sellery Reviews

The London Nobody Knows (1968)

A rewind to a 60's London that has almost been forgotten

[9/10 · 4 September 2007]

An excellent and all too short documentary on post-war London. Made in 1967 and narrated by James Mason, it shows the side of 60's London that most commentators either conveniently forget or more likely are blissfully unaware of.

A strange documentary nonetheless. I never had James Mason pegged as one to go wondering around the back streets of Spitalfields (where, then, some were still alive who could remember the Ripper murders....), old theatres in Camden, and Salvation Army hostels interviewing the unfortunates there.

A must-see if you have any liking of London history and the 60's in particular. Watch and see the past once more, and learn how much has changed, and how certain modern preoccupations (how areas improve and sometimes gentrify) remain with us still today. Very hard to believe today that some parts of London were so different in character a mere 40 years ago.

Casino Royale (2006)

Great - now get better!

[9/10 · 17 November 2006]

What an excellent movie - intelligent, witty script, a steely, subtly emotional performance by Daniel Craig who is perfect for Bond, and a main female character who is for once an important part of the story, and not as is so often the case just dumb eye-candy supplied as a foil for Bond's wit and 'love interest'.

Improvements? For starters, ditch the 12A certificate. The bean-counter requirement to pander to young kids does the movie's storyline and editing no favours - punches often don't connect, fight scenes are edited chaotically to minimise the impact of violence, and Bond never, ever swears. This is the 21st century folks, get with the program.

Secondly, can anything be done to minimise the all too tedious product placement?

Hats off to the director, who miraculously managed to get a torture scene (dare I say it, a witty one) in the film, and did as subtle a job as could be expected with the product placement requirements which were no doubt rammed down his throat by the suits.

Keep up this level of script and film making and we can be assured of more entertaining years of the Bond franchise. But make it at least a 15 movie next time......

Come and See (1985)

Unbelievable

[10/10 · 14 May 2006]

The best true-to-life war movie I have ever seen, and possibly the best movie I have ever seen. My eyes were opened when I saw this for the first time a few days ago. It made me realise what I miss 99% of the time when watching movies. So few affect me like this one did.

No special effects of note, no big budget, no set-pieces of note, no heroes, no redemption. I feel quite sure the director has really captured what war 'feels' like - unlike Spielberg and Coppola's depictions of war, this director lived through WW2 and the horrific siege of Stalingrad, as well as spending many months researching the massacres in Belarus, one of which he depicts in this film (this from the DVD extras, well worth watching).

The direction, cinematography, soundtrack and AMAZING acting by a first-time untrained actor in the main role are faultless, in my humble opinion.

I found this film depressing and emotionally draining, but cannot wait to watch it again.

Up the Junction (1968)

An accurate snapshot of down-at-heel 60's London

[14 December 2004]

As someone who was born and brought up in Battersea in the 60's and 70's I can certainly attest that the tone of the film is spot-on.

Battersea was then a very working-class and rather depressed district, despite counting the very wealthy areas of Westminster and Chelsea as near neighbors. Today the difference is barely noticeable; then it hit one in the face.

Given the politics of the day, when unions were strong, the Communist Party of Great Britain still had a respectable face, and protests against the Vietnam War were taking place, the idea of a well-off young woman moving to south London to 'see things for herself' is not odd at all. Nowadays of course, it's the done thing to move to run down areas in the hope of seeing property prices rise.....

The film should be appreciated for what it is, a well-acted, involving and accurate snapshot of a less glamorous place and time in "Swinging 60's" London. About as good as you'll get without a time machine.