5 - Quartet (2012)

I must first confess that I have an unrequited love affair with Maggie Smith. I first fell in love with her in 1969's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie ("Give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life."). She enchanted me as Peter Pan in London, Christmas 1972. As I have aged, she has matured, but I still find her fascinating, whether in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, or Downton Abbey or Harry Potter. Her long history of work (over 73 titles to her credit) make it an easy leap to accept her Jean Horton, a retired diva with a lengthy career facing her "declining" years in a retirement home for musicians.

One could make easy jokes about how Quartet is a comedy-drama of wrinkles for the Marigold set (of which I find myself). Bette Davis' line about how "old age is not for sissies" reinforces the survivor status of all the characters living in the home, but like a beautiful ship of state, Beechem House (actually Hedsor House and Park, Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England), provides for its retirees a glamorous refuge from the world. Jean arrives to find three former friends also live at the house, Pauline Collins (Cissy), Billy Connolly (Wilf), and Tom Courtenay (Reginald). Reggie and Jean had been married for a brief while and still have not made up. 

The staff, wanting to save the house, are planning a gala to celebrate Verdi's birthday, where all the retired musicans will have a chance to perform. Can they get the four former friends who performed in Riggoletto together to do the quartet they performed in their youth? You probably already know the answer.  But in a film like this, getting there is the fun of the movie.

Novice director Dustin Hoffman gives us loving closeups of age at its best. The script may lacks great depth, but there are lingering moments of delight and pathos and a pleasant couple of hours entertainment.

Quartet (2012) ****

Day 28/30 - Brave (2012) & La Luna (2012)

I came to see Pixar/Disney's Brave later than most. I've been careful to avoid reading reviews and getting friend's opinions, because I wanted to feel I was seeing it on my own. My first reaction was, "Wow, they finally got past the kill the mother off and give the female protagonist a father-figure to relate to!" The mother is in peril in this film, but together she and her daughter resolve the problems. What a major step ahead, I thought.

For those few who haven't seen or heard about the movie, the film centers around Princess Merida (voiced by Kelly MacDonald) from a Scottish kingdom. We first see as a child celebrating her birthday with her parents in the woods. The father is attacked by a bear and later we are told he lost his leg to him. Merida's bravery and love of the bow is established in the beginning. A true child of nature, Merida matures into a red-headed Boudica proficient with a bow and arrow, the equal to her father, Lord Fergus (Billy Connolly). Her mother, Lady Elinor (Emma Thompson), feels it is time for her daughter to be married and thus the conflict begins. When three clans arrive to claim Merida's hand, she outshines them all with her archery skills and argues with her mother, tearing a tapestry her mother had created to Merida, her, and Fergus. Merida rides off into the woods with her draft horse and is led by will-o'-the-wisps to the cottage of a bear-carving witch. Merida asks for a charm to change her future. She is given a potion that will turn her mother into bear. Once done, she discovers that if she doesn't turn her back in two days, she will stay a bear.

I was bowled over by the beautiful rendering of textures. Merida's hair is beautifully deliniated with individual strands evident on the large screen. According to the IMDB article, Merida has 1500 individual strands of hair. The hair on the horse and the bear are also worth studying. But I was most impressed with the dress fabrics (with the sheen of raw silk) of Elinor and Merida. Contrast them to the wools of the men's kilts and scarves. All in all the film is a feast for the eyes and one of the most full rendered and realized Disney/Pixar films done.

I found myself utterly enchanted with the story and theme. I'm sure the children in the audience with me today felt the same. This is the best Disney experience for me since the first Toy Story.

Brave (2012) *****

I should also note that the short subject with the film, Pixar's La Luna was an captivating tale of three people who sweep the stars up on the moon. This short piece was well worth the price of the admission by itself.

La Luna (2012) *****