LONDON - 28 April 2006 - 950 words
Films:
Tristan and Isolde; The White Countess
Fr Peter Malone
(Fr Peter is president of SIGNIS, the
World Catholic Association for Communication)
Tristan
and Isolde
This film takes us back into pre-Arthurian
times and legends. Like the recent King Arthur, the film-makers
have opted for a rather serious and sombre presentation, a darker
(grey and blue) palette for the film and lonely and sometimes
eerie landscapes as the backdrop for this tragic love story.
The setting is the southwest kingdoms of Britain after the withdrawal
of the Romans - the Dark Ages. The tribes are disunited and cannot
prevail against the prosperous and warlike Irish. Young Tristan's
father is killed in an Irish attack but Tristan's life is saved
by King Mark who regards him as his own son. Tristan grows up
to be the champion but is wounded in another Irish onslaught.
He receives a Viking style send-off, lying in state on a burning
boat. But, he has been poisoned and is not dead.
He is washed up on the Irish shore and found by the king's daughter,
who nurses him back to health. Isolde has been betrothed to a
warrior. Unfortunately, she does not tell Tristan her real name,
so that when Irish and Britons agree to a tournament to win the
princess's hand, Tristan aims to win her as a bride for King Mark.
Guess the rest! And that's what happens (like Arthur, Guinevere
and Lancelot all over again - well not quite because historically,
this story precedes Camelot).
James Franco did a great award-wining performance on television
as James Dean and is the brooding friend of Peter Parker (alias
Spiderman). Brooding seems to be his forte, which means that his
Tristan is soulful at best rather than heroic. Sophia Myles as
Isolde has much more go in her. But it is the supporting cast
who really carry the drama: Rufus Sewell very sympathetic as the
decent King Mark, Mark Strong absolutely dastardly as the cowardly
villain, David O'Hara as the plotting and conquering Irish king.
The director is Kevin Reynolds who has a strange filmography,
especially his matinee-like adventures Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves,
Waterworld, The Count of Monte Cristo and the very silly Rapa
Nui. In his defence, he made the frighteningly thoughtful story
of problems in US schools, 187. His adventures seem sometimes
anachronistic (American accents in Sherwood Forest). Isolde is
able to quote the poems of John Donne a millennium before they
were written. But, they do elevate the dialogue.
The
White Countess
This is the last of the Merchant Ivory films. Producer Ismail
Merchant died in 2005. While he and James Ivory began making films
together in India in the 1960s and have a strong list of productions,
it was only in the 1970s that they began to tackle literary classics
(Henry James. The Europeans in 1979). With their version of EM
Forster's A Room With a View, they found themselves popular and
award-nominated and winning. They filmed Henry James (The Bostonians,
The Golden Bowl). They filmed more Forster (Maurice, Howard's
End) and an assortment of period pieces like Jefferson in Paris
and Surviving Picasso, peaking in 2002-2003 with Howard's End
and Remains of the Day.
As time went on, they began to get negative reviews for their
meticulous attention to detail which was sometimes dismissed as
pedantic and stultifying, too dignified and holding back the dramatic
impact of the plot. Be that as it may, they produced a body of
significant and impressive films.
The White Countess was written by Japanese/English author, Kazuo
Ishiguro who wrote the novel, Remains of the Day. It has an elegant
cast, takes its audience back into a somewhat exotic world (Shanghai
in the late 1930s) and relishes its production and costume design.
It moves at a generally sedate pace (sometimes slower) that is
not in favour these days. It asks for a contemplation of its characters
and their plight rather than hurrying with them through action.
Thinking back on the plot, it is really Remains of the Day transferred
to China. The period is the same. War looms - which some anticipate
and others deny. At the centre are faded and fading aristocracy
- this time refugees from the Russian Revolution who have been
stranded for two decades in Asian poverty and nostalgia for their
former status and its trimmings. There is an outsider who acts
as a catalyst for change when the war breaks out.
Natasha Richardson is Sofia, the White Countess of the title -
although expatriate American diplomat, now blind and stranded,
opens a club which in her honour he calls the White Countess.
Sofia works as a hostess (a euphemistic term) at a club, encouraging
clients to buy dances and drinks. She supports her mother-in-law,
sister-in-law, uncle and aunt who live in faded gentility. She
also has a daughter whom the family want to protect from Sofia's
way of life while still depending on her. The American (Ralph
Fiennes) can possibly offer her a new life.
Then the Japanese invade and there is a rush to get to Hong Kong
and Macau.
Natasha Richardson has a dignified bearing as she works and suffers.
Ralph Fiennes does an interesting variation on his dignified gentlemen.
The aunts are portrayed by Vanessa (Natasha Richardson's real
mother) and Lynn Redgrave. Madeline Potter is particularly persuasive
as the narrow-minded sister-in-law.
Hiroyuki Sanada is impressive as a sinisterly genial Japanese
businessman who believes in his country's ambitions.
The music soundtrack reminds us of Shanghai at this time as cosmopolitan:
selections from classics, from local music and the jazz and songs
of the 30s US - the film finishing with the junk sailing out to
freedom (we hope) to the strains of 'After You've Gone'.
© Independent Catholic News 2006
Contact Independent
Catholic News
tel/fax: +44 (0)20 7267 3616 or email
Homepage • Saint
of the day • Chaplain •
Latest news • Archive • Listings • Pictures •