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

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