Films and books on Bookshop Day

 

On 11^th November, we mark the 13^th edition of Bookshop Day, which seeks to point out the importance of bookshops in furtherance of reading and literature. Thus, on this date I´d like to refer to one of the last film releases which has caught my attention: Coup de Chance, Woody Allen´s latest film. Coup de chance means “fluke” in English. The story takes place in Paris and the actors play their roles in French, in their mother tongue. The director always pays tribute to those European cities which he has chosen for some of his films such as Barcelona or San Sebastian. However, on those occasions, the cast of the film played their parts in English regardless of the location of the film. Why does the director manage to pay tribute to those cities? Just by making the city become another character in the film thanks to its beauty and splendour. In this film, Paris in autumn is as beautiful as Paris in spring or summer because Paris is the “City of Light” and it can be as outstanding as the performance of the actors of the film. Anyway, what´s the point of mentioning Woody Allen´s latest film?  Somehow, Coup de Chance is indebted to the story of The Great Gatsby. Don´t get me wrong, Coup de Chance is NOT a film adaptation of The Great Gatsby but one of the main characters, Jean Fournier, is reminiscent of Jay Gatsby. The literary character is mentioned in the film so you can´t miss the reference but obviously, if you have read The Great Gatsby, you understand the implications of that reference much better. On this day, let´s pay attention to the stories we come across in books, books we choose to buy in our favourite bookshops, books we read and books we often lend so that others can also also enjoy them.

 

                                 

Today it is also Armistice Day, a day on which we commemorate the end of World War. These days we are living the outbreak of a new war conflict and lots of people are suffering its consequences. Therefore, it´s worth mentioning this red-letter day. If you want to learn more about this day, you can read my post “Our recent history in clips” (10^th November 2014).

A mystery in Venice

If you feel like watching a film which revolves around a mystery in Venice, you should watch A Haunting in Venice, the last film by Kenneth Branagh. As in Murder on the Orient Express and in Death on the Nile, Kenneth Branagh reprises his role of the detective Hercule Poirot. The three films are based on Agatha Christie novels but unlike what happens in the previous films, the reference to the novel written by Agatha Christie is not so evident in Branagh´s latest film. A Haunting in Venice is based on The Hallowe´en Party, a novel published in 1969. The Spanish audience may be not so familiar with this title because the title chosen for the Spanish translation of the novel was The Apples (Las manzanas). The novel provides the director with inspiration for A Haunting in Venice but the new film is not just a cinematic version of the book unlike other film adaptations.

A Haunting in Venice is set in an eerie post World War II Venice, in the claustrophobic atmosphere of an Italian palazzo which is falling apart. The building has a terrible story related to the death of orphan children who were abandoned there and the plot begins with a party which has been thrown for some orphans on All Hallows´ Eve. After the party, a séance which Poirot attends reluctantly – as he is now retired – triggers the rest of the story. A friend of the sleuth, Ariadne Oliver – a successful crime fiction writer – plays a very important part in the story as she is the one who encourages Poirot to go to the party in order to unmask Mrs. Reynolds, a controversial medium, a role wonderfully played by Michelle Yeoh. The film has all the ingredients of a classic Agatha Christie novel and even if the original novel may not be one of the most popular ones, Kenneth Branagh has managed to create an excellent whodunnit which is set in a very spooky atmosphere and I think that this fact makes it perfect for these days when people choose to celebrate Halloween. The film was released 6 weeks ago and it´s still on at our local cinemas, which means that it´s been attracting cinemagoers for a long time!!

As in the previous films, the film has a star-studded cast and I must say that all the members of the cast are perfect for the role they play.  

As usual, cinema offers us a wide range of possibilities and if these days you have a liking for spooky and supernatural themes, I´m sure your local cinema will be showing a film you´re bound to enjoy!