DoctorStrabismus
Joined Oct 2016
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DoctorStrabismus's rating
Nagyon jó!
That's Hungarian for 'very good'. It was obviously not shot in Paris, and I thought it looked a bit like Budapest. I was proven right - Budapest with an Eiffel Tower right bang in the middle of it! More Pest then Buda, as the former is flat and the latter is hilly.
Enough of a geography lesson, and let's move on to history. Georges Simenon's 'Maigret' novels spanned more than four decades, from1931 to 1972, and the previous adaptations which I have seen have all tried to recreate an evocative Parisian atmosphere of the pre- and early post-war era. This time, with a story from 1961, Maigret has moved fully up to the 2020s, with mobile phones and the internet, but he is still in character as the loner detective, following his own hunches to a conclusion.
The opening scenes appeared to pay homage to an earlier time, with more than a hint that his pipe-smoking father may have been Jules Maigret, and in this first episode his own first name is not revealed. His wife is Louise, and she just calls him "Maigret", both always standard features. The customary group of detectives are all there, Lucas, Janvier, Lapointe and Torrance, a couple of them converted to female roles.
The direction was very good, and we look forward to the second half of this story, and the two remaining in the series, One thing we liked was that they did not attempt to put on silly French accents, but what we did not like was that, with the notable exception of Maigret's own, they pronounced French names as English people reading them out. So Lucas was pronounced like the English car spares company Lucas. Ewen Solon would be turning in his grave!
8/10 for this opener, and we hope they keep up the high standard.
That's Hungarian for 'very good'. It was obviously not shot in Paris, and I thought it looked a bit like Budapest. I was proven right - Budapest with an Eiffel Tower right bang in the middle of it! More Pest then Buda, as the former is flat and the latter is hilly.
Enough of a geography lesson, and let's move on to history. Georges Simenon's 'Maigret' novels spanned more than four decades, from1931 to 1972, and the previous adaptations which I have seen have all tried to recreate an evocative Parisian atmosphere of the pre- and early post-war era. This time, with a story from 1961, Maigret has moved fully up to the 2020s, with mobile phones and the internet, but he is still in character as the loner detective, following his own hunches to a conclusion.
The opening scenes appeared to pay homage to an earlier time, with more than a hint that his pipe-smoking father may have been Jules Maigret, and in this first episode his own first name is not revealed. His wife is Louise, and she just calls him "Maigret", both always standard features. The customary group of detectives are all there, Lucas, Janvier, Lapointe and Torrance, a couple of them converted to female roles.
The direction was very good, and we look forward to the second half of this story, and the two remaining in the series, One thing we liked was that they did not attempt to put on silly French accents, but what we did not like was that, with the notable exception of Maigret's own, they pronounced French names as English people reading them out. So Lucas was pronounced like the English car spares company Lucas. Ewen Solon would be turning in his grave!
8/10 for this opener, and we hope they keep up the high standard.
This was very much a rambling disjointed story, during which Frank spent a lot of time with a rictus grin on his face while scoffing chocolates, and Lu put on a bimbo act to try and convince people she was not a serious private investigator.
The plot was - well, was there a plot? It was all so contrived. The three sisters and the father sinking into dementia, yes we get that it's King Lear. But this is meant to be humorous drama, and managed to be neither. Even for its cult following it must have been a relief when the titles finally rolled at the end.
We really like Shakespeare and Hathaway, but this was such a very long way below their best.
3/10, and that's generous.
The plot was - well, was there a plot? It was all so contrived. The three sisters and the father sinking into dementia, yes we get that it's King Lear. But this is meant to be humorous drama, and managed to be neither. Even for its cult following it must have been a relief when the titles finally rolled at the end.
We really like Shakespeare and Hathaway, but this was such a very long way below their best.
3/10, and that's generous.
Seldom do we see a performance so clearly meriting an Oscar as this one by Toby Jones. Of course, Richard Burton himself had no fewer than seven Oscar nominations, for zero wins, so Toby will likely get the same treatment over there. I mean, let's face it, the movie had no shootings and no car chases!
I am of an age which means I recall Richard Burton steadily accumulating theatrical fame, the marriages and divorces with Elizabeth Taylor, and many of the great performances. And above all, there was the resonance of his incomparable voice.
When I was growing up in London, my 'prim and proper' mother was most censorious about Burton and Taylor, which only made me want to know about them all the more!
Having later lived in South Wales, I know the area of Port Talbot and Neath, and speak some limited amount of Welsh. I found the depiction of all that to be genuinely accurate, with the intense pride in the language and the nation. The final line of the national anthem is "O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau", meaning "long may the old language live on". This was all very well borne out by these performances.
Is the movie a perfect 10? Maybe it falls short with the sudden eight-year time gap, and we are deprived of any portrayal of the early growth of Burton's acting career, and the change in his personality over that time span. Even with a running time close to two hours, five or ten minutes on that phase in his life would have helped. This might have been achieved by devoting less screen time to the homosexuality issue. I have read that Philip Burton was gay and Richard Burton was bi-sexual, and without investigating the truth of either of those two claims, I still wonder whether the gossip around Port Talbot could have been that strong. Police intervention would surely have been highly likely in the 1940s if the word was going around like that. I feel it more likely that nobody would greatly question that one of the 13 children of a drunken widower miner, for whom there was no space in the father's home, and obvious difficulties living in the elder married sister's due to conflict with her husband, might take a room which became vacant at a boarding house. A thread which was overplayed.
So I'll give it 9/10. It was thoroughly enjoyable, and also highly educational about a man who became a very large figure in British post-war life.
I am of an age which means I recall Richard Burton steadily accumulating theatrical fame, the marriages and divorces with Elizabeth Taylor, and many of the great performances. And above all, there was the resonance of his incomparable voice.
When I was growing up in London, my 'prim and proper' mother was most censorious about Burton and Taylor, which only made me want to know about them all the more!
Having later lived in South Wales, I know the area of Port Talbot and Neath, and speak some limited amount of Welsh. I found the depiction of all that to be genuinely accurate, with the intense pride in the language and the nation. The final line of the national anthem is "O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau", meaning "long may the old language live on". This was all very well borne out by these performances.
Is the movie a perfect 10? Maybe it falls short with the sudden eight-year time gap, and we are deprived of any portrayal of the early growth of Burton's acting career, and the change in his personality over that time span. Even with a running time close to two hours, five or ten minutes on that phase in his life would have helped. This might have been achieved by devoting less screen time to the homosexuality issue. I have read that Philip Burton was gay and Richard Burton was bi-sexual, and without investigating the truth of either of those two claims, I still wonder whether the gossip around Port Talbot could have been that strong. Police intervention would surely have been highly likely in the 1940s if the word was going around like that. I feel it more likely that nobody would greatly question that one of the 13 children of a drunken widower miner, for whom there was no space in the father's home, and obvious difficulties living in the elder married sister's due to conflict with her husband, might take a room which became vacant at a boarding house. A thread which was overplayed.
So I'll give it 9/10. It was thoroughly enjoyable, and also highly educational about a man who became a very large figure in British post-war life.