History obviously repeats in this feminist Brit flick

History repeats itself in Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day. But that I mean that just this week, in Britain, there was a blatant case of alleged misogyny at the University of Cambridge. A male professor was accused of being ”wicked” and subjecting a female colleague to “psychological torture.” Not just that but Cambridge’s prestigious Institute of Astronomy  was described as having an altogether “bad history of misogyny.” Perfect! And just in time for the opening weekend of Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day (in certain markets). Directed by Tina Gharavi it’s based on the little known Woolf novel of the same name. 116 years doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of difference in the charges hurled again the institute, as our heroine Katharine Hilbery (Haley Bennett - The Magnificent Seven, Hillbilly Elegy), finds. The story takes place in 1910 where headstrong Hilbery, a brilliant amateur astronomer, eschews society’s norms by trying to pursue a singular career outside of a conventional and confining (for women) life. The sets and costumes are spot on in this historical remake. And US actress Hilbery is a more than convincing Edwardian Brit (she also played in Cyrano). Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner, The Last Bus), one of Britian’s premium actors, does a turn as a stuffy authoritarian father, and with his twisted peevish face (reminiscent of a Francis Bacon portrait) he’s perfect for the role. And three-quarters of the film is the sub-plot of Bennett’s efforts to elude his grasps. Lily Allen plays the suffragette Mary Datchet, a major influence on the still evolving Katharine. The other theme is Hilbery’s indifference towards marriage, blowing hot and cold and playfully stringing her slightly buffoonish paramour (Jack Whitehall) along. But there is something very cliché-ridden about the film. We’ve seen this all before – a struggling yet assertive young feminist wanting to break society’s bonds, something albeit a good deal harder to do more than 100 years ago. If you’re a rah-rah feminist you’ll probably cheer her on regardless. Otherwise, the best the film has to offer are the period settings, the cast (very good) and particularly the searing irascible Hilbery (actor Bennett) herself. 

A nine-hour flight: that will be three films, thank you

My Air Canada Zurich to Toronto flight Monday was going to be a grind, even after a one-and-a-half hour delay leaving Zurich because of some European Union aircraft monitoring program that day. The flight is 8.45 hours. I spent the first hour or so finishing downloaded newspapers from my previous hour-plus flight. Now it was twiddling my thumbs time. Okay, let’s have a look at AC’s entertainment offer. I am one of the few people who praises AC (Canucks notoriously bad mouth the airline). Besides the fact they still offer booze at meals - and in a plastic as opposed to paper cup! – their back-of-seat entertainment system is one of

the most voluminous I’ve seen. As I scrolled through offerings, Polly Findlay’s Midwinter Break came up. Released this year I’d  been wanting to see it. It’s the story about a couple from Glasgow, long married, trying to revitalize their relationship with a short trip to Amsterdam. It stars one of my fave Brit actresses Lesley Manville, and Irish actor Ciarán Hinds. They’re Baby Boomers who seem to have arrived together at the end of their tether. The winter scenes of Amsterdam’s streets are gorgeous, as is the artwork in the Rijksmuseum (don’t forget to see the Night Watch). But there is unsettling ennui as the couple stroll by the moonlit canals. Manville’s Stella is

going in an opposite direction to the taciturn Gerry (Hinds) – stereotypical husband alert! – and the trip dissolves. Or does it?.....Next up on my flight were two vintage French films. First was Luis Buñuel’s Belle de Jour (1967) with Catherine Deneuve. I’d seen this before. Deneuve as Séverine is a bored housewife who wants, shall we say, a walk on the wild side or to jump-start her libido. She applies as a prostitute to a high-class Paris brothel (Geneviève Page as Madame Anaïs is especially memorable in projecting an authoritative though tender charm). The film shows many intimate images (though no nudity) and I wondered what the passengers behind me may have thought with a very young and slim Deneuve (her wide eyes reminding me of Princess Beatrice’s), stripping down as she services her mainly bizarre clients…..The third film was a French Nouvelle Vague classic, Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1962 Le Doulos, starring the great Jean-Paul Belmondo and, like in the last film, a personal fave, Michel Piccoli. Le Doulos refers to a police informer. And a hat. And since this is 1962 and criminals looked like businessmen, which in a way they were, they all wore hats. This is an age-old crime flick of betrayal among gangsters, Belmondo’s Silien outsmarting his brothers and the cops among some nasty happenings. This Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) film has all the earmarks of a classic noir, "à la française", with double dealings underlying the cliché, No Honour Among Thieves. Just put your fedora down gently.