Hook

Steven Spielberg’s Hook takes the world of Peter Pan and imagines what happened if he left Neverland and grew up.  Robin Williams plays Peter Banning, a lawyer who doesn’t put his children first.  When his family travels to England to attend a dedication for a hospital for orphans named after his grandmother-in-law, Wendy (Maggie Smith), Hook (Dustin Hoffman) kidnaps his children.  The authorities are no help and before Peter knows what is happening, he is whisked away to Neverland by Tinkerbell (Julia Roberts) so he can save his children.

Among all his problems, Peter doesn’t remember, or even believe that he is the Peter Pan from the stories.  Everyone else recognizes him, Hook, Tinkerbell, some of the lost boys. Granny Wendy even tells him how they first met when she was a girl.  When he half-heartedly confronts Captain Hook, the pirate is so disappointed that his worthy adversary is no more than an uptight lawyer afraid of heights that he gives Peter three days before they fight for the children.  With only three days to remember how to be the Pan, Peter needs Tinkerbell, the lost boys and to find his happy thought.

In this film, Neverland is imagined more beautifully than I have ever seen.  Flying in, the island seems to on a living map, with compass rose visible in the water.  Captain Hook’s ship is a magnificent vessel with a skeleton holding a sword on the bow.  The forests where the Lost Boys live is a childhood paradise with skateboarding ramps, basketball hoops and a maze of draw bridges leading to their tree houses.  And under water are colorful mermaids, who can be helpful to anyone forced to walk the plank.  It all adds to the sense of wonder and adventure that can only happen in Neverland.

My favorite scene is probably a favorite for many; the imaginary dinner scene.  Everything plays out perfectly.  After a long day of training, Peter is tired, hungry and from the looks of things, a big meal is being prepared.  Once grace is said, it’s revealed that there is nothing but steam in all the dishes and the boys pretend to eat.  I especially love how one boy pretends to eat corn on the cob.  When Peter refuses to go along with it, an insult match brew up between Rufio (Dante Basco) and Peter.  I got some of my best comebacks here, “In your face, camel cake!”  And it all builds up to Peter letting loose a real zinger, pretending with the boys and a magnificent feast appearing before him.  Never had bowls of red and blue frosting looked so appetizing.

The dynamic between Peter and his children has always struck a deep chord with me.  As a kid, I understood Jack’s frustration with his father, not showing up to that baseball game seemed like the ultimate parent betrayal.  And Maggie’s devotion to her dad is especially touching, realizing that not all kids see the obvious flaws in their parents.  Now as a parent myself, I understand how easy it can be to let little moments with your children slip away.  Never before had Moira’s words hit me so hard, “Your children love you, they want to play with you.  How long do you think that lasts?”

Childhood doesn’t last long, but Hook can help adults remember what it was like to be a kid again.  We need that sometimes, especially to help us better understand our children.  I’ve recently started a list of movies to share with my son at certain ages.  Hook is one we will make time for in the height of his childhood.  It’s one I hope we can enjoy and cherish together.  From it I hope he sees a world of adventure, imagination and that parents may not be perfect but the good ones will save the day.  And that he will always be my happy thought.

“Dear night-lights, protect my sleeping babes.  Burn clear and steadfast tonight.”

A Room with a View

“Don’t you agree that on one’s first visit to Florence, one must have a room with a view?”

Though I have never been to Florence, I must agree.  Whether I’m looking thirty stories over Boston, sitting in a window to watch the rain pour over the Black Forest or climbing on furniture to peep my head out a skylight to see the Swiss Alps in the distance, it’s always worth it to get a room with a view.  Of course, in A Room with a View, with its Edwardian society, scaling furniture is ever deemed appropriate.  There is a dignified air that must be maintained at all times.  So when Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) and her chaperon Charlotte (Maggie Smith) find themselves view-less in Florence, they hesitate on trading rooms with the kind Emersons, a father and son on holiday.  How rude it would be to leap at such kindness, so the Emersons take the initiative and make the trade, reasoning that, “Women like looking at a view.  Men don’t.”

The trade is worth it and they spend time with the Emersons in Florence.  As Lucy and young George (Julian Sands) experience misadventures together a bond grows which eventually leads to George kissing Lucy on a day in the country.  Unfortunately, Charlotte sees this lewd behavior and must get Lucy back to England without anyone knowing about the incident.  They make a pact to never speak of it to anyone, for the sake of Lucy’s reputation and for Charlotte’s job.

Not long after returning to England, Lucy accepts the proposal of Cecil Vyse (Daniel Day-Lewis).  While socially, this is wonderful for Lucy, it looks like a trap for such a passionate young lady.  Cecil is extremely snobby and cynical, I doubt he could ever know real enjoyment in anything.  Their first kiss, that Cecil is extremely formal and cautious about taking, is so hilariously awkward his glasses nearly fall off.  All it does is make Lucy remember her and George together, the relationships are quite opposite.

Things get stirred up when the Emersons are staying close by.  This puts Lucy and Charlotte into a damage control status.  But it turns out that Charlotte has broken their silent pact and told Eleanor Lavish (Judi Dench), a novelist, about Lucy and George’s moment together.  Now that scene is in full detail in her latest book, which Cecil reads aloud in front of Lucy and George.  This only flares up the flames Lucy left Florence over.  In this society of repression will Lucy choose the safe path with Cecil or the one that will make her happy with George?

I always find Edwardian and Victorian era films so fascinating because of their quiet repression.  In A Room with a View, it seems we’re on the threshold of the modern era and some of the young people are trying to move forward while most of the older generation are trying to hold them back.  We see Lucy playing Beethoven on the piano with such passion and vigor she’s sometimes scolded by older women for it.  Yet, Mr. Emerson (Denholm Elliott) seems to encourage George in his eccentricities and eventually encourages Lucy to accept her love for George.

One scene I was not expecting in this sort of film was the scene where George, Lucy’s younger brother Fred (Rupert Graves) and the priest go for a swim.  It starts off like a normal summertime swim, the boys strip down and splash around.  Eventually they start horsing around and chasing each other naked around the pond.  Surely this is not proper etiquette, and it only gets better when Lucy arrives at the pond hilariously horrified at the nudity displayed before her.  Just remember that British films are very generous about male nudity, you will get more ball shots here than most Edwardian women saw in their lifetime.

I enjoyed A Room with a View much more than I thought I would.  The elegant society, the forbidden romance and tip-toed scheming all drew me in so well.  Plus, it is all filmed in such beautiful scenes and lavishly landscaped courtyards.  Unless you are the kind that can only watch action movies, I highly recommend this film.

“A young girl, transfigured by Italy!  And why shouldn’t she be transfigured?  It happened to the Goths!”

Gosford Park

A quick skim at the summery and one concludes that this film is a classic murder mystery.  All the rich people are invited to the McCordle’s house for a weekend of shooting and acting rich with their servants waiting hand and foot on them.  Then boom! Mr. McCordleis dead.  And whodunit?  Wait…that’s the plot, but not the style…let me start over.

The McCordle’s invite their aristocratic friends for a weekend at their mansion for some shooting.  Nearly every guest has a personal servant.  The guests stay upstairs and the servants buzz like busy bees below.  Gossip and secrets fly and spread like an illness, it seems that everyone has a reason to hate Mr. McCordle (Michael Gambon) or they just want his money.  This is all before the murder happens, over an hour into the film.  From there, the suspicions rise, but no one really laments the death.  It’s just more juicy gossip and a catalyst for more secrets to seep out.

To be honest, this film is a little boring.  There’s not much action and the bulk of the film is listening to everyone talk.  The viewer sometimes feels like you’re eavesdropping on everything.  I blame this feeling on the camera always slightly moving, like you’re walking ever so slowly across the room, or slightly turning your head.  This little camera trick just makes the viewer feel like they’re in the room as well, instead of being fixed outside of the screen on their sofa.

The only reason this film has an R rating is because director, Robert Altman didn’t want kids to see the film.  Well think about it, kids would get bored in ten minutes and start a popcorn fight in the theater chanting for the murder to happen already.  By simply adding the F-word several times Altman sealed his R rating and kept those brats out, brilliant!

To keep it simple, if you’re looking for a classic whodunit with Miss Scarlet and Professor Plum, keep looking.  If you want a quieter and sophisticated twisting look at a murder mystery filled with secret lives, complex clues and slight twists Gosford Park is right up your alley.

“If there’s one thing I don’t look for in a maid, its discretion. Except with my own secrets, of course.”