A review of the classic 1927 film “Metropolis”
April 19th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
This black and while silent movie was directed by the great Fritz Lang in Weimar Germany and is regarded as the first science fiction epic with huge sets, thousands of extras, and groundbreaking effects. Set in a dystopian future, it depicts a city with the rich above ground in great skyscrapers and the masses labouring below ground on massive and dangerous machinery.
A central role is performed by Maria (Brigette Helm) who is both a saintly figure preaching conciliation and a robot inciting the workers to rebellion. She is assisted and saved by Freder (Gustav Frolich), the pampered son of the Master of the Metropolis. The film’s message is encompassed in the final intertitle: “The Mediator Between the Head [the Master] and the Hands [the workers] Must Be the Heart [Freder]”.
At the time of its release, “Metropolis” was controversial and a box office disaster. Consequently, it was cut substantially after its German premiere. Therefore, over the years, the film has been shown at different lengths and with different sound tracks. It was the subject of a major restoration in 2010, so the version now exhibited runs to 149 minutes and is very close to the original work.
I’ve seen it several times and regard it as a flawed masterpiece: visually stunning and inventive, but with exaggerated acting and an overly simplistic message. However, its future status is secure and, in 2001, the film was inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World International Register, the first film to be so distinguished.
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A review of the 1985 classic movie “Back To The Future”
April 18th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
Television heartthrob Michael J Fox was perfectly cast as teenager Marty McFly who accidentally finds himself transported from 1985 to 1955 when his patents have not yet married and his future existence is not certain. This spectacular act of time travel is achieved through a modified DeLorean sports car, with its gull-winged doors and a plutonium-powered engine, invented by nutty scientist Emmett ‘Doc’ Brown (a wonderful Christopher Lloyd).
Can Marty get back to the future and will his adventure change the destinies of his family members? This hugely enjoyable science fiction comedy has a clever narrative with witty dialogue, crafted by director Robert Zemeckis and his friend Bob Gale.
Ironically, the project was rejected more than 40 times by various studios but, backed by Steven Spielberg, the movie was made and became the highest-grossing film of 1985. There were sequels in 1989 and 1990 and it became a multimedia franchise with video games, theme park rides, and a stage musical.
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A review of the 1975 classic film “Picnic At Hanging Rock”
April 17th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
On Valentine’s Day 1900, students from a girls’ private boarding school in Victoria, Australia have a day out at the titular mountain. Dressed in their white finery and giggling with excitement, these teenage girls inevitably attract the attention of nearby young men. Four of the girls decide to explore the higher reaches of the rock, but only one returns, screaming with terror.
The minimal dialogue, the lingering gaze of the camera, the atmospheric music, the shadows and crevices of the mountain, all create an atmosphere of expectation, but of what? And when the girls disappear, how do the other girls, the school and the wider community react? This haunting and exquisite film is more about mood than narrative.
Based on a 1967 book by Joan Lindsay which is considered to be one of the greatest Australian novels, this cinematic adaptation by Peter Weir has been voted the best Australian movie of all time. But it is a stage and enigmatic work.
As one reviewer (Joshua Klein) explains it: “A ghost story without the ghosts, a puzzle without a solution, a story of sexual repression without the sex” means that the film “remains maddeningly elliptical”. A story without an explanation or a conclusion will irritate some, but Weir has declared: “Life doesn’t have endings. It’s always moving on to something else and there are always unexplained elements.”
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The latest review of my new book “Everyone Has A Story” available on Amazon
April 16th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
“I love this book and found it to be a page turner. An excellent storyteller, Roger knows how to transform the triumphs and losses of life into gripping tales. The author throughout his life has turned chance encounters into lifelong friendships, uncovering the unique gifts of people. Brilliant little cameos of some ordinary/extraordinary people.
Who will forget the story of 3 seats on a plane, Roger, his then wife and a young unknown Chinese student, now 25 years later, a ground breaking world scientist and Professor at Oxford, seeing her own son off to University? Just one of over 30 people, breaking new ground, bringing discoveries to light, often stepping into uncharted territory, quietly creating a better world.
This is the story of how friendship creates a rich and inspiring life and how each person has a story worth sharing. A great and very enjoyable read from an author who creates friendship wherever he goes.”
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A review of the novel “Crooked Cross” by Sally Carson
April 15th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
The provenance of this novel is particularly interesting. Sally Carson was a young English woman (she was 32 in 1933) who spent holidays in Munich during the early 1930s and her book was first published in 1934. The work was acclaimed at the time and indeed staged as a play in 1935 and 1937 as Germany became a Nazi state (the title is a reference to the swastika). Carson died of breast cancer in 1941 and her book was later forgotten. It was only in 2024 that it was reprinted by Persephone Books which reprints neglected fiction and non-fiction, mostly by women writers and mostly dating from the mid-twentieth century.
“Crooked Cross” is the fictional story of a working-class German family set over only six months, from Christmas Eve 1932 to Midsummer’s Eve 1933, a period when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor, his party effectively took control of the Reichstag, Dachau was opened, and Nazi repression of Jews and political opponents intensified.
The Kluger family consists of the two parents and three off-spring in their early 20s, Helmy and Erich who join the Nazi Party and Lexa who plans to marry her Jewish boyfriend. The novel subtly and fluently explores why young Germans flocked to the Party, how the net tightened on the Jewish community, and the power of love when all around hate is on the rise. It must have been a chilling read at the time and now it is a opportune reminder of how totalitarianism can appeal to the disaffected.
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Wedding programme for Tess & Roger
April 8th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
Saturday 11 April 2026
Ventnor Botanic Garden,
Isle of Wight
Timetable (we hope!)
At VBG:
2.30 Arrival of guests
2.30 Arrival of Roger: Canna Room
2.45 Arrival of Tess: Canna Room
In the Olive Grove:
2.45 Arrival of Roger
3.00 Arrival of Tess
3.00 Legal ceremony and then hand fasting
In Fountain Courtyard:
3.30 Group photographs
In the Echium Room:
4.00 Toast to the bride & groom and responses
4.30 Cutting of the cake and light refreshments
6.00 Farewell
Roles
Registrars: Katie Green & Mike Ackrill
Giver away: Monica Edwards
Witnesses: Gail Mathie & Silvia Holden
Hand fasting: Emily Darlington
Bride’s dress: Julie Sharp
Car for bride: Andy & Sue Richards
Ring bearer: Catrin Darlington
Chief bridesmaid: Kara Darlington assisted by Doreen Hippsley & Penny Smith
Best man: Ralph Darlington
Chief usher: David Waller assisted by Nigel Hartley & Peter Martin
Flowers: Tom Travitsky
Cake: Gail Mathie
Photographs: Richard Darlington
Video: Francesca Mongelli
VBG wedding coordinator: Lera Cooke
Weather: Mark Czuchnecki
Rings
Engagement ring for bride: Sophie Honeybourne
Wedding ring for bride: wedding ring of Tess’s mother
Wedding ring for groom: Sophie Honeybourne
Tartan theme:
Weathered hunting Fraser
Music
Arrival: Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony (Second Movement)
Signing: “Magic Still Exists” by Agnes (Carlsson)
Leaving: Faure’s Pavane (piano version)
Provider: Saskia Darlington
Refreshments
Fish: island brown crab mayonnaise sandwich with lobster and ‘caviar’
Meat: fillet of island beef wrapped in cucumber with carrot, watercress and wasabi
Vegetarian: gallybagger shortbread with whipped rosary goats cheese and vegetable crisp
Sweets: baby meringues with raspberries and cream plus dark chocolate and rum truffles
Notices
Ventnor Botanic Garden is set in a unique microclimate that is around 5°C warmer than the rest of the UK. Spread across 22 stunning acres, the garden is home to over 30,000 rare and exotic plants from around the world, thriving in natural outdoor settings.
There is free parking.
The gardens are open to all the guests all day – enjoy.
The Botanic has a cafe and shop which can be visited before the ceremony.
No confetti please.
No gifts please – if you wish, we advise a donation to:
Mountbatten Hospice, Isle of Wight through their website
https://www.mountbatten.org.uk/donate/donate-to-mountbatten/30/credit-card
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Twenty first century problems
April 6th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
What’s the world coming to? The $23M toilet on the Artemis II is not functioning properly. And, on Easter Monday, my local bakery has stopping selling their delicious hot cross buns. Never mind, I’m getting married at the weekend.
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The fifth five-star review of my book “Everyone Has A Story” available on Amazon
April 5th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
“Roger Darlington is prodigious, his latest book is a collection of 33 tales of people he knows, told by them. He captures the truth that everyone is interesting and worth a listen. Much of of our world is on transmission, he has received and retold.
Should be a TV or radio show . Everyone is a unique combination of universal circumstances. A unique and universal book. Worth reading to discover yourself.”
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A review of the new thought-provoking film “The Drama”
April 5th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
The weekend before my wedding, I went to see the most intriguing new release which ironically features a couple in the final stages of planning their wedding who are shocked by a ‘great reveal’.
Written and directed by the Norwegian Kristoffer Borgli, this is not the traditional Hollywood fare, although it is set in Boston. Instead it is part romantic comedy and (a larger) part a psychological drama (I guess the clue is in the title). Balancing these two genres is a tricky business which doesn’t always work, but the film holds the attention throughout and provokes thought which lingers afterwards.
What really sells the movie is its stars. Robert Pattinson and Zendaya are excellent, as respectively British art historian Charlie and American bookstore clerk Emma. It is a tale of honesty, forgiveness and empathy and the balance between them.
It is wordy and watchable and could be turned into a play. If perhaps a drama is too easily turned into a crisis, that might have something to do with the relative wealth of all concerned. If they had more pressing worries, perhaps they would have a greater sense of perspective. But you decide.
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A review of the 2001 French film “Amélie” which is back in cinemas now
April 2nd, 2026 by Roger Darlington
This utterly delightful Gallic rom-com has an eventual romance and considerable humour, but something more: a sense of magic, as it explores how providing happiness to others secretly and unselfishly can transform one’s own sense of well-being.
The location is the Parisian quarter of Montmartre, but it a digitally-enhanced and lusciously-coloured version of this tourist haunt. The titular character is a young woman who has had an isolated upbringing, which has led to her being shy and inhibited and very much living in a world of her imagination. The large cast of supporting characters are invariably eccentric but in endlessly variable ways. There is even a travelling garden gnome.
The creator of this marvellous concoction is director and co-writer Jean-Pierre Jeunet who uses a huge array of inventive techniques to engage and entertain the viewer: lots of narration, some frenetic camerawork, variable camera angles, close-ups, long takes, and digital effects such as Amélie dissolving into water. The story and the camera are always on the move. The director’s muse is the adorable Audrey Tatou, playing the bobbed-haired gamine, who literally changes lives and ultimately her own.
The film was a huge success on its release and there was a 25th anniversary re-release. I was at the cinema to see it on both occasions.
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