AFI/BFI #198: My Name Is Joe (1998)

Director: Ken Loach
Writer: Paul Laverty
Composer: George Fenton
AFI Rank:  -
BFI Rank: 91

       88%
     


The BFI 100 is full of these gritty, realistic portrayals of life in working class britain. Their place in the list comes from a real pride we have in our ability to get these these movies even made at all. They are virtually impossible in a hollywood system based solely on box office numbers. But their real value is that they capture a time and place in a way that no documentary really can and leave something truly valuable for future generations.

Ken Loach is one of the master's of this kind of working class british cinema and he has two spots on the BFI list with both My Name Is Joe (#91) and one of the most acclaimed british films ever made, Kes (#7). He started in television with truly impact-full docudramas such as Cathy Come Home in 1964. He made Kes just five years later. I watched Kes for the first time in grammar school and until seeing My Name Is Joe it was the only Loach film I had ever seen. It had been sitting as the next movie in my list for a long time as I summoned up the willpower to sit through it. In the end I am glad I did.

Peter Mullan delivers an incredible performance as the films central character and it earned him the award for best leading actor at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. An even bigger achievement once you consider he was up against Roberto Benigni for Life Is Beautiful, for which Benigni won an Oscar. He had started with Loach on Riff-Raff in 1991 and had squeezed in Braveheart and Trainspotting before Joe. Louise Goodall had also worked with Loach before on Carla's Song and turns in a memorable performance here. David Hayman is a nice choice too. Much of the supporting cast were not professional actors and were effectively playing themselves, even to the point that the police disrupted a shoot as they recognized one of the actors from a previous offense. The casting and script (with all 200+ f-words) is what keeps Joe so grounded in reality and ultimately makes it a truly great film rather than the average one it could so easily have been.

Joe is the second film that Paul Laverty and Ken Loach made together and they have been in constant collaboration since. I recently watched Bread & Roses which came just two years after Joe and is in itself a great movie, and the first foray into the US for Loach. They clearly work well together and Carla's Song and Sweet Sixteen are definitely on my to watch list.

Getting a copy to watch here in the US is unsurprisingly difficult. The only place I could find it in the end was via Amazon Instant Video and then only for purchase (the rental option conveniently disappeared just weeks before I bit the bullet and decided to watch it). The quality is good enough for the source material and with no other release in sight is really your only option. As with Trainspotting I have read Joe is often shown in the US with subtitles due to the strong Glaswegian accents. Hard to imagine needing them to be honest but something to think about if you don't know what PBS is.

Joe is not a feel good movie with a Hollywood ending and that may be the best reason to force yourself to watch it. Great filmmaking is about making an emotional connection with your audience and leaving them with something to think about other than where they parked the car. My Name Is Joe delivers on all of that and more and is without doubt Crucial Cinema.



        

AFI/BFI #201: In Which We Serve (1942)

Director:  Noël Coward, David Lean
Writer:  Noël Coward
Composer:  Noël Coward, Clifton Parker
AFI Rank:  -
BFI Rank: 92



       92%

Produced specifically as a World War II propaganda film, In Which We Serve earns its place on the BFI list not only for its accurate portrayal of the Royal Navy but also for its stellar cast, wonderful script and superb direction. Coward’s script, originally hours long before trimming, is based mainly on his close friend Mountbatten’s command of the HMS Kelly that was sunk during the Battle of Crete. Not only did he write but he also directed, composed the music and took the starring role of Captain Kinross. It was a contingency of his involvement that he got that role and it is not too hard to understand why that was baffling and concerning to many inside and outside of the industry at the time. His performance is a joy to watch but is unquestionably at times hard to believe. He was very concerned about his ability to direct and John Mills suggested he bring in the greatest editor he knew, David Lean. This would be Lean’s first time directing and we all know how it went from there. Coward got disinterested with the mechanics of directing and eventually left it to Lean, not even coming to set when he was not acting. The script non-sequential narrative would make Tarrantino proud and with it Coward manages to weave a far more emotional story, moving from home and family to ship and back again.

Richard Attenborough is astounding in his first ever role which is unfortunately uncredited, and of course John Mills is superb. My favorite role of all though has to be Bernard Miles as Chief Petty Officer Walter Hardy. I had not heard of him before but his performance is outstanding and the most memorable of the picture.

More interesting perhaps than who was cast is who was not. Coward blocked the casting of James Mason because of his position on the war and he fired William Hartnell (Dr Who was another 20 years away) for turning up late on his first day of filming.

Nominated for two Oscars in 1944 it lost to another great propaganda movie, Casablanca. The previous year Coward received an honorary Oscar for his outstanding production achievement on the film.

Due to the wonders of the internet you can read the original New York Times review from the US premier in 1942 which helps put the impact of this movie into the context of the time. Watching today many younger viewers will be hard pressed to understand what all the fuss is about.

Some may find it hard going initially as you acclimatize yourself to the classic acting style of forties British films, something Coward is an accomplished expert in. A lot of stiff upper lips and not too many quivering lower ones there are a lot more truly emotional performances than you would expect. But once you are immersed in it the picture carries you along for the ride and what a ride it is.

In Which We Serve is unquestionably Crucial Cinema and one of those rare films that gives you a real glimpse into the past while remaining highly watchable.

AFI/BFI #203: Caravaggio (1986)

Director: Derek Jarman
Writer: Suso Cecchi d'Amico (uncredited), Nicholas Ward Jackson,Derek Jarman
Composer: Simon Fisher-Turner
AFI Rank:  -
BFI Rank: 93

      78%
     

If the BFI is looking for quotes to put on its upcoming Blu Ray release of Caravaggio may I humbly suggest they go with “Like Watching Paint Dry!” (Crucial Cinema).

Cheap jokes aside, much of this movie does actually involve watching paint dry but more on that later. You cannot fault Jarman for his vision and direction. What he manages to put on film is the life of Caravaggio in Caravaggio’s own style. Many scenes are delivered as if directly from one of his paintings giving it the feeling of a filmed stage production, with Caravaggio himself painting that same scene in many cases (hence the unique opportunity to watch paint dry). A passing familiarity with Caravaggio’s work while not essential will definitely let you get more out of this picture than you otherwise would. Recognizing why for example he is holding a painted Medussa shield in an early scene.

This all results in Caravaggio’s life being delivered almost as a passion play, and perhaps fittingly so. It plays to both Caravaggio’s life and the religious content which was the subject of most of his works.

It is for all those reasons I can see why it made the BFI Top 100, especially if voted for by those who saw it when it originally came out. Unfortunately for me that doesn’t make it an enjoyable film to watch. It has a decidedly eighties made for channel 4 feel about it and perhaps being from that generation I just find it more cringworthy than the older or younger viewer might. The real issue for me is the performances. These are all great actors in their debut or at least very earliest roles and although we all love their work now it is a little hard to watch here. Sean Bean is especially painful to watch. The stand out performance comes from Nigel Terry as Caravaggio himself, perhaps because of the theater like nature of the production.

Although Caravaggio received only a couple of film festival awards it does deserve it’s place in film history. Ultimately for me however it is simply not Crucial Cinema and if you have not seen it then I don’t suggest you go out of your way to do so.

        

AFI/BFI #205: The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954)

Director: Frank Launder
Writer: Frank Launder, Sidney Gilliat, Val Valentine
Composer: Malcolm Arnold
AFI Rank:  -
BFI Rank: 94


      No Score Yet...
     

To anybody under the age of 40 this is going to be a hard sell. The first and best entry in the series was made nearly 60 years ago and was based on the cartoons of Ronald Searle. Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat wrote, directed and produced over 40 films together but they will mainly be remembered for the St Trinian's films. The comedy may come thick and fast but it is gentle by today's standards and a younger audience may have trouble understanding what all the fuss is about. Like many classic british comedies you need to watch with a little pinch of nostalgia. Although people slam the modern St Trinian's and Carry On remakes it is hard to argue that they are truly that different. The formula is the same but they don't have the benefit of that nostalgia and as a result seem dated and flat, unlike their revered originals.

If I could make an argument for watching Belles then it would have to be the outstanding cast and superb performances. A who's who of british comedy led by the incomparable Alastair Sim in dual roles (Alec Guinness channelled him in The Ladykillers and was also brilliant in his own multi-role celluloid excursions), with Joyce Grenfell, George Cole, Beryl Reid, Irene Handl, Joan Sims and Sid James, all showing the expert comedic timing and delivery that made each of them a household name.

Sim was also Cole's off screen mentor

Launder had previously directed The Happiest Days of Your Life four years earlier with Sim, Grenfell and Cole and Belles owes a great deal to its predecessor. It is less risque than you might imagine, although for the time it probably raised a few eyebrows, especially the depiction of the sixth form girls. It is the youngest girls that are the real terrors though and are closer to Searle's strips. They never had nitroglycerin in my chemistry lab... 

It used to be very hard to get a copy of this in the US but that is no longer the case. I watched the US DVD release from Netflix and it looked pretty good for it's age. Amazon also has it for streaming in SD if that is your thing. Overall Belles is still a highly entertaining film and a perfect Sunday afternoon movie. It is vintage british comedy at its best.

        

AFI/BFI #207: Life Is Sweet (1990)

Director: Mike Leigh
Writer: Mike Leigh
Composer: David Snell
AFI Rank:  -
BFI Rank: 95


      100%
   

"Given the choice of Hollywood or poking steel pins in my eyes, I'd prefer steel pins." - Mike Leigh

You could argue that you cannot get more english than a Mike Leigh film. He occupies only two spots on the BFI top 100 but then again he has hardly been a prolific film director (if you ignore all his theater work). But what he lacks in quantity he has made up for in quality. He doesn't develop properties, or even work from a script. He creates real living breathing worlds occupied by truly believable people. He does it by using incredibly talented and often overlooked actors and giving them the space and freedom to create something special. Hi style is epitomized in the funny and sublime Life Is Sweet.

Leigh knows how to assemble a cast and oh man what a cast. The loving couple played by Alison Steadman and Jim Broadbent with Claire Skinner and Jane Horrocks cast perfectly as very believable sisters. Stephen Rea as the shifty Patsy, a man you wouldn't trust as far as you can throw him. A young David Thewlis makes a cameo. But the stand out performance is from Timothy Spall who creates a character so memorable he should have gotten his own film. Who wouldn't want to try Saveloy on a bed of Lychees or Tongues in a Rhubarb Hollandaise?

Outstanding performances from Timothy Spall and Jane Horrocks

By now you must know I hate spoilers and this film is especially hard to describe without giving anything away. So simply take my word for it. This is truly Crucial Cinema and worth every moment of your time. 

Your biggest challenge, if you are in the US, will be getting your hands on a copy. There is no US DVD release and no streaming version available. Amazon does now have a burned on demand DVD-R for $20. I watched the UK DVD ordered from Amazon UK and shipped to the US. The transfer is surprisingly good and your best bet as there is no street date for a blu ray release.