Inside Llewyn Davis

When I was 16 I was passed a (then rare) bootleg of Bob Dylan performing at the Gaslight Cafe in 1961, months before he cut his first album. One track on this bootleg stood out amongst the others. Dink's Song is a haunting ballad about a women jilted by her lover and was originally recorded in the 1900's by a women called, unsurprisingly, Dink. No versions of this recording remain today but come the 60's folk revival it was picked up by almost everyone of note. The name for the song was changed for different artists some going with the chorus line and calling it 'Fare Thee Well' whilst others went with the memorable opening line 'If I had Wings'. Though it's Dylan's cover which he entitled 'Dink's Song' that seems to have had the biggest effect with Pete Seeger, Jeff Buckley, Dave Van Ronk and Marcus Mumford all retaining the original title. In it's simplicity it inspired my to take up playing guitar and I still play it today. Which is way I was happy to hear it feature so prominently in Inside Llewyn Davis.
The film explores the life of a struggling self destructive musician (Llewyn) in New York's Greenwich Village in 1961. Llewyn goes from sofa to sofa as a means of living and finds no direction anywhere he looks. This is depicted in a way that the Coen Brothers seem to very good at.

*Spoilers Ahead*
The Film
The entirety of Inside Llewyn Davis is shot in 4:3 with a steel filter. In the context of the film I think this works well and couldn't imagine the subject matter being approached in clear HD 16:9 format. The formatting somehow suits the music better despite have no baring on the sound quality.
There are times when you see the mic in the top of the image as well. This made be a nod to old films where this happens, and as this is the Coen Brothers directing I probably guess it was but it seems unclear and clumsy to me rather than a tribute.
The plot itself rambles through a week in Llewyn Davis' life focusing on his lost direction and frustration at the world not going his way. Early on we discover that he once had a musical partner who has passed away and since then Llewyn has been picking up the piece's of life and surviving on scraps. He bounces from one character to the next all who seem to see an inherent goodness in him that makes it hard for them to turn him away no matter how harsh he's been to them.
The acting doesn't miss a beat and the awkward almost Pinteresque pauses are filled by every actor in a great way. Though a cat does threaten to upstage everyone else at times.
Oscar Issac's acting of a complex title role is great to watch. He shows the characters directionless pessimism in a light that verges on the comedic at times but is also somehow tragic. Llewyn's answer to everything seems to be music and this shines through in Issac's portrayal. 
The scene's between him and Carey Mulligan are well executed with anger sizzling between them but also a strange current of tenderness.
Justin Timberlake does well in a role that could maybe have been bigger to show that he wasn't just there to sing. He only really has two scene's. In one his character really helps Llewyn but then disappears into nothing for the rest of the film.
John Goodman again proves how good a character actor he is in his portrayal of an aging drugged up Jazz artists. He embraces the role and you can completely forget it's him.
The only thing I will say about the plot is that no one in the film seems to have a job beyond the music. Just a little strange.
All things said and done the one scene that will stay with me is a scene with the cat staring out a subway train window watching the stations pass.

The Music
When the Coen Brothers made 'O Brother Where Art Thou' they drafted in T Bone Burnett (famed for working with pretty much everyone in the 60's) and they produced a phenomenal soundtrack for the film. T Bone comes back into the Coen Brothers fold with this film and doesn't disappoint. Issac, Mulligan and Timberlake all play full songs in the context of the film and it's hard to turn away from these performances such is the song selection and arrangement.
A lot of the music takes place in New York's Gaslight Cafe which adds nicely to the feel of the film and puts the events into context.
Marcus Mumford also makes a small vocal appearance at the start of the film. Singing as Llewyn's dead partner.
The film ends with an original Bob Dylan bootleg recording from the Gaslight Cafe in 1961 and a glimpse of him on stage.

Inside Llewyn Davis to me feels like a biopic of the New York folk revive in all it's guises. The fact that the end is the same as the beginning fits wonderfully in with the genre as so many lyrics from the time talk about futility and hopeless situations. If you listen to the Dylan track 'Eternal Circles' you'll see how close the spirit of this film is to the spirit of that song.
To me Llewyn Davis himself seems to personify the Greenwich folk revival in it's early stages. Struggling to get noticed above the noise of nearby Tin Pan Alley before the scene exploded into the charts. I say all this as an outsider looking into a scene some 50 years passed and in a bias way only a fan can but I think it goes without that I enjoyed the film.

The 2013/14 Michael Grandage Company Season

So over this last year Director Michael Grandage has set up a high profile theatre company in his name and directed 5 pieces to be presented in the Noel Coward Theatre.
I was lucky enough to see three of these. Missing Privates on Parade and Midsummer Night's Dream. Looking at the reviews I almost regret not seeing Midsummer though David Walliams makes my skin crawl.

The season seems to have given established high profile actors a chance to return to the stage and stretch there acting wings in some seriously good roles. And none of them disappointed.

Peter & Alice
The first of the season I saw was Peter & Alice. A new play by John Logan (writer of Hugo, Skyfall and The Aviator to mention a few) which explores a fictitious meeting between Alice Liddell Hargreaves (Inspiration for Alice in Wonderland) and Peter Llewellyn Davies (Peter Pan). In which they both explore their relationships with the writers of the respective books and how their lives were affect by them. 
Starring Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw it seems the roles were almost designed to be played by these two who fitted them perfectly. 

At first I thought this to be a completely straight play and indeed the first scene is set in a scruffy looking lawyers office as Peter and Alice meet and talk for the first time both revealing how they've coped with the attention over the years. But as they start to tell their stories the whole room is lifted to reveal a mock theatre stage behind and the piece starts becoming more stylized as episodes of their lives are acted out by themselves.
The piece becomes darker and darker as the true nature of the writers and the effects of the books becomes clear and it becomes clearer that both Peter & Alice do what they can to survive.
The set, costume and lighting design were incredible. Fitting in with every turn and emotion displayed in the play. I can imagine the designers having fun with this one as parts of the design match with the sometimes abstract movements in the play.  
My only reservation was that I wished the Dench fans in the stalls had not felt compelled to laugh at everything.

The Cripple of Inishman

This was the third in the season but the second I saw. The Cripple of Inishman is a dark comedy drama set in a small island community off main land Ireland (Think less extreme version of Craggy Island). It tells the tale of Cripple Billy and the effect a visiting film crew has on him and those around him. 
Set in the 1930's the play shows the fascination and draw that a film crew can have a remote poor community at the time. Cripple Billy is seen as second class by most of the islanders (though their is some affection toward him) and he see's the visiting crew as a means of escaping the island.
Billy is ably played by Daniel Radcliffe. The role is a very tough one physically and Radcliffe does well never to forget the posture or disability through out the play. Even during the fight scenes he never drops out of his characters physicality. 
The rest of the cast are excellent as well with some larger than live characters being played without missing a comic beat or dropping an awkward dramatic second.
Like with the Peter & Alice the design isn't just great for the play it's great for the audience too. The Lighting and costumes make you believe in the scenes that are acted out on the three part rotating stage. As each scene is revealed, whether it's the make shift outdoor cinema or Billy's LA bedroom you get a real feel for the environment and atmosphere. A good combination of lighting and set allowed the audience to feel like they were almost there. 

Henry V

As the final production of the season Henry V was also the most traditional. I'll admit from the start that I'd never seen this play before (though I have seen Henry IV Part 1 & 2) so can't really draw comparisons with other versions of the play. 
For me the play itself feels like propaganda in parts and seems to lack Shakespeare's instinctive insight into human nature at times. That being said I still enjoyed it and found it stirring and entertaining in equal amounts. Henry V's speeches are clearly the stand out pieces of the play but the representation of the common folk through Pistol and his colleagues give welcome respite through the seriousness.
Jude Law played the title role and was very good in the role. Balancing the levels of righteousness, melancholy and mischievousness at the right levels to keep the audience engaged. It was a different experience for me to watch him as well. Previously I had mainly seen Shakespeare's large historic roles played by RSC/ classically trained actors who always bring a certain type of pronunciation and delivery to the roles. Law's execution of the role brought what felt like a more modern air to the role which made it most entertaining to watch.
Like with the other plays in this season the cast were hard working and entertaining but I thought that Ron Cook as Pistol deserved special mention. His rendering of the role brought the self serving greedy character to live.
The design ascept of the play added so much to the play that it's effect can not be under estimated. The set itself was comprised of a wooden slated semi circle facing the audience with hidden doors that were opened at different points to form each different location when added to by the lighting. Being painted a distressed white the set would pick the colour of the lighting and take of that characteristic, an effect that I felt worked very very well. Impressively they where able to create the effect that the whole set was gold one minute and a brisk morning the next.
 
All these pieces were great to watch. I personally think that you always get a better result if you let a play take on a life of its own and come together naturally which is what these all seem to do. You can really tell that the designers, director and actors have all been part of the collaborative efforts in making these all a success. I must admit that I'm kind of jealous of all those involved in making this season. Looking forward to another season!

The Road By Cormac McCarthy

I'd heard a lot about this book before reading it. Both in review terms but more as a comparison to books &
films that have have followed. It's influence has been far reaching seemingly inspiring films like Book of Eli, a Relaunch of the Fallout game series and even episodes of Adventure Time. The book seems to have set down a bench mark for a genre and with good reason.
I've always enjoyed Post-apocalyptic fiction. Something about a new world emerging/existing from the ruins of a self destructive world has always caught my imagination so since hearing about The Road I've wanted to read it.
As a work of fiction it works on so many levels and can really be described as a full package with many parts engaging with each other to create great fiction.
One of the first things you notice is the way the story is told. The characters have no names and there's no punctuation when they speak. This is different at first but as you read on it becomes apparent why this is. Within the context of the themes and feel of the book there is no need for either. You soon learn to see why the two main characters have no need for names and the fact the author has chosen not to give this basic element to the reader really helps you engage with the plot. This is only enhanced by the use of the third person narrative to follow just two people. Even though the focus is primarily on one of the characters you always get a feel for the other as well. The lack of punctuation could almost be described as gimmicky if it didn't match the atmosphere created by the book almost perfectly.
The story tells of two people, A man and his son, trying to survive in a world that has been destroyed. It has a rolling plot line which has no real concept of time passing. The lines between night and day are blurred because of the scorched sky and ash. The only real gauge is the characters need for food and sleep as they trudge across a barren wasteland.
There is a no holds barred feel to parts of the story which at times you don't expect. As one of the central characters is a child who's over riding emotion is empathy you are constantly raised up by the hope in the goodness that he tries to find in others. This can give you shelter from the more grim parts of the book. As the child doesn't always understand it makes it easier for the reader to understand the man's motives when he has to do things that no one should ever have to do. There is also a desperate type of hope from the man as well. A hope that he can protect his child and teach him what he can. Even if that means exposing him to bad situations so he learns what not to be like.
The book captivated me from beginning to end. I didn't want to put it down or for it to end and it stuck with me for weeks afterwards. Thinking more about it now I think it ends in a good (bad?) place. It left my wondering about the rest of the world and how it all happened. Though more than anything to me the characters seem to represent humanity itself and how decent humans (the good guys) would have deal with the collapse of humanity.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

So I decided to read this book in November and have only just finished it. I must admit that I can be very slow at reading sometimes and this book being a thousand pages plus had the potential of being an up hill struggle for me. With long works in the past I have found my interest failing and I tended to put off reading more until I found that I was no longer invested in the book and put it down for good. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell certainly wasn't like that for me. Maybe it's the slow burn pace of the book or remember-able events that kept me reading it for over two months but I'm glad I did.

Different Magic
There are a lot of novels out there which look at magic in different ways and not just in childrens wand waving fiction either. The Rivers of London series Ben Aaronovitch shows it almost as feelings that can be caught and channeled, In Pratchett's Discworld novels Magic is in almost everything from Trees to Music and Tolken's Magic is a force of nature that can be tapped into. Whilst this book doesn't try and describe what magic is or how the users generate it it does introduce the concept of the study of magic without the use of it. A large number of characters within the book are more than happy to study but not practice and at the outset most believe that it's practice is impossible. This concept is new to me in readings and I thought it original and quite in fitting with the time the book is set in.

Three parts     *Slight spoilers ahead*
The novel is separated into three parts that build toward the end of the third.
The first part concentrates on Mr Norrell, an older man obsessed with books that contain magic. From the outset we learn that he is the only 'Practical Magician' left in Britain and is very happy in the knowledge that there is no one can can challenge his dominance in this field but because he has hidden himself amongst his readings for so long the world does not believe that he is capable of the deeds he claims. To prove himself he moves to London where he preforms a certain piece of magic that gets him noticed by the whole country whilst also setting events in motion at will dictate the outcome of the novel.
The second segment of the book focuses on Jonathan Strange a younger wealthy man who finds he has a gift for Practical Magic after being given a spell by a wanderer. This prompts his further studies into the field only to hindered by lack of books on the subject (someone having hoarded them all to stop others learning). His only course is to approach Norrell and ask for an education. Norrell is reluctant at first but eventually warms to the idea though others around Norrell are not so happy. The two work together until Strange goes to fight in the Peninsular Wars where he proves himself a competent Magician in his own right. The two then split company after it becomes apparent the Strange has grown well beyond the role of apprentice.
The third part is titled John Uskglass and focuses on events set in motion by Norrell early on and magics return to Britain. There is not much to say here without giving away a lot of spoilers.
The way the novel is presented means it flows well with no gaps or major jumps that are explained away later on. It has a smooth course and allows the plot and characters to develop at their own pace with everything touched by magic being changed by the end of the book. This for me justifies the length of the book. If it had been shorter I think it would have missed the slow character development that it benefits from.

A feel for the times
The book starts in 1806 and to me the way never forgets that. Even some of the works are written in an archaic way (Shew/Shewed opposed to Show/showed). Through the descriptive wordings I got a real feel for the time that the novel is set. Especially when Strange is fighting with the British army. This type of immersion within a time period can be very hard to pull off for a contemporary writer. Misplacing a word can bring the illusion down quickly but it is obvious the amount of time Clarke has put into making sure this doesn't happen.

In conclusion I enjoyed reading this and look forward to seeing how well it is adapted to television later this year.

Instructions for a Heatwave

So this was our Book Group reading for December/January and I'm still undecided over whether I enjoyed it or not.

The Book focuses on a Irish descendant family who's father has gone missing, apparently leaving of his own free will. Set in the 1976 (Though it's easy to forget this sometimes whilst reading it) during the heatwave it looks at how each family member has experienced major life problems whether through their own doings or through other family members.


The book is presented in the third person (my preferred style) and does well at seamlessly flowing from one characters perspective to another's. Though occasionally it will jump back and forth from the present day to the past at unexpected moments.

The characterisation is well thought out and is believable. With each character having there own quirks and graces. It's easy to see how each of them reacts differently to other and to different situations.

Maybe I missed something but I didn't feel much for this family. They all seemed to be victims of their own devices and the goal of the book seems to want show them becoming stronger/ reunited through a shared experience. Speaking to others within the Book Group I wonder if I'd have enjoyed this more if I had Irish relatives but that's not to say I didn't enjoy parts of it.