An absolutely splendid 1954 version of JB Priestly’s classic play, directed by future Bondmeister Guy Hamilton. Alastair Sim is outstanding as the Inspector.
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A very emotionally tough film with a well built storyline, great acting, wonderful music & cinematography. It definitely moved me.
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So there I was late last night, laying on the sofa, watching a bit of telly and enjoying a smoke and a whisky, and up this Japanese movie popped on BBC4. Although I was tired and the movie lasted two hours, I thought I’d watch the first few minutes.
I ended up watching the whole thing, and boy, was I blown away. Directed and written by Hirokazu Kore-eda, one of the very best directors working today, Uminachi Diary, or Our Little Sister, as this film is titled in English, is stunning - the sort of low-key, domestic drama that Ozu used to make.
There’s not much of a story. Three women, the Kōda sisters (one a nurse, another a bank worker, the third a sports shop assistant) live in their parents’ large, old house in a small seaside town. They travel to their estranged father’s funeral, only to discover they have a 14 year old half sister. On an impulse, Sachi, the oldest. asks the child, Suzu, to come and live with them. She says yes, and that’s it. Nothing much else happens.
That such a wafer-thin plot should make for a film so gripping, and so deeply moving, is a testament to Kore-eda’s script and direction; and to the brilliance of the four lead acressess: Haruka Ayase; Masami Nagasawa; Kaho Indō; and Suzu Hirose. Two hours in the company of this quartet, you feel you know them intimately, and want to spend more time with them, despite their faults and foibles. The picture could have gone on for four hours, and I still wouldn’t have been bored.
This picture also depicts a different kind of Japan, the Japan of Yasujirō Ozu: a Japan of small seaside towns, of provincial branch lines and small stations; of quiet back streets and intimate interiors; of mealtimes and of food enjoyed together (there’s a lot of eating in this film); of low-key familial bickering and unspoken affection; and the enjoyment of simple things such as cherry blossoms, plum picking, fireworks, dressing up and walks along the beach.
Despite the fact that it is a rather melancholy film - there are a lot of funerals - there is something incredibly uplifting and joyful about it. I’ve got to admit, I was welling up a bit at various monents.
Add in the fact that it is visually stunning (a bike ride through an avenue of cherry blossom trees in particular), so a special mention for Mikiya Takimoto’s cinematography then, but also for the unashamedly sentimental music, which used brilliantly and sparingly; and you have a just-about-perfect movie. Old man Ozu would have approved. methinks.
I honestly think it’s just about the best film I’ve seen for about 10 years and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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‘Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind’.
Has a good go at “what would it look like if bits of a persons’ memory were being deleted” in a vaguely disturbing, typically Charlie Kaufman-esque kind of way…
Couldn’t get much further away from the OP’s opener ‘The Bogs of W*nk’ or whatever it was… 
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Never saw this when it was originally out. Recorded many incomplete SD episodes years ago but never watched them.
Decided to give it a try and the image quality is simply stunning.
I was told to stop commenting on costumes and making Sid James type noises the other night watching the first couple of episodes 
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A classic, I remember it well. I also remember The Invaders being roughly around this time (?) and followed later by Space 1999. Very interesting costume-wise shall we say.
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Just finished watching this & enjoyed it; very poignant given what must have been the fragile health of Burt Reynolds and his subsequent passing. Rather well constructed with a bit of redemption thrown in as well as ‘Vic Edwards’ recalling his (Burt Reynolds) earlier films & life.
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Production values were very high it seems to me, and I’m stunned by the models of aircraft etc which have so much attention to detail - they look considerably better than say models used in Bond films of the time.
@Alley_Cat - This has always been my favourite Andseron series. I remember watching it as a kid in 1970/71 on our old black and white telly and loving it. Rewatching it years later the thing that struck me was how dark it was - as I recall, ITV used to show it at teatime on Saturdays. I’m guessing they thought it was a kids’ show (the Andersons had, of course, a great track record in children’s entertainment) even though it had very adult themes.
I haven’t seen it in years but I’ve heard good things about the blu-rays of UFO so I might dive in.
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Yes, seems quite dark for a kids show, but if I watch a lot of stuff from my childhood the concepts are a lot scarier/mature than modern kids TV.
The BluRay hovers around £21-£23 on the river, the quality is utterly amazing, looks even better than many modern HD offerings.
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Another late '60s Carry On. Another splendid Rothwell script. Kenneth Williams, nostrils aflare, pursued by Hattie as yet another lust-crazed matron. Sid as a cackling, lecherus layabout, Frankie Howard as a charlatan, Jim Dale and Anita Harris as the wronged doctor and nurse, Babs as the busty student nurse, etc etc…
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UFO - what a female cast Gabrielle Drake, Wanda Ventham, Ayshea (Lift Off) Brough, Norma Ronald and Dolores Manteca Ooooooo!
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Yes I saw it a few months ago just after he died and was rather taken with it.
The very last scene had me choking back the emotion a bit…
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Nah, pale imitators of Destiny, Melody, Harmony, Symphony and Rhapsody. Destiny was my favourite - modelled on Ursula Andress it appears (?)
…I think I need to get out more 
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