A repressed cinema manager falls for a younger black man in racist eighties Britain, whilst the cinema beckons and takes you away from reality. (Having said that, Raging Bull is one of the films on offer.)
The old cinema is beautifully designed, but the film doesn't quite capture the magic of cinema in the way that something like Cinema Paradiso does; it's really well made and acted, but doesn't quite... It's a 'not quite there' film for me, or as J.K. would say in Whiplash, 'Not my speed'. The central relationship doesn't quite engage me, I'm not sure why, and though the supporting characters are good, it doesn't quite gel in that satisfying way that a film like My Week With Marilyn (I know - here we go again) does.
I used 'quite' five times there, something of a personal record.
But Roger Deakins does make Mark Tildesley's designs look marvellous. Filmed in Margate where the cinema - a listed but empty building - still stands.
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| Try telling me this isn't lit purely by candlelight |
Great cast: Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Tom Brooke, Tanya Moodie (mother), Hannah Onslow, Crystal Clarke, Monica Dolan (didn't recognise her), Ron Cooke, Sara Stewart (just seen her on Dalgliesh). Edited by Lee Smith.
Liked the ending Philip Larkin poem 'The Trees' (and the Tennyson New Year one). (Though you could argue - what have these got to do with Cinema?)
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