A Very Rare Film Review

 Not a rare film, but a rare review as I hadn't been to the cinema for ages. I discovered the Regal in Stowmarket were having a morning showing of 'The Salt Path' yesterday. All the other times were afternoons and evenings (watching tennis times!)

As most people reading this will already know the film is based on the book Raynor Winn wrote about the 600 mile walk  on the South West Coast Path that she and her husband Moth did after losing their home and their money and at the same time Moth's diagnosis with a rare brain disease - Corticobasal Degeneration.

They had invested money in a friends business and when the business failed leaving huge debts they were taken to court by their friend, battled for 3 years but eventually losing and had to forfeit their home which was a B&B business in Wales and all their money. They decided that the only way to cope was to pack a few belongings, tent and sleeping bags and to start walking.

Walking seemed to help with Moth's condition despite the extremes of weather they encountered on the way. Luckily a friend offered them accommodation of a shed for the winter in return for turning the shed into a holiday let.

The film starring Gillian Anderson as Raynor and Jason Issacs as Moth has gorgeous views of the wild lands, wildlife and coasts of that part of Great Britain, which for me was one of the best parts.

Their walk was in 2013 and the book published in 2019, which was when I read it and was soon a best seller. The film wasn't as tear jerky as I thought it was going to be thank goodness and  there were only 4 other people in the audience.

12 years on from his diagnosis Moth is still alive and Raynor is still walking and writing. Since the first book there have been two more, The Wild Silence and Landlines and another due to be published in October.

Raynor Winn is not the first person to write about this walk - I read "Five Hundred Mile Walkies" by Mark Wallington way back in the late 1980's.

Nomadland

 A comment from 27th May

avisthehereticreader27 May 2021 at 11:28

I think it would be helpful if people went and saw the film "Nomadland". People bought houses when they were affordable for people on modest incomes, jobs were secure in a way they are no longer and though people say 'they paid their taxes' there was tax relief on mortgages. Described as a 'middle class perk' by Gordon Brown when he abolished it. The house buying generation of the 1970's and 1980's would be wise to remember this. 

I read this comment and thought "slightly barbed? .......OK then, I'll go and see it"

 So I took myself off to the newly re-furbished Regal in Stowmarket. Owned by the council it's been closed for over a year for a huge building project. And now  the place we all used to hang-out every Saturday night in the late 60's has turned into a fantastic 3 screen theatre/cinema.

What did I think of the film? It was good even though nothing much happened. However it  isn't totally about people who can't afford a home - true, many of the Nomad community living in the vans/caravans have lost their homes for whatever reason. But some have chosen this way of life as a way of escaping their past.

 

Fern, the main character played by Francis McDormand (who is also one of the producers) had lived and worked in Empire, Nevada a desert town where everyone worked at the US Gypsum factory. When the factory closes and Ferns husband dies she leaves what has now become a ghost town to live and travel in her van.

 

Many of the characters in the film really are part of the Nomad community and play slightly fictional versions of themselves which is interesting. Including Bob Wells  a Youtuber and author.

Fern is able to pick up temporary work (who knew that Amazon have taken advantage of Nomads by setting up a campsite for them by their Texas fulfillment centre and employ many of them in the pre-Christmas rush). 

 She twice has the chance to stay in houses for a while - once with her sister and again with a fellow van-dweller who has gone back to his family, but each time she's unable to settle and set's out on the road again. 

 goodbyes are not final in the nomad community as its members always promise to see each other again "down the road."

The film is based on the 2017 Non-Fiction book by Jessica Bruder..... described thus................

From the beet fields of North Dakota to the campgrounds of California to Amazon's CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labour pool, made up largely of transient older adults. These invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in RVs and modified vans, forming a growing community of nomads. 'Nomadland' tells a revelatory tale of the dark underbelly of the American economy - one which foreshadows the precarious future that may await many more of us. At the same time, it celebrates the exceptional resilience and creativity of people who have given up ordinary rooted-ness to survive, but have not given up hope.

My Conclusion:- It won loads of awards but I'm not sure why although I did enjoy it and the 2 hours went by quickly. It's very American...............obviously!

 

I've got the book on order from the library - it's been republished because of the interest in the film. 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

 

Never Before Seen on This Blog............

...............A Film Review!

I took myself down to Stowmarket Regal to see All is True.



In 1613 a cannon used in the Shakespeare play Henry VIII at his Globe Theatre misfires and the Theatre burns to the ground. Devastated, Shakespeare returns to Stratford where his family have been much neglected by him.

The film imagines the last 3 years of his life, including the truth of his son Hamnet's death at the age of 11; the reason for leaving his "second best bed" to Anne; who his sonnets were really written for and about and the reason for his death in 1616.

It isn't filmed in black and white, or foreign with subtitles and the subject is certainly unfashionable
but as Kenneth Brannagh directs and stars as Shakespeare (with large false nose!) and Judy Dench is Anne and these two can surely pick and choose whatever they want to do they must have thought it better than some of the reviews it has had.

It is written by Ben Elton and there are several little reminders of his brilliant TV series Upstart Crow.

I enjoyed it in a quiet sort of way and also enjoyed being back in The Regal. Apart from going there with small WI last year to see Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again I think the last time I went to the cinema was to see Crocodile Dundee in 1986!.......... Colin wasn't a great film fan and there was no spare money anyway.
Back in the day........when I was 14 and 15............... I used to go to The Regal every Saturday night (3 shillings down the front!)with friends or whichever boyfriend, no one bothered what the film was, it was all about being out and about and being seen out and about! I'll be a bit more choosy now and you won't find me there watching anything weird, arty or nasty.

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The weather forecast for IP14  looks much better this week - less wind and dryer too. The BBC online forecast says " gentle/moderate breeze" rather than "strong winds".......... thank goodness. I was getting quite fed up with the continuous blowing and having to prop the garage door up to keep it open to get the car out.

Back Tomorrow
Sue