Archive for the ‘Cultural issues’ Category
What do you know about the Republic of Salo?
October 19th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
I’m currently reading a novel by Martin Cruz Smith titled “The Girl From Venice”. It is set in northern Italian at the end of the Second World War and some of the action takes place in Salo. The relevant Wikipedia page opens as follows: “The Italian Social Republic, informally known as the Republic of Salò, […]
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A review of the new film “The Party”
October 15th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
This black comedy is a British oddity of a film in so many respects: written by a woman (Sally Potter), directed by a woman (the same Potter), as many female roles as male (actually one more out of seven), shot in black and white, located wholly on the ground floor of a London house, told […]
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A review of the recent film “A United Kingdom”
October 12th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
This film is based on a fascinating story – both political and romantic – of which I was previously totally unaware. Tne kingdom in question is not Britain today but Bechuanaland (modern day Botswana) in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The unlikely romance was between the black lawyer who is a prince, Seretse Khama […]
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My weekend films: the rather different “Blade Runner 2049” and “The Lego Ninjago Movie”
October 9th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
“Blade Runner 2049” You really need to have seen the original 1982 “Blade Runner” to appreciate this long-delayed sequel because the new film is not a self-contained story but – and all the more satisfying for being so – a clever development of the earlier narrative. For this, we must thank Hampton Fancher, the co-writer […]
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My congratulations to Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro
October 6th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
I am delighted to hear of the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to English writer Kazuo Ishiguro. I have enjoyed two of his works. “The Remains Of The Day” my review of the book here my review of the film here “Never Let Me Go” my review of the book here my review of the […]
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A review of the new movie “Kingsman: The Golden Circle”
October 3rd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
The first outing for Kingsman, “The Secret Service” in 2015, was so successful that two years later it’s back, even more star-stunned and even more outrageous but just as action-packed and entertainingly over-the-top. Taron Egerton as Eggsy Unwin is growing into the role and Colin Firth and Mark Strong are back (even though the former’s […]
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A review of the recent film “Patriots Day”
October 1st, 2017 by Roger Darlington
The day is 15 April 2013; the place is Boston; the occasion is the annual marathon. As we all know, two radicalised Chechen immigrants, Dzhokhar (Alex Wolff) and Tamerlan Tsarnaev (Themo Melikidze), set off two bombs which killed three people and injured several hundred others, including 16 who lost limbs. This film is a very […]
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A review of the new film “Victoria & Abdul”
September 27th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Queen Victoria has now replaced Sherlock Holmes as the most featured character on British screens. According to a study by the British Film Institute, the monarch is now jointly tied with James Bond on 25 films. This is thanks to “Victoria & Abdul” (2017) which is a kind of companion piece to the earlier “Mrs […]
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Have you ever heard of the name Chimene?
September 26th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
I know that I should be blogging about the nuclear threat from North Korea or the rise of the far Right in Germany – but these subjects are just too depressing. Instead I thought I’d mention a conversation I had on a recent visit to the cinema. I was served by a young, black woman […]
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The most popular first names in Britain today
September 24th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has just issued its annual data for the names chosen last year for boys and girls born in England and Wales. I always use this material to update my comprehensive essay on naming practices all around the world. You can check out the section on British first names here. […]
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