Very few first-time film directors would have been capable of making such a triumphant adaptation of Henry V; but a still-youthful Kenneth Branagh's years of stage experience paid off handsomely and his 1989 version qualifies as a genuine masterpiece, the kind of film that comes along once in a decade. He eschews the theatricality of Laurence Olivier's stirring, fondly remembered 1945 adaptation to establish his own rules: Branagh plays it down and dirty, seeing the Bard's play through revisionist eyes, framing it as an anti-war story in contrast to Olivier's patriotic spectacle. Branagh gives us harsh close-ups of muddied, bloody men, and of himself as Henry, his hardened mouth and wilful eyes revealing much about the personal cost of war. Not that the director-star doesn't provide lighter moments: his scenes introducing the French Princess Katherine (Emma Thompson) trying to learn English quickly from her maid are delightful. What may be the crowning glory of Branagh's adaptation comes when the dazed leader wanders across the battlefield, not even sure who has won. As King Hal carries a dead boy (a young Christian Bale) over the hacked bodies of both the English and French, a panorama of blood and mud and death greet the viewer as Branagh opens up the scene and Patrick Doyle's rousing hymn "Non nobis, Domine" provides marvellous counterpoint (like the director, the composer was another filmic first-timer). A more potent expression of the price of victory could scarcely be imagined. --Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com
Russell Crowe stars as "Lucky" Jack Aubrey, who pits his crew of the HMS Surprise against a much better armed and ruthless enemy in a chase that takes him all the way to the far side of the world.
Very few first-time film directors would have been capable of making such a triumphant adaptation of Henry V; but a still-youthful Kenneth Branagh's years of stage experience paid off handsomely and his 1989 version qualifies as a genuine masterpiece, the kind of film that comes along once in a decade. He eschews the theatricality of Laurence Olivier's stirring, fondly remembered 1945 adaptation to establish his own rules: Branagh plays it down and dirty, seeing the Bard's play through revisionist eyes, framing it as an anti-war story in contrast to Olivier's patriotic spectacle. Branagh gives us harsh close-ups of muddied, bloody men, and of himself as Henry, his hardened mouth and wilful eyes revealing much about the personal cost of war. Not that the director-star doesn't provide lighter moments: his scenes introducing the French Princess Katherine (Emma Thompson) trying to learn English quickly from her maid are delightful. What may be the crowning glory of Branagh's adaptation comes when the dazed leader wanders across the battlefield, not even sure who has won. As King Hal carries a dead boy (a young Christian Bale) over the hacked bodies of both the English and French, a panorama of blood and mud and death greet the viewer as Branagh opens up the scene and Patrick Doyle's rousing hymn "Non nobis, Domine" provides marvellous counterpoint (like the director, the composer was another filmic first-timer). A more potent expression of the price of victory could scarcely be imagined. --Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com
Master & Commander: In Peter Weir's Master And Commander Russell Crowe stars as Captain ""Lucky"" Jack Aubrey renowned as a fighting captain in the British Navy. After a French ship almost sinks them in a battle the ship's surgeon and Aubrey's closest friend Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany) cautions him about letting revenge cloud his judgement. With the HMS Surprise badly damaged and much of his crew injured Aubrey is torn between duty and friendship as he pursues a high-stake
A gritty period drama set in industrial Tyneside during World War I. Life for the McQueen family is turned upside down when daughter Bridget comes home with a black husband.
Titles Comprise: The Government Inspector The Promise Britz
In the Depression era passions rise when Bridget McQueen arrives home with a black husband and their mixed race daughter Rose Angela faces many difficulties...
Michael Gambon plays the extraordinary Belgian detective Inspector Maigret in this television adaptation of the novels by George Simenon. Intuitive intelligent and creative with a genius for human nature Maigret is like no other detective as he cunningly investigates crime and the human psyche. Episode titles: Maigret's Boyhood Friend Maigret and the Minister Maigret and the Maid.
An absolute must for fans of Georges Simenon's beloved sleuth, Inspector Jules Maigret, this four-volume Maigret Collection is the finest detective series from Granada Television since the late Jeremy Brett gave us his definitive portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in the 1980s. The masterful Michael Gambon is the latest in a long tradition of familiar leading men (from Jean Gabin to Richard Harris) who have played Simenon's blunt but humane, occasionally whimsical, and magnificently insightful investigator. Yet Gambon is perhaps uniquely suited to the part: a popular star with none of the baggage of a brand-name icon or the self-effacing obligations of a character actor. He captures perfectly Maigret's measured but hardly inscrutable presence in the eruptive underworld of Paris crime. Among the 12 episodes here is "Maigret and the Burglar's Wife", which does honour to Simenon's compassionate tale of a retiring thief whose accidental encounter with a corpse sets in motion one of Maigret's most intense psychological duels. The equally compelling "Maigret's Boyhood Friend" finds the detective on a case drawing suspicion to an old school chum, while "Maigret Sets a Trap" is a wonderful production of Simenon's puzzler about a serial killer whose patterns of motivation and action must be deciphered before he can be caught. --Tom Keogh
Michael Gambon plays the extraordinary Belgian Detective Inspector Maigret in this television adaptation of the novels by George Simenon. Inuitive intelligent and creative with a genius for human nature Maigret is like no other detective as he cunningly investigates crime and the human psyche. Episode titles: The Patience Of Maigret Maigret And The Burglar's Wife Maigret Goes To School.
Michael Gambon plays the extraordinary Belgian detective Inspector Maigret in this television adaptation of the novels by George Simenon. Intuitive intelligent and creative with a genius for human nature Maigret is like no other detective as he cunningly investigates crime and the human psyche. Episode titles: Maigret And The Mad Woman Maigret On Home Ground Maigret Sets A Trap.
Michael Gambon plays the extraordinary French detective Inspector Maigret in this television adaptation of the novels by George Simenon. Intuitive intelligent and creative with a genius for human nature Maigret is like no other detective as he cunningly investigates crime and the human psyche. Episode titles: Maigret And The Nightclub Dancer Maigret And The Hotel Majestic Maigret On The Defensive.
The Internecine Project is a fantastic conspiracy-thriller based on the novel by Mort W. Elkind and starring the late James Coburn. Former secret agent Robert Elliot is to be promoted as a personal advisor to the President of the USA. However there are people who know of the corruption in his past life. His solution to the problem is to have them assassinated...
Master And Commander: Russell Crowe is Lucky Jack Aubrey the Navy's greatest fighting captain and Paul Bettany is ship's doctor Stephen Maturin. The ship the Surprise is suddenly attacked by a superior enemy. With the Surprise badly damaged and much of his crew injured Aubrey - the ""Master"" of the Surprise and ""Commander"" of his men - is torn between duty and friendship as he sets sail in a high-stakes chase across two oceans to the far side of the world to intercept and capture their foe. It's a mission that can decide the fate of a nation - or destroy Lucky Jack and his crew. The film is based on the narrative outline of the tenth book in Patrick O'Brien's legendary ""Aubrey/Maturin"" series of high seas novels about the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Braveheart: Mel Gibson stars on both sides of the camera playing the lead role plus directing and producing this brawling richly detailed saga of fierce combat tender love and the will to risk all that's precious: freedom. In an emotionally charged performance Gibson is William Wallace a bold Scotsman who used the steel of his blade and the fire of his intellect to rally his countrymen to liberation. Filled with sword-clanging spectacle Braveheart is a tumultuous tapestry of history come alive ""the most sumptuous and involving historical epic since Lawrence Of Arabia."" (Rod Lurie Los Angeles Magazine.)
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