take tea before he escorts her to Richmond with Estella insisting that she pays for the coach after this is required by Miss Haversham. It takes time for Estella to begin to challenge the control of her adopted parent.

Pip also accompanies Estella on one visit to Miss Haversham when Estella has been summoned back as the frustrated and angry parent has found that behaviour of her daughter towards her does not meet her expectations. The daughter explains that she has been brought up to have a cold and cruel heart and this she applies to everyone, without exception including her mother. What else should her mother expect? Happiness? A sense of justice? Vindication? Estella also warns Pip.

Previously I incorrectly suggested that because Pip was told he was to share accommodation with one Herbert Pocket this meant he knew in advance that this was the same individual who when a boy they had fought at the home of Miss Haversham. The text confirms that it is only on their meeting again at the rooms that Pip appreciated who Mr Pocket is. Mr Pocket had been to the market for fruit and was out when Pip arrives at the accommodation

This accommodation is close to the office of Jaggers who hires the furniture which Pip subsequently says he wishes to buy and also expand.

Pip then spend much time at the family home of the Pockets of Hammersmith, in part because it is on the way to Richmond further along the Thames where Estella is lodged. It here he makes the acquaintance with Mr Drummle and another young man lodging with the Pockets and their many children. In the recent series he encounters Drummle at a gentleman’s club. In the films he learns to dance, to fence and box and other gentleman pursuits but not to ride which was still considered an essential accomplishment for a gentleman of the period. In the book there is reference to being educated as gentleman but no detailed description of activities.

Drummle does not come across as the important aristo in the book as he does in the recent series although he is a mirror for Pip to see the difference between the gentleman from birth and the nouveaux arrivé. In the series Herbert explains his present being disinherited because of his relationship with a young woman disapproved by his family. My understand from the book is that he just has no means and is therefore concerned without a job how he will be able to marry and provide home and future for his wife and any family. Pip does use his resources to help Herbert get a position. Herbert does also leave to work abroad but this is before and not after the arrival back in England of Magwitch.

There is also some accuracy in the recent series and the film regarding their finances. I did not find reference in the text to Pip being allowed £250 a year until reaching majority where there is reference to the sum being increased to £500 and drawn quarterly. Jaggers does use the occasion of the majority to warn Pip about living well beyond his means and in the book Pip and Herbert have already undertaken an exercise of working out the extent of their unpaid bills with Herbert owing over £150 rounded to £200 and he more than three times as great which is also rounded up for the purpose of continuing to amass debt and to raise the margins if necessary. This he continues because of his need to keep up with the life now led by Estella who has become the interest of Drummle.

When I went to work as a clerk in central London in 1957 nearly one hundred years later my initial income was £260 a year and three years later as a result of passing a clerical division examination and other improvements my income had reached £500. Therefore the allowance given Pip was indeed a handsome one

However Pips life is shattered with the arrival of Magwitch to his rooms and the former convict is his benefactor. While to the first time watcher of film or recent series without prior knowledge of the story this may have come as a surprise, it is not so in the text in the sense that Dickens prepares his reader. There are references to convicts on their way to transportation. Pip while waiting for Estella to arrive in London encounters the chief clerk of Jaggers and undertakes a visit to Newgate where he learns of the high position his guardian holds among the prison staff and the high reputation in which the clients hold him. He has already viewed the death masks kept in the office of the firm and the Chief Clerk has told Pip to look out for the housekeeper. Jaggers against the repeated wishes of the housekeeper insists that she displays her wrists to Pip and other dinner guest on one occasion to make the point that the woman wrist stronger than any male. Who this woman is and what other links and relationships remain to be disclosed in the third part.

The BBC has also created a two part two hour film on the Mystery of Edwin Drood. This is the dark and unfinished novel by Charles Dickens which has led to much speculation and attempts to provide an ending which would be in keeping with the other works of Dickens. The BBC film keeps the main points of the text story in tact but havening determined the outcome introduces new elements into the first part of the story. .

The film begins with the cathedral choirmaster late for service. We are introduced to John Jasper who from the outset is wracked by an opium/laudanum induced dream that he has murdered his nephew Edwin Drood. Jasper apologises to the unmarried vicar Mr Crisparkle kindly Vicar who is cared for by his mother. Mr Crisparkle is sponsoring the arrival of Neville and Helena Landless twins and perhaps from Ceylon. While the book is unclear about their ethnic origin the BBC has them as indigenous which adds a contemporary aspect to an important part of the story.

The twenty year old Edwin Drood is a young man who consults his guardian over a long standing engagement arranged by their respective families with Rosa Bud aged 17 years . She resides in a residential establishment for young ladies in the city arranged by her guardian played by the great Alun Armstrong who also played a lawyer in the recent other BBC series about Victorian England Garrows Law.

When Edwin visits Rosa she is cold towards him and soon she is consulting her lawyer guardian that if she chooses not to marry it will affect her inheritance. She is reassured that her father would have only wanted her happiness and that if does not continue with the engagement she will still inherit when she is twenty one less says married beforehand when the inheritance becomes her dowry

When the Landless twins arrive in the city for their education, the Rev Crisparkle and his mother find communication hard going so they have the idea of inviting Rosa and Edwin to a social evening at which Rosa sings while Jasper plays he piano. When Edwin appears to press Rosa about a matter Neville intervenes and the two young men get off on the wrong foot. This is something which Jasper exploits using it to blacken the character of the new arrival. When his sister shares a room with Rosa at the residential education establishment she suggests that Jasper is in love with her and the talk about the nature of love While Rosa has doubts about the depth of her affect for Edwin she is horrified by the interest of Jasper. She tells Helena that she cannot stand the man who is her music teacher. Both newcomers appear more intelligent and thoughtful than their years and all those immediately around them with perhaps the exception being the lawyer.

As he reaches his 21st birthday, Rosa’s guardian gives him her mother’s ting which is for Rosa but only if he is certain she is for him, otherwise he must return the ring. When he is about to give the ring to Rosa she admits that she regards him as a brother rather than a lover and he willing accept the situation and the two become closer and more relaxed through their agreement. Jasper observers at a distance and misunderstands the situation.

It is time to introduce two further characters. Durdles (Stony) is a stonemason handyman at the Cathedral and her shares his lunch with a young scamp who appears to be a street kid living by his wits. He throws objects at Durdles and at anyone he catches and in one instance in the Cathedral grounds Jasper and the boy clash Jasper taking the boy by the throat.

Jasper persuades Durdles to show him around crypt of the Cathedral where there are a number of family tombs each gates with separate keys. Jasper has bribed Durdles to make the tour at night with drink and which appears to be spiked as soon after taking a couple of wigs Durdles passes out and Jasper takes one of the keys to explore one of the tomb areas. Durdles has said that while he had not encountered a ghost he has heard a great cry.

It is at this point that the BBC production takes on a life of its own. The young Edwin Drood disappears and Jasper claims the culprit must be the newcomer. The newcomer is question but with no body he is released into the care of the Rev Crisparkle. Jasper begins to pursue Rosa who makes it plain she is not interested but her rejection is ignored.

When the lawyer advises Jasper that the relationship between the young couple ended amicably he becomes distressed. A young lawyer/investigator arrives on the scene puzzled by the fact that although Drood’s father was supposed to have died in Egypt nine years before his pension has continued to be paid and he becomes to the city and questions the Mayor. Eventually the focus of attention centres on the crypt and the Rev Crisparkle and others accompany Durdle as they open the tomb of the wife of the Major where the missing key is till in its lock. The body is that of the former Mayoress. It is then that the young boy draws attention to another key, a smaller one which has been found among the possessions of Jasper. This leads to the Drood family vault and where the body inside appear to have only to have been there for no more than a year and not the nine that are recorded. It is then that the young Edwin Drood reappears have been out of the city after the break up of his engagement and has not heard of the claims that he is missing presumed murdered. So the mystery deepens.

We learn that Jasper is not Edwin’s uncle but his older half brother and that he was rejected by his father throughout his life. For a reason not explained their father had chosen to remain out of the country giving the family the official impression that he had died abroad. He has now returned to see his young son reach maturity and marry his childhood betrothed. Encountering Jasper in the Cathedral he rejects his son and Jasper in rage kills his father in the same way he subsequently has dreams killing his younger brother. He has been haunted by his action since. He commits suicide by falling from a position high up in the cathedral to its floor. The film ends with Neville going off on an expedition abroad,, I am not sure if Edwin accompanies him but the two have become friends. Helena has developed an understanding with the Rev Crisparkle much to the delight of his mother and Rosa. It will be interesting to learn how the Dickensian fans greet this latest of several attempts to finish the novel.

2222 Leveson 12 In absentia Dacre

2012-01-14T15:25:00.000-08:00

On this this third weekend of the New Year 2012 I set myself a task which would have taken several days and then would have been far from complete at the level which I would normally require of myself. The task was cover every witness at the Leveson Inquiry on the first four days since the Christmas and New Year recess, and this included all those who submitted statements but were not called to given oral evidence because the Inquiry team considered that had nothing to add through questioning. This is not to imply that the evidence was of less significance in terms of the criteria.

However wanting to attend to other matters it was not until mid afternoon Saturday that I got underway and it quickly became apparent that it would take me weeks to cover the evidence of the four days so I can only do what I have done to-date and cover aspects which interested me as important.

There was one crucial absence that of the already legendary “Fleet Street” character and power man, Paul Dacre the editor of the Daily Mail and which I shall henceforth refer to as the Daily Malice following the malicious ascribing by a business rival, also a proprietor. Much of the rest of the evidence submitted by the Daily Mail company team focussed on the use of Mendacious to describe the testimony of Hugh Grant on the first day of the inquiry and which Lord Leveson defined as an accusation of deliberate lying to the Inquiry and which as Mr Sherborne, representing the victims, underlined, the Company has so far failed to provide any evidence to substantiate, and in one respect has failed to provide any direct evidence using the house lawyer to relay second and third hand evidence for which the Counsel for the Inquiry took responsibility arguing unconvincingly that he wished to save the inquiry time.

I have previously described the Counsel as slippery and on this occasion it is fair comment to say that he was therefore was responsible for sending the defence case sliding towards a precipice of no return. Mr Dacre was said to be away to be away for the month and will appear on February 6th. It will be interesting to learn when his absence was planned and if he the proposed direct witnesses are ale to retrieve the position.

Lord Leveson opened the first session on January 9th reminding the representatives of the various newspapers that he continued to be focussed on receiving their views on a number of key issues,

The first is the subject of anonymous evidence which the Lord Justice revealed has been challenged and was the subject of a hearing in the High Court on Friday. The challenge was made by the Daily Mail group (surprise surprise) and supported by the Daily Telegraph.

The inquiry has wanted to hear from journalists, particularly current journalists, about the existence of illegal or inappropriate practices in order to place what happened at the News of the World in perspective and to establish if the practices had been as widespread as some have suggested arising from informal conversations within the business and profession of journalism. About twenty journalists have submitted written evidence on this basis and are due to be heard on from January 25th. Those making the application argue that anonymous testimony even if individuals and their papers are identified will damage the reputation and businesses of everyone involved. For the Inquiry it was pointed out that the Inquiry has already heard from one witness on similar lines to that proposed for the journalists and no one complained at the time. A ruling on the High Court application is expected before this date. I suggest that the papers and their circulation will be damaged, but that this is not an argument for preventing the witnesses from being heard.
The second issue is whether there is a difference or should be a difference between the ethical standards and newsdesk culture between types of publication, broadsheet and the tabloid and red top, broadsheet, tabloid, red top and magazines. There is also the dimension of the online news and gossip reporting by those professionally engaged and the amateur blogger and social media contributor. My comment is that there is no justification for having a different system or standards although the culture, function and business models are evidently different.

The third issue involves protection and safeguards for journalists exercising moral choices which I suggest should be no different from any other professional or worker.

The fourth is the question of oversight and governance along with the test of public benefit; the evidence to date is that their has been limited and ineffective oversight and governance and I disagree with Lord Leveson I see no problem about licensing and a statutory framework which should include penalties up the withdrawal of licence for serious persistent breaches as well as a professional standards structure with the power to disbar individuals from paid employment in the profession.

The fifth is pre publication notification together with some arbitration system which would be significantly cheaper that the current situation to resolve issues of privacy and libel. While prepublication should be the standard with perhaps an independent arbitrator to determine exceptional circumstances I remain in favour of a two level system which will enable ordinary complainants about privacy and libel to see redress as well as enabling other to use the full force of the civil law and seek punitive damages in appropriate instances.

How to ensure everyone participates in any new system and whether the issue of state regulation/involvement and self regulation is a binary choice. It is evident that if publishers are licensed then participation would be a condition of the licence and that that the new arrangement should have a legislative framework but then leave the operation to those who won and staff the publication together with an appropriate balance of outside interests as applies to other professional bodies.

The other issue yet to be considered is that of competition plurality. I will shed no tears if some publications cease.

I shall attempt to bear these issues in mind and reach more considered conclusions after all the evidence has been submitted.

There were two other issues raised by Lord Leveson meriting attention. The Metropolitan Police had issued a statement indicating that they had no evidence to indicate that voices messages on the phone of Millie Dowler were deleted by someone from or on behalf of the News of the World. Mr Mulcaire has consistently stated he did not do so. The disclosure had the impact of reporters visiting the lawyer who obtained an alleged £3 million payout from the Murdoch’s suggesting the money should be returned and some suggesting that the whole basis of holding the inquiry had been undermined. Lord Leveson made it plain that whatever the outcome of this current investigation into this aspect there were more than adequate grounds for the inquiry in relation to the other matters already raised.

The Guardian Newspaper and Counsel for the Inquiry immediately challenged the statement made by the Metropolitan Police mentioning that their evidence included information relating to Surrey Police. It appears that statements by the Metropolitan Police and the Guardian Newspaper are in hand and being examined in relation to establishing a basis for inclusion in the inquiry process without affecting ongoing police and potentially criminal investigation, charges and court proceedings.

Neville Thurbeck the former News of the World staff man writing in his blog stated that Mr Jay, Counsel for the Inquiry Lord Leveson had said that the News of the World was nothing but smut when he introduced himself prior to giving evidence Mr Jay explained that he and his inquiry colleagues met all the witness before their testimony in order to alert them to the subject he would be raising especially those which he had been asked to raise on behalf of the Core Participants.

My Jay explained that towards the end of his briefing he advised Mr Thurlbeck that he would raise the story of Mr and Mrs Firth which was a story which he described as being one of smut, He reported that Mr Thurlbeck had become agitated and stated in strong terms that he did not wish to questioned about this story for which he had been exonerated at the time. Mr Jay said that the pointed he eanted Mr Thurbeck to address was that the story appeared to have no Public Interest. Mr Jay pointed out that had he questioned Mr Thurlbeck at the Inquiry in public he would have used the term smut. The inquiry Team was considering whether further evidence on the story was required as a consequence of Mr Thurlbeck’s decisions and actions. Given that Mr Thurlbeck knew only too well what he was doing I suggest that his Blog was intentionally and wilfully malicious. An attempt to suggest to his readers that Mr Jay was biased towards the News of the World in particular and against tabloids in general, Mr Jay added that the Solicitor to the Inquiry who was sin attendance has made a statement to like effect which would also be published on the Inquiry site. The Firths are the couple who ran a Naturist bed and breakfast establishment. Their case was also touched on in the evidence of Mr Burden of Fake Sheiks and Royal Trappings. His account of indicates the behaviour of Neville Thurlbeck and the News of World compared to that of the Firths. Lord Leveson said he had decided not to call the couple to give evidence because of the lapse of time but he had advised Mr Thurlbeck that by refusing to giving evidence it raised the public interest to greater value. If I had to judge the integrity of Mr Thurlbeck against that of Mr and Mrs Firth on the basis of he evidence to hand then the decision would be an easy one.

Lord Leveson also mentioned that he did see the media cutting service reports on each day’s hearings including the comments of magazines such as Private Eye. He said that he was presently minded to treat these comments and reports as official evidence to the inquiry on practices and culture of the press. He particularly noted that attack was often used as the best line of defence and he referred to this aspect when considering the Daily Malice attack on Hugh Grant within hours of his evidence to the inquiry. He reminded that it was of critical importance that they should not lose sight of the context of the entire picture. In other words if they in general or individuals in particular wanted to play games, particularly dirty games, then they might have got away it because of their previous power and influence with politicians and the police in the past, but far from getting away with it now, such efforts would prove counter productive and damaging to the cause they were arguing.

Having made this introduction the first witness was Kelvin Calder McKenzie who I describe as a dangerous man, dangerous in the intended positive sense of understated cleverness as his evidence revealed. Mr Jay commenced by drawing attended that Mr McKenzie had not attached a statement of truth to his evidence. He first concentrated on the statement that that he did not spend much time pondering the ethics of how a story was gained or over worry about whether to publish or not, “If we believed the story to be true and we felt the sun readers should know the facts, we published it and left it to them to decide if we had done the right thing. Mr Jay continued that at the seminar in relation to the Elton John case which had led to the paper paying compensation arising from litigation he had also made a similar statement that if the story sounded right, it was probably right and therefore “we would lob it in“.

Mr McKenzie then explained that there was a profound difference between chuck it in for example and lob it in which according to dictionary meant a slow arc which he meant they did think about and cover the required processes( by the various codes). He said he had not been trying to make a humorous point, and in his response he drew attention that the law made mistakes sometimes major mistakes involving miscarriages of justice and that his approach has been bullish akin to the First Amendment to the US constitution and that since his time as Editor of the Sun he felt his colleagues had become more cautious in the changing world. I did not think his statement to the seminar or his evidence as funny but proactive and provocative, challenging, clever attempting to undermine the need for the Inquiry and for change.

My Jay pressed the issue of ethics suggesting he might prefer to substitute appropriate standards or right conduct but Mr McKenzie persisted that it was difficult to use any term in journalism which could cover all and every situation, a theme which others were follow during the rest of the week.

A major photography department manager defined what was acceptable in terms of pubic and private as had being defined by legal precedent. An individual when on their doorstep or within the curtelege of their property was not entitled to be photographed without permission but once they entered upon the pavement say into a vehicle to be driven off at speed, a photograph was legitimate, Another example given was a personality who entered a store. He had allowed photos of the individual entering the store but not once inside, but other newspapers had included those taken within the store. Thus the issue is not one of is it ethical or is it right but is in within the law or existing code of practice or not. On the final day this week a proprietor asked Mr Jay to explain what was meant by ethics to him because everyone appeared to have their own view of what was right and what was not.

I may surprise by saying that I have some sympathy what I would describe as a Private Eye iconoclastic perspective on the world. Politicians including cabinet member politicians were very willing to continue to use tax payer’s money to supplement their income for year upon year until there was public exposure, the behaviour of bankers resulted in millions experiencing a significant loss in living standards, with millions losing their mean of livelihoods and thousands the homes while millions of young people despite hard working at school and university cannot find work of any kind, yet those responsible pay themselves bigger and bigger salaries and bonuses while politicians stand by saying one thing and showing themselves incapable of doing anything about the situation. The very legal process being used to determine the future of the print media can be argue to be out of touch with the lifestyle and interests of the average citizen and has been shown to be flawed over the ages. It could be argued that Mr McKenzie and Paul Desmond are honest and realistic men unlike some of their accusers and those who also gave evidence over the week, who some will say are hypocrites or have behaved in the manner reported of Pontius Pilate. However their arguments and position would lead to a return to capital punishment, flogging, public executions, giving the public what it wants.

2221 Three adult films of different quality and interest

2012-01-14T03:16:00.000-08:00

In a week dominated by the continuation of the Leveson Inquiry and reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens I did not expect to be enthralled by a film abut the Spanish Inquisition Day of Wrath and one which Wikipedia had incorrectly assigned as the 1943 Danish film of the same name. One source also provides a sentence overview of the film claiming that it the stars were Christopher Lambert and Brian Blessed. In a week of intrigue subterfuge and a little plain speaking the way this important film has been treated suggests powerful forces are unhappy that the subject has been aired.

I had intended to see the film the Artist which many are saying will be voted the Oscar film of 2012. This film is in Black and White and silent for great parts and showing at the Tyneside Film Theatre. Having risen early I had planned to attend the 11am performance and arrived in Newcastle in time to do this. During the journey on a gold but sunny day which continued until mid afternoon and winter’s dusk I changed my mind. I did visit Marks and Spencer’s where I purchased two new Track suit bottoms of £33 using a £20 Christmas voucher. I then visited the Lakeland Shop in Eldon Garden for a microwave dish with holders for my porridge or mushrooms and tomatoes. I also noted that in the main pedestrian street there has been a proliferation of street tables for the various coffee and tea shops

I also noted that at the Monument end of the Eldon Square shopping centre there are a number of vacant shops on both levels and before this a coffee shop restaurants which I have used in the past has also closed.
On return I paid into the bank a cheque for £50 gained from a local lottery win and then bought black printer cartridges. I returned via Morison’s for sprats which I enjoyed at lunchtime, some milk and a copy of Renaissance the latest disk by the choir of 16 and which opens with the extraordinary Miserere by Allegri. There is over an hour of such music from Byrd, Tallis, Monteverdi, Barber, Poulenc including two Agnus Dei and an Ave Maria.

The film Day of Wrath “Dies Irae” deals with one aspect of the Spanish Inquisition that period of eternal damnation where the Catholic Church of Spain executed citizens, usually after torture and trial from serious crimes against religious orthodoxy of the time. The number of executions was surprisingly small considering the total number of cases tried, and even these were not of the same order as the great purges before and since. What the film argues is that those behind the Inquisition were in fact Spanish families with Jewish backgrounds who following the banishment of Jews from Spain and not wishing to leave did a deal to become officially Christians and creating false identities rewriting family histories.

Christopher Lambert plays a Catholic who marries an exceptionally devout woman from Antwerp where he has been sent by his mother from a small Spanish town in the middle of the sixteen century and where his wife has bore him two children. He is then asked by the Governor to return home and become the chief law enforcement officer although the real power rests with the Official Inquisitor and his officers who almost daily test and execute heretics, an aspect not based on the reality.

Lambert is confronted with a series of deaths of prominent men whose bodies together with their escorts he discovers badly disfigured and with the initials D and E cut into their bodies. However when he investigates he discovers all traces of the bodies and blood stained streets have been obliterated and worse still not only there are no witnesses buy the wives claim their husbands have gone on missions abroad.

The Governor is played by Brian Blessed who appears to be a man only interested in splendiferous banquets of fine foods and being entertained by the court fool. We the audience know that there is a group of local worthies who appear to be led by the Chief Inquisitor meeting in secret and expressing concern about what is happening and also about the existence of a list and the possibility of it falling into the wrong hands.

When the Governor goes to the Church for confession instead of the priest he is confronted by someone threatening to disclose a truth unless there good payment.

One of the men who dies is the husband of Lambert’s first love who he is still attracted especially as his wife is sexually frigid seeing the adult relationship has intended to create new life rather than an act of pleasure. This woman also denies the death of her husband.

In a third situation someone he knows from childhood warns that he and his daughter/daughter in law are in peril if they do anything other than continue with the fiction of what happened.

The Sheriff, as he is described in this film, undertakes research and cannot find any trace of the families in published work on family histories. However he is told this is a false book and is referred to one kept by the local clergy, a large old and dusty volume which shows the histories of the families of the murdered. He has noted that in each of the households there is the same style and period created family portrait of ancestors. In one instance it is claimed the portrait is a copy of one held at the family home in the capital.

He eventually comes across the murderer who admits to being a paid assassin and who has been instructed not to kill the Sheriff but to warn him off, including threats to his wife and children. His mother appears to know something which she also refuses to disclose. Eventually he discovers that his assistant is also part of the conspiracy and he man throws himself through a window to his death rather than be captured and tortured to reveal what he know.

Eventually the assassin brings him to the home of Governor with two lists which were held by two further nobles who have been killed in the same manner as before. The Governor explains that when the expulsion of the Jews was enacted a number of families did a deal with the King and had new family histories created as devout Catholics eliminating all trace of Jewish ancestry or of involvement with the Jewish faith. One list covers the original names of the families and the other their assigned names. The decision was taken for the leading families to come to live in one town to provide mutual protection and where their secret was known by the Inquisitor because he was also of a former Jewish family hence the enthusiasm of his actions in order to underline his position. Only the local priest was unaware of the true situation. The Governor discloses that the Sheriff is the son of his sister and his closest legitimate heir someone he hoped would succeed him in the future. He then admits that he had paid a blackmailer but grew tired and assuming it was someone on the list had employed the mercenary to kill everyone else on this list. This later includes the Chief Inquisitor. The Sheriff is at first horrified but comes round to the situation when he finds that is wife wants to report him and the children to the Inquisitor. The film ends with the Sheriff marrying his childhood sweetheart and becoming the governor and being given caskets of jewels and gold coin in gratitude for his protection. Later they are seen practicing the Jewish faiths in the vaults of the Governor’s residence.

The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1480 about 80 years before the time when the film is set, The Royal decree demanding that Jews convert or leave was made in 1492 and with that for Muslims made in 1501. The reign of terror lasted for over 300 years. Some of those who converted were allowed to hold office and it was one convert who financed the voyage of Christopher Columbus. A few were ennobled. The extent of the Inquisitions is the subject of much research with the numbers surprising low ranging from 50000 to 15000 and the total deaths between 1000 and 3000 with a similar number condemned in their absence so that only their effigies were burned. This is not to minimise what would have been the impact on the population at the time and on those directly affected in particular.

I enjoyed the role of Michael Caine in the role of Harry Palmer, a character created be Len Deighton in three of his early books, The Ipcress File released in 1965, Funeral in Berlin 1966 and the Million Dollar Brian 1967. Some three decades later the aged Caine reappeared in the same role with new screenplays, Bullet to Beijing and Midnight in St Petersburg.

I have now seen the final film and what a great disappointment although it provided the opportunity to view some good shots of the modern city. Caine is now operating as an independent investigations agency with a small Moscow based team which includes an ex CIA and an ex KGB specialist as well as a young assistant played by the son of Sean Connery, Jason, who appeared with Caine in the earlier film and for a time was married to the actress who also played a lead role in the film.

In the film Caine is hired by the International Atomic Authority to prevent a stolen quantity of Russian Nuclear material being sold to one of the countries seeking to develop nuclear weaponry. The deal is reported to take place in St Petersburg before the end of the week so Caine moves to the City where’re he has no previous experience although leading criminals with whom he has crossed swords in the past are also prominent.

A contrived complication arises when his assistant realises that his prima ballerina girl friend is being shadowed on her way home to St Petersburg from Moscow where she had been appearing. Her father is the curator of the Hermitage and what with Caine and the young man asked to attend the circus to receive their new assignment we have the Bolshoi Ballet, the State Circus and the greatest museum in the World all introduced into the film early on.

The girl is being trailed prior to being kidnapped so that instead of a number of valuable paintings arriving at their destination for an arranged exhibition they are to be taken out of the country. The paintings are being stolen for a fee of $5 million by a man who specialises is picture recovery. He will then negotiate a finder’s fee significantly greater than the $5 million investment so no one losses other than the Insurance Company. The $5 million is then being used to pay for the nuclear material which is then to be sold to one of the many interested governments, again for a significantly greater amount. This is the first individual signalled a big clue, as is the young US reporter who first wants to interview the ballerina and then Michael Caine although the idea that one correspondent would be employed to cover both types of stories is preposterous as is much of the rest of the film.

I do accept the central proposition however linking the art theft/fraud with the financing of the nuclear material sale as it is well documented that the US Government for example used the drugs trade to finance political and military operations although in the instance of the film there is a lack of credibility throughout because the main protagonists have been transported from Moscow to St Petersburg in order to show off the Russian second City and the Hermitage which is my understanding is the only tourist reason for visiting. Certainly according to the film the best restaurant in the city serves bad food, is frequented by the Russian criminal class and is shot up by criminal rivals to the owners. The idea that the place would immediately reopen and be frequented by the same customers including the police chief is absurd.

The rest of the plot involves the father going along with the kidnap demands without seeking help from the authorities so the young man trails the father and immediately assumes the young reporter is an ally who keeps turning up and also keeping company with the art dealer. The young man appears to have little judgement or skill to equip him for the private intelligence business and Caine looks and behave his age and would not have survived five minutes in reality. However they manage to recover the nuclear material and recover the paintings to enable their loan the gallery in question with some of the baddies apprehended. The art dealer is required to forfeit the $5 million bankers draft for restoration of the Hermitage but otherwise is left free to continue his global criminal activity joining the celebration party which ends the film. It is OK nothing better to do late night viewing to complete watching the five Harry Palmer Caine interpretations of the characters which may well have pleased some of the teenage weekend audience at the time, but given the else was being offered I doubt it. There is a lack of tension, thrills, credibility and sincerity

However the film is significantly better than the extraordinary popular Resident Evil: After Life which possibly may frighten thrill some immature minds new to the genre. It is the fourth instalment of a series with another promised for this year The ingredients are a world devastated by a virus gone wrong experiment which turns the human population in zombies who cannot bear anyone to remain normal and in in this instance congregate in their thousands around a building in the USA where a small group of individuals immune to the virus survive.

Before this we learn that the man who created this holocaust survive in an exceptionally well fortified multi level compound which is penetrated by a minor army of clone female acrobatic martial art and multi weapons equipped female warriors. The Man escapes this and every situation sometimes involving a nuclear type explosion or being shot to shredding. The remaining female warrior and heroine of the series (men are on the whole criminal, bad, stupid, treacherous, lecherous etc while women are sensible, courageous, inventive, trustworthy and loyal etc slant) goes off in a light aircraft to Alaska where a group of surviving humans she knew from previous episodes and gone in response to a call from a group/place called arcadia. Here she finds only girl who appears to be a maniac zombie, controlled by a device clinging to her chest reminding of the parasite type entity of several previous series but which in this instances appear to be removed with a little hand pressure without detriment to the victim except for a temporary continuing memory loss.

The girl cannot explain what happened especially what happened to the others and the duo go off in search of other survivors down through Canada and the USA to Los Angeles where she crash lands the plane on top of a former state penitentiary and which later in the film one member of the group manages to take off although we do not fully see the incredulous development. The plane also appears to have an unlimited fuel supply.

The grater part of he film centres on the building and an attempt to break out and reach a large super tanker moored in the harbour called the Arcadia and which appears to have gone along the entire coast of North America trying to contact any non zombies and offering them salvation.

When the majority of the party managed to reach the vessel they find two things. The crew has disappeared and below decks the vessel has been transformed into a super space laboratory in which all those who have been picked have been transformed by the parasites and held in a form of frozen statis tubes in a sub deck but who appear to return to instant normality as soon as they are released from their captivity. Interestingly they all appear to be young and fit although this might suggest that only the young and fit survived something which is not so with the group discovered on the roof of the state prison.

As the heroine progresses horizontally with in the lower decks of the super tanker there is one area containing a fleet of the latest armoured attack helicopters and then an almost empty area with central at a control console the mastermind who escaped the nuclear destruction of his previous control centre. He has been part affected by one of the virus which on what hand has led to his having invincible super powers similarly to our heroine but also those of a special zombie who has a destructive set of embracing sucking killer tentacles coming out of the mouth. He wrestles between these two forces within his body and he assisted by two dogs which split partially open to reveal horrendous devouring razor sharp teeth. After a climax confrontation the man escapes in one of the helicopters which explodes in mid air although he escapes again by parachute.

There is then finale epilogue in which the heroine announces they will continue to original intention of the vessel to rescue other survivors as the they have unlimited food and water not disclosed and water and with the helicopter should be able to travel in land looking for other survivors. However just when they are underway a horde of other helicopters descend on the vessel led by someone from the previous series still control by a parasite on her chest.

The film is reported to have grossed five times the alleged $60 million it cost to make. The film was released and viewed in 3D. This enables the audience to be shot at and splashed with blood and gore and to see any horrors in vivid close up reality. However I found none of the effect convincing or frightening and the while lacked tension and credibility which others have been able to achieve in the past. This appears to be a successful weekend franchise also translated into video games

2220 Six family films in 3D

2012-01-12T01:31:00.000-08:00

I have recently watched several animated, fantasy and family orientated film because they were shown in 3D. As I have recent stated in relation to sport and cultural events 3D brings added to value to an event but only if the event itself proves entertaining, of interest, possible exciting, possible wondrous or unique and at a minimum is enjoyable.

I have attempted to list the films in some kind of order although in truth there was only one which had merit; in fact the film had merit recognised at the time before it was reissued in 3D form.

The least enjoyable was Almighty Thor very loosely based on Norse mythology. It is difficult to believe that even children will find this story of interest and more likely to be outraged with disappointment if they had seen the earlier enterprise based on the Marvel Comic hero Thor. The story is of an evil underworld God who seeks to conquer everyone and everything by taking control of the Hammer of Invincibility. When Thor’s father and brother are killed in an attempt to stop the baddie from his designs, the younger brother sets on a quest to seek revenge. He is brave but lacks skill and an appreciation of the task as well as knowledge to overcome the enemy. Fortunately he encounters a Valkyrie who has the ability and patience to prevent the young warrior from not one but a succession stupid and disastrous attempts to engage the villain.

Combined they elude the clutches of the villain by use of movement portals one of which take them from the Nordic past into present day America. The most ludicrous aspect of this device, presumably on grounds that the use of derelict industrial sites was less expensive than creating mythological scenes, is that the three characters do not bat an eyelid about the nature of contemporary reality compared to their previously normal experience. The villain tests Thor at one point by offering him the prospect of bringing his father and brother back to life.

There are several repetitive aspects mainly of combat between Thor and the villain. There is one creative sequence where Thor approaches the mystical Tree of Life and a second when he finds himself in a molten lava flowing concept of Hell. He succeeds in obtaining the hammer which defeats the Underworld God who is forced to return to his natural Kingdom thus saving the rest of humanity and all creatures great and small from their worst nightmares.

The Green Hornet is based on a 1930’s radio character which was developed to comic books, TV series and games which is puzzling because the character is one of the more unlikeable if not the most unlikeable of all such characters. There are no redeeming aspects. He is a typical spoilt overindulged young man of a wealthy father who runs an important newspaper in the City. The father is found dead allegedly from an allergic reaction to a Bee sting and the young man finds himself in charge of father’s wealth which includes a vast collection of expensive cars as well as the Newspaper. One of the first things he does is to fire his entire father’s domestic staff.

This results in his morning cup of coffee not being delivered to his bedside in the annex which he has made his home. This in turn leads him discover that the coffee was provided from a special machine designed by his father’s handyman and that this individual is not only brilliant investor but an extraordinary skilled martial arts practitioner. He is the hero of the film and the force behind the Green Hornet. Because both men hated the father/employer after getting drunk one evening they visit the grave of the father and decapitate his bronze statue. Coincidentally a young couple are being robbed and assaulted by a gang at the same time and the handyman Cato rescues the couple and the two men who quickly leave the double crime scene are assumed to be criminals and are chased by the police who they evade in a criminal fashion driving exceptionally dangerously.

Crime in the city is controlled by a Russian who ruthlessly kills or has killed anyone who gets in his way or fails to expand his wealth and power. As is usual in the USA the mobsters have corrupted any official who poses a threat and this includes the District Attorney who is concerned about the public perception of his position. Because Cato is a one man army and has the ability to create wonder cars and multiple weapons the former waster decides to clean up the city but unlike Superman or Batman he adopts the unique role as posing as the new top villain on the block seeking a take over by attacking and where appropriate eliminating the existing criminals, That with Cato he uses criminal methods rather than exposing the criminals bringing them to justice is not something considered. He adopts the signature of the Green Hornet relating to the death of his father and the mask and outfit the two come to wear.

There are two developments which upset what some may believe is a worthwhile cause. Cameron Diaz arrives as a temp but because the waster immediately wants to get into her pants she is hired permanently and proves her worth because criminology was a part of the Journalist degree and she is therefore useful in conducting research into the city underworld. She quickly makes the point that she has no interest him as a potential bed partner and he becomes incensed when she dates Cato. Worse is to come because the waster decides to take the credit for all the interventions when any success is only due to Cato, his martial art skills and his inventions.

Fortunately when his arrogance outweighs common sense and they fall into a trap set by the Russians and are buried in a pit the vehicles is equipped to get them out of what is an otherwise impossible situation. This is the last straw and Cato leaves the duo and is quickly hired by the Russian to kill the waster. The District Attorney is also on the case attempting to persuade the young newspaper owner to stop his attacks on the crime boss and the failure of the city to deal with the level of crime. He admits that he murdered the father when he refused to cooperate.

Fortunately for the young waster, Cato changes his mind and comes to the rescue and the two engineer what appears to be a successful incriminating tape condemning the DA and the crime boss. There the usual intended exciting climax in which the two villains are killed and the trio determine to continue to protect the law by breaking it. As atonement for misjudging the father they return the head to the rest of the statue. On the whole an awful film about an awful person. However I would not surprised if there is a follow up.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the third in the Chronicles of Narnia which commenced with the most famous book of all The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe. There have been few works of fiction which managed to sustain interest during individual works while part of some grand design. Harry Potter is the best example. Some authors have successfully created characters who can undertake a series of individual adventures at the same as the original. Enid Blyton achieved this with her Famous Five and Seven Stories in times past.

I marked the Voyage of the Dawn Treader as OK and as film which would satisfy those who enjoyed the seven series of books by C S Lewis. Lucy and Edmund Pevensie, the two youngsters of the original children who enter Narnia via the back of a wardrobe are staying with their sceptical rationalist cousin Eustace and are drawn to an oil painting of a traditional sailing ship on high seas. Then the sea flows from the picture filling their room so that the trio find themselves in the high seas and picked up by the sailing ship.

This is commanded by Caspian now the King of Narnia who is on an expedition to find out what has happened to the seven Lords of Narnia which his uncle had banished. It was Lucy who first discovered the world within the world and as she grows up she wishes she was as beautiful and successful as her older sister. She represents the challenges faced by preteens in the contemporary society of the 1950’s. Her brother is responsible and protective for his age but saw the Prince, now King as a rival; taking account that Lucy is regarded as a Queen of Narnia for her previous efforts.

In the early part of the voyage Eustace spends all his time in disbelief especially over the talking and swashbuckling mouse, Reepicheep, who attempts to help him adjust to the fantasy world.

On the first island visited Caspian and Edmund are captured and imprisoned while Lucy and Eustace are to be sold as slaves to traders who control the island. Those who are not sold, mainly the indigenous island people, are periodically taken out in boats and disappear to a mysterious Green Mist; they learn this from one of the missing Lords who provides one of a number of swords given by Aslan the Lion in the Golden Age. The rest of the crew free those captured and chase off the slavers freeing the remaining inhabitants not already in the hands of the Mist. A young girl who has seen her parents taken by the Mist becomes a stowaway pleading with Caspian to find out what has happened to her parents.

On the next Island it is Lucy who is abducted by invisibles who leave giant footprints. They turn out to be small creatures standing on top of each other. Lucy discovers a book of spells and which she uses at one point to become her elder sister only find she is living a life where Narnia or her true self do not exist. Aslan interjects to explain that Narnia only exists in the knowledge of the family through her as she really is. They also learn that that it is only by laying together all seven swords of Aslan can the Green Mist be defeated.

They recover another sword on the next island where everything that enters a pool turns to gold. Edmund see this as creating great power as well as wealth for him. This is also where Eustace is turned into a fire breathing dragon by an enchanted treasure. This has positive as well as negative consequences and with the help of the Mouse enables Eustace to prove his worth which in turn coverts him to active participation in the adventure and a crucial member of the expedition. It is the dragon that is able to create the wind to break the ship out from the doldrums where they are being held during which time the crew have grown restless.

They come to Aslan’s Table and three more of the lost Lords and their swords are there frozen in time and reach the point when only one sword is missing believed to be on the Dark Island. A beautiful creature arrives and says she can guide them to the Island which is the lair of the Mist. They find the last missing Lord on the Island who warns of its power to make reality their fears. Edmund’s fear of a sea serpent nearly costs everyone their lives but it is Eustace as the dragon who saves the day after being wounded by the last sword and flying away. He is rescued by the White Witch who changes him back to the boy with the last sword which he takes to the others. It is Eustace with the sword that defeats the Mist and places the sword on the table enabling Edmund to defeat the Sea Serpent of his fears and this in turn releases all the people who have been held by the Mist.

The ship then encounters a sea of lilies which takes them to a shore and Aslan. There is a giant wave out to sea which if they traverse will take them to Aslan’s world but if they travel they can never return. Caspian declines saying his duties are with the people of Narnia. Aslan opens a portal to send the three children home while it is the Mouse Reepicheep who elects to make the one way journey. The trio return bonded through their now secret adventure. In terms of objects and characters moving out of the screen I thought the film was limited but one does get the sense of three dimensional effects within the space of the TV. In this respect I thought the make had got the balance right not allowing the effects to dominate the established and well known story.

I enjoyed the Legend of the Guardian: The Owls of Ga’Hoole which I thought had dark and challenging moments for the very young and which is a 2010 Australian computer animated film with a strong cast of voices including Helen Mirren, Mirian Margoyles, Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush and Hugh Weaving.

Two young barn owls live with their parents in the forest and as with all young people want to do more quicker than they are able to, and one night despite having been told not to do so they go off for an exploratory flight only to fall to the ground and open to enemies unable to immediately return to safety. There is already considerable rivalry between the brothers as one likes to hear tales of a mythical group of owl warriors The Guardians of Ga’Hoole who once saved all owl kind for the evil Pure Ones. The other ridicules his brother only to now find themselves captured with other owls by agents of the Pure Ones.
The majority of those captured undergo a process of submission and become workers, although selected to become a worker, one brother is able to feign the process so remains alert while the other brother volunteers and becomes a soldier. The workers examine owl pellets for small metal flecks which cause pain for owls when ingested and where a great store of the material is being prepared.

One of the Soldier Owls discloses to the young owl and a friend that he was of the Guardians and the Pure Ones are plotting to trap and destroy the Guardians and thus gain control of all the Owls once again. Before the duo can escape they must learn to fly for a long period and at speed and this takes time. Even when they are ready they just out run their pursuers and then face a number of challenges including a great mist and freezing typhoon. Eventually they successfully make it to the home of the Guardians and the Great Tree. When the owls recover and tell their tale one the Guardians expresses disbelief about the threat with the consequence that only a scouting party is sent to find out what is going on led by him.

The two owls begin their training as Guardians by an old owl who they discover was an important figure in the battle which the young‘ns father would tell his son. The young owl is disillusioned because he imagined someone very different. The leader of the scouting party returns saying the others were ambushed and killed and they he had escaped with two processed worker owls one of these is younger sister of the young owl. The entire force of the Guardians set off to engage the Pure Ones. Fortunately the sister recovers from the process and reveals that she was taken prisoner by their brother and given to the leader of the scouting party who is a traitor.

The Guardians are going into a trap where they will be confronted by the accumulated metal flecks leaving them helpless on the ground.

The young owl leads the small band of trainee guardians and others left in the Great Tree to try and help the others and almost too late. The young owl sees a way to change the situation and this is sufficiently effective for the Pure Ones to believe that their spy has changed sides and they send soldiers to kill him.

Since their capture his brother has not just become a soldier but made himself into a senior lieutenant in the new order. When the soldier brother gets into difficulties in the final combat he pleads with his brother to save him only to then attempt to force his saviour into the inferno below them. Fortunately his plan fails and he appears to fall into the flames and to his death. The Guardians are saved and the Pure One killed or driven out. The young owl is made a Guardian to the pride of his parents, sister and other family members. There is a new generation of legend. This is however only the first part of a three book series.

In the epilogue the body of the other brother was not found and we see him with the glowing red eyes of the other Pure Ones who have survived flying out to sea. I was impressed by some of the animations and use of 3D effects but continued wonder about extent to which this is a family film, given the Cain and Able main story.

In terms of visual treats The Battle for Terra is the best of the bunch experienced to date. From my experience so far the out of screen at you or over you effects are spaced whereas in this film there is a regular bombardment in a film which attempts to cover some of the great issues of our time and the next 100 years or so. Terra is computer animated film first released in 2007 and where the voices include those of Brian Cox and Dennis Quaid. Because the film is computer animated it was possible to reshoot in its entirety using the second camera necessary to create the full 3D effects and therefore having gone to this expense the makers ensured that their effort were worthwhile.

The film has merit as a 2D feature because of its themes. Terra has become a planet at peace and in harmony with nature. The Terrian heroine is Marla, a young headstrong and creative young woman constantly challenging the authority and restrictions imposed by the elders. She is unaware why the controls and limitations are there assuming as all young do that life revolves around their generation. Everything changes when the planet is approached by a giant ark ship which sends craft down to the surface of the planet to capture a selection of the indigenous creatures. Marla who in defiance of her father and the elders has made a telescope to observe what is happening in the sky returns to her community to see her father seized.

Fired up she fights of a pursuing craft forcing it to crash and reveal that the pilot is an oxygen breathing human accompanied by an intelligent robot. The robot is able to communicate and also able to inject the human language into her brain so she can communicate with the pilot when he recovers. To achieve this and prevent him dying the robot advises the young Terrian how to create an oxygen environment.

A young and conventional friend discovers the situation and reports to his superiors who come in force and armed to recover the human but the trio of- human, Terrian and Robot- manage to escape and discover a secret place which reveals that conflict and war had once been part of the Terrian history. Having saved him the human carries out an undertaking to return to ark ship to find and release her father.
We learn that because the population of earth expanded beyond its natural resources it had expanded to the two closest planets that in time had demanded and then fought for independence with all three worlds being destroyed. Only the great Ark ship had survived and BattleStar Gallactica style then travelled the universe in search of a planet where they could breathe, build and prosper. Several generations had passed and the ship was beginning to break up and the oxygen creating machines break down. The situation was becoming desperate. The senior military commander had devised a plan to make Terra their home creating oxygen which will in turn destroy the indigenous people. The Military commander seizes power from the civilian government when they refuse to adopt genocide to achieve their own survival.

The human enables Mala to escape back to her planet after she is captured having witnessed her father die. The General has designed a planet transformer which will create an oxygen chain reaction process which buries into the planet core and which he and others control from a centre part of the huge device. He insists that the human and his brother are part of the space fighters who will protect the device until it becomes fully operational and effective.

The Terrians are able to mobilize all the glider type fighter craft they have kept hidden for centuries in an effort to attack and prevent the Human device from working. Mala is a leading member of this force with the sky and therefore screen filled with laser cannon fire and explosions. Despite this they are ineffective against the device machine which is reading the point of chain reaction. Fortunately the human realises that what is happening is morally wrong sacrifices his life by taking the machine into the device and destroying it.

There is also an epilogue in which the atmosphere of the plant has returned to normal and the Terrains are helping the humans to create a vast doomed city in which they can breathe and live in harmony with their neighbours. In the middle of the city a giant statue is being created to the human who sacrifices himself. The interesting aspect is that the film can be watched without glasses as 2D although there is some doubling effect. It was also released with the minimum of advertising and although now released for home DVD as well as Channel release and 3 D systems it has to date yielded only the lower end of the box office records scale. Yet I rate this film second only to my final and top film of those covered.

The film is the Lion King first released in 1994 with a budget of $45 million and box office gross of just under $1 billion. The success of the Lion King was achieved from the combination of a story which emotionally affected the audience of all ages and its music which included The Circle of Life and Can you feel my Love Tonight and the humorous and catchy Hakcuna Matata -compositions by Elton John and Tim Rice. The sound track achieved fourth position and the highest ever sales for an animated film. The film was nominated for several awards, some it won again unusual for an animation project and has entered several best film lists.

The story of the film is reputed to have echoes of Moses and his son and Hamlet although in my view it stands alone on its merit and again features a rites of passage experience this time between the heir to the throne who is anxious to prove himself to be as brave and adventurous as his father who commands great respect from all the animals in their valley having established a natural order which keeps the savaging hyenas to their own territory. The film skates over what the natural order is with the implication that the animals do not fight, kill and eat each other, apart from the hyenas.
The film opens with the presentation of Simba as the heir to everyone which is to the horror of the King’s younger brother Scar who realises that the opportunity for him to come to power has been reduced and sets his sights on removing the young threat at the earliest opportunity.

The young lion is gradually prepared for his role one day by his father assisted by Rafiki a wise old Mandril who acts as a Regent adviser protector and on behalf of the King present the Lion Cub to his future people. While touring the lands controlled by the Pride of Lions Simba is warned by his father not to enter one area which understandably arouses his curiosity and learning of the interest Scar, voice of Jeremy Irons, fuels the situation by saying it is the burial ground of the Elephants and implying that the boy’s father is being unreasonable. Simba has a young female friend Nala who he persuades to go adventuring while eluding the watchful eye of Rafiki. At the Elephant grounds they encounter a trio of hyenas one of whom is the voice of Whoopi Goldberg who contemplate and unexpected banquet by the duo are rescued by the King and sent home in disgrace. The King then attempts to explain to his son that his special position brings with it responsibilities.

Thwarted Scar creates a new plan which involves creating a stampede of large animas being chased by hyenas having encouraged Simba to again break restrictions on his movements. Appreciating that his son is at great risk his father once more goes to the rescue and is about to escape the stampede himself by climbing rocks to safety when instead of answering his appeal for help his brother attacks causing the King to fall to his death. He then lets Simba believe that his behaviour caused the death of his father and that he will have no one’s respect. The young lion goes off alone, ashamed, into self imposed banishment from his family and position.

This means that Scar becomes the lawful monarch who then uses the hyenas to reinforce his power thus bringing fear and desolation to the Pride Lands enslaving everyone else.

When Simba becomes ill he is cared for by a Merekat, since made popular by an Insurance company and a warthog and teach him their philosophy of life which is no worries, with the implication of no responsibilities and have as much fun as is possible.

Years pass and Simba has to rescue his two friends from a lioness who turns out to be Nala who unaware who he is at first tells of what has happened and the nightmarish regime created by Scar. Unable to explain his sense of guilt at causing the death of his father, Simba disappoints Nala by refusing to return home and take his rightful place and rescue his people. She leaves heartbroken and discloses the news of his survival to Rafiki who goes in search of the legitimate King. Rafiki summons the ghost of the father who reminds of his destiny which has the effect of persuading Simba to return with his friends to take back the lands and the free the people (animals).

In the climax to the film Scar reveals his treachery after failing to defeat Simba who now has the appearance and strength of his father and is forced to admit the truth to the other lions. Scar pleads in mitigation that it was the hyenas that were behind what happened and Simba decides to banish the murderer. Scar refuses and attacks Simba who successfully fends off the attack with the consequence that it is Scar who falls off the rock where he is attacked and killed by the hyenas who he has just betrayed. They are driven out and over time the land is restored to is former state with Simba the established King and his son by Nala presented by Rafiki as the new heir. The circle of life continues.

Apart from the improved perspective the out of screen incidents to reinforce the 3D medium are limited not to distract from the main work which at one level is a successful reissuing of a very successful film to a new generation. There is however one moment to be mentioned when early on a bird flies over ones shoulder into the screen. This is magical.

2219 Great Expectations in 1861 1946 and 2012

2012-01-11T05:54:00.000-08:00

As part of my Christmas viewing I reported on a three part BBC adaptation of the three part book by Charles Dickens Great Expectations. In my limited viewpoint in respect of the cinematic and stage adaptations there had been nothing until now to compare with 1946 film which had John Mills as Pip the young man and Alec Guinness as his friend Pocket. Jean Simmons played Estella the younger and Valerie Hobson as Miss Haversham with Finlay Curry and Bernard Miles also featuring. However although I saw the 1946 film soon after its release while still at preparatory school and it made a lasting impression, it is at least decade since seeing the film again on Television. It is also a long time since reading the text, if I ever have, although along the way I had acquired a Heron edition of the work. Over the weekend the 1946 film was shown on television and this precipitated to jump my reading, albeit fast reading, of the text to this week.

In all three of the works we commence with Pip as a young boy in the care of his married elder sister who husband Joe a blacksmith treats the child more as a young brother than a substitute father. The 1946 version has a much softer version of Mrs Gargary, called Mrs Joe in the text, than the portrait of her painted by Dickens which has her as an unattractive bossy woman who attempts to keep the menfolk around her under her thumb. The setting is Christmas Eve as Pip encounters an escaped convict in the marshes around his home who first frightens the boy and then engages his sympathy so that in addition to bringing the man a file to free him from the chains he also brings food, including a pork pie and brandy. On his way back with the supplies he encounters another escaped convict, a man with a scar on the side of his face. When Pip tells Magwitch of this encounter on the assumption the food is to be shared the impact is for Magwitch to react with anger, not at Pip but the news that a great enemy is to hand.
The Text covers the Christmas dinner and the horror of Pip when Mrs Joe announces to the company that as a treat they are to finish a full meal with a slice of the pork pie given to them by Pip’s uncle. She is just about to discover the theft when the troops arrive seeking the assistance of the Blacksmith, and soon he and Pip are joining the chase to find the convicts who appear to have escaped off the convict ship on its way or moored in the Thames. Magwitch is caught because he remained on the marshes to find and try and kill the other man. Both are now captured and taken on board the convict ship bound for the antipodes. Before departing he absolves Pip saying he broke into the forge and its house for the file and for the food. In all versions kindly Joe says he does not begrudge the man the food. This signals to the reader that Joe is far from the average working man who excitedly joins in the throngs in their tens of thousands who watch and cheer the constant hangings of men women and children in the capital for the most minor of offences.

The reason why Magwitch stays to try and kill the other convict is not explained in the 1946 film which is a much simplified version. In the 2012 series Pip has an uncle who delivers supplies as a trader to the local great house where it’s eccentric and considered mad Lady is looking for a local young boy to keep her adopted daughter company. Pip is suggested and while his sister sees this as a great opportunity for family advancement her husband is unsure. In the 2012 film Pip enjoys the visits despite the strangeness of Miss Haversham, a comparatively young woman who lives as a recluse on the first floor of the house where the windows are shuttered and the drapes closed where the dinning room is laid out for a wedding breakfast from years before. In the 1946 film Miss Haversham is a much older woman who appears to have been fixed in her situation for at least two decades and to have adopted Estella long after she had become hardened and set in her ways and with the plan to train the girl to become her weapon against men in society.

The young adopted girl Estella, brilliantly played by a 17 year old Jean Simmonds in 1946, is unkind to Pip who she regards as inferior until an event which changes their relationship. In the recent adaptation relatives of Miss Haversham call with their son but are refused access to Miss Haversham. They are incensed when they find Pip is allowed into the house and upper floors. He is told to immediately leave by Miss Haversham who cannot cope with his visit because of the situation with the relatives and when he leaves he encounters the son of the visitors who behaves like Estella, but in this instance Pip defends himself and strikes the young man down. This delights Estella because he has made something happen and in the book she allows Pip to kiss her. The fight is more prolonged in the text and more of a sporting than a bullying event. The difference is that the family are named as the Pockets and the elderly Miss Pocket appears to be a frequent visitor to the house. It is also made plain in text and film that the girl is being brought up to regard all men as enemies and that her primary function in life will be to break their hearts. Neither the adoption nor the visiting would be allowed today, or at last I hope this would be the situation.

Despite the way he is treated Pip is influenced by the lifestyle, knowledge and interests of those with money and education and he is disappointed when Miss Haversham decides to end the visits by announcing that she is to bring forward his wish to be apprenticed to Joe and will pay the family a Premium as a reward for his attendance at the house. The condition is that he does not return. This is not intended as a kindly act on her part. In the recent series Mrs Joe has the expectation that the whole family is to be socially improved by summons for her husband to visit with Joe and she rejects the offer of some rabbits by the hired help Orlick a young man who is known as old Orlick in the book. He is so incenses that off screen he batters the woman senseless. There is no reference to Orlick and his subsequent role in the 1946 film. In the recent series, shown on three consecutive nights the lawyers Jaggers is present with the papers of indenture whereas in the book Joe brings the papers and we first meet the lawyer four years later. Similarly we are yet to meet the assistant Orlick until later in the book. On return from the Hall Joe teases his wife suggesting at first a payment of ten pounds has been made, then twenty and only then twenty five, which are substantial amounts even for someone operating their own business as blacksmith. (One of my mother’s great aunts who she never knew married into a blacksmith’s family from a village close to her grandfathers town of Calne before he left to join the army, travel the world and eventually settle in Gibraltar and a hill village near Ronda in southern Spain).

In the book the battering of Pip’s sister by Orlick occurs when later during the apprenticeship he gets time off to make a visit to Miss Haversham to report progress and to see Estella. He is disappointed to find that she is away in Paris at school being trained to become an eligible young Lady in London society. He meets Orlick on the way home and Joe has been out at a local Inn for the evening. The crime is investigated by the police but their inquiries come to nothing except that Pip is suspicious of Orlick who knew his way around the house and forge and of their movements.

It is after his sister becomes disabled and in need of care that there arrives into the household Biddy, a young woman whose origin I am confused about thinking first that she was a relative. Biddy quickly commands the respect of Pip and of Joe, and indeed also manages to establish the confidence and affection of the sister. The sister scrawls the letter T on a slate which after a while it is Biddy who works out that this is intended to represent a hammer from the forge and that the attacked was Orlick who continues as if nothing has happened. While Biddy appears towards the end of the 1946 film there is no reference to the crucial point in the text about a third of the way through the volume when Pip confides in Biddy that he no longer wishes to become a Blacksmith but would like to be a gentleman. In fairness this is touched on in the 2012 series when Pip expresses disappointment at the decision to become apprenticed and stop his visits to the great House. However Biddy does not appear in the recent series which is odd.

Biddy possesses insight and wisdom as well as the capacity to act as the boy’s teacher and it is not surprising that Pip appreciates her superiority over Estella. He also becomes watchful when Orlick begins to take an interest in Biddy.

It is in the fourth year of the apprenticeship that Mr Dickens has Mr Jaggers, the lawyer, making an appearance, played in the latest series by the excellent David Suchet. In both film and series there is close adherence the text except that in the text despite the insistence that there are no inquiries and or disclosure as to the benefactor who is offering to educate and maintain Pip as a Gentleman of Great Expectations who will come into wealth on or after reaching his majority, Pip immediately expresses the belief that it is Miss Haversham who is the provider of his good fortune. Mr Jaggers provides twenty guineas for the purchase of appropriate clothing and for the journey to London and the excitement is shared in the household during the subsequent week before the requested departure.

It is also evidence that even before reaching London Pip understood he was changing one life for another and could not wait to get away, believing that he would not return to his former ways and life style. He is also determined to show Miss Haversham his new set of clothes before departure. On this visit she gives the impression of confirming she is the benefactor mentioning that she has heard of his change of fortune from Mr Jaggers.

There is one other important difference between the text and the 1946 film and 2012 series. In these Pip only discovers that he is to share accommodation and be tutored as a gentleman by the former adversary, Master Pocket who he encountered at the home of Miss Haversham when he arrives at the lodgings. In fact he is made aware of the arrangement by Mr Jaggers on his first visit and indeed the elderly Miss Pocket is at the Hall when Pip visits.

Before leaving the story as Pip makes his way excitedly to London and the first part of the book formally I will mention one incongruity about the 1946 film. This is that Pip and Master Pocket are played by established actors more than twice the age of their characters, with John Mills in his late thirties 30’s as Pip and Alec Guinness also in his thirties as Master Pocket. I also feel that the Black and White of 1946 is more effect in conveying the events on the marshes and the sinister nature of the Hall and Miss Haversham and Dickensian London and Society than the colour versions. It is also fiat comment to say that Joe, Biddy and indeed Pip himself does show ambivalence as the departure approaches but for Pip the driving force is that by becoming a gentleman he will also become an acceptable suitor for Estella.

2218 Two dark films that are art and not entertainment

2012-01-10T05:52:00.000-08:00

Among the family fantasy films and classics watched over Christmas and New Year were two dark films which cannot be classed as entertainments,

The Scouting Book for Boys is a brilliant portrayal of what happens when a silly young girl with hopeless parents make friends and turns the head of a motherless young boy. They remain children who have been led to believe they have become free functioning adults. The setting is a residential caravan weekend retreat site on the Australian coast complete with a good size pool and indoor entertainment. I am not sure what the function the boy’s father had other than organiser and compare performer of the evening entertainments at which the boy is expected to do a song at the behest of his father. The girl’s parents ran the site store, argued and drink excessively. Both sets of parents are content to let their offspring run wild together and separately.

The girl persuades the boy to help her go into hiding using a cave which can only be reached via a pool at the entrance. The boy believes this will provide him the opportunity to commence a sexual relationship and is shattered where he finds the rumours to be true that the girl had a relationship with the site handyman. Worse follows when the girl claims to be pregnant and wants to stay away for twenty six weeks because then her father will not be able to insist she has an abortion. It later emerges when she uses her pants to stem the flow of blood from a minor injury that she has menstruated and is not pregnant although this aspect is not made clear in the film and is my supposition.

The young man and alleged father of her child is hounded by the camp site community, led by the girl’s mother who is arrested at one point for setting first to his caravan.

He rightly suspects the boy knows where the girl is hiding but the boy is able to fool him, the parents and the police that he knows nothing. That he steals food and clothing for girl also goes unnoticed. The police at first disregard the disappearance as just as another teenager off adventuring in the city but take the situation seriously when there are confirmed reports of the girl being seen intimate with the handyman. The boy is used to help get the on site to participate in detailed searches of the area for clues and at one point the father of the girl follows the boy until he is given the slip.

In fact the girl has got it into her head that by disappearing and claiming to be pregnant, (she may have believed she was pregnant by her experience with the handyman), that young man will have a serious relationship with her and not treat her as just another scalp among the teenage holidaymakers who use the caravan park. When the girl gets fed up with her incarceration and sends a note via her friend with the intention of getting the man friend to come to meet her, the boy burns the note and pretends their is no answer. What is worse he tears up the blood soaked pants and places a piece in the motorcycle of the handyman who is rearrested and an initial taken in for questioning.

When the absence of a response provokes the girl to decide to leave, the boy stays with her saying they will go back together in the morning but when she is asleep he smashes her ankle so she cannot leave on her own. He leaves her imprisoned, desperate and cold. When the following morning he returns full of remorse he finds that she had managed to get out of the cave but has died of exposure on the rocks. He takes her out to sea before letting the body sink. The picture ends and it is not clear if he drowns to be with her or returns to the ashore.

Both sets of families were content to leave the young people so they could get on with their own lives and the parent of the girl in particular were not aware of her vulnerability of they were just did not care enough. It can be argues as a story particular to the individual mix of people and circumstances or a more general warning of can happen if their abdication of parenting when children reach adolescence.

The Cement Garden is based on a 1978 novel by Ian McEwan and is also about adolescent sexual awakening although this time between a brother and sister. The family live in a concrete house on the edge of town as the housing a round them is demolished. When both parents die is relatively quick succession the three children, the elder sister, the brother and the youngest, also a boy are left with a dilemma knowing that if they report the death of the second parent the family will be split and the youngest possibly both boys placed into care. They use concrete from the neighbouring building site incase their mother in a metal cabinet in the basement.

Their mother knowing she is going into hospital had opened an account for her daughter to use so they have income and therefore are able to continue without coming to the attention of the authorities and because of their social isolation in terms of location there are neighbours to notice and take action.

The girl does her best but the adolescent brother alternates between babyhood and sexual arousal masturbating while looking at “girlie” magazines and in between a refusal to contribute in a positive way to keeping the family together in terms of day to household chores, cooking, cleaning, washing etc.

The two older children therefore adopt the traditional roles of mother and father in the situation with the normal tensions that will arise in any household. It can be argued that this is a film about what are the acceptable norms within families, what happens within families behind closed doors particularly if the family is isolated in a physical or social sense and difficulties are not picked up at school at school as the critical aspect of the story takes places during the long summer holiday from school.

The films reach a climax because of several factors. The young woman takes up with a young building contractor or someone employed by a contractor developing the waste land between the house and other properties. Although the impression presented is of a sexual relationship with the man involved providing expensive presents and the taking the young woman off on trips in his red sports car, it emerges that this has not been the situation and which in turn is the downfall of the the couple and their situation; secondly the young man is understandably curious about how the children have come to be on their own and when there is smell in the basement arising from a crack in the badly mixed concrete casing for the mother his concerns grows. He may well have helped in the cover up of the situation if he had not chosen to return at the very moment brother and sister reach the point of mutual consolation. He leaves outraged and frustrated at they way he believes he had been treated. The very moment that the couple move from consolation into sexual union, we the audience are aware of the blue flashing light of a police vehicle outside the property called no doubt by the boyfriend. The film ends.

It can be argued that both films are therefore works of art rather than entertainments. Not great art, but good art.

2217 Local sporting success and National racism

2012-01-10T00:43:00.000-08:00

It was in the autumn of 1974 that I first became a regular at Sunderland Football Club at Roker Park, following them at many away matches over the next fifteen to sixteen years that I was a loyal season ticket holder. I stopped as they slid from the first to second and into the third divisions of the football league. There was a gap of year before I became caught up in the Kevin Keegan era at Newcastle where I remained a season ticket holder for about 14 years. Some Sunderland supporting politicians thought this was a great betrayal.

By about 2005/2006 I became disenchanted with the development of Premiership football which had become finance governed in terms of the payments made to players resulting in a situation where only club with unlimited financial support could purchase and keep the top players and therefore have the opportunity to win the Premiership or major European competitions. There was also the issue of the cost of attending matches and the impact of getting older and less enthusiastic about watching games when the weather was poor to bad. As had been the instance when I first stopped buying a season ticket there was the question of how many game experiences did one enjoy?

I did enjoy watching Sunderland gain promotion into the Premiership in 2007 at their new purpose built stadium but after that it was back to normal fighting to avoid relegation which is what happened to Newcastle under the managership of Alan Shearer. The whole saga of what happened at Newcastle under the ownership of Mike Ashley led to taking the decision that I would not return to watch games at the club while he remained in control. This position remains although is a separate issue from my support for the team as my support for Sunderland AFC has continued.

This year Sunderland ended the contract of Steve Bruce the second former Manchester United player to fail at Sunderland within five years, the other being Roy Keene. The choice was former Sunderland supporter Martin O’Neill who had a great careers as a player with Nottingham Forest winning a European Champions and then as an International for Northern Ireland with 64 appearances. He had also had a substantial and successful managerial career talking Leicester City to Football league Cups and winning the Scottish premiership and in his first season with Celtic the team not only one the Scottish Premiership Title but both cups. He left football to care for his wife who developed cancer in 2005. He then joined Aston Villa which he took to the first Cup win in ten years and finished 6th in the Premiership in each of his years with the club. He shocked the football world resigning from the club at the commencement of the 2010/11 season with lack of funds to progress the club considered the main cause.

Since joining Sunderland he has quickly created an enthusiastic team unit playing to the best of their abilities. Just before Christmas the team had a dramatic 3.2 win away to Queens Park Rangers and at Everton the award of questionable penalty prevented a second win away so they settled for draw. Their biggest challenged under the new Manager came the following week at home when they faced the present leaders Manchester City and won in the dying seconds of the game. They went to Wigan Athletic and won 4.1 thus gaining a total of 10 points out of 12 and moving out of the relegation zone into mid table. This Sunday Sunderland was the penultimate game to be played in the third round of the F A CUP, competition that Martin O’Neill has never won as a player or manager. Moreover the reason why the game was one of two selected by ITV to be shown is that over the past decade Sunderland has gone out in the early rounds of cup competitions to clubs from lower divisions.

That afternoon Peterborough the home side managed by the son of the Manchester United Manager were nervous and handicapped by injuries failed to show the attacking flair for which they are famous while Sunderland carried out a professional and rather clinical performance which won the game by two goals to nil. They have been rewarded with a home tie in the fourth round to North East neighbours Middlesbrough.

Their closest neighbours and fierce rivals Newcastle had one of the best starts to a Premiership season since the day of Kevin Kegan now some 20 years ago. Lee Catamole, the Sunderland captain played for the Boro before their relegation to the championship which will add spice to the match although it is not anticipated the game will be featured live because of the emphasis on potential giant killing.

In contrast to Sunderland Newcastle United had their best start to a season since the Kevin Kegan era rising fourth in the table and then slipping to 7th as they played and lost to some of the more accomplished sides in the Premiership. The surprising and best buy of the season and of most seasons was the decision of the club to take Demba Ba an extremely talented player but with a suspect knee which led Stoke City among several clubs to pass him by. Not only is an excellent frontman but he performs as a creative midfield player with defensive awareness when required. He quickly became one of the Premierships leading scorers. His performance against the present Champions Manchester United was regarded as not just 10/10 but the best performance in a single game by a forward in British football this season.

Newcastle has only beaten Manchester United three times in the past two decades. I watched the previous two games at the ground while the latest match was with the help of 3D so it many respects it was not just as good as being there but better with the benefit of close ups and replays. There were two great goals while the icing on the cake was a dreadful own goal by Manchester United which will be replayed in howlers of decade programmes for decades to come. The much maligned Shola Ameobi also had an excellent game and the two tall and strong front men created such problems for the united defence that their forwards could rarely get into top gear.

It is in sport and artistic performances that 3D has its great potential although as with 3D in general it is an aid to a performance and not a performance in itself. It provides the opportunity to feel part of the reality of the experience rather at a distance and separate. It will not make a boring game or event interesting once the novelty of the medium wears off. So far I have also watched darts, the Horse of the Year show and some rugby union. I look forward to tennis and motor-racing although I suspect the latter will be dependent on Sky gaining the rights to Formula 1 and of course the Olympic Games but the main joy will be cricket and it will be interesting to see if England’s games with Pakistan in Dubai will be shown in the medium.

The main talking point of the past couple of months, making the front as well as rear papers of the newspapers has been incidents of racism. A Liverpool player has been suspended for eight games because of repeated remarks made to a Manchester United player. The two teams have now been drawn to play each other in the 4th round of the F A Cup. Liverpool players unwisely supported by their Manager wore shirts in support of their player which may have influenced an individual fan making offensive remarks to an away team player at weekend which distressed him to the extent that the game was stopped and the police carried out an investigation with an individual arrested and charged. John Terry who has already lost his captaincy of the England team last year because of a private life scandal is to be prosecuted for alleged racist comments against QPR player. |The spate of these incidents together with a random racists killing of a student from India may be a coincidence and not indicate some form of organised response or general reawakening and also nothing to do with the conviction of two member of the gang who killed the school boy Stephen Lawrence nearly two decades ago. The police through racism and incompetence and perhaps some corruption although the latter has not been substantiated while the former were following inquiry failed horribly. The family were forced to bring a private prosecution which failed and it was only through persistent campaigning that the law was changed to enable a second prosecution when sufficient evidence to convince a judge and jury became available because of improvements in forensic science. The continuation of racism in British life remains an indictment of the British character.

2216 An unexpected visit to Casualty

2012-01-08T02:41:00.000-08:00

During the past three maybe four years I have made three unplanned visit to the General Hospital emergency department here in South Shields. Two of these arose from using the NHS Internet and telephone service. The other was when I tripped up over a step when visiting a newly opened corner store and split my nose after hitting a metal rack. I was kept at the hospital for a good couple of hours before being released in order to ensure there was no delayed reaction in case I had hit my head harder than I had. I did not enjoy the experience in part because of anxiety that I had left my front door unlocked and that I had planned to go out that day.

On the previous occasion of contacting the NHS service I had spoken to a receptionist, a nurse and then a doctor who arranged for me to see a doctor at casualty which I did in the early hours and where he was able to diagnose a urinary tract infection. I had a cold at the same time and in addition to a surge in temperature which quickly fell back I had trouble breathing and in sleeping.

A shortness of breath and in sleeping at some during a simple head cold and cough is something I had experienced over recent years and where I have come to dread getting and assumed the problem was part of old age just as the need to go to the toilet several times a might upon waking.

On at least two previous occasions of a cold I experienced an in ability to sleep because of shortness of breadth. I remember seeking some fresh air but the situation only lasting 24 to 36 hours.

On this occasion I had developed a ticklish coffee after a visit away at Christmas. I had made the mistake of leaving the warm car twice without a coat on the returning journey home first for milk at the Tesco supermarket and then to check if Morison’s had sprats which I fancied for my tea. They did not and I kicked myself for not putting on the coat because of cold that had cut through to the chest.

The first response on getting the throat tickle was to take a finger of whisky which is usually effective but in this instance the tickle persisted and it appeared that I was about to lose my voice. This was a new experience and startling. For some reason I did not immediately turn to the usual paracetemol cold condition hot lemon or blackcurrant drink from a sachet, a supply I also keep on hand. I also had in the fridge two half full bottles of cough mixture which I commenced to use. I did not lose my voice. Several days later I read “Tickly cough- The irritated area in the throat produces a tickly sensation causing you to cough, even though there’s no mucus to cough up. Dry cough- Dry coughs are caused by an inflammation of the upper airways caused by dust, foreign bodies or a throat infection. There is no mucus or phlegm produced.

I read only later “Gargling with salt and warm water can also help relieve sore throat symptoms and nasal congestion. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in 1 cup (240ml) of warm water. Gargle four times daily – but don’t swallow

I also later read later “Drink plenty of water and avoid caffeine and alcohol. Orange juice is great for vitamin C but don’t drink too much if your stomach is upset from the cold you’ve got. Avoid caffeine at night. If you choose a product that contains caffeine, avoid taking it before bed time. When you’re under the weather, it’s important to drink water. “

I keep a supply of bottled water in my home. I keep one bottle in the bathroom so when I rise at night I can rinse out a very dry mouth. More recently I have kept a single hard boiled sweet on the bedside chair which I suck on waking just to get the mouth clear before rising for the toilet. However I did not commence to drink water until later. After the chest had become congested. It was only when without a head cold or temperature developing my chest became congested and the cough remained dry, going into my lower abdomen, so it seemed, and gagging, and gulping for air that I commenced to read up on the internet.

“Chesty cough: Chesty coughs are caused by a build-up of phlegm or mucus in the lungs. The cough mechanism kicks in to try and get rid of it. A chesty cough can also be referred to as a mucus cough. Mucus cough: When mucus builds up in the chest, it can be hard to get rid of by coughing, so it’s helpful to have something that helps to loosen the mucus and relieve the feeling of tightness on your chest. A mucus cough can also be referred to as a chesty cough. “

For the rest of Tuesday and throughout Wednesday I supped ice cold water in a glass filled with ice and this was effective in easing the throat. However as Wednesday progressed I started to burp even with the smallest of sips. Burping was also a problem. I worked out that the problem was not the water or the coughing so much but the shortness of breath so I was taking air in in gulps.

On The Tuesday I had also read that Garlic is famous for its ability to fight infection, so try munching a clove every 4-5 hours. Young cloves are milder, so maybe start off with them.” “Pepper and chilli are natural remedies for clearing blocked nasal passages and can help to warm your body naturally“. “As we said, garlic can help fight infection – but if you can’t face munching cloves, try making a stock soup with extra garlic. Chicken soup with barley was also recommended and avoiding dairy products which includes chocolate.

I went to the supermarket around 8 am on Wednesday. I did not fancy munching the cloves and having read that adding them to some chicken stock I went in search of stock but not sure of there was difference between gravy stock in cubes and that to be used in soups. I tried to look for chicken soup and chicken soup with barley without the addition of cream as I had read it was best to avoid dairy products. I made chicken soup on return adding a smashed clove of garlic and some ginger ands then strained the result which I drank in the morning and then later in the day.

“If you’re feeling blocked up, try pouring steaming hot water into a bowl and inhale the vapour. Add the essential oil, eucalyptus, to boost the decongestant effect.” As a child I had be made to inhale Friars Balsam but could not find the item at he supermarket as it has been a struggle to make the trip I was up to remaining out and going in search of health store, if one had one in South Shields. So I made do with a bowl of hot water later in the day but this did not deal help with the growing problem I experienced and found difficult to cope with.

I was delighted to also read that liquorice can be used as an expectorant. It loosens mucus and lubricates the respiratory tract. It is an ingredient in almost all cough medicines. I eat liquorice to help to keep my bowels regular.

I also read that “A dab of mentholated ointment under your nose can relieve congestion and help restore the skin made red from blowing your nose. A humidifier can also help relieve congestion and help you breathe easier

I found several references to eucalyptus. “Eucalyptus has long been used as a decongestant and is still regularly used today, as it is found in many over-the-counter cold medicines. In "1000 Cures for 200 Ailments," Dr. David Kiefer explains that you can get the eucalyptus directly into your congested respiratory system by adding a few drops of its oil to water in a vaporizer and breathing the steam in through your nose. He warns to keep your eyes closed, though, as eucalyptus oil can irritate them, and not to consume eucalyptus oil. In "Healing Without Medication," Dr. Robert Rister advises sucking on eucalyptus lozenges to help with congestion“.” Get rid of phlegm with eucalyptus remedies. Eucalyptus is an effective expectorant that is distilled from the twigs and leaves of the eucalyptus tree. The primary component of eucalyptus oil is the volatile substance cineol, which has an irritant action on tissues and induces coughing. “

I noted all this for future reference deciding that I did need a humidifier or some form of air freshener in the bedroom in winter. In summer I slept with side windows opened at the top and this appeared to help my sleeping and breathing

So having read and made start I had hoped to see progress during Wednesday but in fact felt more uncomfortable as the day progressed. I had attempted to sleep in bed as dawn approach but the attempt was short lives. Feeling tired during the day I sat in the settee but just when I thought I was drooping off I woke immediately with a start gulping for air. I have had a breathing problem at times when in bed and for several years I have slept on my side rather than on my back and need a couple of pillows.

“When you’re ill,” I had read” it’s normal to experience broken sleep – so you need more of it during the day to catch up on lost sleep. Pushing yourself when you are tired causes more stress on the body – so give your body a chance to fight back and rest more.”

“If you’re suffering from a cold, try sleeping with an extra pillow. Being slightly elevated can help drain the congestion so you sleep better.”

The combination of lack of sleep, difficulty in breathing and burping did create a stressful situation as the night progressed and there was no respite.

To be exhausted and unable to sleep or relax was a new condition so around 1.30 am. Having been up from 2.30 am the previous morning and then only having had two hours of sleep in bed, I decided to check out what the NHS Direct site had to say and commenced their question and answer system but there was nothing about breathing or burping so I decided to ring the number. Because of the previous experience I was ready to be asked a series of questions with the only difficulty in making the point that that I could not remember precisely when the breathing difficulty has become prolonged but at least six possible eight hours and that it was prolonged rather than intensifying. I was then passed to a nurse who went through everything as before. On the previous occasion I then went through the position with a doctor who arranged for me to be examined by a doctor at the general hospital in the early hours of the morning, driving myself by car.

This time the nurse said she was calling an ambulance and I should stay on line. There was no time to speculate about what this meant so I got myself ready to go out, collected my phone, credit cards, cash and diary that included key telephone numbers and then got a pair of pyjamas. I needed the toilet and before I got hold of something to contain the pyjamas, and for washing, shaving and teeth cleaning there was a hullo at the front door which I had been asked to keep open.

It struck me later that if such a situation could happen again and I found myself in a more debilitated condition it might be wise to have a going into hospital emergency bag always on hand.

I did not immediately recognise the paramedic but it was the same individual who had taken me from the corner shop fall and she remembered that I had spoken about cricket. I was attached to a machine and my blood pressure and temperature was taken. I had not felt that I had a temperature but for the original question and answer session I had stopped to take my temperature and as anticipated this was normal.

The paramedic reassured that she thought the problem was cold related as the tests did not reveal any immediate major other problem but she thought a medical examination and opinion was important.

I became familiar with the General Hospital at South Shields during the six weeks that my mother was resident before her death. I would pass the outpatients and casualty on my way to the admission ward where my mother was first admitted. My own memory was also of what I would term as a standard hospital waiting area. This occasion there was an attractive reception area when the paramedic insisted on wheeling my in a chair through to the adult casualty waiting area. My mouth had become dry with the talking so I obtained a bottle of water from the machine. You gave to type in the number of the item and then insert the money required and then put in the number again before the machine moves into action. I had to get help to do this. There was no information available to explain the procedure.

The water helped but I continued to belch although the coughing had settled down. During the day I had taken two doses of a new decongestant purchased at the supermarket in the morning and which had no immediate effect.
I had to wait a little while before being wheeled to a cubicle where I was prepared for a medical examination. Again the facility appeared different from when I had visited my mother when a couple of years before her final admission where I first saw her on the ward, I had visited her soon after she was taken to casualty and stayed with her half the night before she was declared ready for discharge back to the residential home.

On this occasion I was attached to an assessment monitoring machine by ten connections to my body. The base body connector was stuck tot he skin which had to be removed by hot water when I returned hone, One two each lower leg, two to the sides and four to the chest. And one on each hand. Fortunately none to the back which would have made removal difficult. The paramedic had attached her machine to my back and removed the skin connectors leaving those to my hands. I cannot now remember if the nurse also asked questions but I was told to make myself comfortable sitting up on the high from the floor examination bed.

The doctor was very sympathetic and asked me to explain what had happened and seemed to focus on the gagging and breathing which is what had concerned me from the outset. He asked about changes in shirt neck size which appeared important that my neck has increased in size over recent years. However I explained that I had bought bigger size shirt mainly to ensure they were big enough to cover my tum adn that this retiring a I rarely buttoned at the top to wear a tie therefore my shirt size did not reflect my true neck size as an indicator of whatever.

I also mentioned that it was not uncommon although not a daily occurrence for me to go to sleep on the settee after a meal watching television and finding that half an hour, or less had passed by when I woke. Over the previous 24 hours I had seemed about to drop off on the settee but waking instantly gulping for air. This was the difference. My feeling physically tired during the day had been one reason why I had sopped rising at 5 and going for a my swim of 750 metres for a year, reduced to 500 in the last in the two months of the second year before I decided to stop. I was no longer enjoying the experience as I had; I needed to do more with the rest of the day. I had felt fit and psychologically happier with myself apart from the appearance of my body because I had put on weight. There was also the cost factor which led to decision. It was now some three months into the previous lifestyle where I would sometime sleep until later in the day rather than rise at 5, often because I had stayed up until eleven to midnight, occasionally watching a film until 2 am..

The doctor spoke of a condition which I vaguely remember coming across as he said this could aggravate the breathing problems which arise with a cold, otherwise he and not detected a chest infection, I had mentioned that the phlegm was white rather coloured. So had \I experience a panic distress attack. Certainly I felt better in myself being able to talk about what had happened and in fairness to myself I had not requested medical attention but wanted information.

I was asked to visit my GP and report the situation which I did with an appointment on Friday afternoon. I already attended outpatients for a blood test which I have done several times previously for the annual check up, I had intended to arrive eight for the eight thirty start as the waiting area is usually full if you arrive just before 8.30. However I had slept a full eight hours with the usual getting up on the Thursday. I had felt better during the day although I had again not been to bed. I was dislodging phlegm when coughing a my nose had cleared although as the weekend has progressed I continued to have coughing fits and on Saturday evening I appeared to be back to square one for a while which a blocked nose, coughing and burping but not as congested. I went to bed about a half hour after midnight and could only get comfortable almost upright with four pillows and turning on one side. But I manage to sleep with three waking until well after seven and have felt fresh since.

Although I arrived for the Blood test after 8.30 with 28 individuals waiting I was back in my car in about an hour. There is an appointment for a chest x ray on Monday afternoon and I return to see my General Practitioner in two weeks by which time he should have received the information of my visit from the hospital as well as the additional test results. I feel unexpectedly calm about the prognosis and its implications deciding not to speculate in the meantime but concentrate on preparing of any eventuality. One good aspect is that my appetite has become less losing a couple of pounds over the past week so that a break below 17 stone is now in sight again and with the loss of a full stone since getting my head right about three months ago.

2215 Lady Thatcher in old age

2012-01-07T06:12:00.000-08:00

On Friday afternoon January 6th I went to see the second performance showing of The Iron Lady and the Bolden Cineworld. The film was shown in the largest of screen theatres and the audience for the 1.25 showing number around and 50 good for most early afternoon showing but less that for the Kings Speech or Tinker Tailor. I was not surprised at this because there are those on the political centre and left that hate what the woman did during her thirteen year reign as Prime Minister and would not contemplate seeing a film about her life.

In February 2007 (Blog 1008 Feb 2009)) after seeing Thatcher the Musical I mentioned knowing of several senior political figures at national and local level within the Labour Party who admired her ability to get things done, her way, and wished they had a leader of similar strength, ability and popularity. Be Careful what you wish for.

I attended an evening performance of the Musical at the Playhouse Theatre in Newcastle attend by an audience of 200 which mainly comprised students from the two Universities in the town. The auditorium to the main stage was about half full. The musical touched on all the things which many people came to hate her for, including Members of her Cabinet and Party because once she had made up her mind the Lady was not for turning even if the decision quickly proved wrong in terms of the desired outcome.

The show commenced with the quote from St Francis about compromise and healing divisions made before entering number 10 as Prime Minister for the first time and touched all the main issues which continue to be debated, monetarism and the Grocers daughter approach to budgets, her contempt for anyone who became dependent on the state, her attitude towards ideological Trade Union Leaders which I came to share, especially Scargill despite his being right about the end of coal mining in the UK, her approach to Europe and the single currency, her intransigence in Northern Ireland, her success with the Falklands War despite the sinking of the Belgrano as it appeared to be sailing away, her bonding with Ronald Regan and the generally hated Poll Tax together with the venom of former Cabinet Colleagues when they fell out. For me there was one aspect of her approach where her rough justice approach was wrong.

She presided over the destruction of local government autonomy from Central Government over budgetary control in setting local taxation according to the wishes of the local electorate. The Treasury became all powerful nationally and locally. When South Tyneside was first created in 1974 the controlling Mid Tyne Labour group were insistent that the emphasis should be on the provision of public services so they created a small management team which included the heads of Education, Housing and Social Services as well as Finance and Technical Services headed by a Chief Executive. Until that time Legal officers, Personnel Officers and Planners could have expected to have had permanent seats in management teams. It did not last long and soon the shift in power change and the money and their supporters took firm control. It was the job of the political chairman and vice chairman of the Committee to forge good links with their colleagues in control of the finance Committee and for myself and senior management work creatively and constructively with colleagues in the finance department to provide a degree of protection within the straitjacket imposed by central government.

Thatcher led the way to Treasurers taking control to the extent that they became more powerful than Prime Ministers after her, look at the way Brown controlled domestic policy while Tony had to play the international stage and in local government accountants rather than Lawyers became Chief Executives.

It is interesting that while David Cameron has talked the talk about decentralising power the approach of the first two years of the Coalition is to force local authorities to rigidly stick to the decision of no rate increases at the same time as reducing government financial support with the consequence of ruthless reductions in public funded services and their staff irrespective of local needs and circumstances and electoral wishes.

I came into close quarters with senior Tories and with Margaret Thatcher twice when as Minister of Education she came to a Social Service Annual conference and made it plain in private conversations and in her after dinner speech that she believed in self help and welfare being restricted to only those with carefully assessed need. The second occasion was when on a visit to London for a morning meeting I stayed over for a debate in the House of Commons on a child care scandal affecting an authority in the Northern region to which listened to the introductory speeches. The Deputy Labour Chief Whip arranged a seat on the floor of the House for me similar to those of the Civil servants but opposite to them. As I sat alone except when he came to sit with me, my presence appeared to interest the Government front bench and got a visual appraisal from her. I worked out the assumption being made that I was from the local authority under attack whereas in fact I was sympathetic to the criticism.

Lady Thatcher is said to have been influenced my two men, in addition to her father and her husband. Airey Neave who was assassinated by the IRA was a distinguished second world war soldier with the Military Cross and DSO who encouraged her not just to seek the leadership of the Tory but to see herself as Prime Minister and the loss of his wise and supportive counsel was greatly missed especially when she was forced out of office by the then Tory leadership.
In the film there is an important moment when Lady Thatcher challenges the claim they she has become governed by emotions, emphasising that all her life she has been concerned not just with ideas but putting ideas into practice. Her guru in this respect was Sir Keith Joseph who was my dinner guest on one occasion with whom I shared a flat overnight and who was responsible for approving my appointment as a local authority chief officer. When I openly admitted my different political perspective he suggested that I moved from the UK to a Russia, a sentiment which in the film Lady Thatcher also expresses in a different context. I think he understood more of my position when I commented that come the revolution we would both be on list for an early firing squad.

However while the film does refer as flashbacks to all controversial policies which marked her Premiership, The Iron Lady is not primarily about politics but about what happens when we get old, particularly those who have held positions of power or of public attention.

The film does cover the truths of political life at the top and that most colleagues belong to other political parties with as Churchill advised one newcomer to Parliament your enemies sit all around you. There is also the price to be paid in terms of partner and children. Denis, her husband played by Jim Broadbent, I suspect more as Jim Broadbent than Denis, complains that her ambition relegated him to an appendage. Yet the main focus of the film is inability of Lady Thatcher to accept the death of her husband allegedly keeping his clothing and possession for seven years or so in place before being persuaded to part with them and constantly having conversations with him as if he was with her long after his death. When her daughter arranges an earlier than planned visit to the Consultant Thatcher is defiant that she is not having hallucinations and afterwards tells Denis how she successfully dealt with examination although shortly afterwards she spends the night putting his clothes and possessions into bin bags for passing on to charity.

Michael Portillo on attending a private showing of the film last year commented on this Week that she had been shocked about how old she is presented. She was born in 1925 with HM Queen Elizabeth born in 1926. Yet the film also showed the difference between the elderly who are not cared for and those who are able to have their hair professionally attended and if female continue to sue make up. The film opens with Lady Thatcher going out alone early one morning to the local corner shop for milk and a paper and returning to tell Denis that the price of milk is now 46 pence a pint. The world around her is presented as alien to her but this is a misunderstanding as the film itself points out that when challenged by colleagues that she was out of touch because of the unfairness of the Poll Tax in practice, she is able to quote the price Lurpack and other makes of butter and challenges her male colleagues to do likewise. When meeting one of several comments about being a grocer’s daughter, she commented back that that she had had an Oxford Honours degree (second class in Chemistry).

The film is therefore primarily about how we perceive ourselves and our lives in old age and how others perceive us. For many they will see Lady Thatcher not as the old woman she is but as the ruthless Prime Minister she once was riding roughshod over the views of anyone and everyone who did not share her point of view and perspective. The acting in the film is superb and there will be no justice if Meryl Streep is not awarded the Oscar. I have not seen many films in theatre this season but it is the film of he year to date although the Artist which will be shown later in January is said set to be Oscar Winner along with the War Horse which has no appeal to me. I have reached the stage where a film has to appeal as well as appear to be of quality before I will venture to the theatre.

2214 Young Morse in a challenging week

2012-01-06T10:29:00.000-08:00

This week has so far proved a challenging experience commencing with a common cough cold, spending the night being tested at the General Hospital, thought my washing machine had broken down discovering two programmes about the character Morse and one about its actor creator John Thaw, watched on TV the two local Premiers Clubs have brilliant wins, together with a number of films and listening to excerpts of the most the most popular 300 classical work on Classic FM radio formed by amalgamating all the annual public voted lists at Easter for the past sixteen or so years. There were some surprising results and I was able to name a choral work of sublime beauty, heard previously but never identified.

The washing machine problem is the easiest to write about as only a change of fuse in the wall plug was required. Did not panic and was only delay from commencing the weekly wash by a few minutes.

I will only briefly mention a programme recorded on Sunday evening about the life and work of John Thaw, the actor who played the City of Oxford named Detective Morse created by Ted Dexter and which proved to be a great joy, but I will delay writing in depth having ordered an inexpensive biography and also a book written by his second wife about their relationship. John was married to former contemporary drama student at RADA and she admitted they had married too young. He maintained contact with their daughter and this continued when he married his second wife, the actress Sheila Hancock, who had become a widow with a daughter who he adopted. The couple had a daughter themselves and one of the joys of recent times was to experience a programme in which two former wives and their three daughters spoke with such loving affection as well as disarming honesty about someone who continued to have a positive impact on their lives. John was very fortunate to have enjoyed relationships and the company with five remarkable women who will be as much the subject of my writing when additional information becomes available information becomes available.

The only other aspect which I will mention now is that I did not approve of the role which brought him and Denis Waterman International fame as two “act first and talk latter” detectives in the Sweeney (1975 to 1978) although by then he had appeared in five other TV series, made half a dozen films for television, appeared in nine films and nine stage plays including one with Laurence Olivier in 1962. I disliked this form of policing portrayed in the Sweeney in part because had been brought up with viewing the police through the eyes of Jack Warner who filled cinema theatres with his performance as George Dixon of Dock Green in the Blue Lamp and which led to the TV series Dixon of Dock Green in which he ended each episode with “Goodnight All” portraying the ideal community orientated police officer which politicians extol today. The character was very different from Morse who had been an undergraduate at an Oxford College for two years, drove a classic Jaguar car, listened to grand opera day and night, supped pints of real ale and had read widely.

The series came to an end after 13 years because the author of the original novels decided enough was enough and Morse dies. There was a follow up series in which his assistant Lewis was promoted to Inspector and he was joined by a young man who had graduated from Oxford but was also something of a loner. He comes close to a relationship several times but there is always a development which prevented normal progress.

I had mixed feelings about the decision to create a successor series with Lewis but the combination of the seeing the city of Oxford where I lived in five locations in five years and the inclusion of another serious, sensitive and educated man as the Assistant to Lewis meant that by the second series I came to appreciate the work for what it was.

It was only during Monday afternoon that I discovered there was to be a two hour drama to mark the 25 years since the first episode of Morse was aired. It would feature a young Morse arriving to work in Oxford for the first time. There was an excellent article in the Guardian previewing the event although the majority of respondents were horrified at the prospect. I therefore watched more from curiosity than expectation. I was impressed and moved, and the one off ticked all my boxes and wrote to the Guardian expressing the hope that if my reaction was shared ITV would commission a series.

Shaun Evans looks younger than his 32 years and his performance was uncannily a young Morse working as a detective constable in a concrete town who is drafted with colleagues to help the city who were looking for a 15 year old school girl who had gone missing at weekend. He and another colleague are assigned to the city team directly engaged in the search and he is asked to circulate flyers on a door to door search to find out anyone has any sighing of the young woman.

We are introduced to the sights, the atmosphere of academic Oxford and to his love of Opera. We are aware from a scene when he takes lodgings that he had an adult relationship which ended unhappily for him. He also believes from studying the available reports that the missing girl possessed a number of poetry books was of interest and this is reinforced when he visits the household and finds that the books are expensive editions. He also finds crosswords cut from the local paper used as book marks but with only one word completed. This latter aspect is not immediately drawn to the attention of viewers but I noted the clue without appreciating the significance.
Morse concludes from the completed entries that the crossword is being used to arrange assignations in places around Oxford at a time on the Saturday evenings. His theory is ridiculed by the sergeant assistant to the Inspector until the body is found at the destination of the last crossword. His enquiries lead him to speak once more to the close friend of the dead girl at the school, and visit the garage where her boyfriend works without progress being made.

Before the body is found he is asked to investigate the apparent suicide of a student on the banks of the Isis a tributary of the river Thames and this brings him to his former college where he meets up with a former fellow student, now a Don, and on his way to becoming a Professor. He was attempting to visit the young man’s Tutor and on learning that the man is not in college goes to his home where he finds that the wife is a former international Opera soloist whose work continues to mean much to him. When the husband returns he appears shocked at the news, but mentions that the student had been a falling off work over the previous six months. At that point there appeared to be no connection between the missing and now confirmed murdered girl and the student who committed suicide.

We have previously been advised that the girl had been scheduled to go out with a friend from school that refused to answer questions about their relationship and movements and we were alerted that this girl appeared to hang around a garage dealer of Jaguar Cars. The famous Red Jaguar driven by Morse is sitting as a new model on the forecourt and the Detective Inspective also uses a Jaguar which young Morse drives when asked bring in the Inspector one morning because the Detective Sergeant is late in supposedly sick. Thus young Morse acquires his interest in the Jaguar car.

(Morse has also visited the lodgings of the dead student and discovered he shared these with another student from Australia who had also mentioned the change in the behaviour of the deceased over the previous six months).

Once the body of the girl is found the Detective Inspector then takes Morse with him rather than his Sergeant to the mortuary where the pathologist reveals that there had been no sexual interference but the girl had a pregnancy expertly terminated (indicating money and influence) and the Detective Inspector asks Morse to Interview again the friends of the girl at school and also the Local Newspaper who published the crosswords. That there was no sexual interference is a clue because the girl was naked with her clothes around her.

It is necessary to turn a blind eye that young Morse is being asked to undertake inquiries on his own that would have been undertaken by Morse senior, either on his own or with his sergeant present, although in fairness in Lewis the sergeant is given a more independent role than Lewis was given by Morse. Morse at this point is only a Detective constable however.

It is therefore Morse who undertakes the task of visiting the Oxford Mail and asking the editor about the author of the weekly crossword written under the name of OZ. The Editor is played by one of the daughters of John Thaw and comments to the young man that his face is familiar to her. She cannot give the address as the crosswords have been submitted voluntarily and anonymously, arriving by post each week, except for the past week when they were delivered by hand by a young man and unfortunately the person who had seen him was away on holiday. However Morse remembers from one of his visits to see the tutor of the deceased student an artefact with reference to a classical phrase or person, I cannot remember which, under the name of Oz and therefore visits the Tutor again to confront him with the discovery of the relationship between the crosswords and murder. Morse was a noted crossword addict throughout the TV series so this aspect also has resonance.

The tutor admits that he is the author of the crosswords and that he had a relationship with the girl. This came about when he and the former contemporary of Morse at the college were debating the possibility of working class young people being able to enter Oxford if given the right opportunity. The two men had seen the girl at some function and made a bet that the Tutor could not get her into the university Pygmalion/My Fair Lady Style. It was this aspect of the story which struck a chord with me because those of us who attended Ruskin College and Platter Hall as colleges of further education passing an approved Oxford University Diploma were eligible if our examination and tutorial records were good enough to be given up to three interviews at an Oxford College and if approved by a college would be invited to enrol as an undergraduate on a bursary for an honours degree, taken over three years but only required to undertake the second Public examination as the first examination which included a paper in Latin would be bypassed because of the Diploma qualification.

While admitting that he had commenced a relationship with the girl he explained that he had prepared the crossword for positing in the usual way which he had handed to his wife. He had gone to the meeting place arranged for six and waited but the girl had not arrived. It emerged that the girl had a relationship with the deceased student until six months ago when with the relationship with the tutor she had broken the one with the student account for his change in behaviour. It also emerged that the wife had forgotten to post the letter and had given it to the student to take into Oxford for them when he had come to the house for a tutorial. Moreover the crossword which the paper had published was that intended for the following week suggesting it had been removed from the the author had prepared in advance as was his custom. It appeared to be an open and shut case that the student had arranged to meet the girl, murdered her and then taken his own life.

There was another aspect the story which emerged from the interviews with the closest friend of the dead girl. This girl continued to be uncooperative but another girl at the school approaches Morse to say that she was the close friend until the now murdered girl had taken up with a trio of girls who were boy crazy. The unhelpful girl eventually admits that she, the murdered girl and other friends had been invited to a party held at a country house, but the murdered girl had left early to meet someone. The girls at “the parties” are organised by the owner of Jaguar car dealer. The attempt by the Detective Inspector and Morse to get cooperation from the Car dealer is thwarted as he refers to Masonry and influential friends including the head of the detectives. The investigation is further thwarted when they visit the County House where the “party” was held and they are confronted by a government security officer who tells them firmly to lay off this aspect of the case. The story is set at the time of Christine Keeler affair of girls provided at a country house Party at home of Lord Astor at which she met War Minister John Profumo who denied in Parliament having an affair with the girl who also an affair with a senior diplomat at the Russian Embassy and a West Indian Drug trafficker.

The Inspector and Morse get a similar reception when they go to see a well known local criminal who has escaped justice because of influential friends in the past and who appears to be the organiser of the parties. The episode had opened with the party and that an evident influential figure departs immediately for London the girl , subsequently murdered is reported missing.

The outcome of the attempts to block inquiries is that the Inspector makes another visit to the Garage owner, asks Morse to go to the car to collect his tobacco and then when Morse returns the garage owner has been beaten up and is giving two large packets from the contents of the safe. Morse strongly disagrees with the tactics being used. Later Morse is summoned to see the Chief of Detectives; Morse had noticed that the girl in a photo on the desk is that of the close friend and party goer of the murdered girl. The girl cooperates with information on the understanding her father is not told. Now Morse is asked to give evidence against the Inspector but refuses and told to return to his normal duties at his home station. Morse hands in his resignation.

Morse is also upset because his case that the killer was the Tutor has been shot down when a member of the public comes forward to say that he saw a girl wearing the dress shown in photos at bus stop very early in the morning on the road by the woods where her body was found. The time of death had previously put in the evening

On arriving in Oxford Morse was teetotal but under the influence of the Inspector he had commenced to drink beer, now he become intoxicated and goes to visit the former opera singer to say goodbye and to get her to autograph a long play record. He makes a pass which she politely side steps emphasising the love for her husband.

Although leaving he had continued to mull over the case and that the dress found next to the body of the girl appeared smaller than her natural size. He went to phone in his thinking about the dress when it also struck him what had been written on the arm of the dead girl. They had first thought it was the partial number of a vehicle and then a partial address but inquiries had proved negative. Now he realised it was a telephone number although incomplete. He had someone at the party had given the reference to girl.

Back at the office the resignation had been handed back. The Inspector had shown the head of detectives the photo of his daughter naked at the last party. The head of detectives and the Sergeant are also implicated in turning blind eye to the parties, corruption and other criminality through their Masonry association.

The plot thickens as they say. The car dealer is half beaten to death by the older sister of the dead girl. It is revealed that the sister was in fact the girl’s mother who had become pregnant when she a school girl and she had left home and her daughter brought up by the grand parents as their own. The father was the car dealer. He survives the attack but in a vegetable state.

Morse tracks down that the telephone belonged to the London home of an Oxford Member of Parliament and Government Minister but when the Inspector and Morse visit he denies any involvement and throws them out. Later the same security man who had warned them off when they visited the party venue visits the Minister and gives him an ultimatum to resign or commit suicide on instruction from the Prime Minister Harold (Wilson).

Morse had then checked the clothing retailers in the City to try and find out who had bought the undersize dress for the dead girl and his finding shocks and distresses him although why is not immediately revealed. I had guessed the situation already.

The former opera singer is giving a concert for charity at the Oxford Playhouse, attended by her husband sitting in a box and Morse had enquired and been told that tickets had been sold out long before. Now he and the Inspector visit the theatre to arrest the woman for a double murder, that of the girl and that of the student she attempted to frame.

The student and the girl had become lovers but the relationship had ended when she was taken up by the tutors and their experiment bet to do a Pygmalion /My Fair Lady. His wife had realised her husband was then having an affair with the girl. She had first replaced the crossword for the week with the one for the following week which had a different place. The girl had first gone to the party, met the Minister and accepted the telephone number and then gone to meet the tutor. However it was the wife who had turned up and strangled the girl. The following morning she had met the student who was in fact her lover and killed him making it look like suicide. She had stayed at the bus stop near where body of th girl lay the following morning was wearing an identical copy of the dress found by the body of the girl and a wig having removed the original outfit which she later burned along with second dress and the wig. She had stood at the bus stop until she was sure she been seen by a passer by before returning home. She commits suicide in police custody. Morse agrees to withdraw his resignation and take up the offer of a move to the City with the promise of help for accelerated promotion.

While there are moments of questionable credibility the strength of the characterisation of Young Morse is such that I remain impressed and hope there will be a series. In fact this point is made in the Guardian on line during the day and Wikipedia that the commissioning of a series as a no brainer having attracted the second largest number of viewers for the holiday weekend at over six and a half million

I end here to have lunch go and see the film about the life of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

2213 The Dance The Black Swan, Street Dance and Burlesque

2012-01-02T03:06:00.000-08:00

I have watched a number of films over the season most of which were disappointing and did not engage as I had hoped for, I decided against going to see the Black Swan when it was released because the theme did not appeal to me. Given the attention to the performance of Natalie Portman who won the 2011 Best Actress Performance I decided to view when the film was recently premiered on Sky. It was not a good experience and I wonder who would appreciate the film but have to admit it is reported to have been made for $14 million and grossed over $300m.

It was branded as a psychological thriller. The psychological is accurate but there are no thrills just an accumulating and depressing darkness. I like the story and the music of Swan Lake although watching others dance has rarely engaged, Flamenco does and also Irish dancing is small doses. I first heard the music at a Promenade Concert and bought the record. I have seen productions of the ballet on TV including from the Royal Opera House. Although my mother took me to experience Opera as a boy she took a cousin to see Swan Lake.

It is essential to know the story of the Ballet as although the film about professional dancers preparing to dance in a new version of the Ballet at a main ballet company/House in New York they are also assigned roles of some of those in the story of the Ballet.

The Prince (Siegfried) has been ordered to marry by his parents and produce an heir situation but he is a romantic and believes in ongoing passionate love. He is also a typical aristo who has been raised to kill animals for sport and in this instance he and his cronies go off to shoot some Swans. He comes across a swan with a crown and is intrigued and then as night falls the Swan is discovered to be a beautiful Princess Odette who is the subject of an evil spell by the Sorcerer Von Rothbart who is represented by a bird, usually in black.

The Prince and the Swan Queen stay together all night but she returns to being a swan with her companions by day. The Prince can break the spell by declaring his love for her and for no other which he declares and invites her to attend the Ball which his mother has arranged for him to choose a bride. Odette then explains that should he chose another she will be doomed.

The Sorcerer understands this and attends the ball with his daughter both in disguise, his daughter in the form of Odette. The Prince is delighted and declares his love for her with the consequence that the real Odette who arrives late can only witness the deception at a distance. She returns to the Lake to die and the Prince realising the deception ends his life with her. The climax of the Ballet is for the two lovers to ascend to heaven.

The central plot of the film as such has Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers who wishes to become the new Principal ballerina in company and play the role of the Swan Queen in the next production after the enforced retirement of the current principle (Winona Ryder) in her role of the Dying Swan.

Nina lives with her mother Barbara Herschey in her role as Erica the dominating Queen. Erica was also a lead dancer with ambitions but at 28 she was seduced giving birth to Nina who she wants to succeed where she failed. While professional ballet dancers enjoy sex in real life it is true that few if any leading females can continue once they have given birth. The issue of keeping their figures, guarding what they eat and have a different lifestyle from others including contemporary street dancers is one aspect of the second dance movie experienced over the season, Street Dance, made as a vehicle for 3D and shown by the BBC on their HD channel on New Years Day.

In the instance of the Black Swan Nina is portrayed as a sexual innocent because of her mother’s experience and attitudes. The company’s artistic Director hits on the idea of having the same Ballerina playing the White and Black Swans in the ballet and while he chooses Nina he berates her because of her natural inability to project herself as the bad swan because of her sexual inexperience. In this respect he prefers her rival for the position of Principal Dancer Mila Kunis as Lily, The Black Swan who puts it about as they say and in this respect willingly offers herself to the Artistic Director in the effort to get the title and new role.

Although the film appears to concern the narrow lives of those engaged professionally in ballet dancing it can also be argued that the main story is about the relationship between Nina and her mother, the guilt the daughter is made to feel about “ruining the life of her mother” her drive for perfection and to be better than her mother and the extent of the obsession which leads to self abuse. In such situations whole some parents live their lives through the success of their offspring, as sports personalities or performing artists following their careers first hand attending every performance, sometimes acting as managers their is also jealous at their success and proprietoral control which prevents and at times obstructs a child leading separate lives with a partner.

The Director of the film complicates what could have become an ingenious switching between the day to day lives of the cast and their roles in the Ballet by also incorporating a story about understudies and doppelgangers as in the Dostoyevsky’s work- The Double. He had also achieved success with his film The Wrestler, which I avoided because professional Wrestling is a skilful but joke activity which like professional boxing also has significant criminal involvements. The Wrestler also involved an in depth examination of the life of a professional needing athleticism and a high level of body self control.

In the Black Swan Beth, the former lead is incensed by the decision to offer Nina the new role is seriously injured in a car accident which the Director believes was a genuine suicide attempt (The dying Swan).

Nina becomes intimately friendly with Lily suggesting the development of a Lesbian relationship which the artistic director approves if this releases the passion in her which he know Lily possesses but who lacks the technical precision of her rival, part of the paradox that can one become the best of the best at whatever but find it difficult to lead a conventional normal life with partner, children, extended family network, participating also in local, regional and national community life, and vice versa.

Because Nina appears to have commenced a relationship with a male admirer, her relationship with Lily cools but one evening Lily arrives and suggests a girl’s night out which she agrees against the wishes of her mother. Later Lily returns with Nina and the two spend the night together. During the evening Lily appears to have slipped Nina a capsule so she oversleeps and is late for rehearsal and arrives to find Lily dancing her role as the official understudy. She accuses Lily of plotting and betrayal but Lily explains that she was out on her own clubbing and spent the night with a man she had met. Nina appears to have made up the whole situation in her mind, which is not the first time her day and night dreams, fears and fantasies have become merged.

The first night approaches with her mother increasingly concerned at the behaviour of her daughter saying that the pressures of the role have become too great and suggesting she drops out. They fight and mother appears to have successfully restrained her daughter contacting the company to say her daughter is ill. Nina however escapes and presents herself at the theatre. The performances goes well but Nina has a hallucination and falls from a lift so that as the second act commences Nina finds that Lily has been instructed to play the Black Swan and is transformed physically into herself. The two fight. A mirror is shattered and Nina kills Lily with a shard of glass. She therefore performs the part of the Black Swan and transmogrifying into a creature with wings playing the role with great passion and acclaim startling the artistic director with a passionate kiss. Previously he had attempted to kiss her and she had bit his mouth drawing blood.

Lily arrives to congratulate Nina and then Nina realises she has experienced another hallucination except the mirror is shattered and she has stabbed herself. She completes the third act and in doing so sees her mother in the theatre weeping with joy and pride. She throws herself of the cliff understage onto a mattress to thunderous applause. When the cast go to congratulate her they find her dying covered in blood whispering Perfect, it was Perfect.

Street Dance also has a fine actor Charlotte Rampling as the artistic director/Principal of a ballet school in the UK anxious to get its most promising students into positions in the leading national company. She seizes on the opportunity to give the dancers the edge when she encounters a street dance crew seeking rehearsal space and insists they combine with her lead dancers after an accident where the crew unintentional damage a wall and cannot afford to pay the damage. There is an ongoing story line of the simplest kind unlike Fame for example where there was a serious attempt to say something of the lives of the students and staff and which led to the international Kids from Fame tour. Here the story is that the crew are at the point of breakup because the lead male dancer and the female lead dancer (Carly) and choreographer have parted because he says he needs time out of the relationship. In fact he has joined a rival crew preparing for the world street dance competition.

The idea of Ballet dancers and street dancers combining into one group is presented in the film as a clash of class and cultures. There is some truth in this in that ballet dancers are traditionally children of the middle class whose parents can afford the cost of training while street dance is said to have grown up out of disco dancing and the culture of the workingclass/underclass disaffected. While it is also true that those attending dance schools can concentrate on classical or contemporary dancing the training is as concentrated, professional and costly and those who can afford and are willing to devote the time usually undertake both classes. In their annual biannual production in theatre dance schools will present a mixed programme with some dancers appearing in both forms of dance routines.

The drive behind the film has been the success of individual and group street dancing in Britain’s Got Talent with George Samson the winner of the competition in the year that Susan Boyle came second and the two street dance crews of Diversity and Flawless appearing with one taking the title subsequently. This has proved an inspiration to youngsters and dance schools around the country with one impact being a flow of new students seeking to learn contemporary dance rather than the classical. This is highlighted in the film in which Samson plays the role of the school delivery boy and puts in a star performances at the world champions to everyone’s surprise and Diversity and Flawless who play group champions.
The Street crew also have ordinary and exciting lives whereas the classical dancers are closeted and boring. The street crews eat fast food spend the weekend clubbing and having passionate relationships.

The purpose of the film is to demonstrate that Dance is Dance and that great dancing requires concentration, dedication and discipline, that great dance requires creative choreography and that dancers can also have fun.

The storyline is that the two sets of dancers are hostile to each other and scathing at the techniques and lifestyles. The classical come to appreciate the skill of the contemporary and to enjoy life attending the Nottinghill Carnival and a disco club, while the street crew leader (Carly) is taken by the school Principal to see Swan Lake and is moved by the final scene in particular, What she does and this is not seen until the performance of the group at the World Championships which is a combination of classical with part of the final Swan Lake scene incorporated together with balletic lifts and somersaults and the raw and in your face energy of the street. To add tension the group is nearly divided when the audition for the ballet company and the world championships are held on the same day with overlapping times. Carly meets her former lover and they bed again without her knowing he is dancing for rivals. Needless to add the classical dancers get the jobs and the combined group win the championships. Charlotte Rampling who faces opposition from trainer Eleanor Bron and her boss has reservations but comes round to complete the picture.

The film is an effective use of 3D which is an ideal medium for relaying artistic events as well as sport with the BBC showing Come Dancing finale in 3D and Sky featuring Ballet, Contemporary and Irish Dancing.

It is anticipated that street dancing will form a an important part of the opening ceremony at the Olympic games much to the disgust of the Morris Dancers who are said not to have been included and threaten to perform a mass flash dance in one of the open areas around the stadium. There is also to be a second film released during the year with one observer noting that Flawless were filmed in Trafalgar Square in July so I would not be surprised if the film is about groups competing to perform at the Olympic games opening ceremony.

The third film which involves Dance is also contrasting, Burlesque stars Cher and Christina Aguilera and her performance of a number from the film and DVD record the USA Pop Idol or X Factor series caused uproar because it was presented to an audience with children and young people as enthusiastic as adults. On the scale of stripping acts Burlesque is considered the most acceptable. At one end are the strip clubs of the kind which feature in the Sopranos where the girls engage in sex as the main business purpose in side rooms. Burlesque is the oldest form of stripping with origins in the music Hall and the famous fan dance and even perhaps the Dance of the Seven Veils. The shows are usually raunchy and full of dancing and singing although usually the vocal is mimed. The show ends with its star stripping nude although through the clever use of fans and props nipples and crotch are never displayed for public view.

The Windmill Theatre was created just off Piccadilly Circus as a music hall in 1930 with Comedians Singers and variety acts but lost money because its small size. There was once a Windmill in Great Windmill Street in Soho which I came to know well in the late fifties and early sixties because of the Cy Laurie Jazz club which I would visit on weekends mixing with the ladies of the night rather than the girls from the show in a cafe which served hot meat sandwiches as my evening meal when visiting straight after work. The breakthrough came when Van Damm the production manager inspired by the Moulin Rouge and the Follies Beregere persuaded its owner, Mrs Henderson, to persuade the Lord Chamberlain and censor for the London stage to agree to the nude tableaux in which the girls were not allowed to move. The musical Hall and cinema was based on morning to evening non stop shows so an individual could pay their entrance fee and stay for the day. At the Windmill men would climb over seats to get the close views as those first in went home. The show continued throughout World War II under the slogan we Never Closed which was modified to we Never Clothed and at my all male Independent school some boys boasted of having got into to see the show by the time they reached the fifth form, along with circulating copies of Health and Efficiency and National Geographical Magazine which were available at the barbers along with condoms. Harry Seacombe, Peter Sellers, Bruce Forsythe and Tommy Cooper all cut their comic teeth at the Windmill and stage door Johnnies came from all walks of life.

The theatre closed in the mid sixties as with the relaxation of censorship Strip clubs became licensed in which women took off all their clothes performing masturbatory sexual acts where the only rule was do not touch (unless invited). By the early seventies most cities and many pubs featured strips usually around Sunday lunch time or associated with sporting events usually home football matches. Nudity movement was also permitted with the show Hair which I saw and reflected the drug culture as much as the new sexuality. Raymond’s Revue Bar attempted to continue the tradition of the Paris show and the Windmill became a Cabaret Club run by Raymond’s daughter. The all day pay once stripping continued in Wardour Street with the Sunset Strip which has survived to this day moving up market with the development of Pole Dancing clubs, which have proliferated some charging huge fees for champagne and other drinks and where there are significant charges for individual girls to perform for individuals and groups. There have been four films about the Windmill with Mrs Henderson presents the most well known with Judy Dench and Mrs Henderson and Bob Hoskins as van Damm. Will Young also appeared? Pauline Collins appeared in Secrets of the Windmill Girl in an earlier production.

In the USA the Burlesque stripper was created with Gypsy Rose Lee and the Minsky Brothers and went through the similar phases as in the UK with topless and lap dancing to full nudity and sexual exposure. It was in the 1990’s that saw a revival of the Burlesque in the USA with the Pusycat Dolls group starting as Burlesque dancers. I was therefore interested to see what a film with Cher and Aguilera would cover or to be precise uncover when shown on Prime Time Sky Premier. The film is clever by presenting the club as primarily a vehicle of serious but raunchy dancing rather than nudity and sex. Cher is the theatre artistic creator and part owner rather than performer although she is known for her outrageous and scanty costuming as much as for her first class acting With the International singer Aguilera as the main star and Burlesque performer it is not surprising that the twist is that she is a singer dancer who cannot get a professional job after packing in her work in a bar in small town USA for Los Angeles. There are other plot points with the main one the attempt of Cher to hold onto the theatre despite the covetous attentions of a property developer and Aguilera becoming involved in a love triangle involving Jack from the club and the developer.

Aguilera commences as an unpaid waitress and gets her chance as a dancer when one of the girls becomes engaged and then pregnant much to the annoyance of another girl. When this girl later appears drunk Aguilera is told to take her place as the lead and the girl retaliates by cutting off the sound. As customers are about to leave Aguilera shows she can sing having failed to persuade her boss of this beforehand. As she is a great success and the place has standing room her future appears certain but not that of the club. However she is persuaded by Jack’s former fiancée that their relationship is still on after Christina has slept with Jack and at this point she accepts the attentions of the property developer but finding out his plan she reveals this to her boss and together they find a way to thwart his intentions and to raise sufficient money to keep the club going for Burlesque entertainment. It is only with the finale that there is the fan dance and full stripping but with the key points covered! The film is one for Cher and Aguilera fans.

2212 New Year Blues 2012

2012-01-01T03:52:00.000-08:00

It is the early hours of 2012 and I cannot sleep from congested chest and lots of wind and difficulties breathing naturally. At such moments I tend to panic fearing the worse although in truth I have never been a good patient I tried to go to bed and sleep but was uncomfortable so have risen. I usually experience what is usually no more than the symptoms of the common cold a year although on one occasion my temperature zoomed up adding to the alarm,

Because my father was over sixty years of age when I was born it is over one hundred and fifty years since the birth of my grandfather and I have only to live another seven years for this also to apply to my maternal grandfather.

I have been gathering information on all those who died through war, including civil wars, during this period having found only one year when there was no armed conflict. Yet more have died from the great floods and earthquakes, the mass starvations and the pandemics which occurred with similar regularity. And yet the population of the world manages to increase by thousands of millions compared to the hundreds of millions who prematurely perished. So what is one life and what value my preoccupation with recording the events experienced? I have only reached half way in my end of life 101 contemporary art project.

Earlier this week there was the first theoretical sighting of Higgs bosun particle in Switzerland in the same week that the original particle collider at Chicago closed down. One of my correspondents reminds on a weekly basis through his general email newsletter of the potential significance of the Mayan Calendar ending in 12.12. My concern is more for 2013 when a new cycle of sunspot activity is scheduled to occur.

2013 is going to be an extraordinary year but I am not clear how far the 10000 troops on the streets of London will help celebrate the Queen’s triumphant barge led flotilla of a thousands ships along the Thames river, the Olympic Games, England winning the European Football Cup and a Scottish lad winning a grand Slam or Olympic Medal at Wimbledon, or indeed both; Or will they be there to protect from a police strike, an attempted right wing coup to break the coalition, or from the frustrations of escalating unemployment, loss of homes and diminishing living standards here or the wrath and vengeance of our enemies afar? The Iraq War Inquiry report will be published along with Leveson part I.

If Cameron is forced into a successful leave the EU referendum I am tempted to think that as the Queen’s children and Grandchildren travel the globe they may ponder on the wisdom of returning home but then conclude where else is stable and safe? If I win the European Lottery I will offer to establish a new political party in the North East for a referendum that we should be governed from Edinburgh and Brussels rather than London and Washington DC. At least we would have a chance of winning the Premier League and enter the Euro competitions!

I suspect that the main conflict will be over which spectacle Queen V Olympics proves best! The Olympic Torch will pass through South Shields but in addition to the school children given time off to cheer I wonder if the crowd will exceed the 20000 who crammed into our show park on a hot July Sunday this year for the free concert of X Factor and Pop to Opera Star Joe McEldery performing in his home town, and although only two of this year’s foursome winners, Little Mix, also come from the town I would not be surprised if their home town concert proved an even greater attraction especially as the Council is allowing the sale of alcohol next summer.

Despite the so called double dip recession Tyne and Wearsiders’ know how to party and I attended one of the four 50000 Take That concerts in Sunderland, albeit only because I was given a ticket. There were several remarkable aspects of that event in an audience predominantly female and drunkish and were per head expenditure appeared to be of the order of £100 including ticket there was no trouble in or out of the ground, everyone appeared to have a marvellous time and I got home quicker from my street parking spot than from a match. There were over 100 additional stewards in and out of the ground. The crew who created the spectacular multi million pound staging stayed at the local Marriott where until October I had risen for over a year for a six am 750 meter four times a week swim. They clocked up a bill of over £100000 for their stay with Take That staying separately at Seaham Hall. There were few hotel and guest house beds available in the area for the ten of thousands who travelled from all over the UK and beyond. The expenditure bonanza did not all go into the local economy with the lads each pocketing at least £1 million each per location.

Nor would one gain the impression of widespread poverty from visits to the local Supermarkets where we have Morison’s part way down my Hill, Asda in the town centre and Tesco on the way out to the AIM, plus similar size stores in Jarrow, Hebburn and Bolden, with the 7th at Seaburn all within half a dozen miles and a Borough population of 150000. Nor is it all gloom on the jobs front with a BT 400 new jobs centre recently opened on the Tyne edge by the ferry landing and work well under way on the eight lane 25 metre, plus leisure pool, 80 fitness station, plus dance studio plus rooftop restaurant centre conveniently overlooking the mouth the Tyne at the bottom of my hill for opening in 2013.

It would be foolish to suggest that the local economy is not suffering more than elsewhere given the all round loss of public sector jobs and the local night clubs closed or opening only for one night a week although the prize winning fish and chippy has doubled its restaurant area and prices, and seems busy whatever the time of year and weather and a second gourmet establishment has joined the 100 other eateries all within a mile of the bottom of the hill and I have a folder with leaflets from nearly 100 take away and home delivery meal offers although in the majority of instances while the addresses remain the same the names have changed two to four times.

I was allocated Olympic games tickets in the first public ballot but alas for two days of football at Wembley. I managed to book Travel Lodge accommodation for a five night stay at three times less than the present advertised prices and where one Lodge where I have stayed in Summer for £9 a night is offering rooms at £400. I also was able to book the train travel a year ahead for just over £30 return. My £40 Wembley tickets and which include a quarter final cost £16 with a free London Travel ticket included. One of the few joys of old age. The ability to watch 40 days of Country Cricket for £100 plus parking and petrol costs extra is another joy with visits to Lords and the Oval to look forward to in April as Surrey and Middlesex have returned to the first division. The Aussi’s also come to the Emirates for a one day in July. This year I enjoyed a visit to watch Durham play Lancashire at Liverpool but enjoyed less their defeat at Trent Bridge. The civilized County Cricket fraternity are a declining global minority although I also enjoy the 20 20 game.

I have given up on sitting cold and unhappy at Premiership football and decided against the Wimbledon Ballot with centre Court tickets £100 a time preferring the comfort of watching events in large screen TV 2HD and 3D or even larger screen relayed Opera, Ballet, drama, concerts and sports at the local Cineworld and nearby Odeon although the Bolden 25 as we are on average did not appreciate Philip Glass’s Satyagrapha set to verses of the Gita.

Another form of masochistic self indulgence is to be one of the few outsiders who has watched every session and read every transcript the Home Affairs, Culture and Media, House of Lords and Joint Lords and Commons inquiries into the news media, Investigative Journalism and the law of Privacy as well as glued to Leveson 3 to 4 days a week plus reading the submissions and transcripts. Did Cameron really know what he was doing when appointing the remarkable Lord Justice? If the Tories replaced Cameron with Mrs May and boy George with Ken Clark the coalition would become invincible despite the impressive rise of Ed although he needs to show the same courage against Murdoch by replacing his shadow Chancellor with David.

Alas the shrill Ms Cooper must go too. Growing up getting off the trolley bus at Reeves Corner Croydon and having relatives in that area I returned to see the damage and hear first hand accounts of the rioting in August. In fairness the police did protect the main town centre but everyone in the area including the admirable commander at Sutton seemed to know what was going to happen hours beforehand. Mrs May was terrific putting Hugh Orde and ACPO in their place. Ms Cooper has got it wrong about the police and on the immigration fiasco too.

Is it really 50 years since I spent a summer working for the Family Service Unit in Salford and drank tea from jam jars with water boiled on furniture fires before checking that the pill had been taken that day at the Lee Crescent Birmingham Family residential unit the following Easter. It is good that the idea of providing intensive family care and having one individual represent the family in relation to all the agencies and officialdom has caught on once more.

It is therefore difficult to forecast the kind of year it is going to be for the majority although I was impressed by the firework display in London and the crowd roared their appreciation with fervour I have not witnessed before. There appears to be a genuine sense of excitement and a party mood which augurs well for the year

I did not put on too much weight over the Christmas visit just over one pound and I have quickly got bad into my pattern of food and with the cold have less of an appetite. I enjoyed a half pound of sprats cooked in batter and breadcrumbs for lunch and then had a platter of cold meats with some salad beans, red cabbage, tomatoes and small beetroots. However I think the solid food contributes to the congestion and wind. I had started the defrost of a medium size chicken and smoked salmon before the chest congestion and wind problem developed so I may limit to just the chicken breast finely chopped and the salmon if the problem persists. When purchasing the sprats I noted a whole fresh salmon for £31 although I prefer the tinned and the smoked, I has also planned to drinka bottle of Asti tomorrow but will postpone if there is need to continue to take the medication. There is Sunderland at home to leaders Man City on Sky in the afternoon. I had recommenced to organise my store of completed volumes in cupboard in the box room on the second floor but there was no will to day because of the indisposition.

I have a backlog of films to report as well as the experience of 3D TV in a home environment but for the moment I will mention some of other highlights which have struck me over the past week. I have recorded the best 50 moments in the Harry Potter film series on ITV this afternoon which is just as well as I fell asleep when watching the final hour. The best 50 was a show originally shown in his summer and the Christmas 2011 edition was an update to include all the films. At the moment I cannot find the list although I have discovered the extent of fan sites and interests that has developed over the years. I have watched much music compared to my normal practice of listening to music and watching films, sport, news etc on TV. I was not impressed with the Pink Funhouse show which like that of Kylie 2011 is remarkable and expensively staged. I have appreciated the vocal range and artistry of Pink before but this time she excelled herself with an aerial display to circus standards in which she continued to sing while water dripped of her. I have been an Alyson Moyet fan since the days of Kazoo. She seems to have lost a lot of weight over years and she was recognisable in her gig at the Prince’s Trust Rock concert. The revelation was Joss Stone. I was not impressed with her performance at the Diana Memorial Concert which I saw live but will view on the video sometime or by the other appearances I have seen over the years. Yet I was knocked out by that at the Prince Trust. She has raw power with conviction which reminds of Janis Joplin. Westlife, the Irish band were conventional in their 02 show but the top spot goes to a DVD of the Take That Concert tour, filmed in Manchester. The new Year end and the morning were accompanied by the Jools Holland End of the Year extravaganza with the usual plethora of Stars. Most impressive was Cindy Lauper with Girl’s Gotta have fun. I also enjoyed Imelda May a swinger and Ruby Turner a Blues lady. Sandi Shaw and Buddy Greco had individual numbers to remind of times past. It is not the show James Morrison and Caro Emeraldo from Holland is a night club songstress. The band the Vaccines did nothing for me. Jessi J is the one of the finds for 2011 and Betty Wright is a soul singer form the USA who showed she can give the youngster a lap or two. I was not impressed by Aloe Blacc anther visitor from the USA although a jazzy country group whose name I am yet to remember was OK. Henry Blowfield dressed loud and drank a lot at the same table with Joe Brand who stole the show with the resolution for 1012 to Shoot Jeremy Clarkson, or watch his family shoot him.

A footnote is that I complete a run of 2000 games of Hearts still going at 99.9 percentage on over 6000 game but still behind the 10000 consecutives undertake a decade ago. There was also the second highest total a Luxor Mahjong but still unable to break the 18 million points barriers.

2211 Victorian and 1920's gentry

2011-12-31T15:03:00.000-08:00

A feature of television at Christmas is a congestion of times past for the landed gentry who live in fine country houses and this year was no exception with Emma and Mansfield Park, a Downton Abbey Christmas special and from Time to Time. I also include the Dickens Great Expectations.

I have been less of a Jane Austin fan than the Bronte sisters as her portrayals of the superficiality between the landed gentry leave me cold. Mansfield Park and Emma is the same story told with different principal characters in the sense that a man and a woman become close friends over a period of time and only later appreciate that they also wish to become adult lovers and because they are friends there is confidence that their love could be long lasting if not happy ever after.

I have not read Emma the 1815 comedy of manners among the genteel of Georgian Regency England and therefore have been guided by others about the authenticity and effectiveness of the 1996 version with Gwyneth Paltrow in the title role and Ewan McGregor and Greta Scacchi among the cast. A year before there had been a USA set version called Clueless and last year an India film called Aisha. The television productions have been more faithful to the original intentions with versions in 1948, a six part BBC serial in 1960 with another in 1972 and a four part version in 2009. In the same year as the Paltrow the BBC produced a single session film with Kate Beckinsale which should be the one to compare. By coincidence this film featured on ITV in the afternoon so my decision to watch the second part of the Harry Potter finale and then write about the series proved justified in more ways than I had anticipated. The Americans, NBC and CBS have produced three TV versions in addition and there have been seven stage productions, including three musical versions.

Emma is an intelligent young women stuck in a world where she has too little to do other than gossip and match make about which she no talent. She is only twenty one so allowances are made for her youthful silliness.

I am not sure if we learn when her mother died but with the marriages of her sister and her governess she lives alone in the country house with her father who leads his own life and therefore leaves Emma (Woodhouse) to enjoy the country walks, the picnics and dancing with her permitted circle of contemporaries. She enjoys the company of her father’s friend George Knightly unmarried and in his late thirties whose younger brother has married Emma’s older sister. They have five young children and prefer nuclear family life but indulges his wife’s enthusiasm for vacations and visitations. Something which she shares with her young sister who one predicts will follow in similar fashion.

Having decided that she is a good match maker Emma sets her sights on finding a husband for her friend Harriet Smith who is illegitimate, and raised locally and not part of the set until introduced by Emma. When a local farmer and his sister take an interest in Harriet, Emma does all she can to prevent a relationship developing and insists that the girl rejects the offer of marriage from Robert Martin and friendship of his sister because she believes the girl could do so much better.

She targets the new young Vicar Philip Elton but he first sets his sights on Emma and when Emma rejects him, he quickly marries another young woman from out of town called Augusta because of her income of £10000 a year. The woman but lacks the genteel qualities of her new circle and is written as pretentious and boastful and likes to have her own way. She struck me as very suitable for her husband who in the tradition of the Church of England is an ambitious man with only the trappings of Christianity lacking religious sincerity.
There are two other principal characters. The first Frank Churchill, the son by his previous marriage of Mr Weston who has married Emma’s governess of sixteen years and who acted as a substitute mother to Emma, exercising good influence but limited to having been a servant in the household. Frank has taken the name of the husband of Mr Weston’s sister who raised the boy has their own after the premature death of his mother. He was raised in Richmond in Yorkshire but becomes an immediate hit when he visits except for George who becomes jealous when Frank sets his sights on Emma. He appears to be good in his judgement when Frank returns briefly to London for the purpose of getting a haircut.

The other principal character is Jane Fairfax who has been raised by her grandmother and a spinster aunt to be a spirited and sensible young woman of musical and social talents but because she is without fortune to make an appropriate marriage she appears destined to become a governess. She and Frank Churchill became acquainted while holiday in Dorset and where he executed a rescue of the young woman when out on a boat trip which ended in heavy winds and high seas.

Frank arranges a dance at the local Inn at which Mr Elton declines to dance with Harriet Smith who has to sit and watch the others enjoys themselves. Mr Knightley steps in. When Emma and Harriet are walking to her home one day they are accosted by gypsies in one version for their purses and by begging children in another. Harriet who falls to the ground is rescued by Frank Churchill and Emma gets her wires crossed and believes the girl has become infatuated with Frank who appears to be taking an interest in her when in fact she is taken with George Knightley.

There is a strawberry picking tea party at the home of Mr Knightly who owns the great house and estate in the areas. Mrs Elton says he should have asked her to organise the event but he puts her down saying that this will be the responsibility of his wife when he finds her but he remains in control until he does. I was struck by the volume of perfect strawberries on show in the British film version which does not reflect the size of the beds in the kitchen garden where they picks those they plan to take home.

There is a significant difference between the two films in the scale of the picnic to Box Hill which remains an important visitor attraction to this day and which I visited as a child in an extended family outing by bus. I revisited a few years ago and it is possible to park the car at the top of the Hill In the British version film the party includes footman, cooks and maids in their uniforms who transport screens and comfortable chairs as well as setting a table with a full buffet style meal displayed. The Paltrow version the picnic is modest by comparison.

This is a pivotal event because Emma humiliates the spinster aunt of Miss Fairfax and is severely reprimanded by George who is disgusted and disappointed her behaviour and she is suitable chastened and remorseful. However the crunch event is when the news arrives that with the death of his aunt, Frank Churchill has announced that he and Miss Fairfax are engaged. They were secretly engaged after meeting during the Dorset holiday but could not disclose further because of the anticipated disapproval of the aunt. With her death the relationship can be acknowledged. Because Mr Knightly had made his carriage available to Miss Fairfax her grand mother and aunt for a musical evening, Emma had thought he was interested in the young woman at one point and that it was George who had provided the sister with a piano for Miss Fairfax who is considered an excellent pianist and singer could play. In fact it was Frank Churchill who arranged the delivery on his supposed mission for a haircut in London. George returns home and visits Emma as soon as he learns of Frank’s deception. The scene leads the two disclosing their long term affection for each other. Meanwhile Harriet had regained contact with the farmer Martin and his sisters and they are also to be married. The film ends with a joint wedding.

Apart from her attractive facial features and body it is difficult to see what George sees in Emma It can be argued that at least Emma does not spend all her time seeking a partner or pursuing a fortune. However she must be condemned for the attachment to class and belief in her superiority over others. She contributes nothing to humanity. Miss Paltrow is excellent without a trace of an American accent and I preferred her version to that of Kate Beckinsale. Mark String is excellent as Knightly and Bernard Hepton as Emma’s father in the latter.

While the basic story of Mansfield Park is the same there is much more substance to the characters with an awareness of the true nature of slavery and the lives of the majority. Fanny Price is the second eldest of nine children whose father spends his time drinking and in an opium haze after being pensioned on half pay as a naval Lieutenant because of disability. While Fanny’s mother has accepted her fate she plots a better life for her daughter and arranges with one of her two sisters that Fanny should be raised at Mansfield Park where their other sister has married the owner. Like Fanny’s mother Lady Bartram (Lindsay Duncan) has retreated from life into her role as a dutiful housewife and it is the third sister, a widow and former wife of the Church of England vicar who comes to greet Fanny some two hours after she has been dropped off at the main entrance of the Mansfield Park in the early hours after the long coach ride from Portsmouth.

Fanny is to be brought up in the main household with four first cousins. The eldest when an adult accompanies his father on a visit to their wealth making plantation in Antigua. The elder brother disapproves of the use of slaves and as drawn the stark reality much to the horror and disgust of his father. He returns early from the trip and then is brought home from London by drinking friends when his money runs out. He is then struck down with fever and nearly dies.

Meanwhile the second son who has been a close companion of Fanny since she arrived in the household has been betrothed to someone appropriate according to his parents. She is Mary Crawford who when the older brother takes ill contemplates the advantages that his death will mean that that her future husband becomes the heir and inherits the estate. She is similar to Mrs Elton in several ways. She has a brother who appears intelligent and superficially charming and at first takes an interest in one of the two daughters of Sir Thomas and Lady Bartram. He also reminds of Frank Churchill. This ends the relationship.

Maria is the eldest daughter of the Bartram’s who is pursued by Mr Rushworth who has £12000 a year but who is also a boring young man. She prefers the brother of Mary Crawford who something of a romantic womaniser. She runs off with Crawford soon after her marriage, gains a divorce but Crawford fails to marry her.

Julia is the youngest daughter who also fancies Crawford but is pursued by Tom Yates, a drinking partner of the eldest son. He and Julia run off together.

For a time Henry Crawford also took an interest in Fanny which Sir Thomas considers to be a good match. Fanny is not interested and when Sir Thomas gives her an ultimatum of marriage or return to her family she chooses the latter. In the novel she is between eighteen and nineteen years. She is pursued by Crawford when she returns to Portsmouth who in the film pays a young man to bring an entertainment of fireworks and a host of white doves to outside her home. When he befriends the family and appears to accept their comparatively low lifestyle Fanny warms to him and briefly consents to a marriage which she quickly withdraws. He goes off in a huff and quickly transfers his affections.

With the two daughters away from home and Lady Bartram wrapped him in her own world it is Edmund who is sent by Sir Thomas to ask Fanny to return when Tom becomes dangerously ill and it is she who nurses the older son much to the gratitude of Sir Thomas and Edmund.

The essential difference between Fanny and Emma and Edmund and Mr Knightly is that neither are natural social creatures preferring to spend their time reading and in good conversation. Fortunately for both they come to realise their adult affection as well as teenage friendship and shared interests. Before leaving home Fanny had developed a close relationship with a younger sister who shows some of the same qualities as her older sister. Their friendship is renewed when she returns home and in due course she joins Fanny and her husband at the Park.

According to my research there is a significant difference between character of Fanny in the original text and the film. There is acceptance of slavery and their family lifestyle in the book which is made into an issue in the film. In the book Fanny is shy and timid where as in the film she is single minded and self confident. She is physical weak and often tired in the text but an extrovert and outspoken in the film What the film version also attempts to do is to suggest that Mansfield Park is autobiographical Jane Austin in that Fanny spends a great deal of time writing from childhood and using scare family funds for paper when she returns home.

In the book she finds Crawford’s attention unwelcome and far from returning for as a punishment goes to escape his attentions. There are various other changes some work but others distort to an extent to arouse hostility from fans of the writer. I like the film version.

And now for something of a very different- A 2011 three part adaptation of Charles Dickens Great Expectations. In my view there had been nothing until now to compare with 1946 film which has John Mills as Pip the young man and Alec Guiness as his friend Pocket. Jean Simmons played Estella the younger and Valerie Hobson as Miss Haversham with Finlay Curry and Bernard Miles also featuring.

In the present BBC production Ray Winston as one of his better roles as Abel Magwitch and David Suchet is Jaggers. The story has become well known as a consequence of the films and TV production although the original text merits the reading. I possess a family edition in the Heron Great Works series but I must confess not to have read but I am placing with the other volumes for reading during 2012. We encounter Pip as a young boy in the care of his married elder sister who husband Joe a blacksmith treats the child as his own.

The various films and series all open with the Pip encountering an escaped convict in chains, Abel Magwitch and he frightens Pip into getting a tool to release him from his enchainment. Pip also brings the man a slice of home made pie. Pip also encounters a man with a scar on his face who is another escapee. Magwitch is captured with the file and pie and the authorities assume that the file has been stolen from the forge which is returned causing great concern to the sister but Joe appears more understanding the situation and Magwitch is struck by their kindness in leaving him the food. The event is pivotal to the story as is the next development.

Pip has an uncle who delivers supplies by trade including to the local great house where the lady of the house is looking for a local young boy to keep her adopted daughter company. Pip is suggested and while his sister sees this as a great opportunity for family advancement her husband is unsure. Pip enjoys the visits despite the strangeness of Miss Haversham, a comparatively young woman who lives as a recluse where the dinning room is laid out for a wedding breakfast from years before. The young adopted girl Estella is unkind to Pip who she regards as inferior until an event which changes their relationship. Relatives of Miss Haversham call with their son but are refused access to Miss Haversham. They are incensed when the find Pip is allowed into the house and upper floors. He is told to immediately leave by Miss Haversham who cannot cope with his visit because of the situation and when he leaves he encountered the son of the visitors who behaves like Estella, the daughter towards Pip but in this instance Pip defends himself and strikes the young man down. This delights Estella because he has made something happen.

When sometime later Pip and his step father are summoned to Hall the sister believes they are going to be rewarded and made up. However Miss Haversham has a different idea and offers to pay for Pip to be indentured as an apprentice Blacksmith. She arrange the formal document with the help of the family layer Jaggers who is another character who is play a key role in the story.

While they are at the Hall the sister humiliates the hired help at the forge and he batters her to near death so she is rendered into a vegetable state for the rest of her life. The hired help makes it plain to Pip that he is answerable to him rather than directly through his step father. Having been given a taste of the life of genteel classes Pip is disappointed by his fate.

Seven years later Pip, now a young man, is summoned back to the Hall and introduced to Estelle now a beautiful young woman who is about to go to Paris to a finishing school before going into society in London to have her pick of eligible young men for marriage. Estelle tells Pip never to come back to the House again although there is an evident attraction between the two. Because Pip has completed his apprenticeship Joe tells the hired help his services are no longer required because the Forge cannot sustain three adult workers. This further antagonises the help who determines to get his revenge.

There is then an event which is to shape Pip’s destiny. Jaggers arrives to say that a secret benefactor wishes to enable Pip to have the life of a gentleman in London society. He will be given a weekly allowance which he will collect once a week from the Solicitor and then if he follows his instructions and guidance he will inherit a fortune when he comes of age (twenty one years). He can make no enquiries about his benefactor but Pip immediately assumes this is Miss Haversham and that the intention is that he should become the partner for Estella. He visits the Hall and the lady says nothing to dissuade him from the notion although she does not confirm his assumption. Pip sets off for London in new clothes acquired with money given by Jaggers to set himself up on arrival.

In the second episode Pip is provided with a guide for becoming a gentleman in the form of Herbert Pocket who Harry encountered at the Hall as the obnoxious relative of Estella. He is a much changed individual in having sacrificed his income and inheritance for life with the young woman he loves. He has to find work in order to marry and for this he needs some capital but in he meantime he is undertaking services for Jaggers which includes helping to become a gentleman. While his influence is positive and he acts responsibly, Pip in his anxiety to be able to impress Miss Haversham and Estella begins to spend way above his means thus gaining the disapproval of Jaggers. The first casualty is his relationship with his step father who has to visit after months of not hearing anything. Joe realises that Pip has become ashamed of his former life and is pretending that he has always been a gentleman.

Pip explains to Pocket his love for Estella and then finds that his friend far from being impressed is alarmed. Pocket explains that Miss Haversham was jilted by her fiancée who turned out to be an adventuring con artist disappearing after she has settled some money on him. Pip ignores the advice to have nothing more to do with mother and daughter and accepts an invitation to return to the Hall to find that Estella has returned from Paris and Miss Haversham wants him to accompany his adopted daughter to London for the social season and finding a husband. Pip thinks that this is an invitation for him to begin a relationship with Estella.

Pip has become a self centred waster of his fortune incurring great debts in anticipation of the fortune he expects to inherit from Miss Haversham. When his sister dies he visits briefly just for the service as there is a dance to attend with Estella that evening.

One day at the office of Jaggers he arrives early and meets one of the other gentlemen looked after by the lawyer. This man is a member of the landed gentry and quickly establishes a relationship with Pip who does not realise that Bentley Drummle is using him and soon admits his disregard for someone without a proper background. He first learns the reality when is taken to an upper class brothel. He tries to warn Drummle off taking an interest in Estella when the two meet at a Ball. Pip remains convinced that his affection is reciprocate after he and Estella have shared a kiss although she later dismisses this as using him to gain practice as was the purpose of the original invitation to Haversham Hall all those years before. When she announces that she is to marry Drummle she explains to Pip she has a cold heart and has been brought up to bring unhappiness to men. This was the aim of her upbringing; taking revenge on men for what happened to her adopted mother.

There is one good streak left in Pip that he arranges a career for his friend Pocket with the help of Jaggers Chief Clerk, promising to pay the balance of fee required of £500. As a consequence Pocket is able to marry and the wedding is a cause for celebration.

Pip then discovers the truth that it was Magwitch who is the benefactor when the man comes to his room with a vast quantity of money, his inheritance. He is horrified believing that the funds are the proceeds of crime. He refuses the inheritance and with the allowance stopped his debtors mount their demands. He goes to see Miss Haversham and persuades her to give him the funds required to pay off the debt incurred in securing a career for Pocket, He agrees never to return and Miss Haversham finding that Estella is returning all her unintentionally sets fire to her self as she burns the letters.

Pip has discovered the truth about Estella and Magwitch. Magwitch was married and his wife was wronged by an individual who in fact is the man who wronged Miss Haversham. His wife had attacked the man giving him a scar and he is also the individual who has escaped from prison with Magwitch. He had not been caught and had made a good living for himself in London society as a gambler. Magwitch had taken the blame for his wife’s action in order to save her and his daughter from transportation to the prisons of Australia. Magwitch believed his child and wife had since died and he had made his fortune from sheep at the end of his sentence. Although he was a free man and the money honestly earned there was a stipulation that he should never return to London on pain of the gallows. Pip discovers the maid servant of Jaggers is the former wife of Magwitch and that their daughter is Estella given to Miss Haversham.

Pip with the help of Pocket before he and his wife leave England to take up a posting abroad with his firm and Wemmick the Chief Clerk Pip helps to hide Magwitch who now has a price on his head placed by the man who wronged Haversham’s and Magwitch’s. The plan is for Magwitch to return to Australia, taking ship once he has left the waters of Thames within the London boundary. However in London Pip is being followed by the former assistant to his step father, the man who effectively murdered his sister. His first intention is to kill Pip but he then learns of the connection between Pip and Magwitch and claims the reward once he had obtained the details of the plan. Pip plans to accompany Magwitch to Australia but the plan is thwarted when instead of reaching the London barrier bell they find their adversary with the authorities waiting. In the fight that follows the enemy dies but Magwitch is injured, captured and taken to prison to await the hangman’s nose. He dies from his injuries before with Pip telling him that his daughter lived and became a beautiful young woman and that she will be loved for ever by Pip.

Back in his room he is attacked by the step father’s former assistant who reveals that he also severely injured the sister. Pip manages to overcome the man who off screen is then taken into custody.

When Pip confronting Miss Haversham her dress catches fire and she dies from her injuries. Pip returns to the home of his step father and apologises for his behaviour. In the film when returning from his job as an estate manager or clerk of some king he meets his uncle who says he is no longer on hard times because Estella has returned to the Hall a widow. Earlier we learn that he husband died from a riding accident for which she thanks his horse! He returns to Hall for a reunion.

Dickens had two endings for his work. In the first the two meet in the a street in London, admitting that because of the suffering experienced during her marriage she had learned to undo the cold heart created by her adopted mother. The final edition of the published work they meet in the ruins of the Hall. However there is to be no life happy ever after for them. They meet and they part as friend but at peace which each other and the world.

I had also hoped to write about Time to Time a 2009 British film which is an adaptation of the Children’s novel The Chimney of Green Knowe. I saw the opening on the morning of my Christmas trip but left for lunch and the return journey hoping to see the rest on the ITV player. Alas it is not included. A thirteen year old boy is sent to the care of his Grandmother at the family country house when his father is declared missing in action during World War II and his mother determines to go to London to try and find news and establish a new life for herself and her son if he does not return. The family have been estranged because his father had married someone who was not approved and Vice Versa.

The film had Maggie Smith as the grand mother and also Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey which is not surprising given that they are both cast into key roles in the series by the Director of the film Julian Fellows who created Downton Abbey. The boy encounters ghosts when exploring the house and finding his way blocked by a wall to the wing previously destroyed by fire. The grandmother is matter of fact about the ghosts and the boys is able to travel into past times thus earning the family history and its secrets.

There was a two hour Christmas special at Downton Abbey in which some issues are resolved while others are left open for the next series.

The main developments are that the truth about why Lady Mary is marrying Sir Richard Carlyle comes to the attention of her father who although disappointed tells her not to marry and that he and the family will support her, suggesting that she goes to stay with a relative in the USA and find someone to love and marry there. She also tells the truth the Matthew who under pressure from his mother and the Dowager comes to terms with his guilt about the death of his fiancée and is therefore able to start afresh with Mary, despite the threat from Carlisle that he will expose the family and its scandals.

The second nice development is that Daisy, the kitchen maid eventually goes to see her husband’s father at his farm. He explains that William was not an only child but that all his brothers and a sister had died so after childbirth as had his wife. Daisy is still wracked with the guilt of having married William on his death bed when she did not love him. She visits after cook plays around with a Weegee board used to communicate with the dead and pretends it is William telling her to visit his father. She accepts that she was regarded as special by William and the offer of the father to treat her as a daughter. More and more she has become more than a kitchen maid and is encouraged by a visitor to the household to leave and better herself. The father in law advises her to tell of her complaint to cook and ask to be promoted to an assistant. The cooks is agreeable to this subject to the funds being available.`

The third nice development is that the youngest daughter who married the Irish revolutionary chauffer Branson has become pregnant and the Earl agrees to invite the couple to stay at the Abbey.

However there is no such good news for Sir Robert’s former valet who was taken off to prison accused of the murder of his wife. He is convicted and sentenced to death. Sir Robert uses his connection to have the sentences commuted to life and then promises to continue work to establish a miscarriage of justice. Mrs Bates has planned to leave the Abbey and go to London because of the publicity anticipate as part of the threat from Carlyle. With the reprieve she withdraws her resignation.

The manipulating Thomas is thwarted in his effort to become his Lordship’s Valet to replace Bates and under the continuing influence of O’Brien kidnaps Sir Robert’s dog and locks him a woodland shed aiming to find the animal and get into the good books. The plan misfires and he is unable to get to the animal when the search is called off because of other developments. When he goes out in the morning he finds the shed opened and animal not there. He falls and in a dishevelled state returns to find his Lordship out walking with the animal which was found by a couple of villagers who had claimed the reward. However his Lordship is impressed that Thomas had gone out looking and had had come to some grief in the effort thus signalling that he may well get his wish to function as the valet until the future of Bates is settled.

The events are set at Christmas with the traditional shoot on Boxing Day. This is an event still taking place in country house to this day. The Duke of Edinburgh had organised and planned to lead the Boxing Day family shoot at Sandringham until his was hospitalised for an operation to relieve a blocked artery.

2210 Harry Potter series and final films

2011-12-29T09:21:00.000-08:00

Millions of young people around the world now aged in their early twenties have grown up with three fictitious characters and their cinematic portrayers, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Rupert Grint as Ron Wesley and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger the creations of J K Rowing in the multi billion dollar seven book eight film fantasy series Harry Potter.

Because of my devotion to the Lord of Rings and the Hobbitt in book and film and for other reasons I decided against reading the books when published or seeing most of the films in theatre where there were released.

The books are all titled Harry Potter and: - the Philosopher’s Stone, -the Chamber of Secrets, -the Prisoner of Azkaban, -the Goblet of Fire, -the Order of the Pheonix, -the Half Blood Prince and the Deathly Hallows which was then made into a film in two parts. A total of 450 million copies of the books have been sold and translated into 67 languages. The films have made over $8 billion with merchandising bringing the total to $15 billion. While the series was given a special award at the last Academy Ceremony none have been awarded an Oscar although there have been a number of nominations.

While each book and film can be viewed as a self contained adventure there is an overall grand design and story which begins to unfold and then gathers momentum into the finale when many questions are answered including whether Harry Potter lives or dies. The final book is depressingly dark throughout with none of the humour and simple adventuring of the beginnings.

The world according to J K Rowling is divided between Muggles, that is you and me, and the witches and wizards and their world which including Goblins, Elves and miscellaneous creatures. The central location throughout every book is Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland which children of magical parents are sent to be trained in the arts of spells and potions each with a wand and super natural abilities.

We are introduced to Harry Potter as an orphan being raised by his uncle and aunt. Harry finds himself on his way to Hogwarts on a train which leaves from Kings Cross London on secret platform which can be entered through a pillar between platforms nine and ten. For the last film we are shown the completed St Pancras International station as King’s Cross is undergoing a major transformation in time for the Olympic Games.

At the school he encounters a gentle half giant Reubus Hagrid played by Robbie Coltrane who tells Harry that he is a wizard in the making and that his parents were murdered by an evil wizard called Lord Voldemort. Lord Voldemort is played by Ralph Fiennes. A feature of the films is that a number of actors play the same role throughout. Harry also finds that he is regarded as special by the Principal and other staff because when he was one year of age Lord Voldemort tried to kill the child but his killing curse had the effect of changing him into an effective weakling. This is a major clue to understanding the overall story and the ending.

The school is divided into four Houses with Harry making friends with two other pupils of the same House Griffindorf, the brilliant rational Hermione and the loyal Ron. From the outset a fellow pupil in another House Slytherin- Draco Malfoy, is a rival and plots Harry’s downfall at every opportunity. He appears to be supported by Severus Snape played by Alan Rickman who is one of the Professors responsible for spells and incantations. The School’s Principal was played by Richard Harris until his death before the filming of the third film and after that by Michael Gabon.

Maggie Smith is Minvea McGongall as a Harry Protector and school champion also appears in very film. Some who have roles in certain films but also appear in the final episode as staff members are Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney, Miriam Margolyes, Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent. Zoe Wannamaker, Kenneth Branagh also feature in the early films.

In addition to some 30 school pupils who have speaking parts of substance there are other groups of participants who include some of the best British actors of recent times. The Order of the Pheonix founded by Dumbledore to fight Voldemort has Julie Walters as Ron’s mother and Gary Oldman as Sirus Black with Adrian Rawlins playing Harry’s father and Geraldine Somerville as his mother, David Thewlis as Remus Lupin appears in several films together with Brendon Gleeson and Jim McManus.

Lord Voldemort when he returns to claim his destiny has his crew of Death Eaters with Draco’s father Lucius played by Jason Isaacs and Timothy Small as Peter Pettigrew. Helena Bonham Carter has a key role in the final films as Bellatrix Lestrange while David Tennant appears in one film.

There are a host of characters at the Ministry of Magic with Robert Hardy, Bill Nighy and Imelda Staunton having key roles and where Percy Weasley, played by Chris Rankin has several appearances. Richard Griffiths plays Harry’s foster father and Pam Ferris has a role as his wife. Among the foreign wizards and witches is Francis de la Tour playing Olympe Maxime and Dawn French is a Fat Lady Muggle with John Cleese in a couple of early films along with Rik Mayall and Leslie Phillips. John Hurt has an important role at the end and is also there at the beginning while Miranda Richardson and Julie Christie make appearance. Lenny Henry plays a creature but the final accolade goes to Toby Jones as the Elf Dobby.
In the second film Harry has to prove himself the heir to Salazar Slytherin the founder of the Chamber of Secrets in which in finds himself imprisoned for a time. In the third episode Sirius Black escapes from prison and Harry learns something of the role the man had in his life with the help of Professor Lupon in his staff role as Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. These three films form the introduction with the main action commencing in the Goblets of Fire with the re-emergence of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

From the outset Harry and then Ron play roles in school game of Quiddich which is a competition played above ground using broom sticks to catch a flying object (A Snitch) and score goals. Harry and friends attend the World Championship at which the Death Eaters make their unwelcome appearance.

Three European Wizard schools then arrive at Hogwarts with their Champions chosen by the Goblet of Fire in a TriWizard Tournament with Harry chosen to represent Hogwarts. The tasks required in the competition can involve the loss of life and this brings Harry into his first encounter with the Dark Lord.

It is with the fifth book/film that we learn of the Order of Pheonix, a secret Order for the protection of Hogwarts and Harry and against the return of Voldemort. The Ministry of Magic is in Chaos because they cannot accept that Lord Voldemort has returned with his Death Eaters and Dementors. Their power and attacks on the worlds of magic and muggles intensifies and the Principal accompanied by Harry persuades his old friend and colleague Horace Slughorn to return. As the various forces line up Draco Malfoy is persuaded to attempt to poison the principal and Harry learns more of his past and relationships when he discovers the textbook inscribed as the Property of the Half Blood Prince.
The Principal and the old friend devote their attention to way to destroy Lord Voldemort.

As the series has progresses Harry finds several ways to learn about his past and the future. The most disturbing is that he appears to have direct contact with the Voldemort and therefore learns something of what he is planning and vice versus but the sessions, depending on their length also appear to drain Harry and place him under the control of his adversary. The principal characters are no longer children so there is romance but surprisingly not between Harry and Hermione despite their close and common purpose and endeavours with at times Rom something of a hanger on. However it is Ron who falls for Heroine and she appears to have a love hate relationship with him while Harry‘s interests are elsewhere.

This is all by way of introduction to the final books made into two films which I viewed as a Christmas new release on Sky Premier yesterday recorded while I was away and then Part 2 on the Sky Box office this morning on payment of £3.49.

In the sixth book professor Dumbledoor was killed by Severus Snape who then becomes head of the school. Harry entered Hogwarts aged 11 and this should be his seventh year but he has been told that the protection from the Dark Lord when staying at his Uncle and Aunt will end on his forthcoming birthday and that he must move to another location where he can be protected. A potion is used which can turn people into the character of choice for a short period so that all his friends who are members of the Order of the Pheonix now including Ron and Hermione partake and then go off by diverse means in pairs with one appearing to be Harry. They are soon attacked because of an unknown spy in the camp and George Weasley is wounded but they reach the refuge and Harry is safe.
Unable to return to the school the trio decide to concentrate on the task which Dumbledore and his old friend had commenced: to find the way to destroy Voldemort. They know that he has hidden parts of his soul in objects called Horcruxes, which contribute to his purpose of becoming immortal. They isolate themselves to ensure their friends and families' safety. They have little knowledge about the remaining Horcruxes except the possibility that two are objects once belonging to Hogwarts founders Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and a third may be Nagini, Voldemort's snake familiar. The whereabouts of the two founders' objects is unknown, and Nagini is presumed to be with Voldemort.

As they search for the Horcruxes, the trio learn more about Dumbledore's past and the existence of a brother. Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour are married, but the wedding is disrupted by the news that Voldemort has taken over the Ministry of Magic.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione flee into London and to 12 Grimmauld Place, where they learn from Kreacher the whereabouts of Salazar Slytherin's locket. They successfully recover this Horcrux by infiltrating the Ministry of Magic and stealing it from Dolores Umbridge. This is a great adventure.

They are unable to destroy the locket which exerts an evil influence over the carrier reminding of the power of the Ring in the Lord of the Rings. During one spell of carrying Ron becomes concerned about what he sees as a growing intimacy between Harry and Hermione. She has with her a small bag which contains a depth of objects including the ability create a protective tent for nightly stopovers while they try to work out the location of the second Horcrux and the means to destroy the locket. Ron goes off in a huff calling on Hermione to give up the quest and follow him. She is tempted but her loyalty is not just to Harry but to the purpose of the quest.

Harry and Hermione travel to Godric's Hollow, Harry's birthplace and the place where his parents died. They meet the elderly magical historian Bathilda Bagshot, who turns out to be Nagini in disguise and attacks them. They escape into the Forest of Dean, where a mysterious silver doe leads Harry to the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, one of the few objects able to destroy Horcruxes, lying at the bottom of an icy lake. When Harry attempts to recover the sword from the pool, the horcrux attempts to kill him. Ron reappears, saving Harry and using the sword to destroy the locket.

Hermione is angry with him for leaving and for the casual manner of his return although he explains he was led to them by the Deluminator, a gift left to him by Dumbledore in his Will so he comments that the Professor must have known there would be need. Dumbledore has given Hermione a book whose value is to be determined and to Harry the original Golden Snitch which he caught in his first game at Hogwarts which has an inscription which is yet to be understood. He has also bequeathed the sword which was lost and which technically was not his to give.

Resuming their search, the trio repeatedly encounter a strange symbol that an eccentric wizard named Xenophilius Lovegood tells them represents the mythical Deathly Hallows. The Hallows are three sacred objects: the Resurrection Stone, with the power to summon the dead to the living world; the Elder Wand, an unbeatable wand; and an infallible Invisibility Cloak. Harry learns that Voldemort is seeking the Elder Wand, but is unaware of the other Hallows and their significance. (Harry used an invisibility Cloak in an earlier episode).

The trio are captured and taken to Malfoy Manor, where Bellatrix Lestrange tortures Hermione. Harry and Ron are thrown in the cellar, where they find Luna Lovegood, Ollivander, Dean Thomas, and Griphook. They escape to Shell Cottage (Bill and Fleur's house) with Dobby's help, the Elf but at the cost of his life. The Elf is buried in the sand dunes surrounding the refuge. The first part ends with that Voldemort breaking into Dumbledore’s tomb and taking the Elder Wand which he uses on the sky signalling that he is now in command

The second film opens with the same sequence and then Harry determines that the must break into the vault of Bellatrix where the second foundation Horcrux is thought to be held. Hermione uses the shape shifting potion to appear as Bellatrix and they taken along the Goblin Griphook. The vault is in the bowels of earth involving a dangerous helter-skelter ride and although they enter the vault they encounter a problem as everything they touch multiplies exponentially. Griphook tries to turn the tables when exchanging the Horcrux for the sword but the trio manage to escape on the back of a dragon similar to a prehistoric flying creature

They return to Hogwarts and oust Severus Snape. Ron and Hermione go to the Chamber of Secrets and destroy what had been hoped was the remaining Horcrux. However they have worked out there is another Horcrux after Harry has confronted the spirit Rowena Ravenclaw and this is a diadem in the Room of Requirement. Malfoy and two others attempt to foil Harry who is rescued by Ron and Hermione but then find themselves engulfed in the flames of a fiend. They only escape using broomsticks, with Harry deciding to rescue Malfoy. Ron makes one of the few jokes that he will kill Harry if they rescuing their adversary. The remaining Horcrux is destroyed leaving just the snake familiar.

The Death Eaters and Voldemort besiege Hogwarts, while Harry, Ron, Hermione, their allies, and various magical creatures defend the school. Several major characters are killed in the first wave of the battle, including Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, and Fred Weasley. Voldemort has pleased with the school to give up Harry or be killed.

Voldemort then kills Severus Snape because he believes doing so will make him the Elder Wand's true master. Harry finds him dying a uses a utensil to capture the tears of Severus who urges Harry to use them to discover the truth about the overall story and its outcome by consulting one of he devices which has enabled Harry to see back as well as to the future.

There are two revelations which astound Harry and turn everything on its head. The first is while Harry’s father was not the hero that been assumed it was Severus who had adored Harry’s mother and attempted to save and then Harry. He had been a double agent throughout pretending to be on the side of the Dark Lord as a means of guarding Harry and had done this with the full knowledge of Dumbledore.

It was Dumbledore with only a year to live who had asked Snape top kill him as a means of saving the soul of Draco who throughout had acted under the influence of his parents who were servants of Voldemort.

However the main and most challenging revelation is that when Voldemort had attacked the one year old Harry he had made the boy into a Horcrux which means that Harry had first kill the snake and then let Voldemort kill him so the dark Lord would be destroyed by his own hands. This presents Harry with his greatest test.

After using the Resurrection Stone to bring back his deceased loved ones for a short while and to ask them about the moment of death and to be with him as he surrenders himself to death at Voldemort's hand. Voldemort casts the Killing Curse at him, sending Harry to a limbo-like state between life and death. There, Dumbledore explains that when Voldemort used Harry's blood to regain his full strength, it protected Harry from Voldemort harming him; the Horcrux inside Harry has been destroyed, and Harry can return to his body despite being hit by the Killing Curse. Dumbledore also explains that Harry became the true master of the Deathly Hallows by facing Death, not by seeking to avoid or conquer it.

Harry returns to his body, feigning death, and Voldemort marches victorious into the castle with his body. However, he shows that he is still alive while Neville Longbottom kills Nagini, the last horcrux, with the Sword of Gryffindor. The battle resumes, and Bellatrix Lestrange is killed by Molly Weasley.

Harry and Voldemort engage in a final climactic duel. Harry reveals that because he willingly sacrificed himself to death by Voldemort's hand, his act of love would protect the Wizarding community from Voldemort in the same way the sacrifice Harry's mother made protected Harry. Harry also reveals that Snape was never loyal to Voldemort and did not murder Dumbledore Voldemort, who murdered Snape, was never the master of the Elder Wand. Draco was the master of the Elder Wand after disarming Dumbledore, but Harry disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor, making Harry the true master of the Elder Wand.

The wand refused to kill the one to whom it had allegiance, further protecting Harry. During the duel, Harry refuses to use the killing curse and even encourages Voldemort to feel remorse, one known way to restore Voldemort's shattered soul. Voldemort dies when his own killing curse backfires; he and his Death Eaters are finally defeated. The wizarding world is able to live in peace once more. Harry breaks the wand and throws it into thee deep.

There is a splendid epilogue some nineteen years later and once again the train departs from platform nine and three quarters for Hogwarts. But this time Harry is there as a parent to see a son off to school for the first time. There he meets Ron and Hermione who are married and are also there to see one of their children off to the school. For a moment the trio stand together as the train moves out. Also present at the departure is Draco Malfoy and his family seeing off their son Scorpius

Harry and Ginny Weasley have named their three children: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna Harry's godson, Teddy Lupin, is found kissing Bill and Fleur Weasley's daughter Victoire in a train carriage. Harry tells his son Albus, who is worried he will be sorted into Slytherin, that one of his namesakes, Severus Snape, was a Slytherin and the bravest man he had ever met. He adds that the Sorting Hat takes one's choice into account, like it did for Harry.

I am told the book ends with these final words: "The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."

But is it really the end?

I enjoyed the two films seen in close proximity more than any of the other films which were disappointments after the originality and novelty of the first. My attention did not waiver. However they do not compare with the Lord of the Rings or the adult George Martin Game of Thrones series which returns for the second book dramatization in April.