Joanna Lumley might be better known for her role as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous. However, she has recently involved herself in politics and led the national fight for allowing retired Gurkhas to settle in the UK.

Michelle Ehlen is a film maker and this interview on AfterEllen.com website will inspire any creative person who has ever felt they couldn’t do their projects due to financial restrictions.

Riz Lateef doesn’t shy away from asking difficult questions, especially to London mayor Boris Johnson, and brings us the news every day on BBC London but do we really know her? Here’s a list of what she likes to do.

On paper, it looked like a good story. Legendary poet Dylan Thomas loved two women, two feisty and liberated women. Intrigue, deceit, hope, all throughout the Blitz in London. A story of survival, of trust.

Well, not quite.

Even though Sienna Miller does a good job of portraying Dylan’s wife Caitlin, you can’t quite believe that Caitlin and Vera, the long lost teenage lover of Dylan, would strike a friendship. As the whole film evolves around this, it’s a bit of a problem if you don’t “buy” it.

The characters are thinly defined and very one dimensional. The women are supposed to be independent and strong minded but at the same time, they are only defined by their relationship with Dylan and rarely seen interacting with anybody else.

The last fifteen minutes are interesting and exciting but it’s too little too late. This film is a wasted opportunity - could have been, no should have been, great but doesn’t deliver.

Definitively not recommended.

Links:
The Edge of Love, The Guardian Review
Aeronwy Thomas on The Edge of Love and her father, Dylan Thomas, The Times Online

“My best friend” (”Mon meilleur ami”) might sound simple on the surface but has depths and depths of character.

The premise is this: Francois (Daniel Auteuil) is being told by his colleagues that nobody will go to his funerals and he wants to prove them wrong by presenting them his best friend. He makes a bet with his lesbian business partner Catherine (Julie Gayet), who co-owns an antique gallery with him. Simple enough? Well, not for a man who struggles to make friends…

Telling the story isn’t enough. This film throws out so many observations about people, about the way we live, the way we use money, it will no doubt make you think about how you behave with your friends.

It is set in Paris - an abundant taxi-trips filled lifestyle for Francois, a suburban metro-riding experience for Bruno (Dany Boon). There is a host of characters, all of them really fully defined. It doesn’t feel like the secondary characters are here to serve the plot but that they really are here, fully, as part of the story and the emotions in the story.

The subtitles were better than average so even if you don’t understand French, it is worth watching. It is important to mention the quality of the subtitles because I have seen some french films with appalling subtitles in english, leaving me to wonder how could anyone follow the story from the subtitles, but this is not the case with this film, the subtitles are very well done.

If you think that all good films come from the USA or England, think again. This is a great modern French film, with a great cast. And if you want to watch more French films after this, pick up any film with Daniel Auteuil, he hasn’t made a bad film yet… Recommended.

Links:
Video interview with Daniel Auteuil, BFI London Film Festival
Interview with Patrice Leconte, IndieWire
Interview with Dany Boon, FranceInLondon

This is the story of a few foreign workers coming to the UK to work; some have plans to go back home in a few months, some hope to settle here.

Imimigration is the subject of countless political debates, and immigrants are often de-personalised. This book redresses the balance towards the people, getting away from offical figures and other statistics often branded about on the news.

All those “summer” jobs that sound great, like strawberry picking, aren’t in fact all so great. And some jobs are a lot worst…

It is a story of hope and disillusion, of joy and sadness, of survival and fear. The narrative is direct and blunt; it doesn’t spare us the gory details but at the same time, it is also full of humour.

The various jobs they have to do and their working conditions will make you think twice next time you think that immigrants are “stealing” our jobs. It will also make you think twice next time you buy chicken and if you’re like me, after reading this, you will only buy free range chicken.

This is a gripping read and Marina’s attention to details is so great that it feels like a true story. Different characters narrate throughout the chapters and the first person narrative takes you to their world: it is a great human experience. When you close the book, the characters remain with you and you really do wonder what is going to happen to them next.

Absolutely recommended.

Links:
Interview with Marina Lewycka, Interviewing Authors by Kelly Hewitt
Interview with Marina Lewycka, The Guardian

I picked up this book after seeing Stella Duffy do a reading (from another book) at my local library, and I’m glad I did.

It is the story of Los Angeles and the importance of image, of deception and lies, of trust and betrayal, all of this on a film background.

Written in the first person, we get an intimate knowledge of the three main characters, it is literally a sort of “behind the scenes” of a world we are all curious about.

The narrator has got Stella’s sense of humour, and we are never bored. In fact, we empathise so much with her that we almost think she is right to commit the crime she does. It’s difficult to be in a lesbian relationship in Hollywood, everyone is in the closet, so we can’t help but root for her.

There is a big surprise at the end - I really hadn’t seen that one coming - and we get to the end before we know it, as it is such a page turner and such an exciting read.

The only criticism I have got for it is the wrap up of the letters at the end - too obvious. However, the book scores pretty much maximum marks in every other way, so this is highly recommended.

I am on to reading more Stella Duffy books…

Links:
British Author Stella Duffy, interview, AfterEllen.com
Stella Duffy, interview, The Independent

This is the true story of Marjane, a young Iranian girl during the revolution. From the tyranny of the Shah to the tyranny of the new Islamic fundamentalists rulers.

Raised by a modern and socialist family, Marjane cannot accept the lies of the new regime and for her safety, she is sent to Vienna to stay with a friend of the family. But all is not easy for the young teenager and she returns to Iran a few years later.

Will she like the new Iran? Will she fit in the new Iran? Will she accept to look “modest” and wear a veil?

This film has a particular resonnance for me because I grew up watching the Iraq/Iran war every night on the news. Also, I grew up in a family not dissimilar from Marjane’s family, except that we were living in France. That little difference - the fact that we lived in France - meant that I didn’t have to suffer the way Marjane did. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have dreams of a socialist revolution and to find yourself in a fundamentalist nightmare.

The film was originally a graphic novel and the style has been kept. Even if you aren’t a fan of graphic novels, don’t let that put you off. You might need a few moments to get into it but I guarantee you that you will soon be rooting for Marjane, her mother, her father, her grandmother and her uncle.

Catherine Deneuve and her real life daughter Chiara Mastroianni provide the voices for Marjane’s mother and Marjane in both the french and english versions of the film. And they make a fine job of it as I found myself fancying Marjane’s mother (until now, I didn’t know I could fancy a cartoon character lol)… which shows the power of voices because I do actually rather fancy Catherine Deneuve but I didn’t know she was doing the voice because I hadn’t paid attention to the opening credits.

Highly recommended.

Links:
Persepolis review, My Simple Life
Persepolis review, Flightless Boyds
Persepolis movie review, Suggested Thinking

Visually, the film seems to be set in the 70s. As no formal identification of the year the story takes place in is given, I will assume this is deliberate and the story is indeed set in the 70s. It doesn’t matter much, it’s only a visual cinematographic style.

The story, though quite obvious from the start, is charming and well done if atmosphere, small every day gestures and a slower pace is your thing. Personally, I could have done with a bit more action, but nonetheless, the film is enchanting.

So what do I know about Indian cinema? Well, not a lot, except that it’s all about Bollywood and people singing. So I was a bit worried it would turn out this way but the director has managed to put in the right amount of Indian music and dancing without turning it into a musical. There is no singing and the dancing and music are limited to short atmospheric scenes. As a side note, I like musicals but I need to be in the right mood for them…

This film is a study of society in small indian villages and touches upon many cultural traditions, including (arranged) marriages. It questions many things through characters of different generations, leaving the viewers to draw their own conclusions.

Both the most touching and the most disappointing thing about this film is the ending. The last few scenes are left open as to their outcome, so we haven’t resolved the “will they/won’t they?” question.

Despite its flaws, this is a good film, though perhaps more appropriate for fans of independent cinema. Well worth a look.

Links:
The Journey, Women on the other side
Second chances, Girlunfettered

This is a true story of a young midwife working in London’s East End in the 1950s. Back then, midwifery was still a relatively new discipline and of course, it was still unusual for women to work, even though the second world war had helped the cause a lot.

The book is an account of her experience, interlacing general observations about the living conditions in the East End with details of specific families and births. Jennifer Worth is very good at giving a sense of the times, mixing up descriptions with dialogue, narration with action.

London’s East End was a tough place to live in the 1950s, striken with poverty, slums, prostitution, overcrowded dwellings, limited future for children and basically, it was seen as a condemned place, yet the authorities were slow at acting when it came to actually demolishing all the condemned houses and tenements.

Jennifer gives a vivid picture of what it was like to live there back then, and if you have any curiosity regarding London’s recent history, this is worth reading.

So why I didn’t like the last page? Well, the last page made it all sound as if what she got from the experience was solely more love for God, as opposed to more love for the human race, or more understanding of the human race, or more tolerance for her fellow human contemporaries.

Jennifer shows great strength of character throughout the book, which made the ending even more disappointing. I was hoping this experience would give her the desire to do something a bit more useful for others (finding God is a personal experience and not really useful for other human beings). Because of the evangelical ending, I cannot recommend it.

Links:
Jennifer Worth recounts to Danuta Kean how her memoirs were born
Jennifer Worth writes about Mike Leigh’s film Vera Drake, The Guardian - Vera Drake, Mike Leigh’s film about backstreet abortions, may be well acted and directed. Just a shame it’s so implausible, says former midwife Jennifer Worth.

Well, while “Vince and Joy” features plenty of North London locations (and the token South London location, in the shape of Stockwell, is heavily criticised, but her North London arrogance is besides the point here), it features none of her other qualities.

Weighting in at 500 pages, you’d expect a complex story wouldn’t you. Well, what you get is a story that could have been written by a 8 year old. I’m not kidding, the main plot is very bad and the overuse of flash back is cringing. The slices of London lifestyle and her well observed description of behaviours aren’t enough to keep the book going.

I am baffled because I have always liked her books but this one is a stinker. It’s so simple that you can work everything out before it happens. Also, the characters conveniently bump into each other in London and at Gatwick Airport. I mean, this is London, not a village! How often do you bump into someone you know in Covent Garden? Yeah, thought not. And at the airport, while waiting for your luggage? Me neither.

If you like Lisa Jewell, do yourself a favour and don’t read this book. If you don’t know her work, do yourself a favor and pick up another of her books (my favourite is One-hit Wonder). Not recommended.

Links:
Lisa Jewell, official website

It has been a while since a book has enchanted me as much as this book. Following the life of Miss Cordelia Preston, the daughter of an actress and the niece of a mesmerist, is an emotional roller coaster.

Bloomsbury wasn’t the posh area that it is now, the nobility ruled London, actors and actresses might get recognised in the street but weren’t seen as respectable, and Drury Lane wasn’t safe to walk.

London was at the time strongly divided between the social classes. It wasn’t so much about how rich you were but about how respectable you were. More than anybody else, Miss Cordelia Preston knew that society was divided in two, and unfortunately, she belonged to the not-respectable class.

But Miss Cordelia Preston isn’t one to accept her fate without fighting and so, together with her best friend Miss Amyrillie Spoons, they embark on an exciting journey. Wounds from the past appear, scandals abound, but like soldiers of life, they carry on and on. They suffer but they also laugh a lot.

This is an empowering tale of a woman in her 40s, which was considered an old age almost two centuries ago. Strength, humor, courage, surviving. Absolutely recommended.

Links:
Barbara Ewing, Fantastic fiction page