The Sense of an Ending – lovely, compassionate (but not cosy) film, from a Julian Barnes novel, played with down-to-earth style by Jim Broadbent, Harriet Walter and Charlotte Rampling, and excellently suitable for anyone of advancing years given to looking back at their life.
How To Be Both – novel by Ali Smith, notable for its two halves being readable in either order. My order seemed perfectly natural, and I can’t imagine it working so well in reverse – but I gather than people who read them the other way round feel like that too. There’s supposed to be a point here about apparently distinct times, for example 'before' and 'after', being more entangled and simultaneous than we usually credit. I’m not sure I came away more aware of that than I was already, but it was certainly an enjoyable excursion.
Madonnas and miracles – exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, cleverly dressing a gallery to evoke rooms in a renaissance house, so that the artworks could be displayed in a setting at least suggestive of their original context. Unfortunately – as I heard a Benedictine monk comment – what was missing was the faith context, which was only described in objective terms, and how meaningful can that be unless you at least temporarily and imaginatively enter into the relevant spiritual world in which a rosary, say, has actual and living power?
Patience – Gilbert and Sullivan performed by English Touring Opera. Good clean fun for all the family. I’d forgotten the bit where the male chorus of soldiers have to get themselves up like artistic ponces to woo their girlfriends, who’ve entirely gone over to the aesthetic movement. Troubled by the female grotesque character, though, who I realise is a sexist recurrence in the G&S operas.
Rogue One – entertaining Star Wars prequel. I particularly liked the way (spoiler) everyone gets killed at the end, like in Blackadder. Except for Darth Vader, of course, he just carries on and on and on.
Their Finest – amusing, touching and understated very British film, rather like the WW2 morale-boosting film whose making it depicts. Class acts from Bill Nighy and Gemma Aterton.
Pina – beautiful film by Wim Wenders, watched on video, featuring the stunning and imaginative choreography of Pina Bausch.
Naturally 7, ‘Keep the Customer Satisfied’ - performing on Later with Jools Holland. Amazing a capella.
The Journey – bold imagining of the conversations through which Martin McGuiness and Ian Paisley went from being mortal enemies to the best of buddies, here compressed into a single long car journey together. Very convincing performances from Colm Meaney and Timothy Spall, and agreeable comic relief from Toby Stephens who plays Tony Blair like Hugh Grant.
The Conversations – transcripts of four long conversations between master film editor Walter Murch and novelist, Michael Ondaatje. Illuminating and inspirational on all kinds of issues to do with film editing and sound design, with stories from The Godfather, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, and The English Patient.
Broken – TV drama by Jimmy McGovern. Misery television at its finest: completely depressing subject matter, poverty and social conflict in a northern town, made into totally compelling viewing because of the vivid and compassionate portrayal of the characters, all anchored by Sean Bean’s humane and decent Catholic priest.
Old Man’s Journey – beautiful, meditative top-rated iPad game, in which you lead the titular old man across a sequence of landscapes towards a destination which is initially unknown, though the reminiscences which appear every time he sits down to rest gradually build up a picture of his life story.
The Art of Japanese Life –BBC documentary series presented by James Fox, as beautiful and ennobling as you’d expect, but so meditative that I don’t think I got through a single episode without falling asleep.
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