The Temple of Bague

Well, our local soulless multiplex is doing a retro season at the moment and took it upon themselves to screen a newly restored version of The Dam Busters. As this happens to be one of my all-time favourite movies, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go and see it on a big screen, and even managed to convince my Dad to come along with me.

I have to say, I was stunned at the quality of the restoration job. The only time any film damage can be seen is in some of the distance and archive shots - other than that it’s beautiful clean and crisp, with none of the lack of contrast normally visible in the tired old prints that tend to get dumped to DVD these days. The sound suffered a little but I think that’s more to do with the projectionist not knowing how best to downmix single channel audio, but it’s a small price to pay to see such a wonderful movie as it was meant to be seen.

I’m sure the inevitable remake will have lots of clever CGI zoomy swoopiness, but I bet they won’t be flying lancasters at sixty feet like they do in this version.

I think I must be getting old. This is a bleak, humourless and generally unpleasant movie with no redeeming features whatsoever. Which surprised me a lot, given the fantastic cast.

Essentially, it’s the story of a group of harrassed, bullied and generally timid guys who fall in with a court-martialled ex-squaddie freshly back from Iraq who is having difficulty adjusting to being a civilian. The main theme, if there actually is one, is the journey of one of the characters from a timid, gentle office worker into a smiling bloodthirsty killer with no conscience.

Is the movie trying to tell us that this is what modern society does to people? I beg to differ - that’s what movies like THIS does to people. The writer of this film has spent too long watching the news and not enough time out speaking to people. If the world really was as bleak a place as this film suggests there’d be no hope for any of us. Yeah, there’s a lot of people out there with no respect for human life, but they’re not in the majority yet.

We watched this last night. We have nicknamed it the film with the wee orange tent;-) In just about every scene there it is. Watch it and you will see We really enjoyed the film although it made us feel chilled.

I find it incredible that the Hollywood that produced masterpieces like this in the fifties is now serving up slices of badly written sequel served on a buttered shite. 12 jurors in a room, 11 guilty votes, 1 not guilty vote, and a death sentence. Either eleven men have to convince one man to take a young lad’s life, or one man has to convince eleven men that they’re wrong.

Pretty simple premise, really, but it results in 90-odd minutes of utterley compelling cinema. Every cast member puts in a riveting performance. This is up there with Inherit the Wind.

Henry Fonda, representing the dissenting “Not Guilty” vote, reminds us all what any democratic justice system is all about. The onus is not on the defence to prove that a person is innocent, it’s up to the prosecution to prove his guilt. All Mr Fonda does is point out those areas where he believes there is a reasonable doubt. The journey of each jury member from guilt to innocence shows a revealing sketch of their character and prejudices.

HMV currently sell this movie for three quid. You owe it to yourself.

Pan’s Labyrinth is a very odd movie. It’s essentially the story of a young girl named Ophelia living in post-Franco Spain in 1944, whose mother - through necessity - marries a brutal fascist army captain. After moving to the captain’s rural posting, where he’s involved with stamping out a local resistance group, she discovers a labyrinth in the woods behind the house.

In the labyrinth, Ofelia meets a fantasy creature who hints that she’s not just a little girl like any other, but is the reincarnation of the princess of the fairy kingdom and, through performing several tasks, can reclaim her throne and “real” family.

As the brutal excesses of the captain grow, so do the outlandish escapes in the fantasy world. Is the world of the labyrinth an entirely fictional construct, made to escape the grim reality of her life, or is it something more real? Events in the fantasy world leave a mark on the real world and vice versa.

This is a movie which, like all the best movies, demands discussion and interpretation.