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lonelybritDespite my best intentions I do seem to be continuing with my Hiddleston phase. Curse you, blue eyes *shakes fist*
I finally saw The Deep Blue Sea (no, not the one with the mutant killer sharks). It's deliberately melodramatic and definitely an indie, art-y, Brit-flick. But all the actors are superb, in particular Weiz.
Then today a group of us from work sallied forth to the silver screen to see War Horse.
Non-spoiler-y reaction: great film, beautiful to look at, but I am definitely glad I read the book first. The humans are but passing chapters as the tale is from the horse's POV, but even so it was wonderful to see Sherlock gently teasing Loki as they prepared for a practice cavalry charge. Only word of caution? DO NOT SEE THIS FILM IF YOU HAVE ONE SINGLE DROP OF CYNICISM IN YOU. This is Spielberg and his ideal vision of ye olde English countryside and sunsets and all that jazz.
Be warned, the following may be slightly Hiddleston-biased. For which I apologise.
There were extra 'human chapters' added to the film, new characters that weren't in the book. Whilst these stories were all very touching, I would have been happy to sacrifice them if it meant we could have spent more time with the stories that did come from Morporgo's pen. In particular, yes, the time spent with Captain Nicholls (Hiddleston) and Major Jamie Stewart (Cumberbatch) was too short.
In the book we learn quite a bit about Nicholls' frame of mind through his conversations to Joey, which are lost (and missed) in the film. The book also shows the deep friendship that goes between the two men. That said, Hiddleston did a fine job with the few scenes he had, albeit after a rather rocky start. His initial scene felt terribly awkward, but once he was on the frontline we were allowed to see the apprehension of his character, something Hiddleston can play perfectly in his sleep (the final shot of him as he realises they are all charging right into the guns, and that he in particular has been singled out... *sniffle*).
Niels Arestrup was superb as the French grandfather, although again the film made some heavy, heavy cuts with his final scene. In the book it broke my heart when the grandfather calmly explains to Albert the full extent of Joey's price (a penny and a promise to remember his granddaughter). In the film it's all wrapped up in a few lines, although Arestrup does put far more depth into a few words than you would think possible.
Stand-out moments? The cavalry charge: doomed but spectacular and heartbreaking. The meeting of Colin and Peter in No Man's Land: where the film's tweaking actually was for the best, the men's conversation was so bittersweet because they never quite acknowledge the tragedy of what is to come, they just imply with their parting advice and good wishes ("Keep your head down, Peter" *sniffle*).
In closing, have a gander at this interview with Cumberbatch and Hiddleston. It is slightly spoiler-y for their characters' fates in the film from 3 mins in, but the 1st minute is worth watching just for the epic bromance moment between the two ("Darling.")
I finally saw The Deep Blue Sea (no, not the one with the mutant killer sharks). It's deliberately melodramatic and definitely an indie, art-y, Brit-flick. But all the actors are superb, in particular Weiz.
Then today a group of us from work sallied forth to the silver screen to see War Horse.
Non-spoiler-y reaction: great film, beautiful to look at, but I am definitely glad I read the book first. The humans are but passing chapters as the tale is from the horse's POV, but even so it was wonderful to see Sherlock gently teasing Loki as they prepared for a practice cavalry charge. Only word of caution? DO NOT SEE THIS FILM IF YOU HAVE ONE SINGLE DROP OF CYNICISM IN YOU. This is Spielberg and his ideal vision of ye olde English countryside and sunsets and all that jazz.
Be warned, the following may be slightly Hiddleston-biased. For which I apologise.
There were extra 'human chapters' added to the film, new characters that weren't in the book. Whilst these stories were all very touching, I would have been happy to sacrifice them if it meant we could have spent more time with the stories that did come from Morporgo's pen. In particular, yes, the time spent with Captain Nicholls (Hiddleston) and Major Jamie Stewart (Cumberbatch) was too short.
In the book we learn quite a bit about Nicholls' frame of mind through his conversations to Joey, which are lost (and missed) in the film. The book also shows the deep friendship that goes between the two men. That said, Hiddleston did a fine job with the few scenes he had, albeit after a rather rocky start. His initial scene felt terribly awkward, but once he was on the frontline we were allowed to see the apprehension of his character, something Hiddleston can play perfectly in his sleep (the final shot of him as he realises they are all charging right into the guns, and that he in particular has been singled out... *sniffle*).
Niels Arestrup was superb as the French grandfather, although again the film made some heavy, heavy cuts with his final scene. In the book it broke my heart when the grandfather calmly explains to Albert the full extent of Joey's price (a penny and a promise to remember his granddaughter). In the film it's all wrapped up in a few lines, although Arestrup does put far more depth into a few words than you would think possible.
Stand-out moments? The cavalry charge: doomed but spectacular and heartbreaking. The meeting of Colin and Peter in No Man's Land: where the film's tweaking actually was for the best, the men's conversation was so bittersweet because they never quite acknowledge the tragedy of what is to come, they just imply with their parting advice and good wishes ("Keep your head down, Peter" *sniffle*).
In closing, have a gander at this interview with Cumberbatch and Hiddleston. It is slightly spoiler-y for their characters' fates in the film from 3 mins in, but the 1st minute is worth watching just for the epic bromance moment between the two ("Darling.")
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no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 07:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 10:09 pm (UTC)But yes, there is something special in pretty people getting their history geek on :)