Both were kindly brought by my Film Friday friend who is a huge fan of the BBC's treatment of John Le Carré's cold war intelligence novels.
The intention was to watch one episode, saving the others for future Fridays but it is very "more-ish" and we watched two before moving on to the second part of the programme. One of the joys of Smiley's People is the leisurely pace at which it unfolds, giving ample time to appreciate the subtlies of writing and performance. It is a gem and we shall not see its like again as time and tastes have moved on. I am a huge fan of the Bourne films and the pace and rhythm Paul Greengrass injects into the relentless movement of the final film but Smiley is the opposite and equally attractive side of the coin. While loose-head and hand--held cameras and jump-cuts are the order of the day, they are not the only way to make a taught suspenseful thriller.
Part two of the evening was the Coen Brothers' take on the Ealing comedy classic "The Ladykillers". Although my friend is as much a fan of the Coens as I am, I knew he had not seen their version of a film of which he is very fond. Happily its Coens pedigree was enough for him to agree to give it a chance on DVD. I had serious reservations about the wisdom or necessity of remaking such a wonderful film originally but had found it enjoyable once I had freed my mind from making constant comparisons and watched it as a film in its own right so I was pleased to be able to watch it again with this attitude from the start.
