Adam Bowen's Talkie Talk - Free to Air TV - Powell & Pressburger, Joseph Losey, Ang Lee all prominent

TALKIE TALK WEEK BEGINNING 27/04/20 

from Adam Bowen

FREE-TO-AIR TELLY SELECTIONS

Monday 27^th

7.30 pm SBS WORLD MOVIES: Hyde Park on the Hudson (2012) It’s 1939, WW2 is brewing, the King and Queen of England (Samuel West & Olivia Colman) are visiting the USA, while FD Roosevelt (Bill Murray) is having an affair with his cousin (several times removed), Daisy (Laura Linney). It’s a bit of an under-developed muddle, but its attempt to conjure up the illusions, delusions and self-education of its characters is of interest. It looks lovely. Photography by Lol Crawley; Production Design by Simon Bowles

[Repeated 3.45am Tuesday & 1130pm Tuesday]

Wednesday 29^th

1030am  SBS WORLD MOVIES: It’s back! The Red Shoes (1948) - about a ballet troupe (including Australian dancer, Sir Robert Helpmann), run by the autocratic Lermantov (Anton Walbrook), who makes a star of Victoria - a hopeful young ballerina (Moira Shearer). Trouble is, Victoria is in love with a brilliant young composer. Lermontov doesn’t like that, and it gets very bumpy – especially when Victoria dances a ballet, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Red Shoes. Compellingly directed by Michael Powell, beautifully (Technicolour) photographed by Jack Cardiff; Production Design by Hein Heckroth; plus an Oscar-winning score by Brian Easdale.

[Repeated Thursday 3.30pm & Friday 7.30am]

Friday 1^stMay

730pm 9GemHD: The Rainmaker (1997) Good old-fashioned entertainment by masters of the craft. Francis Ford Coppola directs and scripts (from a John Grisham novel) a drama about a rookie lawyer (Matt Damon) who takes on a powerful insurance company. The excellent cast also includes Claire Danes, Danny de Vito, John Voight, Mickey Rourke and Teresa Wright (in her final movie). It looks great, courtesy of John Toll’s subtle cinematography and Howard Cummings production design.

Saturday 2^ndMan

9.30pm SBS WORLD MOVIES: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was the great cross-over hit of the year 2000. Millions of people who’d never seen a martial-arts movie, flocked to this exciting, wonderfully old-fashioned adventure story, set in Qing China. The plot is basically about a stolen sword, and its pursuit by male and female warriors who float through the air, skim across water, and indulge in breathtaking balletic biff, in trees and on rooftops. There’s also a beautiful love story; and Oscar-winning music by Tan Dun.

Sunday May 3^rd

12am 9GemHD: The Servant(1963) – creepy story of a servant (Dirk Bogarde) taking the reins from his upper-class master (James Fox). Directed by Joseph Losey, brilliantly written by Harold Pinter (apart from some stagey sillinesses), and photographed in steely black and white by Douglas Slocombe. Also stars Sarah Miles and (a miscast) Wendy Craig.

Adam Bowen Productions