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Cinema, My Cinematic Romance

MY CINEMATIC ROMANCE #21 – SEAN CONNERY (R.I.P 1930 – 2020)

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MY CINEMATIC ROMANCE #21 – SEAN CONNERY (R.I.P 1930 – 2020)

“There’s one major difference between James Bond and me. He is able to sort out problems!” — Sean Connery

Sadly, the great Scottish actor, Sir Sean Connery passed away at the age of ninety on the 31st October 2020. Born in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh in 1930, Connery walked a fascinating and winding road to the path of famous film actor.

With working class and traveller roots, Connery was a milkman, artist’s model, bodybuilder, Naval seaman and talented footballer, who would earn acting experience in many stage roles from the early 1950’s onwards. In 1957, Connery began to get supporting roles in film and television. But, that same year, he landed his first leading role in BBC Television’s production of Requiem for a Heavyweight. He would also be cast in a prominent role in Cy Endfield’s brutal thriller, Hell Drivers (1957).

According to an apocryphal story, it was Connery’s co-star, Patrick McGoohan, who recommended him to producers for the starring role of Ian Fleming’s James Bond. The Prisoner star and creator, McGoohan, had been offered the role of Bond and turned it down. Connery would eventually accept, and the rest is history.

One could debate the differences and variant aspects of the movie star, the film actor and the character actor endlessly, but the fact is, Sean Connery was ALL three. A versatile actor who could do tough guy, romantic lead, comedic foil, serious drama and action hero roles with equal brilliance, switching between such traits effortlessly. Moreover, he also inhabited each role with a magnetic charisma that one could not keep your eyes off. And there’s THAT voice and delivery! The voice of gravitas and steely sophistication that made you want to listen, whatever Connery may be saying. In short: he was greatest film actors and stars of a generation.

In keeping with the My Cinematic Romance series, I have picked FIVE of my favourite Sean Connery roles. They may not be his best, but they are films I love. In order to challenge myself I have picked just ONE film from the James Bond series. If you prefer other Connery roles then please feel free to comment. R.I.P – Sean Connery.

HELL DRIVERS (1957)

Hell Drivers (1957) is a film that certainly deserves revisiting. Not simply because it is an excellent action drama, but because it contains an incredible cast, with most of the players going on to have major parts in some iconic screen roles. Connery was an unknown when appearing in the ensemble as Johnny Kates, but he more than holds his own as a tough guy working in the cutthroat and granite-tough haulage industry.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963)

Having read Ian Fleming’s classic spy novel Casino Royale in the last few years, I have to say that the early adaptations of the Bond series were a tremendous representation of his vision of Cold War espionage. If Dr No (1962) was the starter and Goldfinger (1964) the dessert, for me, From Russia With Love (1963) was the main course of the first three films in the franchise. Facing S.P.E.C.T.R.E, who are hell bent of destroying Bond, Connery gives such a confident performance amidst thrilling plot and action. His scenes with Robert Shaw as Grant are pure machismo and menace, culminating in an exciting fight on the Orient Express.

HIGHLANDER (1986)

I should really pick Sidney Lumet’s The Hill (1965) for my next choice. That film is a brutal character study set in a military prison during WW2, where Connery gives one of his finest performances. Instead, I have chosen a 1980’s action film about immortals slicing each other to death, to a rock soundtrack by Queen. Nothing in this film should work, from the pop video effects, the crazy mullets and mix of modern and historical settings. But somehow it does. Connery was beginning to settle into the mentor role now and he brings, like Clancy Brown, absolute class to the film. Here, as Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez (an Egyptian with a Scottish accent), he guides Christopher Lambert through a heady mix of sci-fi nonsense, swashbuckling swordplay and brilliant action.

THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987)

Another mentor role, this time portraying Irish beat cop Jimmy Malone, who joins Eliot Ness’s (Kevin Costner) crusade to bring down Al Capone (Robert DeNiro). Even with DeNiro, Costner and a breakthrough role for Andy Garcia in the cast, Connery absolutely owns this film from start to finish. Brian DePalma helms the spectacular set-pieces with aplomb, but Connery delivers David Mamet’s hard-boiled dialogue with confident intensity. Connery’s Jimmy Malone is a superb character performance, delivered with honesty, toughness and poignancy, as Malone finally gets the chance to be a proper copper. Quite rightly, Connery would win best Supporting Actor at the Oscars. Along with his Academy Award, Connery also won two BAFTA Awards, three Golden Globes, and a Henrietta Award during his illustrious career.

INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989)

How do you keep fresh and revitalise a film sequel? Well, by adding ingredients the filmmakers hope will differentiate and familiarise the franchise at the same time. The way George Lucas and Steven Spielberg did this with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) was to open with a thrilling origin story of Indy (River Phoenix) as a teenage adventurer fighting baddies in the West. Moreover, they also introduced surprisingly halfway through, the original Doctor Henry Jones Snr. The film was already knockout brilliant and got even better when Sean Connery first appears as Indiana’s (Harrison Ford) father. While it could have been cheesy with our hero’s Dad on the adventure, it is anything but. There are character reveals galore throughout as we get both a great buddy-buddy double act, and a vulnerable Indy, unsure and lacking confidence in the presence of his formidable father.

Cinema, New Releases, Reviews

CINEMA REVIEW: TENET (2020)

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CINEMA REVIEW: TENET (2020)

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Produced by: Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan

Written by: Christopher Nolan

Cast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh, Martin Donovan, Clement Poesy, etc.

Music by: Ludwig Göransson

Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema

***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

I am writing this review from the future while travelling backwards to the past to try and alter events which have yet to occur in the present. Confused yet? Jokes aside, Christopher Nolan’s latest temporally challenging and narratively inverted blockbuster, TENET (2020), is actually not as complicated as some would lead you to believe. However, that’s because I’ve been training my brain with such mind-boggling adventures in time, space and dimensions while watching the third season of the ingenious German sci-fi drama, DARK (2020), this week. Safe to say however, TENET is still rather complex and probably unnecessarily so. Yet, Christopher Nolan is a filmmaker who loves exploring challenging scientific concepts and marrying them to hugely involving plots and stylish spectacular action. All credit to him too for pushing himself and the audience!

TENET opens with a fast-paced set-piece located at a Ukrainian opera house. A SWAT team, that includes our unnamed hero, (John David Washington), is there to save a spy and obtain an unidentified object, which will of course become an integral part of the plot later or earlier on in the story. From then on, ‘The Protagonist’, as he later becomes known, becomes embroiled in stopping the megalomaniacal plans of Russian oligarch, Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh). In order to do so he attempts to infiltrate and stop Sator via his bullied wife, Kat (Elizabeth Debicki). Here the Protagonist builds a bond to Kat and this provides the emotional glue of the film. Although, I’ll be honest, I was too busy thinking about the machinations of Nolan’s head-twirling approach to temporal structure, than actually feel much for the characters.

What the film lacks in emotional depth it more than makes up with spectacular action. There are at least six incredible set-pieces that involve hand-to-hand combat, fast-paced vehicle pursuit, bungee-jumping and all-out combat between various government and mercenary factions. Nolan and his production team twist the action with a visually mirrored trick which, well I won’t say anymore. Moreover, the grandiose style and cinematography are eye-popping. Sharp suits, sharper knives and futuristic masks are adorned by the characters giving the spy thriller a hyperreal edge. Similarly, the stunts and editing are superbly orchestrated and executed. Having said that, the sound design and dialogue could have been better. Far be it from me to criticize, but in striving for verisimilitude in the sound, the constant wearing of masks meant important dialogue lacked clarity. Likewise, in the final amazing set-piece I was lost amidst the bodies and explosions as to who was who and why and what and how. Clearly a second and third watch of TENET (2020) is in order.

While the action was pretty much flawless throughout, the screenplay, unlike say Nolan’s prior high-concept masterpiece, INCEPTION (2010), did lack character depth for me. While I realise this was Nolan’s intention, hardly any time is given setting up the characters. So much so they become cyphers within the plot. Nonetheless, the charisma of the cast, notably John David Washington and the impressive Robert Pattinson, dominates the screen and the two bounce off each other magnetically. Elizabeth Debicki and Kenneth Branagh also bring much to their roles, however their subplot involving domestic abuse felt out of place in such a post-modern spectacle. Moreover, Branagh’s oligarch was, in certain scenes, verging on parodic cliche. I wondered if the villain of the piece could have been a little less B-movie heavy at times and possibly more cultured. This is a minor gripe though. After all, he is the bad guy!

Ultimately, TENET (2020) is a big, brash and confident Bond-type film with bells on. Sure, the rules of the world could have been excavated and presented somewhat clearer. But, Nolan favours a breakneck pace and be damned if you cannot keep up. Indeed, I am certain he has covered all the plot-holes (or paradoxes) I thought I saw and numerous questions I had by the end. While it is not without flaws, on first watch, I once again have to congratulate Christopher Nolan for striving for original thinking and fascinating concepts within a genre film. One may even argue that there are too many ideas here and simplification could have created a more emotionally satisfying film. However, there are many moments of cinematic genius in TENET (2020), notably in the Sisyphean payoffs within the inverted plot structure. Finally, one won’t see a more shiny and beautiful looking film all year. The future is bright: the future is Christopher Nolan.

Mark: 9.5 out of 11

Cinema, Reviews

SPECT-ACULAR TIMES – SPECTRE (2015) A FILM REVIEW

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SPECT-ACULAR TIMES – SPECTRE (2015) A FILM REVIEW

 We live in a spectacular society, that is, our whole life is surrounded by an immense accumulation of spectacles. Things that were once directly lived are now lived by proxy. Once an experience is taken out of the real world it becomes a commodity. .  . It becomes a substitute for experience.  (Larry Law, Images and Everyday Life)

**CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS**

Life is all about managing expectations. I mean we don’t why we’re here on this planet and we don’t know why we’re alive. Is there a point to life? Perhaps there is no point? If that’s the case then why carry on living? Why not kill yourself or go berserk and do what the hell you want and be damned to the consequences. Well, it doesn’t really bear thinking about does it? Thus, generally, we block out such existential questions – well I do – by filling our life and times with things we enjoy doing, seeing, feeling, and eating, hearing and experiencing.

One of the major things I use to distract me from the inquisitions of life is going to the cinema. I am obsessed with films. I could perhaps, rather than watch films, raise a people’s army and seize control of the state?  But what system would I put into place instead of the necessary evil of capitalism? I could eschew society and live off the land growing my own vegetables; but whose land?  All land is now owned by some person, persons or shadowy corporations. I could become a criminal and finagle the law in order to avoid the punch-clock drudgery of life; but I’d like to sleep guilt-free at night and hurting others does not sit well with me. I could train a pack of ants to perform tricks for money in an Ant Circus; but that would just be silly. I could go on…

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What I am saying is films and television are helpful in drawing a big thick line between the sane and insane shit in life. They are a big deal for me. Not as bigger deal as my loved ones but pretty close. So, when a new series of a current show I love such as Doctor Who or South Park or It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Game of Thrones is released I am very happy. Life is good. That thing called hope rear its head and says, “Hi, it’s me again!” The same goes with film releases from my favourite directors or movie franchises or series. It happened at the fag-end of the 90s with the new Star Wars trilogy and also when the new Indiana Jones film was released; hope came a knocking and expectations were raised. Unfortunately the Lucas’ space opera prequels were pretty bad and least said about Indiana Clones and The Kingdom of Crystal Dulls the better!

So, what I am saying is, AND I realise this is a sad thing to admit, A JAMES BOND FILM IS A BIG DEAL TO ME!  I know Karl Marx, Guy Debord and Edward Bernays are all correct in that the media is corrupting the proletariat, BUT WHO CARES – IT IS JAMES BOND and CHRISTOPH WALTZ IS THE BAD GUY!   I got my hopes up! I was really looking forward to it! It stopped me from thinking about reality! I failed to lower my expectations. So, what I am saying is I liked Daniel Craig’s fourth outing as Bond but not as much as I’d hoped. I shall explain why.

spectre_7

I have seen Spectre twice now and it is very entertaining. Was it was good film?  Yes – it was fine. Was it a good Bond film though?  Yes and no I would say.  I should qualify this by saying I thought Skyfall (2012) was a cracking film in its own right; a fantastic action thriller with fine characterisation and a formidably nasty, yet playful, villain in Javier Bardem. Thematically it was very strong with Bond’s orphan background and relationship with M (other) providing a fulcrum to the narrative. Skyfall was also lusciously shot with fantastic set-pieces and direction but it wasn’t necessarily a great Bond espionage adventure like From Russia With Love (1963) or The Living Daylights (1987) or a combustible boy’s own adventure like Casino Royale (2006). It was an Oedipal soap opera with explosions and the past destroying the present. Spectre is very similar in fact although the destruction is much larger in scale.

I would also compare Spectre to Quantum of Solace (2008) in the context that it is a kind of sequel to the previous outing and links back to Bond’s past. The main difference is Spectre is over fifty minutes longer than Quantum of Solace and certainly feels slow in places. I’m aware that Quantum of Solace is not rated highly in the Bond canon. However, I feel there are some incredible action sequences in there; notably the Opera shootout, great Plane chase and explosive desert hotel/hide-out denouement. While the villain was weak and it failed in terms of narrative, Quantum of Solace succeeded for me as a spectacle and by tying up the loose ends from Casino Royale.

Similarly, Spectre has some breathtakingly cinematic moments. Indeed, the first hour was sensational in terms of pace, action, mood and atmosphere. It’s a film about death and the past and opening at the massive Day of the Dead festival in Mexico City was a masterstroke in symbolism. Bond is an assassin; a hired killer used by the British government to take out the bad guys and where better to do it at a carnival celebrating those that have kicked the bucket. The opening chase, building demolition and helicopter fight is classic Bond and really kicks the film off in style. A spurious plot twist then gets Bond to Rome where he then meets – in the shadows – his nemesis, and the childhood ‘friend’ he thought dead, Franz Oberhauser played by Christoph Waltz. Waltz is one of my favourite actors but is criminally underused in Spectre. Aside from one particularly brilliant torture scene he is not allowed to express that wicked wit and devilish smile witnessed so adroitly in Django Unchained (2012) and Inglourious Basterds (2009).

The Oberhauser backstory does offer an interesting subplot to the main action and a very fun Bond revelation; however, it is similar to the Skyfall revenge-plot with touches of Cain and Abel thrown in.  Arguably too it doesn’t quite gel alongside other aspects of the script such as the global “Big Brother” programme to connect ALL the security and CCTV systems across the world which would make the 007 programme obsolete. So, with Bond under threat physically, emotionally AND politically we have an ambitious story with a thin plot that gets soggy at times.  Thematically Spectre is strong but Bond feels very reactive in some respects and not always making the decisions. Indeed, there is a scene where a RAT assists him; not torture or cunning or sheer violence but an actual rodent.  This moment and the anorexic characterisation of Madeline Swann (Lea Seydoux) were very much weaknesses in the script.

Sam Mendes and his production team have produced much for Bond fans to revel in. The opening credit sequence is stunning and I loved the Octopus imagery and motifs throughout. It also manages to mask the soporific non-entity which is Sam Smith’s theme song Writing on the Wall. Hinx (Dave Bautista) is a brute of a henchmen and his Rome car chase, Austrian snow pursuit and train punch-up were all brilliant action set-plays. Q (Ben Wishaw), M (Ralph Fiennes) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) all brought fine dramatic and comedic qualities to the film although, again, with SO many characters involved it took away screen time from Christoph Waltz. Finally, the “ticking-time” bomb denouement was well-executed but the film had run out of steam a bit by then.

Spectre is a technical tour-de-force and in Daniel Craig we have an actor who absolutely nails the role. He rocks the action, driving, shooting, running, falling, crashing with a coolness, toughness and insouciance which will be a hard act to follow. Indeed, the way they tied in the strands from previous films tells me this is probably his final Bond. Overall, the first hour-and-a-half of Spectre writes a spectacular cheque the final act cannot quite cash.  The big-bad-wolf reveal is not as surprising as I would have hoped and the Orwellian supporting story didn’t feel that deadly to me. And while our villain’s revenge on James was believable I didn’t quite buy the fact that Oberhauser was the architect of ALL Bond’s woes in the previous three films.

I realise it is a very big responsibility to maintain quality in a big movie franchise and Spectre does so but the long running time does it no favours. Paradoxically too by trying to give it more depth in respect of the familial backstory it again lost the espionage stuff I love.  We do indeed live in the Society of the Spectacle and this film offered up some solace away from the daily grind. But I must learn to manage expectations and perhaps stop living my life by proxy through fictitious cinematic spies and face the spectre of existence a bit more realistically.   (Mark: 008 out of 11)

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