Wie geht's?
Empire Of Light, starring Olivia Coleman and directed by Sam Mendes, was playing at our local, so Jacky and I bowled on up for a midweek viewing last week.
I'd been keen to catch it but it had been playing in early afternoon slots and only intermittently in the evening; a sure sign of the target demographic.
Some thoughts:
You can't beat the theatre experience. In this case we were the only patrons so it kind of felt like our lounge with a huge screen. Great!
Olivia Coleman is versatile and naturally good in everything she appears in - no change here as she carries the film and even makes the romantic fling with a much younger guy (Stephen) seem natural and okay.
The early eighties setting in Britain was beautifully presented: hair styles; soundtrack; tacky neo modernism; colour palette; and the presentation of both entrenched and changing attitudes - a shot of older Hilary and younger black male Stephen on a bus together when an older white male sits behind them is spot on. All done in about 4 seconds.
The down side, for me, was a lack of depth in the plot development and the characters. Apart from Hilary, they're not developed beyond the surface. Even Stephen. It's not too much of an issue though as the acting by Colin Firth et al is first rate.
So I ultimately gave the film a 3 out of 5 star rating. It's a bit grim in subject matter but the pluses outweigh the negatives. Worth watching if you're in that target audience, I'd say.
Love and peace - Wozza
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