A few weeks ago my wife bought a cd containing the instrumental version of The Bee Gees’ song “Melody Fair” and it reminded her of this movie—which she first saw in Japan a long time ago. She felt like seeing it again, document.write(“”); so I tried to locate the movie. It is never easy to find a movie that is more than thirty year-old, but fortunately such research are now made easier with the internet. The movie got only a lukewarm reception when it was released in English-speaking countries, which explains why it was never released on Dvd in North America—but it is still possible to find it on vhs (used copies available on amazon.com). However, there was a dvd release in Japan since the movie was a huge success there (the 2004 release is now sold out, but used copies are still available on amazon.co.jp). The Japanese title was “chiisana koi no merodi” or Small Love Melody.

Set in the early seventies working class London, this slice-of-life and romantic fantasy tells the story of Daniel, a shy young junior high school boy. After befriending Ornshaw, he becomes part of the school’s group of little troublemakers. Soon he also meets Melody and both fall in “love” (as any eleven years-old kid could). They tell their parents that they want to get married—now! For them, it only means “to be together”. In face of the adults incomprehension, they elope and organize a mock wedding with the help of their friends. When the adults come to interrupt the “ceremony” they meet an unexpected resistance and all ends in chaos.

It is a cute movie that reminds me a lot of Francois Truffaut’s L’argent de Poche (“Small Change”, 1976)—maybe Truffaut inspired himself from Melody or maybe it’s because both movies are told from the children point of view. And of course, it is impossible to watch this movie without thinking of Oliver, as both Daniel’s and Ornshaw’s actors played major parts in this famous 1968 movie. However, what I find the most interesting about Melody is that it is expressing well the era’s sentiment of rebellion against the establishment. It is obvious in the fact that, through the entire movie, O’Leary is trying to perfect his bomb-making (no doubt that it refers to the Provisional IRA campaign of violence that started in 1969) and in the final scene where the children literaly attack the adults (and bomb a car)!

Melody. UK, 1971, 103 min.; Dir.: Waris Hussein; Scr.: Alan Parker; Phot.: Peter Suschitzky; Ed.: John Victor-Smith; Art Dir.: Roy Stannard; Cost.: Diane Jones; Music: Richard Hewson, The Bee Gees; Prod.: David Hemmings, David Puttnam; Cast: Mark Lester (Daniel), Tracy Hyde (Melody), Jack Wild (Ornshaw), Colin Barrie (Chambers), Billy Franks (Burgess), Ashley Knight (Stacey), Craig Marriott (Dadds), William Vanderpuye (O’Leary), Peter Walton (Fensham), Camille Davis (Murielle), Dawn Hope (Maureen), Kay Skinner (Peggy), Lesley Roach (Rhoda), James Cossins (Headmaster). Rated G.

Wikipedia notice
A Melody Fan Page

This is the biography of Frida Kahlo, document.write(“”); who surmounted her pain and injury to become a world renown artist. The movie covers the main highlights of her life: the accident that crippled her, the tumultuous love relationship with fellow mexican artist Diego Rivera, her involvement with Leon Trotsky, her colorful, naive, symbolist & surrealist artwork (she’s particularly known for her self-portraits) and her uncompromising, revolutionary, free thinking.
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Frida is a superb movie. It not only tells a compelling and touching story, but it offers rich and inventive visuals as well as a stirring soundtrack that strongly support the storytelling. Salma Hayek really gives life to her character and make us discover an interesting period in Mexican history.

Frida. USA / Canada / Mexico, 2002, 123 min.; Dir.: Julie Taymor; Scr.: Clancy Sigal, Diane Lake, Gregory Nava, Anna Thomas (based on the biography by Hayden Herrera); Phot.: Rodrigo Prieto; Ed.: Francoise Bonnot; Prod. Des.: Felipe Fernandez del Paso; Art Dir.: Bernardo Trujillo; Set Decor.: Hania Robledo; Cost. Des.: Julie Weiss; Music: Elliot Goldenthal; Prod.: Sarah Green, Salma Hayek; Cast: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Valeria Golino, Mia Maestro, Roger Rees, Ashley Judd, Antonio Banderas, Edward Norton. Rated R.

Frida © 2003 Miramax Film Corp. All Rights Reserved.

This a “fish out of his bowl story.” A young woman comes from Ohio to NYC in the hope to become a journalist. Despite that she has no knowledge or sense of fashion she is hired as personal assistant for the editor of a famous fashion magazine. Even if her boss (Meryl Streep) is a real monster, document.write(“”); she manages to survive and learns the ropes, but when she’s about to finally get on the top of it, she realises that she is betraying everything she is and all her friends…
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This movie is not at all original. We’ve seen that type of story many times. It does offer good acting and the movie is most of the time funny, so it is a good entertainment, but nothing more. The extras includes deleted scenes, several “making of” featurettes and a gag reel (bloopers).

The Devil Wears Prada. USA, 2006, 109 min.; Dir.:David Frankel; Scr.: Aline Brosh McKenna (based on Lauren Weisberger’s novel); Phot.: Florian Ballhaus; Ed.: Mark Livolsi; Costumes: Patricia Field; Cast: Mreyl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci. Rated PG-13 (some sensuality?!). Official website.

The Devil Wears Prada ©2006 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Dune Entertainment LLC. All Rights Reserved.

After the disappearance of his wife, document.write(“”); a Montreal vice detective makes his own investigation and the clues bring him to the rich mansion of a beautiful and reclusive woman. His own bad behavior will put him in trouble as someone frame him from the murder of his friend’s wife. He follows the mysterious woman to Venice and discovers her terrifying secret: she’s a “vampire” that keep her eternal beauty by seducing young women before drinking and bathing in their blood!
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It is based on the real-life of Erszebet Bathory, a 16th Century Hungarian Countess that allegedly tortured and killed 650 young women to bathe in their blood in the hope to gain eternal life. The movie was not treated nicely by most of the critics, who seem to have thought that it had not enough sex to be soft porn (but lots of lesbian action!) and not enough violence to be horror (well, we do see some blood). It is more of an erotic thriller with a nice & sexy vampire story. The police work of the main character is not very credible, but the characters are all fascinating and the photography, the sets are beautiful. It was shot mostly in Montreal and offer a very nice use of the locations. A few scenes were also shot in Venice and in Umbria. The movie has an opened ending: we suspect what will happen next, and we can let our imagination go wild, but we don’t know for sure. Personally, I wanted to see this movie because a friend of mine had a small role in it. But I only recognized him because I knew which role he was playing—we don’t even see his face. I was surprised by the good quality of the production and, even if the story is not very original, I was well entertained.

Eternal. Canada, 2004, 107 min.; Dir./Scr.: Wilhelm Liebenberg & Federico Sanchez; Phot.: Jamie Thompson; Ed.: Isabelle Levesque; Cast: Conrad Pla, Caroline Néron, Victoria Sanchez, Sarah Manninen, Ilona Elkin, Liane Balaban. Rated R (Strong sexual content, violence & language). Official web page.

Eternal ©2004 4128257 Canada, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Packaging © 2005 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

A guide working with a scientific expedition in Antarctica has to leave his beloved sled dogs behind when their base is evacuated due to an unusually strong storm. The eight dogs have to survive the harsh conditions by themselves, document.write(“”); against impossible odds. For six months their master is agonising over the unknown fate of his dogs, trying to gather the funds in order to come back and rescue them.
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Eight Below is the remake of the Japanese movie Antarctica (Nankyoku Monogatari / South Pole Story) (directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara, with a script by Toshiro Ishido, Koreyoshi Kurahara, Tatsuo Nogami and Kan Saji, and starring Ken Takakura and Tsunehiko Watase—with a small role for Susan Napier, author of “Anime: From Akira to Princess Mononoke”!—and music by Vangelis). Based on the true story of a 1958 Japanese Antarctic expedition, it was released in 1983 and became a huge success. The original movie was a real tear-jerker, had a superb photography and focused on the dogs’ hardship (out of fifteen Sakhalin Huskies, only two survived).

The American version is still a sad movie showing the beautiful landscape of Antarctica (in fact it was mostly shot in Canada and Greenland, with some stock footage of Antarctica), but it is certainly not as beautiful as the original. It is the story of an American Antarctic expedition and focuses mostly on the dogs’ master emotions, his rescue efforts and it is a much shorter movie (120 min. vs 143 min). The Leopard Seal that attacks the dogs doesn’t look real and somebody should have told the director that during the Antarctic winter, it is mostly dark. What annoyed me the most is the fact that [SPOILER: highlight to reveal] all dogs but two survived [/SPOILER], the total opposite of the original movie — but, hey!, it’s a Walt Disney movie after all! However, all in all, it is a nice, entertaining movie. The extras include deleted scenes and a “making of.”

Eight Below. USA, 2006, 120 min.; Dir.: Frank Marshall; Scr.: David DiGilio (based on Nankyoku Monogatari); Phot.: Don Burgess; Ed.: Christopher Rouse; Music: Mark Isham; Cast: Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood, Jason Biggs. Rated PG.

Eight Below © Disney.

An English tailor in Panama is weaving lies to make himself interesting. A disgraced English spy on the downside of his career is looking for opportunities to improve his situation, document.write(“”); for conspiracies to report to his superiors and redeem himself. They were made for each other and almost bring doom to Panama.
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It is a nice story, but nothing like the hype displayed on the back of the DVD: “mind-blowing spy chase!” or “seductive spy thriller.” For a movie that bring together the writing of John Le Carré, the direction of John Boorman, the talent of Geoffrey Rush, Pierce Brosnan and Jamie Lee Curtis, it is rather disappointing. I was expecting some explosive action like in a Bond movie, a Jack Ryan or movies like Traffic. No big surprises. However, it is an intelligent story, rich in human elements. I was not bored, so it is still a good entertainment. The DVD is multilingual and offers an alternate ending and an interview with Rush and Brosnan.

The Tailor of Panama. USA/Ireland, 2001, 109 min.; Dir.: John Boorman; Scr.: Andrew Davies, John Le Carré, John Boorman; Phot.: Philippe Rousselot; Ed.: Ron Davis; Cast: Geoffrey Rush, Pierce Brosnan, Jamie Lee Curtis. Rated R.

The Tailor of Panama ©2000 Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. All Rights Reserved. Packaging © Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.

I have just seen Joel Schumacher’s The Phantom of the Opera on DVD. I have not read Gaston Leroux novel or seen the musical, document.write(“”); so it is difficult for me to compare. However, I have seen another movie version directed by Dwight H. Little and starring Robert Englund (Freddy in A Nightmare on Elm Street). This 1989 version is a more modern interpretation (with science-fiction elements) that tries to be an horror movie (hence the choice of Englund as the Phantom—but the fact that I kept seeing Freddy instead made it a rather funny movie) but it certainly does not have the classy look of Schumacher’ version.
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Usually, I tend to dislike musicals, but the 2004 Phantom is a very powerful movie mainly due to its somptuous sets and, of course, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music. Webber said that he wanted his musical adapted into a movie to make it more accessible to everyone, but I suspect that they just wanted to make more money out of it. It is a beautiful movie, but unfortunately there are some lengths (I briefly fell asleep when they try to trap the Phantom by playing his opera). The only extra on the DVD is the movie trailer, which is very disappointing. You need to get the Two-Disc Special Edition to get the cool goodies. It is nevertheless quite a good entertainment.

A few interesting anecdotes (that my wife read in a Kinema Junpo article): the only known actress, Minnie Driver (who’s playing the diva Carlotta), was lip-synching (rather disappointing) and Emmy Rossum (playing Christine) was only sixteen year-old at the time of the shooting!

The Phantom of the Opera. USA/UK, 2004, 141 min.; Dir.: Joel Schumacher; Scr.: Joel Schumacher & Andrew Lloyd Webber (based on the novel by Gaston Leroux); Phot.: John Mathieson; Ed.: Terry Rawlings; Cost.: Alexandra Byrne; Cast: Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera © 2004 The Scion Film Phantom Production Partnership. Packaging ©2005 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.