Light House Film Club

Director: Nora Ephron

Cert: 12A 

Time: 2hrs 3mins

There are so many programmes on television these days devoted to cooking that it’s hard to imagine a time before they existed.  The catalyst for this revolution was Julia Childs, a larger than life American who, whilst on a posting in Paris with her diplomat husband, first learned how to cook the French way and then wrote a book about it. Her opus, Mastering the Art of French Cooking was first published in 1961 became an instant hit accompanied as it was by a television series in which Childs popularised the phrase “Bon Appetit”.

Fast forward to 2002 and Julia Powell a young government employee, wedded to a dead end job, yet dreaming of being a writer.  Over dinner one evening she hits on the idea of preparing all 524 recipes contained within “Mastering….” in a calendar year and writing a blog about it. It went on to be a huge online hit and her story provides the basis for Nora Ephron’s charming comedy starring Meryl Streep as Childs and Amy Adams as Powell.

If there is one thing that this film delivers so successfully it is in the performances of Streep and Adams who convey, so convincingly, the love which Childs and Powell held for cooking. And along the way we get some delightfully funny moments interspersed with a poignant depiction of the strength of the relationships that each of them enjoyed with their respective spouses.  Well worth going to see.

Rating: 3/5

Patrons: 18

Director: Andrea Arnold

Cert: 15 

Time: 2hrs 3mins

Rarely does a day pass without some reference in the news to the underclass be it feckless ASBO seeking youths or teenage mums who breed simply to get a free home.  We hear about it but have little experience of it an imbalance that Fish Tank makes an excellent attempt to rectify. 

Mia, brilliantly played by debutant Katie Jarvis, is a volatile and gobby 15 year old, excluded from school and ostracized by her friends.  Hardly surprising given the absence of love that she receives from an inadequate and promiscuous mother (Kierston Wareing).  One summer’s evening she (the mother) brings home a new and mysterious boyfriend called Conor (Michael Fassbender) who is clearly different from previous beaus.  For one thing he is quietly spoken, rarely swears and offers affection where none had previously existed.  Yet he too has his own personal weaknesses and demons which, when given full reign, seek to destroy all the good that he brings to Mia’s dysfunctional family.

Like Red Road, Andrea Arnold’s previous outing, one never knows quite how things are going to turn out. All of which serves to maintain the interest over what is admittedly and unremittingly bleak couple of hours during which almost everything in Mia’s life turns sour.  But never once does the tale drift into sentimentality and the end, when it finally arrives, offers a smidgen of hope. To describe Fish Tank as strictly “entertainment” is a moot point but it should be required viewing for all with government responsibility for law & order and social services.

Rating: 4/5

Patrons: 24

Also @  www.thebrennandpost.blog.com

Director: Rebecca Miller

Cert: 15 

Time: 1hr 38mins

We all carry skeletons in the cupboard but rarely do they emerge in full daylight. Rebecca Miller’s film sets out to change that by focusing a spotlight on the life of Pippa Lee and more specifically its dim and distant past.

We begin with Pippa, wife of an octogenarian publisher (Alan Arkin) moving into a gated community for OAP’s. Here, as very much a younger woman, she cuts the gracious figure of a devoted wife, mother of two grown children and trusted friend to all.  But her past is filled with turmoil – an array of erotic adventures, a diet-pill addicted mother and the suicide of an exotic rival.   As the story unfolds she meets a new and soulful acquaintance (Keanu Reeves) who helps her to confront her volatile past.

There is an awful lot of weeping but if you can endure that this film has much to offer. The narrative never drags and in the process provides a fascinating insight on parental influence, the dynamics of relationships and the façade of the charmed existence. Robin Wright Penn is wholly believable in the role of Pippa Lee, a mix of insecurity and fragrance and carries the film through some of its minor tics.

Rating: 3/5

Patrons: 13

Also @  www.thebrennandpost.blog.co.uk

Director: Claire Denis

Cert: 12a  (French with subtitles)

Time: 1hr 41mins

This film is so understated that it could be described as an urban Sleep Furiously.  The narrative, what there is of it, follows Lionel a train driver and widower who lives in a Parisian apartment block with his only daughter Josephine. They live side by side, almost to the point of living in each other’s pockets in a protective cocoon from the outside world.  For Lionel everything in his life revolves around his daughter and for Josephine her world is him. But, little by little, Lionel starts to recognize that the time has come for them to move on and find their own independence.

Nothing very dramatic happens and there were occasions when the lack of activity was a little too soporific. That said the way in which director Claire Denis allows little snippets of information to be drip fed to us is masterly and it ensures that we remain in thrall to the end.  It may not suit the Transformers generation but if you approach it with an open mind you will find it both warm and engaging.

Patrons: 16

Director: Courtney Hunt

Cert: 15

Time: 1hr 37mins

The tone of this gritty drama is set from the outset as we are shown, in close up, the battle hardened features of a woman clearly in distress.  They belong to Ray Eddy, an upstate New York trailer mom, who is on her uppers after her gambler husband has taken off with the down payment for their new mobile home. 

Whilst attempting to track down said husband, Ray meets Lila, a Native American girl, who lives on a reservation that straddles the US-Canadian border.  With Christmas approaching and desperate to get the down payment for the new home she learns that Lila is a smuggler through which lies a route to easy cash. Thus does she reluctantly agree to start trafficking illegal Chinese and Pakistani immigrants in the boot of her car.

The tale has a certain inevitability about it. But at no time does it try to sentimentalise the circumstance of the protagonists, all of whom are trying to eke out an existence on the dark margins of society.  In so doing it covers a lot of issues – the economy, racism, crime and the perils of necessity.  Melissa Leo is also excellent as Ray Eddy, a tough but essentially decent mom, trying to do her best for her two children. And, whilst the end might be construed as somewhat pat it does offer an antidote to the grim realities that have preceded it.

Rating: 4/5

Director: Gideon Koppel

Cert: U

Time: 1hr 34mins

This fly on the wall documentary of a Welsh farming community will not be to everyone’s taste.  It is gentle, slow paced and there is little in the way of a story line. However such is the inventiveness of the photography that one can only marvel at how director Gideon Koppel has created such a thing of beauty from the seemingly mundane. 

His camera takes us into the life of the mobile librarian as he does his weekly round, the local populace as they meet to discuss the impending closure of the village school, the lives of farmers as they tend to their stock and the local choir as they practice for a forthcoming competition. This last cameo, set as it is to the dramatic imagery of shafts of sunlight breaking through a foreboding layer of cloud, is one of the most moving four minutes of cinema I have ever seen.

What music there is, is sparse, yet entirely appropriate and there is no narration. The result is to give the viewer the space to draw their own conclusions.  A complete delight.

Rating: 4/5

Patrons: 10

CA