What classics did you see last week ? (4 Aug- 10 Aug 2019)
Aug 12, 2019 1:39:33 GMT
spiderwort, teleadm, and 2 more like this
Post by morrisondylanfan on Aug 12, 2019 1:39:33 GMT
Hi all,I hope everyone had a good weekend,and I watched:
Auteurs in '87 Viewing fest:
Move out of the way with your dogs QT!
One that ticks off the boxes in your Neo-Noir & Action lists hitchcockthelegend
With Eng Subs:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoydUKo9ZZk&t=6215s
Ringo Lam's City on Fire 10.
Building on the skill he had displayed in his co-directing debut Esprit D'amour, (1983-also reviewed)and given a free hand by producer Karl Mak to do whatever project he wanted, co-writer/(with Sai-Shing Shum) directing auteur Ringo Lam becomes one of the leading figures of the Heroic Bloodshed sub-genre,with a blistering entry. Continuing to expand on the Jazzy Blues score of D'amour with a vibrant Neo-Noir score from Teddy Robin Kwan, Lam takes debuting cinematographer Andrew Lau Wai-Keung onto the streets of Hong Kong in guerrilla filming style, (a recurring filming technique for Lam) that fires off a rough & tumble sawn-off shotgun atmosphere of Lam's long tracking shots, (which catch the odd side mirror of cars Lam's secretly filming in!) being welded to Heroic Bloodshed slow-motion parting shots, and whip-pans darting towards each thief clearing out their part of shop in the robberies.
Displaying his eye for Neo-Noir for the first time, Lam brings a depth fatal heroism to the bloodshed, dressing Chow in ultra-stylised black and white low-lighting, (lined between his loyalty with the cops,and loyalty to the gang leader) and closely-held two-shots pushing the nervous cops to the very outskirts of the frame/the law. Far more than just being the original Reservoir Dogs, the screenplay by Lam & Sai-Shing Shum holds Chow's feet to the fire as a absolute Noir loner, who must pick at the grey to make his isolating moral choices (a regular theme of Lam's credits.)
Gaining the trust of the gang by a tagged handing over of weapons, the writers take a excellent slow-burn approach to the handing over Chow makes not only of weapons, but loyalty, via new, young hip cop John Chan shoving the steady hands of Inspector Lau away from guiding Chow in the case, leaving Chow open to gaining a closer look at the traditional hand of loyalty lead gangster Fu places on his fellow thieves.
Getting his fingers burnt,Yueh Sun gives a tense, worn down to the bones turn as Lau, whilst Danny Lee brilliantly carries Fu with the confidence of knowing he is the toughest in the room, but aware of times he needs to show his hand. The first in his long collaboration with Lam, Chow Yun-Fat gives a mesmerising performance as Chow, drilling down on Chow's early swagger to a bloodstained, morally blurred wreak,who leaves the city on fire.
My first Fellini directed film- Intervista. 7
Reuniting from Tenebrae, Lara Wendel and Christian Borromeo give delightful performances,with Wendel capturing the excitement of a actress working with a legend,and Christian Borromeo brings out a playfulness from being on set with the film maker. Joining old friends of the good life, Marcello Mastroianni brings a touching melancholy as himself, conjuring the highlight of the film, via Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg watching footage of themselves together in faded footage from a fading era of cinema.
Interviewed by a documentary crew at Cinecitta studio, the screenplay by co-writer/(with Gianfranco Angelucci) directing auteur Federico Fellini give the dialogue of the fake documentary portion an in the moment feel, via criss-crossing between snappy questions from the interviewer, with the more considered replies by Fellini. Pulling four films out of his magicians hat, Fellini continues building upon his themes with a enticing zest, magicking up the blurring between fantasy and reality of Fellini reminiscing about his time at Cinecitta seeping into the making of a fake film version of Kafka's Amerika.
Finding it more difficult to fly at his advance age, Fellini & Sergio Leone's regular cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli continue the later theme of Fellini's credits in a bitter-sweet love letter to Cinecitta. Turning his magical surrealism towards the magic of cinema, Fellini takes a flight of fantasy in tracking shots down the sets of the Kafka's Amerika and his heightened re-enactment of the first visit to the studio, pinned by a striking final shot, which peels away the fantasy of Cinecitta.
Claude Chabrol's adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's The Cry of the Owl. 10
Slipping on Patricia Highsmith's novel like a velvet glove, co-writer/(with regular collaborator Odile Barski) directing auteur Claude Chabrol's adaptation takes Highsmith cynical,apprehension world view, and superbly coils it with the rich dissection of the murderous bourgeoisie which spans across his credits. First sighting Juliette by watching from afar, the writers alight a fatalist Neo-Noir edge in the entanglement between Robert and Juliette, spun from the pressure of trying to keep how they first met secret, and Juliette's ex Patrick digging for details on this outsider.
Cracking open Robert's past from his bitter ex-wife Veronique's hissing asides which hold Robert from escaping his old life, (a major theme in Chabrol's credits) the writers display their claws with a tantalising Mystery Thriller, sinking into Robert's detached bourgeoisie status being torn to shreds by bitter, calculating ex's,and Chabrol's traditional, doubting police officers, leaving everything in a bloody pile on the floor. Soaring on his son Matthieu's plucked, spidery score, Chabrol & his regular cinematographer Jean Rabier take a turn of the screw with a unrelenting tense atmosphere, nailed in French New Wave distorted wide-views, imprinting the impression of Robert being a loner from all those in town.
Setting out the rules of the game for him, Chabrol grinds Robert down with bursts of red against a pristine, sterilised white and silver canvas, reflecting the Noir lack of morals, in the conniving bourgeoisie. Taunting her ex Robert, Virginie Thevenet gives a alluring, viciously seductive turn as Veronique,whilst Jacques Penot slithers round being the Highsmith blonde psychopath Patrick. Dazed by the pure vision of Juliette, (a terrific Mathilda May) Christophe Malavoy gives a excellent performance as Robert, who whilst getting shaky at the edges from becoming entrapped in a game, is held at the core by Malavoy as a Noir loner, detached from the cry of the owl.
What a kick ass set!
Norman J. Warren's Bloody New Year 7.
Ending their set on a high note, Indicator fill the disc with detailed extras, including new a commentary with Warren & BFI film historian Jo Botting, (bet Warren never imagined that the BFI would hold a "season" screening his films!) and in dealing with inconsistent film stock, sand down the roughest edges in their great 2K transfer, whilst keeping the soundtrack clean.
Facing tight limits placed on by producer Maxine Julius, (from no time being given to write more than one draft, turning down any actors who did not live nearby,and keeping a close count on how many reels of film were used)co-writer/(with Hayden and Frazer Pearce) directing auteur Norman J. Warren presents a fitting, late coda to the era of British "New Wave" Horror.Closely working with cinematographer John Shann and co-writer Frazer Pearce standing in as a set designer, who made sets out of any scraps he found, Warren plays a lively, ramshackle Punk Rock atmosphere, using the real empty hotel location for messy,use anything around shocks, turning the tables on the guests with possessed netting, ghosts caked in thick practical effects and a table which turns into a monster!
Even under the conditions placed, Warren still finds space for his distinctive style to shine, surrounding the group of pretty young things with surreal flashing neon lights,melting into rapid-fire long panning shots of the ghostly old guests giving the new arrivals a special welcome.Backed by a breezy soundtrack of 50's Rock and 80's synch, the writers tune into this sound with a screenplay that takes the body count of Slasher flicks, and wonderfully twist it into Warren's creepy, surreal supernatural time-warp, which keeps the guest held in a bloody new year.
Biggest surprise viewing of the week:
Jess Franco's Faceless 9 (who knew Jess could go mainstream and do this well!)
The Eng Dub is the officially released version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcV5wiTZPE8
The first time he had a decent budget since Jack the Ripper (1976),co-writer/(with Pierre Ripert/Jean Mazarin/ Michel Lebrun/ Dominique Eudes and producer Rene Chateau) directing auteur "Uncle" Jess Franco brings his Orloff creation back into the era of the Erotic Thriller,which Jess enters with a tasty heaping of stylised kitsch, (backed by the toe-tapping Disco crooning tunes sung by Vincenzo Thoma)brimming from the pounding bright reds and his own unique, scatter-shot whip-pans landing on the pristine, garish clothes, reflecting the vanity of those being forced under the knife for beauty.
Whilst toning down his trademark button-bashing zoom-ins to light moments of hot lesbian action, Uncle Jess puts the extra cash he got on screen in excellent practical special effects set-pieces, striking from a Lucio Fulci-style poke in the eye, to gore hounds delight of face removal operations brimming with red.
As detailed in Stephen Thrower's outstanding book Flowers of Perversion: The Delirious Cinema of Jess Franco- Volume 2, Jess had wanted to give Orloff (what would turn out to be the final appearance of the character) a bigger in the ending with a final twist, which was blocked by co-writer/producer Rene Chateau, and that leaves Orloff being given an added,subtle layer to his murky past,and a farewell threaded in a oddly bitter sweet vibe,when stepping out of the operation room for good. Surrounding the ghouls with a gaudy, eye-abusing backdrop, Jess goes down the corridor of women being locked in a (mental) prison, and with the co-writers attacks the amoral (a theme in Jess's work) vanity of the era with relish.
Dripping exchanges between Dr Flamand and his "patients" with ripe acid dialogue, the writers twist the stereotype of the "Mad Doctor/ Scientist" genre, first in Ingrid not being forced, but a willing partner for the killings to be committed in order to restore her beauty, "specialist" Dr. Moser being more concerned with his ego than the acts being committed. Holding the richly cynical atmosphere right to the end, the writers avoid a clean happy ending, instead holding investigator Morgan on a cryptic ledge.
Reuniting with Uncle Jess, sexy Brigitte Lahaie gives a icy cool turn as deadly vixen nurse Nathalie, whilst Caroline Munro and Stephane Audran (!) bring the screams as Barbara and Sherman. Joined by the welcome return of Howard Vernon's Orloff, and Helmut Berger's eyes of madness as Dr.Flamand, Anton Diffring gives a mesmerising turn in one of his last roles, drilling into the cold, deadly professional way Dr. Moser looks at the faceless.
Other flicks:
A superb French Film Noir:
Such a Pretty Little Beach (1949) 10
With Eng Subs:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpPKW767ftc&t=1s
A decade before the movement got into full flow, director Yves Allegret & cinematographer Henri Alekan build a sandcastle between the poetic Film Noir's of the 30's and 40's,and the realism of the French New Wave in the late 50's. Closely working with sound team Jacques Carrere and Pierre-Louis Calvet , Allegret creates an incredibly haunting sound design, pelting the hotel roof with rain which lands like gunshots, and lone creaks from doors opened in the hotel room, listened to by the residence as if part of a espionage mission. Sticking a spade into the beach with a breath-taking final shot, Allegret and Alekan display a delicate quality springing from FNW-style long panning shots catching the fellow hotel guests and staff taking a sly glance at Pierre, to brewing a icy Film Noir atmosphere of a ill-looking Pierre sleeping over dissolves,joined by the outside bullets of rain falling into Pierre embrace with Marthe.
Entering the hotel looking like he is at deaths door, the screenplay by Jacques Sigurd brilliantly matches Allegret's stylisation,in the characterization of Pierre, who Sigurd has netted between the the ridden with pessimism Noir loner of the 30's/40,with the bruised, outsider rebel streak of the FNW. Unable to take their eyes off Pierre, Sigurd cleverly circles the staff/fellow guests at the hotel to cast the ghostly image of Pierre, glowing from the simmering with menace clipped dialogue of fellow "guest" Fred,and the lone hands of empathy offered by Marthe.
The lone person in the washed out town to reach out, the elegant Madeleine Robinson gives a exquisite turn as Marthe, whose own worn-down past is cut open by Robinson to slowly entangle Marthe with Pierre, whilst Jean Servais plays for the creeping slow-burn as Fred. Permanently haunted by his past, Gerard Philipe gives a mesmerising, expressive performance as Pierre,whose every look back is carried by Philipe like a ghost,fading away on such a pretty little beach.
Cosgrove Hall studio's The Reluctant Dragon (1987) 10
Following their magnificent adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, Willis Hall (related to Mark Hall?) brings another Kenneth Grahame adaptation to Cosgrove Hall studios, with Hall merrily playing on the image of the fearsome dragon,here being one who recites his own poetry and is a pacifist. Lighting up a message about not judging people (or a dragon) by their cover, Hall brings with the arrival of St George to slay the dragon, folk tale comedy,from the locals treating the day when the dragon is to be killed,like a funfair, and George/dragon being guided by a boy on how to stage a fight.
Reciting poems to anyone who goes near his cave, the animators give the dragon a wonderful, colourful appearance, whose friendly, flamboyant manner goes against the image created by the locals. Looming large over the locals, the animators impressively use forced perspective on the rustic, detailed designed locals looking up in fear at the dragon. Joined by the welcomed sounds of Cosgrove Hall regulars Brian Trueman/ Jimmy Hibbert,and smooth narration from Martin Jarvis, Simon Callow brings the fire breathing dragon to life, with a wonderful, soothing calm for a reluctant dragon.
Auteurs in '87 Viewing fest:
Move out of the way with your dogs QT!
One that ticks off the boxes in your Neo-Noir & Action lists hitchcockthelegend
With Eng Subs:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoydUKo9ZZk&t=6215s
Ringo Lam's City on Fire 10.
Building on the skill he had displayed in his co-directing debut Esprit D'amour, (1983-also reviewed)and given a free hand by producer Karl Mak to do whatever project he wanted, co-writer/(with Sai-Shing Shum) directing auteur Ringo Lam becomes one of the leading figures of the Heroic Bloodshed sub-genre,with a blistering entry. Continuing to expand on the Jazzy Blues score of D'amour with a vibrant Neo-Noir score from Teddy Robin Kwan, Lam takes debuting cinematographer Andrew Lau Wai-Keung onto the streets of Hong Kong in guerrilla filming style, (a recurring filming technique for Lam) that fires off a rough & tumble sawn-off shotgun atmosphere of Lam's long tracking shots, (which catch the odd side mirror of cars Lam's secretly filming in!) being welded to Heroic Bloodshed slow-motion parting shots, and whip-pans darting towards each thief clearing out their part of shop in the robberies.
Displaying his eye for Neo-Noir for the first time, Lam brings a depth fatal heroism to the bloodshed, dressing Chow in ultra-stylised black and white low-lighting, (lined between his loyalty with the cops,and loyalty to the gang leader) and closely-held two-shots pushing the nervous cops to the very outskirts of the frame/the law. Far more than just being the original Reservoir Dogs, the screenplay by Lam & Sai-Shing Shum holds Chow's feet to the fire as a absolute Noir loner, who must pick at the grey to make his isolating moral choices (a regular theme of Lam's credits.)
Gaining the trust of the gang by a tagged handing over of weapons, the writers take a excellent slow-burn approach to the handing over Chow makes not only of weapons, but loyalty, via new, young hip cop John Chan shoving the steady hands of Inspector Lau away from guiding Chow in the case, leaving Chow open to gaining a closer look at the traditional hand of loyalty lead gangster Fu places on his fellow thieves.
Getting his fingers burnt,Yueh Sun gives a tense, worn down to the bones turn as Lau, whilst Danny Lee brilliantly carries Fu with the confidence of knowing he is the toughest in the room, but aware of times he needs to show his hand. The first in his long collaboration with Lam, Chow Yun-Fat gives a mesmerising performance as Chow, drilling down on Chow's early swagger to a bloodstained, morally blurred wreak,who leaves the city on fire.
My first Fellini directed film- Intervista. 7
Reuniting from Tenebrae, Lara Wendel and Christian Borromeo give delightful performances,with Wendel capturing the excitement of a actress working with a legend,and Christian Borromeo brings out a playfulness from being on set with the film maker. Joining old friends of the good life, Marcello Mastroianni brings a touching melancholy as himself, conjuring the highlight of the film, via Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg watching footage of themselves together in faded footage from a fading era of cinema.
Interviewed by a documentary crew at Cinecitta studio, the screenplay by co-writer/(with Gianfranco Angelucci) directing auteur Federico Fellini give the dialogue of the fake documentary portion an in the moment feel, via criss-crossing between snappy questions from the interviewer, with the more considered replies by Fellini. Pulling four films out of his magicians hat, Fellini continues building upon his themes with a enticing zest, magicking up the blurring between fantasy and reality of Fellini reminiscing about his time at Cinecitta seeping into the making of a fake film version of Kafka's Amerika.
Finding it more difficult to fly at his advance age, Fellini & Sergio Leone's regular cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli continue the later theme of Fellini's credits in a bitter-sweet love letter to Cinecitta. Turning his magical surrealism towards the magic of cinema, Fellini takes a flight of fantasy in tracking shots down the sets of the Kafka's Amerika and his heightened re-enactment of the first visit to the studio, pinned by a striking final shot, which peels away the fantasy of Cinecitta.
Claude Chabrol's adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's The Cry of the Owl. 10
Slipping on Patricia Highsmith's novel like a velvet glove, co-writer/(with regular collaborator Odile Barski) directing auteur Claude Chabrol's adaptation takes Highsmith cynical,apprehension world view, and superbly coils it with the rich dissection of the murderous bourgeoisie which spans across his credits. First sighting Juliette by watching from afar, the writers alight a fatalist Neo-Noir edge in the entanglement between Robert and Juliette, spun from the pressure of trying to keep how they first met secret, and Juliette's ex Patrick digging for details on this outsider.
Cracking open Robert's past from his bitter ex-wife Veronique's hissing asides which hold Robert from escaping his old life, (a major theme in Chabrol's credits) the writers display their claws with a tantalising Mystery Thriller, sinking into Robert's detached bourgeoisie status being torn to shreds by bitter, calculating ex's,and Chabrol's traditional, doubting police officers, leaving everything in a bloody pile on the floor. Soaring on his son Matthieu's plucked, spidery score, Chabrol & his regular cinematographer Jean Rabier take a turn of the screw with a unrelenting tense atmosphere, nailed in French New Wave distorted wide-views, imprinting the impression of Robert being a loner from all those in town.
Setting out the rules of the game for him, Chabrol grinds Robert down with bursts of red against a pristine, sterilised white and silver canvas, reflecting the Noir lack of morals, in the conniving bourgeoisie. Taunting her ex Robert, Virginie Thevenet gives a alluring, viciously seductive turn as Veronique,whilst Jacques Penot slithers round being the Highsmith blonde psychopath Patrick. Dazed by the pure vision of Juliette, (a terrific Mathilda May) Christophe Malavoy gives a excellent performance as Robert, who whilst getting shaky at the edges from becoming entrapped in a game, is held at the core by Malavoy as a Noir loner, detached from the cry of the owl.
What a kick ass set!
Norman J. Warren's Bloody New Year 7.
Ending their set on a high note, Indicator fill the disc with detailed extras, including new a commentary with Warren & BFI film historian Jo Botting, (bet Warren never imagined that the BFI would hold a "season" screening his films!) and in dealing with inconsistent film stock, sand down the roughest edges in their great 2K transfer, whilst keeping the soundtrack clean.
Facing tight limits placed on by producer Maxine Julius, (from no time being given to write more than one draft, turning down any actors who did not live nearby,and keeping a close count on how many reels of film were used)co-writer/(with Hayden and Frazer Pearce) directing auteur Norman J. Warren presents a fitting, late coda to the era of British "New Wave" Horror.Closely working with cinematographer John Shann and co-writer Frazer Pearce standing in as a set designer, who made sets out of any scraps he found, Warren plays a lively, ramshackle Punk Rock atmosphere, using the real empty hotel location for messy,use anything around shocks, turning the tables on the guests with possessed netting, ghosts caked in thick practical effects and a table which turns into a monster!
Even under the conditions placed, Warren still finds space for his distinctive style to shine, surrounding the group of pretty young things with surreal flashing neon lights,melting into rapid-fire long panning shots of the ghostly old guests giving the new arrivals a special welcome.Backed by a breezy soundtrack of 50's Rock and 80's synch, the writers tune into this sound with a screenplay that takes the body count of Slasher flicks, and wonderfully twist it into Warren's creepy, surreal supernatural time-warp, which keeps the guest held in a bloody new year.
Biggest surprise viewing of the week:
Jess Franco's Faceless 9 (who knew Jess could go mainstream and do this well!)
The Eng Dub is the officially released version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcV5wiTZPE8
The first time he had a decent budget since Jack the Ripper (1976),co-writer/(with Pierre Ripert/Jean Mazarin/ Michel Lebrun/ Dominique Eudes and producer Rene Chateau) directing auteur "Uncle" Jess Franco brings his Orloff creation back into the era of the Erotic Thriller,which Jess enters with a tasty heaping of stylised kitsch, (backed by the toe-tapping Disco crooning tunes sung by Vincenzo Thoma)brimming from the pounding bright reds and his own unique, scatter-shot whip-pans landing on the pristine, garish clothes, reflecting the vanity of those being forced under the knife for beauty.
Whilst toning down his trademark button-bashing zoom-ins to light moments of hot lesbian action, Uncle Jess puts the extra cash he got on screen in excellent practical special effects set-pieces, striking from a Lucio Fulci-style poke in the eye, to gore hounds delight of face removal operations brimming with red.
As detailed in Stephen Thrower's outstanding book Flowers of Perversion: The Delirious Cinema of Jess Franco- Volume 2, Jess had wanted to give Orloff (what would turn out to be the final appearance of the character) a bigger in the ending with a final twist, which was blocked by co-writer/producer Rene Chateau, and that leaves Orloff being given an added,subtle layer to his murky past,and a farewell threaded in a oddly bitter sweet vibe,when stepping out of the operation room for good. Surrounding the ghouls with a gaudy, eye-abusing backdrop, Jess goes down the corridor of women being locked in a (mental) prison, and with the co-writers attacks the amoral (a theme in Jess's work) vanity of the era with relish.
Dripping exchanges between Dr Flamand and his "patients" with ripe acid dialogue, the writers twist the stereotype of the "Mad Doctor/ Scientist" genre, first in Ingrid not being forced, but a willing partner for the killings to be committed in order to restore her beauty, "specialist" Dr. Moser being more concerned with his ego than the acts being committed. Holding the richly cynical atmosphere right to the end, the writers avoid a clean happy ending, instead holding investigator Morgan on a cryptic ledge.
Reuniting with Uncle Jess, sexy Brigitte Lahaie gives a icy cool turn as deadly vixen nurse Nathalie, whilst Caroline Munro and Stephane Audran (!) bring the screams as Barbara and Sherman. Joined by the welcome return of Howard Vernon's Orloff, and Helmut Berger's eyes of madness as Dr.Flamand, Anton Diffring gives a mesmerising turn in one of his last roles, drilling into the cold, deadly professional way Dr. Moser looks at the faceless.
Other flicks:
A superb French Film Noir:
Such a Pretty Little Beach (1949) 10
With Eng Subs:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpPKW767ftc&t=1s
A decade before the movement got into full flow, director Yves Allegret & cinematographer Henri Alekan build a sandcastle between the poetic Film Noir's of the 30's and 40's,and the realism of the French New Wave in the late 50's. Closely working with sound team Jacques Carrere and Pierre-Louis Calvet , Allegret creates an incredibly haunting sound design, pelting the hotel roof with rain which lands like gunshots, and lone creaks from doors opened in the hotel room, listened to by the residence as if part of a espionage mission. Sticking a spade into the beach with a breath-taking final shot, Allegret and Alekan display a delicate quality springing from FNW-style long panning shots catching the fellow hotel guests and staff taking a sly glance at Pierre, to brewing a icy Film Noir atmosphere of a ill-looking Pierre sleeping over dissolves,joined by the outside bullets of rain falling into Pierre embrace with Marthe.
Entering the hotel looking like he is at deaths door, the screenplay by Jacques Sigurd brilliantly matches Allegret's stylisation,in the characterization of Pierre, who Sigurd has netted between the the ridden with pessimism Noir loner of the 30's/40,with the bruised, outsider rebel streak of the FNW. Unable to take their eyes off Pierre, Sigurd cleverly circles the staff/fellow guests at the hotel to cast the ghostly image of Pierre, glowing from the simmering with menace clipped dialogue of fellow "guest" Fred,and the lone hands of empathy offered by Marthe.
The lone person in the washed out town to reach out, the elegant Madeleine Robinson gives a exquisite turn as Marthe, whose own worn-down past is cut open by Robinson to slowly entangle Marthe with Pierre, whilst Jean Servais plays for the creeping slow-burn as Fred. Permanently haunted by his past, Gerard Philipe gives a mesmerising, expressive performance as Pierre,whose every look back is carried by Philipe like a ghost,fading away on such a pretty little beach.
Cosgrove Hall studio's The Reluctant Dragon (1987) 10
Following their magnificent adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, Willis Hall (related to Mark Hall?) brings another Kenneth Grahame adaptation to Cosgrove Hall studios, with Hall merrily playing on the image of the fearsome dragon,here being one who recites his own poetry and is a pacifist. Lighting up a message about not judging people (or a dragon) by their cover, Hall brings with the arrival of St George to slay the dragon, folk tale comedy,from the locals treating the day when the dragon is to be killed,like a funfair, and George/dragon being guided by a boy on how to stage a fight.
Reciting poems to anyone who goes near his cave, the animators give the dragon a wonderful, colourful appearance, whose friendly, flamboyant manner goes against the image created by the locals. Looming large over the locals, the animators impressively use forced perspective on the rustic, detailed designed locals looking up in fear at the dragon. Joined by the welcomed sounds of Cosgrove Hall regulars Brian Trueman/ Jimmy Hibbert,and smooth narration from Martin Jarvis, Simon Callow brings the fire breathing dragon to life, with a wonderful, soothing calm for a reluctant dragon.