The fun, again : The life of Brian

The Life of Brian, 1979

Directed by Terry Jones

Nationality: British

The Life of Brian is one of the most famous films made by the Monty Pythons.

It tells the story of Brian, a baby who was at year 0, visited by the Magi, on the 24^Th of December. But they finally see they are in the wrong stable, take all the goods back, and leave Brian and his mum, still poor and miserable !

The interesting thing is that the movie is not exactly based on Jesus’ life, but on how Brian suffers from being born on the same day, and how everyone thinks he’s the Messiah.

The humour in this movie is based on the situations, of course, as it is always a different point of view of Jesus’ “steps” before he gets crucified. We see all of that through Brian’s life and most of the things are based on unfortunate misunderstandings. But this is also probably the most scenarized film the Monty Python made, with a less absurd humour. But even though it’s very funny, they still make fun of the blind belief of some people towards someone (here, it’s Brian), and therefore completely ridiculous and makes fun of religion.

Like most funny guys, they all are very intelligent, cultivated and discerning men. Their humour makes sense, and to make the kind of humour you find in The Life of Brian, one of the first parodies about Christ, they needed to know what they were doing.

Making this film was very risky at the time, in 1979, and also as it was the first time it was ever done. In America, some people fought for the movie to be banned, and it provoked a whole movement for freedom of expression, and freedom of artistic expression. I don’t think anyone else could have made that but them. They already were loved and admired for their shifted humour, and thanks to that, they had a sort of immunity (even if of course the Church was not happy at all), and were already loved by most of the population.

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I tried to show that even if English movies are not always so fun, and happy, I also made this blog because the thing I love is that most of the time, humour is always present. And it actually represents how I figure English people are : optimistic, "shit happens all the time", and they move on, and that's what I love the most about what I see in most of those movies I told you about. Hope you enjoyed it ! 

Always look on the Brightside of Life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVXR0AKyxA4

The Fun : The Flying Circus

The Flying Circus

TV series, created by Graham Chapman

1969-1974

Let’s end on a happy note ! Yes, This blog was meant to show that there was some sad, depressing and serious stuff about England, but not only. The Monty Python are probably the main thing that makes people think and say that “British humour” exists. They were completely ahead of their time, and their humour, based on absurd situations, but always with a well-thought idea in the end, not just pure slapstick, is one of their main qualities.

Before I talk about The Life of Brian, I’m going to introduce them with their series, The Flying Circus. They were short sketches they played on stage, but also shot them and broadcast them on television. 

Facts about the series :

Funny fact, in the documentary about them : The Monty Python, la vérité (ou Presque, available there : http://vimeo.com/23527571), they explain that they just wanted to do something, but they didn’t know what yet. So, as they needed money, they went to the BBC in London, met the director of programs and told him they wanted to make a series.

And the guy was like “What is it about ?”. They replied “Well…we don’t know yet, but it’ll be funny…”. He then replied “but how many episodes, how long ? Did you write anything yet?!” …. “No, nothing, we’ll see !”. And the guy just ended up saying yes, just out of trust and out of “Why not anyway !”.

Which is crazy, but great, and completely unthinkable now. 

Another fact : the BBC burned a lot film reels and series in the 80’s, so they could re-use the film for new programs. When Terry Gilliam heard about that, he went there and bought all of their series, and thank God he did, otherwise, everything would be just gone. 

The last fact : they created their own Youtube Channel as they were sick of seeing bad quality videos of their work. Everything is available, for free, and in good quality on Youtube.

One of my favourite :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQaypso2KyI

The Fun : Mr Bean, Rowan Atkinson

Mr Bean,1990

Created by Rowan Atkinson
Natiolity: British

TV Series

Rowan Atkinson, aka Mr Bean, describes his character as “a child in an adults body”. 

Always dressed the same : a brown tweed jacket, brown trousers, a white shirt and red tie, his humour reminds us of slapstick / burlesque humour. Almost no dialogue, each episode is based on different situations of everyday life. But Mr Bean has to face many problems, for which he always has the strangest ideas to get himself out of, and therefore everything gets out of proportion ! He always makes the simplest things very complicated : making a sandwich, painting his apartment, packing a suitcase…

Like a child stuck in an adult body, we can see that for example (amongst many other examples) in the episode in which Mr Bean passes an exam. During the whole of it, he tries to copy his neighbour’s paper, by going under the table, stealing his pens, etc.

There it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98V9cEYe6-A

Mr Bean is also a very lonely character. We love him, but he is also, let’s say it, a selfish idiot. His best friend Teddy, a teddy bear. He takes his shower with him, eats and sleeps with him, etc. Some episodes are actually very sad and almost dramatic. Mr Bean may be one of the funnies series made in the UK, I almost cried when I was little watching his birthday episode or a Christmas episode… The turkey moment is a classic, but so is the episode when he goes to the restaurant for his birthday, opening a birthday card he gave himself, inviting himself to the restaurant…:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nldsZmeajAc

The Bad : The Queen

The Queen, 2006

Directed by Stephen Frears

Nationality : British
Prices : (amongst many many others) Academy Awards : Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role — Helen Mirren, BAFTAS : Best Film, Actress in a Leading Role — Helen Mirren

The Queen takes place in 1997. This year may be irrelevant to the French people, but British people would remember it as the year Diana died. I even myself remember it, I didn’t really know who she was (I was 7), but I saw so many reportages and shows about her death on TV, that I even hung a poster of her in my room !

She died in Paris, in a car accident. The whole world was shocked and England was mourning. Everyone was talking about it, crying about it, except for The Queen. She was at the Balmoral castle in Scotland at the time, and Elizabeth II seemed to be the only person in England who remained silent, distant, who seemed indifferent about the Princess’ death. She didn’t seem to understand her country’s reaction, but Tony Blair on the other hand knew it was very important for the Government to do something, react about it. People was mourning her death, the nation was bruised, therefore, he had to make the Queen say something about this Death, to contain the country’s pain.

But she was stubborn and her insubordination, her incomprehension and pride brought people’s hate towards her.

The story of the film gravitates around Diana’s death, but it is above all about the Queen’s life during this difficult moment. I myself didn’t understand why she didn’t do anything about it, but I think the movie is actually very poetic and beautiful as it shows the Queen’s side of the story, even if it’s fictional. There’s been hundreds of documentaries, reportages about Diana’s death, and for the first time maybe, someone showed another side of the story.

The Queen has obligations, standards to respect, and Diana was not responding to one of them. In the end, even if she should have done and said something, she just happened to stay on her positions, she was just honest in a kind of way. This episode, which became more political than expected almost brought the Queen to abdicate.

The bad : Vera Drake

Vera Drake, 2005

Directed by Mike Leigh

Nationality : British

Prices : 2004 Venice Film Festival - won Golden Lion for Best Film & Volpi Cup for Best Actress

Vera Drake is a British drama. It was written and directed by the British director Mike Leigh. It tells the story of a working class woman in the 1950’s, in London. Vera is just a working-class woman, loving mother and wife, but she also performs illegal abortions, when it was illegal at the time.

She’s not doing it for money, she just wants to help people in need. She can seem a bit insensitive when we see her practice her first abortion as she remains stony-faced while the girl she’s taking care of weeps and cries. But then, we just realize she protects herself. She knows what she’s doing and is very meticulous and discreet. But eventually, one of her patient almost dies while she practices the abortion, and she will then be arrested by the Police and judged. Her son and husband didn’t know about her secret activity and won’t be able to forget her.

The fact the story takes place in the 1950’s enabled the director to establish the moral base of the problem in an implicit way, without making a propaganda movie. Mike Leigh actually affirms that his goal is not to make conclusions, just ask questions. That is what the director intended to do. But of course, the film provoked many reactions. A woman who was a nurse in the 50’s affirmed that the technique used by Vera Drake in the movie (inserting a mix of soap and water in the woman’s vagina) is just impossible as it should be fatal. Another woman said she used that technique on herself and that obviously, it was efficient without killing her.

This film is very dramatic as while you get used to her practices and feel more and more close to that woman, she gets caught and everyone turns against her. Her arrest is pending on her, even the mise-en-scene, the way it is filmed – the image is very dark, the rainy and grey England itself gives you that feeling of insecurity – are elements that prepare you to the dramatic ending. Mike Leigh says he just wants to ask questions, without giving a point of view, but still, we are shown a old sympathetic woman, loved by all, who will in the end have everyone turning their backs on her…

The fun : MISFITS - TV series

Misfits, 2010

Created by Howard Overman

Nationality : British

 Let’s switch to something more fun now. Misfits is a British TV series, about 5 young people, stuck in a community service programme.

One day, they’re hit by a thunderbolt. After a few weird days, they find out they now have superpowers, but also that they are not the only ones who do.

I love this series for several things. First of all, the accents, especially Kelly’s (Lauren Socha), the “chav”. Then, I love it for Nathan’s (Robert Sheehan) quotes, but there are so many, it’s better if you just look up at this video :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAFYUJNxDvE

I love it for the song of the title song by The Rapture : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVFDl8qicPY

And finally, I love it for the fact that most of the time, the characters happen to have the dumbest superpowers you could ever think of. I’m not going to spoil it by telling you Nathan’s, as it happens to be pretty cool but a mystery until the last episode of season 1.

The super powers depend on the personality of the person who has them. For example, Alisha (Antonia Thomas) used to … seduce a lot of guys : her “super power” makes anyone who touches her very, very horny. At first, she enjoys it, but then, she found out she can’t control it at all and any guy she touches basically wants to rape her.

There’s a guy who can control milk, Nathan’s stepfather who loved his dog when he was little, turns into this same dog at night, Kelly is a rocket-scientist, a girl who can make people’s hair fall out, and another girl who can make men’s penis fall off… Those obviously lead to the funniest situations.

For me, this shows how simple English humour can be and also shows the fact that it is made of the simplest ideas (simple by the fact it is totally unexpected and it gives you the feeling the screenwriters were doing drugs while writing).

But….

Now, if you seek tragedy in there, you might just find it. The characters are fun, but none of them has a happy life. Nathan has problems with his mum as he hates her new boyfriend (and she actually kicks her son out). Kelly is very lonely, as for Simon (Iwan Rheon) : we never see their families. Alisha has problems with boys, she’s pretty sad about it as she realizes she’s just a toy. And Curtis (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) was a successful runner, but was caught with drugs by the police, ending his career.

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The series continues but Nathan, the main character in the two first seasons now left, as he wants to try to succeed in films instead. His replacement was Joseph Gilgun, who played Woody in This is England (Britain…a small world *sigh*), who happens to be as crude and rude as Nathan.

But now, Alisha and Simon, “the melon fucker” (Nathan’s words, not mine) also left the series after the third season…It’s a shame. People still cry about Nathan’s departure, if characters just continue to leave like that, this series, which managed to be classic after one season, might just be having its last moments…

The Bad : THIS IS ENGLAND - Shane Meadows

This is England, 2007

Directed by Shane Meadows

Nationality : British

Box Office (France) : 166735 spectators 

Prices : Jury’s Price, Cannes 1993

This is England takes place in 1983. It is the story about a boy, Shaun, 12 years old whom you can see in the background of this blog. He lives with his mum, as his father died in Falklands War. He is lonely, but eventually, he meets Woody and his bunch of friends, all skinheads, and  then hangs out with them. 

(Meeting with Woody : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaGgk7A_-2k)

He then enjoys the world of parties, alcohol, smoking, dating...Everything is fine until Combo who used to be a member of the band, comes out of prison. Older an d most of all racist, he splits the group in two. Shaun follows him as he managed to brainwash the little boy, after a speech about the war in which his father died "for nothing" he says. And I shall stop here as I don't want to spoil the end for the people who haven't seen it yet.

There is a certain atmosphere in the movie that I love, it makes you very anxious as you’re feeling and fearing something bad is going to happen, and it usually does.

I like this movie because it shows another side of skinheads. Being a skinhead used to be a way of dressing, it was also related to the music they were listening to (ska, soul), and most importantly, they did not claim to have a certain political view. The movie is actually partially autobiographical, Shane Meadows became a skinhead himself when he was 12.

Later on, when the movement became worldwide, the skinhead trend changed, and are now considered as part of the “extrême droite” activists. And this is what Combo embodies in the film.

Once again, quite a subject, which, by telling this particular story about a boy, shows the atmosphere in some parts of England after the Falklands war and also under Margaret Thatcher’s mandate as Prime Minister, England empovorished by her and with a high rate of unemployment, and some of the reactions it caused (racism, nationalism…).

(parenthesis)

Thomas Turgoose, the actor who interprets Shaun is breath-taking. He is amazing, touching … The movie is dedicated to his mother, Sharon Turgoose, who died in 2006. I thought that the scene he cries about his dad's death in the film,  saying he misses him is even more touching knowing that and makes his performance even more impressive, for a twelve-year-old without any experience in acting

For the love of art...and of series :

For the ones who love Shane Meadows’ work, and particularly This is England, you will be happy to know he made a sequel to his movie. Same characters, same esthetic, but with a plot enlarged to all the different characters. It’s a « short series » and at the moment there is « This is England 86 », which happens 4 years after the film, and “This is England 88”, two more years after that and “This is England 90” should be ready by the end of the year or in 2013. The music is also very good, as you can see in the titles of the first episode :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trR4hb9PGcY

I personnaly love them, but there are pretty tough so don’t watch them alone… Enjoy !