Friday Five: Kings and Queens (and a Bonus Oddball) of Scotland

When we visited Stirling Castle, we saw an exhibition about the kings and queens of Scotland and their relations with the castle itself. It began with a family tree, which claimed to illustrate the direct blood link between Kenneth MacAlpin and Robert the Bruce. A cautionary note warned that 'the route between was often complicated'. This was written by the master of understatement.

Now, I have no illusions that I am any good at this sort of thing, and this is certainly not any attempt at providing a definitive history. There are, however, a few names that capture the imagination here.

1. Kenneth MacAlpin (842-858) - Kenneth (snort); it just doesn't seem like a very regal name. He was, however, apparently a notable warrior and the first leader to establish power over the Picts and the Scots to unite them in the kingdom of Alba, now known as Scotland. 

2. Macbeth (1040-1057) - There is a section of the long line (or tenuous ribbon if you prefer) of divine monarchical inheritance which reads, 'Duncan I 1034-1040; Macbeth 1040-1057; Lulach 1057-1058 ; Malcolm III (Canmore)1058-1093'. 

It would seem that Duncan I launched an attack on Moray, Macbeth's lordship, and was killed in action by Macbeth's troops. Macbeth subsequently became King of Alba where he ruled peacefully for 17 years with apparently little opposition. His only major confrontation during his reign was an English invasion in 1054, led by Siward, Earl of Northumbria on behalf of Edward the Confessor. Macbeth was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan in 1057 by forces loyal to the future Malcolm III. He was buried on Iona, the traditional resting place of Scottish kings. Macbeth was briefly succeeded by his stepson, Lulach, who only ruled for a few months before being killed by Malcolm III, whose descendants continued to rule Scotland for another two hundred years.

Wikipedia tells us, "Macbeth is today best known as the main character of William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth and the many works it has inspired. However, Shakespeare's Macbeth is based on Holinshed's Chronicles (published in 1577) and is not historically accurate." Wait, Shakespeare fudged the facts? Well, I never...

3. Joan Beaufort (1424-1437 & regent 1437- 1439) - She was twenty when she married James I: he made her co-monarch and gave her Stirling Castle as a wedding present, which was nice.  When James I was assassinated in 1437, Queen Joan smuggled their young son, James II, to Stirling Castle for safe-keeping. She then ruled from here as regent, surely making her one of the most powerful women in the land.

4. James IV (1473-1513) - Apparently this James was a passionate supporter of arts and culture (hurrah!). He was clever and well-educated, spoke seven languages and surrounded himself with poets, musicians, writers and philosophers. He was influenced by Classical ideas and the culture of the European Renaissance. He also seemed to rather like building (or at least, having other people build things for him). While at Stirling Caste he commissioned building works on a grand scale including the old Chapel Royal, the Great Hall the Forework and the King's Old Building.

Also, somewhat importantly, in 1502 he signed the rather ambitious-sounding Treaty of Perpetual Peace with England, and the following year married Margaret Tudor, daughter of the English king, Henry VIII. Well, that's all nicely settled then.

5. John Damian - Not a king, but a fascinating figure nonetheless. He was an Italian alchemist who believed he could transform base metals into gold.  As James IV's court welcomed artists, scientists, and classically-trained poets and thinkers, Damian's claims intrigued the king and he was set up with a laboratory at Stirling Castle. "Despite the generous royal funding, Damian had no success." I wonder why...?

In 1507, in an attempt to retain the king's support, Damian tried a new experiment. He made wings from chicken feathers and announced he would use them to fly to France from the walls of the castle. His doomed flight from the Ladies' Lookout on the west side of the castle ended in a dunghill. Damian blamed "the wrong kind of feather". Is there a play about this? If not; there should be.

6. Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587) - All joking aside (because she's not exactly known for her sense of humour), Mary is probably the queen that the country knows best. She lived at Stirling Castle until 1548 when she was sent to France "for safe-keeping". She returned to Scotland in 1561. 

As an adult, Mary spent much of her seven years at Stirling Castle. In 1566 the Old Chapel Royal was the setting for the baptism of her son, the future James VI. No expense was spared. Mary borrowed twelve thousand pounds (about two million today) to fund the event. During a great ceremony to impress the foreign emissaries, Mary laid on three days of "feasting, fireworks, music and masquing" in a celebration to rival anything Europe had ever seen.

Friday Five: Favourite Books I Read in 2020

I have been checking my spreadsheet of what I read in 2020 (yes, these things need to be taken seriously) and I see that I read 60 books and 24 plays last year. I rate everything that I read out of five, and these are the highest-ranked books that I read last year. Yes, I know there are more than five, but the post fits the profile. I can't claim that they are of last year because I only read one book actually published in 2020 and that didn't make the list (The Insider by Christopher Pyne, since you ask, rated a 3.5). 

My Favourite Books I read in 2020

1. The Penelopiad - Margaret Atwood (2005) - a retelling of the myth of Odysseus as narrated by the 'faithful wife' left behind while her husband travels the world having adventures. It's sharp and witty and short. 4.9/5
2. A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles (2016) - When people use words like charming and delightful, I tend to shy away, but this book is everything it promised to be. Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to live out the rest of his life in house arrest in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow. He befriends the guests and the staff and manages to spin an epic tale in a confined environment. Published before hotel quarantine was a thing we all recognised, expect this to be made into a film. 4.8/5
3. Ducks, Newburyport - Lucy Ellmann (2019) - I wasn't sure I ever would, because I borrowed it from the library twice (having to return it because it was reserved), but I finally finished it. And wow! Just wow! It's one hell of a challenge (what with being over a thousand pages long and nearly all one continuous sentence), but so rewarding. I am so glad I persevered with this book. It's so complex and insightful and devastating and affirming, and I'm going to miss it. 4.8/5
4. Girl, Woman, Other - Bernardine Evaristo (2019) - The joint winner of last year's Booker Prize, this exploration into the lives of twelve black British women is absolutely life-affirming. Each narrative is individual yet they weave together, with some of the stories overlapping to create a tumultuous landscape of love, loss, sorrow and joy, while touching on timeless issues of race and feminism. This might sound worthy and intense: it is, but in the very best way.  4.8/5
5. Becoming - Michelle Obama (2018) - Michelle Obama relates the experience of what it's like to be a black woman in a white man's world. She explains how it feels to sacrifice her own career to support that of her partner; to balance the needs of the country with those of her family while being under intense pressure and scrutiny; and how to remain true to her values in a job with no position description but an overwhelming weight of expectations. And she does it all with grace and style. 4.7/5
6. The Warlow Experiment - Alix Nathan (2019) 4.5/5 - This novel is based on the true story of an eccentric Victorian gentleman, Herbert Powyss, who conducted an experiment; he placed an advert in a newspaper asking for a man to volunteer to be placed in isolation in his cellar for seven years with ‘every convenience desired’ but ‘without seeing a human face’. John Warlow was the only person who answered the advert, ‘a semi-literate labourer with a wife and six children to provide for’. Alix Nathan imagines how this experiment might have worked, or not, and she has created a rich novel of mental manipulation. She imagines that Powyss wants to see how a mind would cope without social contact and write up his findings to present to the Royal Society.



7. The Story of the British Isles in 100 Places - Neil Oliver (2018) - Neil Oliver's story of the British Isles is very personal to him as he shares the places that he thinks are important to the story of who we are. It's fascinating to read his explanations, to remember landmarks or consider them in new ways. It also makes one consider which places one would include in an individual account (For the record, that would be Pendle Hill, Anfield, Manchester Free Trade Hall, Teddington Lock and Marlow Bridge for me.) 4.5/5
8. Finding Baba Yaga - Jane Yolen (2018) - This contemporary retelling of an iconic myth is written entirely in blank verse. It is reminiscent of the artful design of a Russian Matryoshka nesting dolls, as elements of Slavic myth, Russian folklore and fairy tales cleverly fit among the contours of American realism. It also explores a number of themes including the nature and power of language, the journey from childhood to adulthood, the relationship between religion and language, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ words, the unique dynamic of female friendships and the mother/daughter relationship. It is familiar; it is unique; it is brilliant.4.4/5
9. Dream Angus - Alexander McCall Smith (2006) - Part of the Canongate Myth Series, this novella adapts the Celtic myth of the Celtic God of Dreams. It's concisely and charmingly written and introduces vignettes of characters who drift through the story with all the strange combination of directness and magic that I expect from the writer of The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency and 44 Scotland Street series. 4.3/5
10. The Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai - (2006) Winner of the Booker Prize 2006, and the reason I read fiction. It is an atmospheric elegy to a bygone era, taking the political (national divides; crumbling international alliances; religious and cultural diaspora) and making it personal (family relationships; love and tolerance; self-identity). Set in the Himalayas and the USA it has a wide scale and detailed language. 4.3/5
11. Hollywood Wants to Kill You: The Peculiar Science of Death in the Movies - Rick Edwards and Dr Michael Brooks (2019) - According to the authors, “It may not sound great, but it is. Partly, because it’s an excuse to explore science. Much of scientific endeavour is really about finding ways to avoid death.” It is also an excuse to revisit disaster movies and question whether they really were as crap as you thought. Apparently, despite the fact that all trainee managers at NASA are shown Armageddon to see how many of the 168 factual errors they can spot, drilling a hole into the centre of an asteroid and blowing it up from within is still the best way of dealing with this potential threat. 4.3/5
12. The Bear and the Nightingale - Katherine Ardern (2017) - A historical fantasy set in Medieval Russia that incorporates elements of Russian folklore? Yes please. A blend of mythical creatures and Orthodox Christianity? Yes again. Finding out that this is the first part of a trilogy that promises more evocative prose and atmospheric settings? Thrice yes!4.2/5
13. The Wall - John Lanchester (2019) - Described as the new 1984, this is sharp and bleak dystopian fiction that isn't so far removed from the present. The younger generation have to patrol the wall and protect what is theirs from the Others who want to come and take it. If anyone gets over the wall, the same number of people (and those who failed to defend it) are put out to sea. It's very powerful and very grim. The first line is, 'It's cold on the wall' and I literally shivered all the way through this (short-ish 270 pages) novel. 4.2/5

You'll do girl, you'll do: Finding Baba Yaga

Finding Baba Yaga by Jane Yolen

Tom Doherty Associates

Pp. 131

This contemporary retelling of an iconic myth is written entirely in blank verse. It is reminiscent of the artful design of a Russian Matryoshka nesting dolls, as elements of Slavic myth, Russian folklore and fairy tales cleverly fit among the contours of American realism. It also explores a number of themes including the nature and power of language, the journey from childhood to adulthood, the relationship between religion and language, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ words, the unique dynamic of female friendships and the mother/daughter relationship. Yolen begins her tale, “You think you know this story. / You do not.”

Teenaged Natasha lives with her parents, and knows she must get away from them and their constant fighting. Ever since her father has discovered religion, it has become worse as he monitors her language and behaviour. She runs away into the forest but, although the woods, stones and water are a recurring fairy tale image or reference, this is not the one familiar from storybooks and the settings are slightly skewed; “The forest opens like a yawn,/ as if it knew I was coming,/ has seen me before,/ can’t be bothered to resist.” We recognise the motifs of the lost child in the woods, but Yolen suggests there is more to the story if we look, listen, and abandon our preconceptions. At the end of Chapter Two, The Runaway, in This Is Not a Fairy Tale she writes, “Expect no princes./ Expect no magic rings./ Expect no glass slippers./ Expect no fairy godmothers. / Expect no singing dwarfs. / Expect no talking dragons. / Expect only/ seven deadlies delivered:/ exhaustion,/ boredom,/ regret,/ hunger,/ anger,/ danger,/ death./ All part of God’s taketh away.”

And then she encounters Baba Yaga, with all of her traditional traits. She lives in a house which turns about on its chicken legs: “It is like living on a house boat:/ the swell of the waves, the turn of the tides,/ a moment of emotion, with the ‘e’ removed.” She is a tough old woman with an iron nose, and the contemporary references to strong women are apparent; “She’s tougher than Clinton or Thatcher ever were.” This clash of realism and magical imagery continues as she explains how Baba Yaga flies through the sky in her mortar, guided by her pestle, but no one see her “unless you count bad dreams”. She flies “across tundra, taiga, major highways,/ avoiding traffic jams, roundabouts,/ only bothering the occasional helicopter/ or low-flying private planes.”

Natasha learns to tell her story, and that “A story is, not always means.” It may be grim – “I think I know now/ there are no happy evers./ Only happy moments.” – but she grows as a narrator, examining the meanings of words and exploring postmodernism through form and structure, drawing attention to the artifice of the narrative. “I am becoming a poet./ I am thinking in metaphors./ I am walking through a poem.”

As Natasha rewrites the myth with herself as the hero of her own story, she discovers that “Stories retold are stories remade.” After all, if we believe critical analysis, there are only seven stories anyway, so we need to refresh them every now and then. In searching for (and finding) Baba Yaga, Natasha is really on a quest to discover her own inner vice, strength and truth. By the end of the book she states, “So, this is a tale/ both old and new,/ borrowed, narrowed,/ broadened, deepened,/ rethreaded, rewoven,/ stitches uneven,/ re-plastered, re-harled, rehearsed, reworked/ until it’s my own.” It is familiar and unique. It is brilliant.

Friday Five: Happy Cross-Stitch

Being as my previous post was about some of the most intricate and exceptional tapestries I have ever seen, I feel somewhat inadequate posting this with the latest examples of my own work. I like doing them, however, so I'm going to continue to share. Let's just not compare though, shall we..?

When my parents were visiting my sister, she bought my mother a cross stitch to help her pass the time and give her something relaxing to do. Apparently my mother is not good at this form of relaxation, and she began it, but after a few rows she gave up. My sister gave it to me instead to complete, which I did, and returned it to her to display, as a memory of family dynamics!

A friend saw this image and thought of me -I can't imagine why! She sent it to me and I turned it into a cross stitch pattern. Now, the question is to who do I give it? There are so many possible recipients!

The following designs are Mandala cross stitch patterns from a calendar that a colleague had at work. She printed them off for me and I enjoyed making them. I didn't always have the exact colours that were specified, but I had a stab (as it were) so they may not be quite true to the original pattern, but I like the art anyway. 

My Newest Favourite Thing: The Unicorn Tapestries

1. The Hunters Enter the Woods

Unicorns have been rather co-opted into the (predominantly female) childish world of sparkly pink and rainbows. But they used to be magical creatures of mystery and influence. And they used to symbolise, among other things, chivalry, purity and Christianity.

A famous series of seven tapestries, The Hunt of the Unicorn or La Chasse à la licorne, dates from the late Middle Ages and shows a group of noblemen or hunters in pursuit of a unicorn through an idealised French landscape. The tapestries were woven in wool, metallic threads, and silk - the vibrant colours were produced from dye plants: weld (yellow); madder (red) and woad (blue). They were probably woven between 1495 and 1505 in Brussels, which was an important centre of the tapestry industry in Medieaval Europe. Whereas wool was widely produced in the rural areas around Brussels, and a common primary material in tapestry weaving, the silk was costly and hard to obtain, indicating the wealth and social status of the owner.

First recorded in 1680 in the Paris home of the Rochefoucauld family, the tapestries were looted during the French Revolution, rediscovered in a barn in the 1850s, and now hang in The Cloisters in New York. The tapestries themselves are the subject of intense scholarly debate about the meaning of their iconography, the identity of the artists who designed them, and even the order in which they are meant to be hung. Although various theories have been put forward, there is no definitive answer as to their provenance, and their dramatic but conflicting narratives have inspired multiple readings. 

2. The Unicorn is Found

According to Wikipedia, "One theory is that the tapestries show pagan and Christian symbolism. The pagan themes emphasise the medieaval lore of beguiled lovers, whereas Christian writings interpret the unicorn ad its death as the Passion of Christ. The unicorn has long been identified by Christian writers as a symbol of Christ. conscripting the traditionally pagan symbolism of the unicorn. The original pagan myths about The Hunt of the Unicorn refer to an animal with a single horn that can only be tamed by a virgin; Christian scholars translated this into an allegory for Christ's relationship with the Virgin Mary". 

In Gothic tapestry, the makers considered biblical events as 'historical' and linked the biblical and secular narratives in the tapestry weaving. Medieaval art illustrated moral principles, and the tapestries used narrative allegories to illustrate these morals. The secular unicorn hunt was not simply Christian art, but also an allegorical representation of the Annunciation.

3. The Unicorn is Attacked

There is some speculation that the unicorn tapestries were commissioned to celebrate a marriage - as medieaval poets connected the taming of the unicorn to the devotion and subjugation of love. The taming of the unicorn, therefore, symbolises the secular lover who was enchained by a virgin and trapped in the fence (in the tapestry The Unicorn in Captivity) - this all seems rather brutal and dominating, but apparently the concept of an overlapping God of Heaven and God of love was accepted in the late Middle Ages. 

Different interpretations lead to different titles and different sequences in which it is suggested the tapestries should be hung. The tapestries are different sizes and some suggest that they were designed for use as a bedroom ensemble, with the five large pieces fitting the back area of wall, while the other two pieces serve as the coverlet or overhead canopy. Others contend that the first and last may be independent works or form a different series entirely. 

4. The Unicorn Defends Itself

Whatever the interpretation, the tapestries are glorious and  rich in floral imagery, featuring the 'millefleurs' background style of a variety of small botanic elements. Invented by the weavers of the Gothic age, this style became popular during the late Medieaval era and declined after the early Renaissance. There are more than a hundred plants represented in the tapestries, scattered across the green backgrounds of the panels, most of which (85) have been identified by botanists according to a paper published in 1983. This paper maintains that the particular flowers featured in the tapestries reflect the tapestries' major themes and represent not only a secular, physical, enclosed garden (hortus conclusus), but also a connection with the Annunication.

5. The Mystic Capture of the Unicorn

If these tapestries look familiar, they probably are. Replicas of them can be found in all sorts of places in film and television, ranging from Spiderman: Far from Home to Family Guy and Once Upon a Time. They appear in the 1988 film, Some Girls, the 1993 film, The Secret Garden, and a French advert for cheese. Children's authors, science fiction short story writers, folk musicians and Leonard Cohen have all woven them into their artistic creations. In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, the last tapestry in the series, The Unicorn in Captivity, is seen in the various common rooms (Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff) with different-coloured backgrounds. 

The Unicorn is Killed and Brought to the Castle

And now there are fantastic recreations adorning the walls of the Queen's Inner Hall at Stirling Castle, after a thirteen-year project to reweave the tapestries. They were never known to have been in the castle, but there is thought to have a been a series like it. Only the very wealthiest of people could afford tapestries, and an inventory shows that James V had a large collection including two sets which showed unicorns. A two-million-pound project saw two teams of three weavers recreating the tapestries and results in visitors to Stirling Castle being able to imagine something of the atmosphere of Scotland's royal court. 

The Unicorn is in Captivity and No Longer Dead

An exhibition at the castle tells the story of the recreation and explains how the tapestries were worked in the Medieval way, using a technique whereby the warp thread comes down, the weft thread is picked out, threaded through the warp, and packed down with the bobbin - I love the terminology as much as the painstaking process (The Unicorn in Captivity alone took two years to weave, working from right to left) and watching a video of the intricate art is truly incredible.

   

A selection of samples

To develop a greater understanding of the thread types, colour palette and weaving techniques used by the original weavers, several hundred samples were made by the weavers of the new Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries. The sample of a single hunter's knee on the bottom row was the first sample to be made and was woven at eight warps per centimetre, which is the warp count of the original 15th Century tapestries. This was done to calculate the commission cost of the full set of seven tapestries. The adjacent sample of two knees was woven at four warps per centimetre (which is what was used for the new tapestries) and saved thirteen years of production time. 

Some of the threads on bobbins

In the sample showing two knees the blending of colours in the left knee uses a traditional technique: separate threads of different colours are combined to create different tones. The blending of colours on the right knee has been made using a contemporary method where different coloured threads are blended together before weaving. The whole thing is quite remarkable and I felt extremely humbled by the dedication and the magnitude of the project. My little cross-stitches are nothing in comparison, but I still love the focus on a small section of canvas which, with individual stitches, brings an image to life. I'm sure that has to be a metaphor for something... Life's rich tapestry, perhaps? 

Blue and green should never be seen...

Friday Five: Best Films of 2020

In a year of closed cinemas, cancelled releases and straight-to-streaming services (I haven't got any of these), contemporary film-viewing was somewhat challenging. Nevertheless, I persisted, and watched 77 films this year, about a third of which (25) were released in 2020 in Australia. Once again the 'rules': I have to have seen the film; It has to have been released in 2020 in the country in which I was living; the films are listed in alphabetical order; I can have more than five if I want to; there will be honourable mentions.

 Best Films of 2020

1. 1917 - 'Do we really need another war film?', I thought to myself. The answer is yes, if it's directed by (Sir) Sam Mendes, a man who understands both acting and spectacle. He brings all the tricks of the stage to this brilliant drama. Part war story; part epic quest; part folk narrative; part natural cycle; part spiritual journey, with fantastic cameos (Colin Firth; Andrew Scott; Mark Strong; Benedict Cumberbatch; Jamie Parker) to complement the superb leads. And the single shot cinematography is sensational and works wonderfully to interpret the tension. Our heroes and saviours are not knights and generals but ordinary folk.
2. Jojo Rabbit - With moments of exquisite pathos and almost painful black humour, Taika Waititi has directed a piece of brilliance. Young Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) tries to come to terms with the changing political events in Nazi Germany while trying to become a grown up, belong to a group, and retain humanity and empathy - not so very easy when your imaginary friend is Hitler (Taika Waititi) and your mother (Scarlett Johansson) is secretly sheltering a Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in the attic. Sam Rockwell brings sensitivity and humour to the deeply flawed Captain Klenznedorf, with Rebel Wilson striking the only wrong note as her performance is tonally out of tune with the rest of the cast.  The film is amazing: funny and poignant and shocking and absurd. I loved it! 
3. The Lighthouse - A black and white masterpiece of acting (Robert Pattinson; Willem Defoe) and direction (Robert Eggers), as two men attempt to retain their sanity while living at a remote lighthouse in New England in the 1890s. The cinematography (Jarin Blashke) remains tight as the mentality unravels, and the soundscape (Damian Volpe) is exquisite and intense. Hallucinations and judicious editing (Louise Ford) nudge the picture towards horror, and thoughts of romantic getaways to lighthouse keepers' cottages are left far behind. 
4. Les Misérables - It’s so much better without the songs... Heart-racingly brilliant with such tension and angst, I’m not sure I breathed for the last hour. A gendarme from the provinces (Damien Bonnard) joins an established and corrupt duo of street-wise policemen (Alexis Maneti and Djebril Zonga) in the inner-city suburb of Paris where Victor Hugo wrote his famous novel. The divisions of race, class, and effects of poverty on perception of crime are as relevant now as then, and metaphors abound as we see things from different perspectives (drones above and staircases below). This began as a short film (also written and directed by Ladj Ly) from 2017, and has extended into this 104-minute picture. Not one of those minutes is wasted. 

5. Little Women - I used to think I was Jo; now I'm worried I may have been Amy. I didn't think I needed to see yet another version of Little Women, but this was a touching and heartfelt adaptation: beautifully acted (Saorise Ronan; Emma Watson; Florence Pugh; Eliza Scanlon; Laura Dern; Timothée Chalomet) and directed (Greta Gerwig). Yes, I read it as a child and am invested in the story, but I always felt the ending was a cop-out and it raised my emerging feminist ire; this adaptation reassigns motives and I am happier with it (although my thoughts on whether to create art or children probably remain controversial). Moving the timeline around brings a fresh perspective (many purist critics dislike it and that's understandable, but it is an adaptation not a slavish recreation); it makes the women more active in their own stories rather than being responsive to events that happen to them. On a totally related note: I love and miss my sisters so much.
6. The Personal History of David Copperfield - The novel is a mad caper and so is the film, full of joy and charm and picaresque moments. Again, as an adaptation, it cannot hope to cram everything in, but director Armando Iannucci certainly knows what he's doing. He is assisted by a spectacular cast including Dev Patel (as the titular character), Hugh Laurie, Daisy May Cooper, Peter Capaldi, Tilda Swinton, Ben Wishaw and Paul Whitehouse, who all bring zest and energy to their roles. Iannucci and co-writer Simon Blackwell handle the tale with respect and reverence, tweaking bits here and there for a contemporary audience while never losing sight of the importance of a boy growing into a young man through learning and education, which are not the same thing.

Special mentions: 

The Big Step (Il Grande Passo) - Beautiful and gentle story written and directed by Antonio Padovan about estranged brothers (Guiseppe Battiston and Stefano Fresi) who find a friendship and commonality while trying to deal with abandonment, rejection and an obsession with the moon. The storytelling is simple and improbable, encouraging us to dream big and aim high.

Blithe Spirit - The latest film adaptation (directed by Edward Hall) of Blithe Spirit is utterly delightful with alterations to bring in the artifice and essential distractions of the film world (including that obvious reference in the final scene). Charles Condomine (Dan Stevens) and his wives (Isla Fisher and Leslie Mann) exhibit the arch and superficial perfection of the period piece rather marvellously, and design elements, set, costumes, hair and makeup are all glorious. Some won’t like the modifications to the script (I understand their reservations: I can be a bit like that with Shakespeare, where I don’t enjoy changes just for the hell of it, or to ‘engage new audiences’), but I felt the surface-charm-with-darker-edges aspect of this film is in keeping with the ‘spirit’ of Noel Coward’s original. As for Dame Judi’s performance, which some have dismissed as lazy, that seems churlish. Her characterisation displays warmth, enthusiasm, confusion, bravado, humility, sensitivity and a dash of eccentricity. She may not be the most sprightly Madame Arcati I’ve ever seen, but if I could turn out a performance like that when I’m 85 and legally blind, I would be happy.

Corpus Christi Despite being bookended by brutal acts, there are moments of deep reflection in this film. Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) is a young man pretending to be a priest in a small Polish village rather than face his probationary position as a convicted criminal. As he soothes the sick and navigates toxic conflicts in the community, his actions raise questions of penance and punishment; reconciliation and redemption; atonement and absolution. The subtlety of acting, design and direction (Jan Komasa) allow the themes to shine through and the questions remain unanswered long after the film has finished.

Coyote Lake - In this highly-limited-release picture, Ester (Camila Mendes) and her overbearing mother, Theresa (Adriana Barraza) run a remote bed and breakfast near the US/Mexico border for desperate travellers. When two unwanted guests, Mario (Charlie Weber) and Dirk (Neil Sandilands) turn up with additional problems, things get frightening. Beguilingly seductive and chilling, this is a captivating debut thriller from writer/director Sara Seligman.

Eternal Beauty - Written and directed by Craig Roberts, this was billed as 'a comedy in which a woman recovers from a breakdown by finding love and life with surprising results'. This may be the worst description ever. I watched it as a Friday night light and fluffy entertainment option. Big mistake! It's a painfully sensitive depiction of schizophrenia and trying to make sense of a modern world when everyone else seems to think you're the mad one. Sally Hawkins, David Thewlis, Penelope Wilton and Billie Piper are all remarkable, and it left me sobbing on the sofa. Cheers, and you're welcome.

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga - Disclaimer: I love Eurovision. I love the ridiculous outfits, terrible songs, barely disguised politics and blatant attempts to win/ lose votes with oversized props, wind machines and erotic dance moves, and so does director David Dobkin, obviously as now it’s more than just a drinking game: it’s a film! I missed Eurovision this year, and this film helps to make up for its loss: even Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, whom I usually find tedious and unfunny, are entertaining in this. I love all that cheesy ham, and if you do too, then this is your croque, Monsieur (et Madame).  

The Translators (Les Traducteurs) - Agatha Christie meets The Usual Suspects in a genre-bending piece that parodies every stereotype with guile and gaucherie in equal measure. It is thoroughly captivating for its hour and three quarters, never outstaying its welcome, and glibly forgettable once finished.

Friday Five: Who's Who on Christmas Day

Obviously many families are separated this year by disease as well as distance, but through the wonders of modern technology, many of us were able to gather and converse through a screen. I miss the hugs and the contact, but I love to see the smiles and hear the laughter. As part of my festive family get-together, I compiled a quiz around the whys and wherefores of Christmas. Round one was 'Who?' and featured the following people, all born on Christmas Day (and they're all in black and white because my colour printer wasn't working). Put your answers in the comments if you're interested, and I'll tell you if you're right.

5 People Born on Christmas Day

1. 
   
   
2. 
   
   
3. 
   
   
4. 
   
   
5.