Limelight

Year of Release:  1952
Director:  Charles Chaplin
Screenplay:  Charles Chaplin
Starring:  Charles Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Nigel Bruce, Buster Keaton, Sydney Earl Chaplin, Wheeler Dryden, Norman Lloyd
Running Time:  137 minutes
Genre:  Comedy-drama

London, 1914:  Calvero (Chaplin), a once famous comedian who is now a washed up drunk, rescues a young woman, Thereza (Bloom), from suicide.  As he nurses her back to health, Calvero learns that Thereza is an aspiring ballerina.  He helps her regain her confidence to dance again, and in the process finds himself yearning to return to the stage.

This was not Chaplin's last film, but it does feel like a final film.  It heavily references Chaplin's own life and career, the film is set in London, where Chaplin grew up, and takes place in 1914, the year of Chaplin's own debut.  Calvero became famous, like Chaplin, by playing tramp character, and, again like Chaplin, is left behind by a changing world and changing audiences.  Although the film has comedy in it, including a hilarious silent skit between Chaplin and fellow silent comedy legend Buster Keaton, this is essentially a drama.  The film is overlong and feels at times like a filmed play, it also suffers from some quite obvious back projection.  However I feel this is one of Chaplin's best films.  The film is melodramatic, and the speeches may seem naive, but there is real power to it, and it feels very heartfelt.  Certainly by the end, it's hard not to have tears in the eyes.  This is a very personal film and it's rare that you find a film that does feel as if it is a direct message to the audience.  It's a film about success, failure, the possibility of redemption, the power of art and the necessity of facing life and persevering, no matter how painful that may be. 
  

Make 'em laugh: Thereza (Claire Bloom) and Calvero (Charlie Chaplin) in Limelight.

"If Beale Street Could Talk" by James Baldwin

Year of Publication:  1974
Length:  230 pages
Genre:  General fiction

New York City:  Clementine "Tish" Rivers is nineteen years old, pregnant and engaged to Alonzo "Fonny" Hunt.  However Fonny is in jail, having been accused of rape.  As Tish and her family fight against a racist system to prove Fonny's innocence, the story of their relationship is told in flashbacks.

This book is powerful, angry, compassionate and beautifully written.  James Baldwin is one of the most important American writers of the 20th Century, and this is an urgent and vital book - that is as relevant today as it was in 1974.  It's frequently dark and gritty read, but there is a hard-won optimism here, and the love story between Fonny and Tish is beautifully detailed, and Baldwin writes beautiful, poetic prose.  It's also a novel about being black in America, and just tying to live life when the whole system is against you. 
It's a great book, that everyone should read.

The Front Runner

Year of Release:  2018
Director:  Jason Reitman
Screenplay:  Matt Bai, Jason Reitman and Jay Carson, based on the book All the Truth is Out:  The Week Politics Went Tabloid by Matt Bai
Starring:  Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J. K. Simmons, Alfred Molina
Running Time:  113 minutes
Genre:  Drama, politics

In 1988, US Senator Gary Hart (Jackman) is running as the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States.  Despite his initial success, Hart's presidential bid is scuppered due to scandal, when allegations surface of an extra-marital affair.

This is an interesting and well-acted enactment of a real-life political scandal.  However, you never really get a sense of who Gary Hart is, he dismisses any scandal or examination of his personal life as being irrelevant, which is really the theme of the film, whether or not someone's personal life should be made public.  Hart comes across as prickly, defensive and not particularly likeable, despite a great performance from Hugh Jackman and, in the age of Donald Trump, Hart's scandals seem almost quaint.  Interestingly the film never really states whether Hart had an affair or not.  The film does a good job of taking you inside a political campaign and political journalism, and manages to be always interesting and entertaining.  It does have some points to make about separating the public from the personal, despite being dated and never really exploring it's central character., 

Hugh Jackman is The Front Runner

An Autumn Afternoon

Year of Release:  1962
Director:  Yasujiro Ozu
Screenplay:  Kogo Noda and Yasujiro Ozu
Starring:  Shima Iwashita, Chishu Ryu, Keiji Sada, Mariko Okada, Teruo Yoshida, Noriko Maki
Running Time:  113 minutes
Genre:  Drama

Tokyo, 1962:  Shuhei Hirayama (Ryu) is a widowed businessman in his late 50s with three adult children.  The eldest son, Koishi (Sada), is married and lives away from home, but his 24 year old daughter, Michiko (Iwashita) and youngest son, Kazuo (Shin'ichiro Mikami) still live at home with him.  Under pressure from his friends, Hirayama realises that it is his duty to arrange a marriage for Michiko, even though she is in no hurry to get married at all.

This was Yasujiro Ozu's final film, completed a year before his death on his 60th birthday, and deals with many of his familiar themes:  the ebb and flow of life, accepting change, the tension between youth and age, tradition and modernity, and the changing face of Japanese society, as well as the impermanence of all things.  It's a very quiet, gentle film, composed of long static shots, elegantly composed and usually shot form low angles, with the action seen in medium close-up  or framed in doorways and hallways.  The main plot often plays out almost in the background, with many important events taking place off-screen, being more concerned with the small details of everyday life.  This is a calm, understated film, graceful, slow, gentle and wise.  It's the kind of film that makes the world seem a better and kinder place.

Shima Iwashita and Chishu Ryu in An Autumn Afternoon     

Stan & Ollie

Year of Release:  2018
Director:  Jon S. Baird
Screenplay:  Jeff Pope
Starring:  Steve Coogan, John C. Reilly, Shirley Henderson, Danny Huston, Nina Arianda, Rufus Jones
Running Time:  97 minutes
Genre:  Comedy, drama, biography

It's 1953, sixteen years after legendary comedy double act Stan Laurel (Coogan) and Oliver Hardy (Reilly) were at the height of their fame.  In the hopes of raising backing for a comeback film that Laurel is writing, based around Robin Hood, the estranged duo reunite for a grueling tour of Britain.  However, the pressures of the tour soon start to put strain on Laurel and Hardy's relationship and Hardy's increasingly fragile health.

This is a touching, gentle film that pays an affectionate tribute to the genius of Laurel and Hardy.  It is also very funny.  Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly (acting under heavy make-up) are pitch perfect as Laurel and Hardy, nailing their physical comedy style, as well as their appearance and mannerisms.  Shirley Henderson is good as Hardy's wife, Lucille, and Nina Arianda is hilarious as Laurel's blunt but loving wife Ida.  It's a film about friendship, comedy and the value of art.  It's great not only for fans of Laurel and Hardy, but  also anyone interested in the world of show business.  A refreshingly sincere and affectionate film, this is a bittersweet tribute to a bygone era. 

Stan Laurel (Steve Coogan) and Oliver Hardy (John C. Reilly) are Stan & Ollie