When I first heard about this, it didn’t appeal, but then I caught part of it on TV one night and was intrigued – and thanks to Lovefilm I’ve now managed to see the whole thing. Very, very dark satire. Right up my street. And this monologue deserves an award all of its own. Brilliant. 4/5
Category Archives: film review
Derek Nimmo returns from the grave (Rev.)
Let’s start with the positives:
– context is realistic, and being an ex-East End vicar myself it was great to see some familiar locations being explored;
– Tom Hollander can act;
– it did make me chuckle a good deal, and I’m sure I’ll watch the whole thing.
BUT
Why oh why did we have to endure yet another presentation of a vicar as a downtrodden and browbeaten big girl’s blouse? When I was first called to the ministry I resisted the call for as long as humanly possible (two days of arguing directly with God; yes I am that stubborn) and that was simply because I had absolutely no desire to be a Derek Nimmo. He still represents for me all that is most spineless and useless about the church (the established church in particular) – the reduction of ministry to social work, to – in one of the sharpest moments of the programme – the need to devote all our energies to ‘wiping people’s arses’.
You’d never glean from a programme like this that Jesus was incredibly courageous and manly – a bloke’s bloke if ever there was one – that he was often astonishingly rude to people he disagreed with, that he was angry and aggressive – and that there are a great many clergy who follow that path. In short – there is nothing prophetic about this presentation, it was entirely lacking in theological substance and truth.
Grrr.
However, having got that off my chest, there was at least a sign of the worm turning at the end of the programme. It will be interesting to see if that represents the way the series will go. How wonderful it would be if there was a robust presentation of the reality of God in a vicar’s life. I won’t get my expectations up.
The Fall
This was an absolute feast visually, but what held it together was a phenomenal performance from the child at the centre of the story. I’m not sure if it carries a great weight of meaning – the ‘bracketing’ of the film with particular images put me in mind of Magnolia – but it is certainly a film that could be watched many times. Highly recommended 5/5
20 Seconds of Joy
I caught this on TV last night and found it fascinating. It is a documentary following a Norwegian base-jumper, and it explores what drives people to pursue these extreme sports. It had interesting things to say about the nature of fear, and the way in which facing and conquering the fear of death – which you need to do if you’re going to jump off the side of a cliff – leads to much greater equanimity and sense of proportion in the rest of life. I’d recommend seeing it if you get the chance.
It also struck me, however, that some people have the same attitude to worship that base-jumpers have to the adrenaline rush (the “20 seconds of joy”). They seek a ‘hit’ – an internal ‘charging’ of their spirituality, in the same way that the base-jumpers entered a state akin to meditation when they really had to concentrate on pulling the parachute cord at the right moment. Just as with any other addiction, familiarity breeds contempt. The Norwegian girl rapidly became accustomed to simply jumping off a cliff and flying down, so she pursued a path of flying closer to the cliffs for a greater rush. In the same way I have the impression that much Christian “worship” is about pursuing a particular experience, a particular subjective state, which allows some self-forgetfulness, and we end up with the phenomenon where “the pastor feels like a cult prostitute, selling his or her love for the approval of an upwardly mobile, bored middle class, who, more than anything else, want some relief from the anxiety brought on by their materialism” (Hauerwas & Willimon).
I think that to really enter into a genuine and transformative relationship with the living God a believer has to be prepared to work past the threshold of boredom with regard to worship. It is only when the self, with all its immoderate and ultimately jaded appetites, its consumer preferences and idolatry of choice, is subject to a higher discipline that a genuine intimacy with God can be found.
Put differently, many contemporary worship forms will simply end up breaking the legs of the believer. Liturgy puts them back together.
The Unforgiven Wrestler
Finally got around to watching this film last night – I had been meaning to watch it for ages – and it was, as expected, an excellent film, highly recommended, although, as a tragedy, it ends up being pretty grim. 4.5/5
However, whilst watching it I was put in mind of the text from Sunday’s service: “he who has been forgiven little loves little”. The turning point in the wrestler’s story is a rejection, which leads to a relapse into bad habits, which escalates into another rejection, and a further relapse, and the man sinks back into the way of death. In other words, it is because of a lack of forgiveness – especially from one crucial person – that death follows. So I see the film as an exploration and presentation of a spiritual law – where choosing love and forgiveness leads to life in abundance, so too does a lack of love and lack of forgiveness lead to death.
Similar themes to the Eastwood film – hence the title of this blog post.
District 9
Probably the best sci-fi film of at least the last ten years, a highly intelligent, sharply observed and meaningful movie which packs a hefty emotional punch. Obviously, if your preference in alien films involves Arnie and a big gun, this might be a bit disappointing (although the action-packed third act is very exciting), but if you want an original vision that is fully realised and executed, you won’t go far wrong. Marvellous. 5/5
The end of 24
After musing the other day about the endings of stories, a few thought about the ending of 24 from last night (the ending not just of this series, but of 24 as a whole).
24 has suffered somewhat in recent series from the diminishing returns produced by simply escalating the threats – after all, where can you go once a nuclear bomb has been detonated on US soil? – but I actually felt that these last episodes benefited from a smaller-scale threat, viz. That a peace treaty wouldn’t end up being signed. It also benefited from wonderfully pitched performance from Gregory Itzin as Wormtongue, seducing the President on to the dark side.
Best of all, though, was the resolution for Jack’s own character. I felt that he had crossed a line earlier in the season, when he had carried out an execution, and there was a great moment when he hovered above the abyss before returning to his own moral centre – a moral centre which proved to be the crucial factor for the President’s own momentous decision. Things are nicely set up for possible movies – the 24 episode, ‘real time’ format is surely now played out to exhaustion for these characters.
Movie notes
This may be the last time I review in this format
17 Again 3/5 blah
Ghost of Girlfriends Past 3/5 blah, blah
Wolverine, 4/5 much better than I expected it to be
Vicky Christina Barcelona 4/5 I’ve avoided Allen for a while, but this was good
Drag Me to Hell 4/5
I have dropped Sky and taken up Lovefilm, hopefully my consumption of rubbish will diminish, and my take up of quality film will increase.
Dennis Hopper, RIP
In memory of Dennis, one of my all-time favourite movie scenes, which I still find astonishing on the zillionth re-watch – it is absolutely pitch-perfect in every way.
Warning: contains strong language and violence.
On good endings
Over the last few days, I’ve watched the endings of Ashes to Ashes, Lost, and also (by a quirk of fate) the ‘Journey’s End’ episode of Doctor Who (end of series 4), which is where my eldest son and I have got to. I think that all three TV episodes ended well. (In fact, I am now open to seeing the whole of Lost again at some point (in a few years time), when I was quite sceptical of it.) So the question of endings is on my mind; most especially, the question of good endings. What is the essence of a good ending?
I would say there are two elements that apply to any story, and then something that I look for personally to gain the most satisfaction from an ending.
The first and possibly most essential element of a story ending is that it is consistent with the characters. The actions taken – and the consequences of those actions – must flow from authentic behaviour and not be mere contrivances to advance the plot. Characters must be given their own integrity, otherwise the authorial voice is overwhelming and we are no longer in story territory, but in sermon territory.
The second element is that the plot should be coherent and intellectually satisfying on its own terms, that is, the ‘universe’ being explored should be consistent and have its own stable framework. (Where the framework is the same as our lived existence, you have realist fiction. Where the framework is altered is a specific way, you have what is called fantasy or science fiction.) Essential questions need to be answered!
Those two elements I think are essential for anything to qualify as ‘good’, ie to have a certain degree of quality. For me, personally, there is a third element that I look for which ‘knocks the ball out of the park’ when it is achieved successfully, and this is when the creation succeeds in showing that death is not terminal for meaning. What I mean by this is that there is a framework of value which is articulated through the story which is shown to be vindicated beyond the death of the lead character(s). Of course, this is a Christian perspective. It is perfectly possible to have a high quality story that is not ‘orthodox’ in this sense (Un Couer en Hiver is the best example I can think of).
Where the third element is in place, then an element of grace enters in to the story, and it makes letting go much easier – for the characters themselves, and also for those watching or reading. There IS such a thing as a good death.
Things I particularly enjoyed from those three TV episodes:
from Ashes
– the destroyed Quattro, and then Gene looking at a Mercedes brochure;
– the Railway Arms, and all that was symbolised by that (and by the parallel symbolism elsewhere);
– the realistically sad note about Molly.
from Dr Who
– the final resolution of the Rose character arc;
– everything about Donna (sort of tragic).
from Lost
– Juliet coming back in the way I predicted, and the ‘Go Dutch’ resolution for them;
– Locke forgiving Ben, and Ben staying outside;
– Jack’s redemption.
For me, the most effective treatment of these themes – and the best ending – isn’t found in television, or in novels, but in comics, specifically the Sandman sequence, which is all about the nature of a good story (and therefore, by definition, all about a good ending). My three criteria are all fulfilled in abundance here, but most of all, there is a richness of allusion and metaphor and incidental characterisation that makes the re-reading of the stories an immense pleasure.
In keeping with the nature of the medium – herewith one of the many endings in the Sandman sequence (you’ll have to read it to really understand it!)
