End of Term

Headed to my hometown again today for what may be the final films of the year (at least in cinemas). They were both films of whimsical old-fashioned charm and were both set in France.

I first saw Romantics Anonymous, at the Duke of Yorks, and it was a very nice, sweet little film. It won't be troubling the jury for my film of the year I'm sure but I had a happy smile on my face for most of the film. I felt it tapered off a bit at the end and could perhaps have been trimmed slightly but I shall be recommending it to relatives and friends who like an enchanting "romcom" without too much fear they will miss out on a happy ending.

It looks nice too, especially all those lovely chocolates filmed in a couple of genuine chocolatiers. Not often you get a film confection as charming as this without it being compromised by the heavy-footed formulaic writing of someone like Richard Curtis or a Hollywood studio making it overly contrived and saccharin.

I followed Romantics (after some failed Christmas shopping around Brighton and a long and rather damp walk), with Hugo, which has similarities: It's set in France and it has an old-fashioned charm.

Hugo was directed by Marty Scorcese, a bit of a departure for him as it is a family film (but not just a children's film). It was also a bit of a surprise to find him making it in 3d and singing the praises of the technology. Mark Kermode makes some interesting points about why he likes the 3d in Hugo although he detests it elsewhere (and says so whenever he gets the slightest chance). Anyway I can't comment on the 3d version as I haven't seen it. Purely because of timing in this case, I watched the 2d version.

The film looks good and is certainly an elegy to cinema itself but I wasn't so wholly overwhelmed as some people seem to have been. Sacha-Baron Cohen's turn as a damaged policeman (actually the "station inspector", but dressed like a gendarme) is truly weird and there was a little side plot with Frances de la Tour and Richard Griffiths that didn't seem to add anything or go anywhere. The look of it, with all its attention to the inner clockwork is striking and there's no doubting it's the work of a top director but...why am I not completely blown away? Perhaps because I didn't see it in 3d as Marty says I should. Also there didn't seem to be an awful lot of going on, most of the time which struck me as odd for a family film. Will children have the attention span to cope with the slow development of a plot about the early history of film?

Well it seems to be doing well so hopefully I'm wrong about that and whole families will adore it. It's an enchanting film in many ways and there's a great deal to enjoy. It's set in 20s/30s Paris and I believe I spotted James Joyce at one point and certainly saw the celebrated gypsy guitarist with the maimed hand, Django Reinhardt.

Two charming films anyway: Not bad for one day.