CityLife

This 1960’s coming of age tale is based on the memoirs of Lynn Barber, and contains wonderful screenplay from Nick Hornby. Barber’s experiences are roughly translated into the character of Jenny, a plucky 16 year old girl brilliantly played by Carey Mulligan, who has been hotly tipped for a successful and sparkling career largely on the back of this film. Jenny is intelligent and enquiring. She excels at school and is being groomed for an Oxford education by her middle class parents, in their desperate wish for her to succeed. The stifling atmosphere of her home and family is very evident. They are not themselves university educated or even remotely intellectual, but are desperate for their young daughter to do better. And Jenny wants more, she often escapes by listening to Juliette Gréco records in her bedroom instead of doing her homework. The frustrations of young women in the early 60’s are all too evident here. The main purpose of their education seems to be a back up in case they don’t meet a rich successful man to marry. Studying is a passport to being able to support themselves by teaching, or even entering the civil service, if the worst happens and they fail to bag a husband. Jenny is clearly not happy with this prospect and wants more. In steps David (Peter Sarsgaard), the dashing older man with a sports car and a one way ticket for Jenny to enter another world of culture, concerts and excitement. It is obvious why Jenny is attracted to this prospect, but what is not so obvious is why her parents are also totally won over by the charming David, and allow their underage daughter to run about town with this much older man, neglecting her precious studies on the way. Very poor judgement on their part. This is unarguably a star studded cast – Emma Thompson as the head teacher who Jenny very definitely does not want as a role model; Alfred Molina as her gullible father; Dominic Cooper as David’s best friend and partner in extremely dodgy dealings Danny. The best of these is played wonderfully by Rosamund Pike as Danny’s girlfriend Helen, who sparkles as a beautiful girl with no brains who is happy to have a good time and readily befriends Jenny. Pike’s sense of comedy for the role is a nice touch, and pitched exactly right. Of course the romance does not run smoothly, and Mulligan excels at showing Jenny’s young but feisty and determined character dealing with the fallout. The period detail in the film is absolutely authentic, and adds to the fine feel of the whole film. It is a very enjoyable film, based on a story which , if you did not know was largely true, would seem a tad far fetched. And Mulligan deserves all the warm praise she will undoubtedly get for bringing Jenny to life so wonderfully as a rounded character, eager for life but still with a lot to learn.

This year’s festive offering from the Royal Exchange is a real delight. The reworking of this hilarious Noel Coward romp will bring cheer and hilarity to those already feeling stressed by the season. Suranne Jones sparkles and shines in her Royal Exchange debut. She proves her worth as a talented actor – with not a trace of the famous Manc attitude of Karen McDonald, so beloved by ardent Corrie fans like myself. And her elegant costumes are to die for. The play is set in the home of the dapper and suave author Charles Condomine (more about this later) , and his second wife Ruth. The first Mrs Condomine, Elvira, having died some seven years previously of a heart attack whilst recovering from a bout of pneumonia, and being unable to stop laughing at a BBC entertainment show on the radio. You have been warned – laughter can be dangerous. But not in this play. Elvira’s spirit is conjured up during a séance being held by the true star of the show Madame Arcati. Annette Badland is simply wonderful in this hilarious role. She struts around the stage variously going into trances, and eating as many sandwiches as she possibly can, conjuring up images of Margaret Rutherford in English classic movies. Badland is a superb actress, and will be familiar to many from her TV roles including parts in Dr Who and Bergerac. She has the audience eating out of her hand – nearly literally at one point when a sandwich that she carelessly discarded accidentally hit one of the audience. The whole theatre erupted in spontaneous laughter, as did the cast, it has to be said. And when the sandwich was promptly thrown back she ad libbed brilliantly to add to the fun. But I think this extra frisson was a one night only addition… The tale unfolds as Ruth is horrified by the sudden appearance of her deceased rival, and accuses her husband of being some sort of ‘astral bigamist’. And the only weak link it has to be said is unfortunately Milo Twomey, who plays the haunted Charles Condomine. He fluffed more lines than I have ever seen at the Royal Exchange – even though this was a preview showing I certainly do expect better. And he shouted his way through the performance, rather than being suave and debonair as the part demands. That gripe aired then, the rest of the production is stunning and fun filled. And mention must be made of the wonderful set design and special effects, which add to the hilarity. Bravo then to (almost) all and a very Merry Christmas!

It is always a little worrying when a film that has been eagerly awaited then receives rave reviews. So often the excitement seems to be misplaced or overdone. But not in this latest offering from Jane Campion. Even her previous brilliant work, ‘The Piano’ is put in the shade by this impossibly sad tale of doomed love between the young poet John Keats, and the feisty seamstress, Fanny Brawne. The film opens in 1818 when the two first meet in the then village of Hampstead. Fanny is immediately hostile to his friend and fellow poet Charles Brown, a feeling which seems to be based on some previous experience that is not really explained by the film. A little more back story would probably have been helpful here, but that is a minor quibble really. The two lead parts are beautifully and totally believably played by Ben Wishaw and Abbie Cornish. The on screen chemistry between these two actors is incredible, as they portray the developing romance and eventual heartrending ending with their love remaining unconsummated. Fanny is feisty, independently minded, and a very skilful dress designer – the Vivienne Westwood of her day. At first she is scornful of the art of poetry, and prefers instead a man with a ready wit. Keats rebukes her for wanting a dandy, but this initial verbal sparring soon gives way to infatuation and romance. Fanny comes to appreciate the beauty of his craft. The two handed relationship is threatened momentarily by the jealousy of Brown, who seem to veer between resentment of Fanny for taking the attention of his friend away from himself and their poetry, to wanting Fanny for himself via a crude Valentine gesture. But the feelings of Fanny and John are too strong to brook interference. The other more practical obstacle is that Keats is penniless, in debt even, and so not the most promising catch for Fanny as potential husband material in the early nineteenth century. There is no mystery about how the story ends. The frail Keats dies tragically young at the age of 25, after Fanny and her family desperately try to nurse him back to health. Campion treats this inevitable tragic conclusion very sensitively. Brown comes to tell the Brawne family the terrible news from Rome, where Keats had gone to escape the harsh English winter, and for the first time in the film he now seems to realise how deep Fanny’s love for Keats really is. The settings are sumptuous, with bluebell meadows and leafy woods providing the perfect backdrop to the tale. The supporting cast are excellent, including a nicely played part by Edie Martin as Fanny’s little sister Toots. And the final reciting of Keats’ ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ by Wishaw over the closing credits is mesmerisingly poignant. A beautifully sad, brilliantly acted and deeply touching film, which for once truly does live up to its billing.

This beautifully shot film about tells how Charles Darwin’s grief at the loss of his beloved daughter Annie at the age of 10 inspired him to write his masterpiece ‘On the Origin of Species’. Paul Bettany is very impressive as the troubled and grieving Darwin, and his wife Emma is also sensitively played by Bettany’s real life wife Jennifer Connolly. We learn a lot about how tortured Darwin was about his scientific research, which put him into direct conflict not only with the beliefs of the society around him, but put him at odds with the deeply held religious views of his own wife. This potentially very interesting tale is, however, somewhat spoilt here by an overly sentimental telling of it. The treatment of Annie’s deathbed scene, and the way she reveals herself as a ghost to her father felt a little too mawkish and unnecessary. But the on screen chemistry between Charles and Emma is touching, as is the confident and commanding portrayal of their daughter Annie, played here by Martha West, daughter of Dominic. The film features beautiful autumn scenes and creative shots of fauna and flora. But it does not really major on what could have been a more interesting central theme enough – the research of Darwin itself. It is moving in parts but could have been even more moving if it had not tried so hard to be in keeping with the Victorian over sentimentality which it reflects.

Fantasies, Follies & Disasters – the prints of Francisco Goya – Manchester Art Gallery The vast collection of prints among the 26,000 piece collection at Manchester Art Gallery are only allowed to be exhibited for a few months every 5 years as they are so fragile and need to be preserved. So this is a rare chance to see this very interesting collection of prints by Goya. Goya is well known as an important Spanish artist, and as principal painter to King Charles IV. But as well as his famous portraits of the great and the good of the age, there was a hidden private side to this man. The prints in the collection fall into three distinct groupings, and show how disaffected and introspective Goya was behind his public image. The pieces reflect his concern about social and political issues in the Spain of his day, including poverty, and corruption. And some of them are indeed very disturbing. So disturbing were they that many were only fully revealed publicly after his death in 1828. The first set of prints are entitled ‘The Caprices, or Fantasies’, and Goya uses them to reveal what he considered to be the ignorance and hypocrisy of Spanish society. The frequent robbery of prostitutes by the police is shown in ‘How they pluck her’, where the pathetic half-bird, half-woman figure is the victim. He challenged the authority of schoolteachers in ‘Might not the pupil know more?’, where the teachers are portrayed as asses. ‘The Disasters of War’ is the second set of prints, which reflect the aftermath of the Napoleonic invasion of Spain in 1807, and the imposition of his brother Joseph, who ruled for 5 years to 1813. Goya is also railing here against the church and repression by the state. He gave these prints to the Spanish Royal Academy in 1824, but they were considered far too controversial to be displayed, and indeed remained unpublished for another 40 years. They depict scenes of systematic torture and murder, including the clear involvement of women in these activities; and the plight of starving beggars. The corruption of the justice system is shown is ‘The consequences’, where the wretched victim is attacked by a blood sucking, human-faced vampire. The final set of prints which completes this collection, ‘The Follies’ is by far the most fantastic and dreamlike of the three. Images of death, carnival figures, and monsters are all quite disturbing. One of the less disturbing prints, ‘A way of flying’, shows winged creatures in flight. Overall the prints leave a feeling that you have had a private glimpse into the dark side of Goya’s mind – a place which is brutal and extremely unsettling. These prints are weird and wonderful, and show his talents as an artist, but I certainly would not want to be inside his head.

Simon Stephens’ last production performed at the Royal Exchange, ‘On the Shore of the Wide World’ in 2005 was deservedly critically acclaimed and went on to a successful run at the National Theatre. His new, equally if not slightly superior production, Punk Rock, which is also set in Stephens’ native town of Stockport, has made the reverse journey from an earlier run at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith to its current Manchester debut. It is a mesmerising, powerful play which grips the audience’s attention for the whole of its uninterrupted 1 hour and 50 minutes. It is set in the sixth form of a private school, with the arrival of a new girl, Lily (Jessica Raine), to the small band of students. Lily’s arrival really stirs things up, and brings new friendships, romances, passions, jealousies and deeply hidden insecurities to the fore very quickly. The remarkable cast, played by young actors, with only minor one adult role in the whole piece, are totally convincing. The action is in turns highly amusing, but also deeply disturbing. Special mention must be made of Tom Sturridge, who plays the frustrated, intelligent and lonely William with astonishing accuracy in his stage debut. He is certainly one to watch. The themes of the play do not make easy viewing. One central one is the nature of insidious bullying, and how others look on as bystanders, afraid to stand up for the victim for fear of being one themselves. Another is the sexual tension that fizzes around the group of students as they tentatively explore their relationships with each other. They dream about getting away from Stockport, and why would they not indeed! But in reality it is their fumbling adolescent selves they want to escape from – and that is a bit more tricky. William fantasises about a potential relationship with Lily, and about past tragedies that are supposed to have befallen his family. His fragile balance is eventually toppled – leading to a horrific denouement, which Stephens builds up to with incredible tension in this gripping and brilliant production.

Ray Lamontagne is famously shy on stage, and so was true to form tonight. But honestly, who needs spoken words when he sings so beautifully, and with searing honesty, about his passions and pain (but mostly his pain). His set tonight opened with ‘Empty’, one of the strongest tracks from his second and arguably his best album, ‘When the Sun Turns Black’, and he worked his way through highlights from all three albums. There was a moment of bizarreness when a woman jumped onto the stage in a very short dress, and was quickly escorted off it. When an audience member asked him if he had enjoyed that, Ray answered ‘Not particularly no’ – which I thought was a fair enough reply under the circumstances. He did helpfully inform us that ‘Hey Me, Hey Mamma’ was about Nebraska. As he said, we would not have known that ‘from the melody, the lyrics or the title’ so he thought he would tell us. Again, fair enough. I am quite happy for him to let his wonderful singing voice and powerful and soul stripped bare lyrics do the talking for him. And as usual he was generous and supportive to his two support acts Ethan Johns (the producer of all his albums); and the very promising Josh Ritter; who both joined him on ‘Hey Me, Hey Mamma’. He did some of more rocky numbers, such as ‘Three More Days’ and ‘Meg White’, but it his soulful ballads that shine out. We were treated to ‘Trouble’, ‘Shelter’, ‘Hold Me in Your Arms’, and ‘Let it be Me’ to name but a few. He finished his encore with a beautiful rendition of the haunting and wonderful ‘Jolene’. He still may not know what love means but he sure can sing about it.

If you’re looking for a bundle of laughs type of night out, then this latest revival of John Osbourne’s 1950’s play about a washed up, second rate song and dance man, Archie Rice, is not the one to pick. David Schofield stars here in the role made famous by Laurence Olivier, and although those are very big shoes to fill, he does a fine job of it. Schofield is totally convincing as the wretched Archie, who is trying to convince both himself and the audience that his career is not over and his life is not descending into total disaster. Very strong support to him is given in the form of Roberta Taylor as Archie’s second wife Pheobe; and David Ryall as his elderly father, Billy Rice, who is himself a former music hall performer. The fraught and alcohol fuelled family discussions between these three and Rice’s daughter Jean are excruciatingly painful to observe, as the characters engage in endless verbal sparring whilst not either saying what they mean or meaning what they say. In some senses the play does seem dated and of its time, as in the extensive use of pejorative language to describe their Polish neighbours and other immigrant communities in general. But in other ways it could not be more poignant or relevant, such as the fate of Archie’s son Mick who is fighting in the army abroad and whom they are expecting to return home to a hero’s welcome. Archie’s treatment of the long suffering Phoebe is also painful to watch, although she seems only too ready to forgive him any minor, or major, misdemeanours. The set itself reflects the drabness of the era, and of their lives in particular. The only colour is in Archie’s musical interludes, which Schofield performs admirably, and in Archie’s imagination. This is a thought provoking, and polished performance, even if the conclusion leaves a somewhat depressed and deflated feeling as the audience departs, owing more to Osbourne’s subject matter, than to another fine production from the Royal Exchange.

Let me first admit my vested interest in loving this film – this is one of my favourite all time books, not just children’s books. It is a fabulous story that I inflicted upon my own children, and still do happily inflict upon any passing children who will spare me the time, at every opportunity. Those wonderful opening lines just to remind you are: ‘The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind or another, his mother called him “WILD THING!” and Max said “I’LL EAT YOU UP” so he was sent to bed without eating anything.’ And if you have never read this 1963 classic – what have you been doing? Go out immediately and beg steal or borrow a copy…. So, back to this new film version by Spike Jonze. It is not so much a children’s film, as a film for adults like myself who love the book, to enjoy and to take along with them any children they might like to bring along the way. And it has to be said that it is a very dark film. One of my seven year old companions on this occasion thought it was a bit too scary to be a PG certificate. Jones brings the story to life by setting poor lonely Max in a family where his big sister and her friends make fun of him and won’t let him join in their fun, and his single parent mother is preoccupied by cuddling up to her new boyfriend with a glass of wine than inspecting Max’s new den. So obviously he gets mad, bites her, and runs away into an adventure with the wild things. Seems quite reasonable under the circumstances. The adventure itself is also quite dark. The monsters have their own internal wrangling which make the group dynamic difficult to control. But they quickly make the intrepid Max their king and he tries to lead them into peace and harmony, with mixed results it has to be said. Max Records is wonderful as the young Max, and James Gandolfini stars as the voice of one of the main monster characters, Carol. The film is a bit over long, which makes it more challenging for the young viewers. But the way the much loved and very short story is extrapolated is indeed very good. The wild settings are impressive and slightly futuristic, and the cinematography is wonderful. So yes, ‘Let the wild rumpus start’, but just make sure you get back home by suppertime.

Angels of Anarchy brings together paintings, sculpture, photographs and other objects that were created from the 1930’s onwards. Much of the exhibits have languished in the storerooms of galleries for decades – not considered important enough to display. Of the women artists featured here, possibly the most famous is Frida Kahlo, the Mexican artist who is best known for her pain, suffering, monobrow, and marriage to fellow artist Diego Rivera. Khalo’s painting set in a heart shaped shell frame is one of the highlights of the exhibition. It is called ‘Diego y Frida 1929 – 1944’ and she created it to celebrate their 15th anniversary. The faces of herself and her husband merge beautifully in the midst of heart capillary vessels. It is a work of love and beauty. Another self portrait featured here is one by Leonora Carrington from 1937-38. In it she uses images of herself in a room with a rocking horse, contrasting with the image of a wild and free white horse outside, to symbolise the story of her escape from her domineering father. There are very striking photographs included, such as ‘On Being an Angel # 1’ by Francesca Woodman from 1977; and the self portrait with sphinxes by Lee Miller from 1940. The photos of Frida Kahlo herself, taken by her friend Lola Alvarez Bravo, show her in a new light – as a strong, beautiful and confident woman, rather than a tortured pain racked soul as she is often perceived. The painting of ‘Eine Kleine Nachtmusik’ by Dorothea Tanning from 1943 has a wonderful Alice in Wonderland feel to it as it portrays a gothic, oppressive home environment for the little girls featured in it. Angels, sphinxes, and the objectification of women are central themes running through much of this work. My favourite exhibit was possibly the ‘Maitresse’ whip by Mimi Parent. She apparently cut off her hair on discovering the infidelity of her husband, the artist Jean Benoit. She created a whip out of these two golden plaits – sort of Rapunzel meets the Marquis de Sade. So full marks to Manchester Art Gallery for displaying this wonderful work by these gifted and important women. It is not the usual surrealist fare – but they give it a feel all of its own, and bring a fresh vibrancy to this view of the world to rank alongside any of their male contemporaries.