I'm going to try to make this a compilation of all the shows and movies I've seen so far in London. My last blog entry is still missing some stuff that I wanted in it as well, so I'll try to get that up soon, too.
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) was the first film I saw with my film class. We saw it as a special screening at the Cinema museum. It follows a serial killer who seeks revenge on his late mother's behalf in order to gain the inheritance from the other family heirs, which was denied to her because of her marriage to 'unfit' suitor.
The second movie I saw was as an outing with my film adaptation class titled Kes. It is directed by Ken Loach and written (adapted from a book) by Barry Hines. It follows the story of a young boy growing up in the English working middle class who catches a falcon and trains it. I enjoyed it because of the insight it provided into working-class British life during the 1960s, and because the film itself is wholly British; untouched by Hollywood. The only difficulties I had with it was understanding the dialogue because the Yorkshire accents were so thick. I completely missed what was said between Billy (the boy) and his brother Jud in the first scene.
The In-Betweeners movie (seen last week, 11 October) is based off a British comedy television show. It had a high level of crude sexual content, however, it was only given a 15+ rating in the UK, which brings me to an interesting point on one of the major differences between British and American television content. Sex and nudity is used in the same, excess way violence is used in American TV and cinema...I'm actually planning on writing a paper for my Media and Society class on the differences between American and British film, so I'll post it up when it's finished.
Other movies that I watched for my film adaptation class are:
-Kingdom of Heaven
-The newly released Jane Eyre
-Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Romeo and Juliet (1996, Baz Luhrmann)
- The Homecoming (a boring, yet intense philosophical commentary on basic human nature; survival of the fittest)
- The Fallen Idol (even more boring; very straight adaptation from the play. It dragged on way too long.)
-The Dead (adapted from James Joyce's novella)
BFI London Film Festival
-Coriolanus - directed and starring Ralph Fiennes
Theatre productions I've seen thus far are:
-Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare's Globe
-Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre in Stratford on Avon
-Betty Blue Eyes (it's about a pig) at Novello Theatre
-The Tempest with Ralph Fiennes at Theatre Royal Haymarket
Operas:
La traviata at the Royal Opera House in Covent Gardens
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