Days of the Bagnold Summer

Days of the Bagnold Summer (Simon Bird, 2019) I suppose that one of the skills of good film making is to surround yourself with good people. Simon Bird has done that here, but of course it was up to him to use all of these elements to his advantage. The story concerns itself with a teenage boy and his mother spending a Summer together in suburban England. He should have been away in Florida with his dad, but it didn’t go to plan. It’s another story of a child growing up trying to fit into the world, he though listens to death metal wears black and doesn’t want to engage per se. So his mother spends time trying to connect with and re-establish the relationship they had when he was younger. 

The producers talked about how in the US they make films like this and Ghost World springs to mind as a prime example of a good Summer film. I suppose another element in all of this is acceptance. This can be accepting those around you, seeing people for what they are and ultimately accepting yourself. Often that’s a difficult skill, being comfortable with yourself.

There is here as well a sparkling cast with some lovely performances. Monica Dolan and Earl Cave do a fantastic job of mother and son. They’re supported ably by Rob Brydon, Alice Lowe and Tamsin Greig, among others. Simon Bird got some very good performances out of his actors.

I’ve had a really good few weeks listening to the soundtrack of this film, by Belle & Sebastian. It was quite interesting to see how the music fitted in to the film and not the other way round really. Their music has been inspired by the suburbs, as has so much great British music. It’s great to see it come to life through another medium here.

Joker

Joker (Todd Phillips, 2019)Well, there has been a lot of care given over to the making of this film. You cannot deny the impact that performances of this character have had in the past, namely Jack Nicholson’s and Heath Ledger’s. Here then Joaquin Phoenix is given his chance to inhabit this role, and of course he does so. Todd Phillips does his best to press all the right buttons, set the film in 80s, have an 80s Warners logo at the beginning, give it a Scorsese, Mean Streets, King of Comedy air. It’s also far grittier than most other Batman films, Gotham City really is an awful place to live it seems. There also seems to be such a massive problem with reality here. It could be argued that a lot of what happens goes on in Arthur’s head. This is apparent with all the inconsistencies in the story-telling. Maybe that’s what superheroes are, meta beings invented in our imagination, now that’s novel.

Our Ladies

Our Ladies(Michael Caton-Jones, 2019) Am I wrong to be nostalgic? I couldn’t give a fig, I was swept away by the Tigermilk reference at the beginning. The story is reminiscent of those heady late 90s Belle & Sebastian stories, which is none too surprising in that this in an adaptation of Alan Warner’s late 90s novel ‘The Sopranos’. I was thoroughly entertained by the book and that story of five girls and their day in Edinburgh. Of course it’s another story of growing up and finding your way in the world, and as well another story of friendship. It’s an age old story with many examples in the past, but not always told with as much love as here. There are lovely tropes here as well, big town and small town, being on the cusp as well as the big wide world, appearances deceiving and that delicate time when actions and choices can reverberate across the decades. We also have here a group where anyone can say anything to anyone, at least in theory. The director, Michael Caton-Jones, was lucky to have such subject matter to work with, but also having the skill to make the best of these elements. He then made master strokes with the choice of music to put more flesh on the bone. 

Booksmart

There’s been a long tradition of American films set in and around High Schools, from Rebel Without A Cause to Grease, the Breakfast Club, Clueless and Superbad and beyond. The cadre is now joined by Booksmart (Olivia Wilde, 2019) the story of two girls about to graduate who have set themselves apart from their classmates. In the leading roles we have Beanie Feldstein, sister of Jonah Hill, and Kaitlyn Dever playing Amy and Molly; two Booksmart girls who’s heroes include RBG and Michelle, they also have a Warren 2020 bumper sticker. Molly is the class president and reminds her colleagues of this at any given opportunity. She and Amy have shied away from parties to get into their college of choice, they discover though that all the party animals are still getting into their college of choice as well. The rest of the film is of course all about the consequences of this discovery. It features over bearing parents, supportive teachers, an unusual use for a stuffed panda and lessons in what friendship is. The film basically follows a rom-com formula and is not too demanding really, it’s less than annoying as well. It’s actually more of what we need, lower budget films, with a decent script and engaging performances.

Swimming With Men

Swimming With Men (Oliver Parker, 2018) may not be the most groundbreaking of films. It’s story follows a well trodden path, but of course does not tread water (boom-boom). Our hero is Eric (Rob Bryson) who we see from the beginning is an accountant that takes solace from his swim in the pool at the end of the working day. It seems that life has little meaning, his wife (Jane Horrocks)  is moving in different circles as she’s a newly elected councillor and seems to have more purpose in her life than he does, along with different priorities.

Being an accountant, Eric is course good with numbers and calculation. It’s this prowess that introduces him to a group of male synchronised swimmers that he meets at the pool. They are having problems with a routine and Eric point out that there is a mathematical solution in that they need an even number of swimmers to succeed, so they should lose a man from the group. The swimmers discover that Eric’s personal circumstances have taken a turn for the worse. This leads to them eventually deciding that they need to increase their number for the routine to succeed. The group then recruits Eric so that they can save the routine and save him at the same time

There then follows a charming film about group dynamics, striving for a common goal and navigating your way through life. Eric finds that there is a Fight Club style element to the group. The first rule, he finds, is not to talk about swim club. It’s more than that though, it’s about brotherhood and moving away from mid life drift and ennui. The film therefore gives us an equation as to how one might stave off a lonely death, do stuff. Find something to do, preferably with other people, there’s possible longevity in common purpose. There’s charm in this story and this film and an emotional maturity as well, it’s worth taking the initial dip and immersing yourself in this.

The Day I Lost My Shadow

The Day I Lost My Shadow (Soudade Kaadan, 2018) The story of Sana and her son and what they do to survive in today’s Damascus, torn apart by the never ending civil war. In the normal course of events in their day; the electricity is switched off, they glory in having running water, Sana clears up broken glass at work and they live with the fear that the war might come ever closer and into their apartment.

Events spiral out of all proportion after they run out of  bottled gas in the apartment and Sana goes off in search for this with a friend and her brother. They survive an incident with a taxi driver evading a checkpoint and then face further misfortunes. This leads the intrepid trio almost spiral down a rabbit hole where they maybe don’t end up in wonderland but in the middle of and environment where they meet a number of characters who offer a number of different challenges and opportunities, with varying degrees of good and poor fortune.

Maybe this is the experience of living in a war zone, especially when the war in question is a civil war. Maybe you don’t always know which way up and down is, and who is on which side as they may have changed since yesterday. The film highlights that the victims of these wars are ordinary working people, it’s their lives that are turned upside down, it’s they that become collateral damage, when all they are trying to do is to live their life.

It’s these people that live in the shadows and as the title suggest it’s death that takes these shadows away. The distinction is made with Hiroshima, where all that was left of the dead was their shadow. This is a fine film that reminds us what happens when a nation falls in on itself and maybe it’s the act of these people living, or attempting to live a normal life, that will eventually lead a country lie Syria out of darkness.

You Were Never Really Here

Utterly bizarre and marvellous film. It’s about a hitman called Joe who lives with his mother, he’s engagingly played by Joaquin Phoenix. Thing is that his past is always with him, as is normal, but this seems to skew his world view somewhat. We have then this mix of violence and the surreal as Joe travels through his waking dreams. Lynne Ramsay as ever weaves a delicate and beautifully balanced film, she and the novelist Jonathan Ames are such a wonderful storytellers, this is sublime. Even though I’m not sure of what I’ve maybe seen.