Stagecoach

After watching Stagecoach the other day I was left quite pleasantly surprised. I've not had a great deal of experience with Westerns in my life other than the odd bits and pieces I have caught whenever my grandad is left in charge of the telly although I always felt as if I knew what to expect: they're all pretty much the same with the cowboy hats, the saloons in the one horse town, sheriffs and Red Indians with bow and arrows etc etc. The only Western I can remember sitting enjoying actually turned out to be a carry on film. But after watching Stagecoach the whole way through I did quite enjoy it and, although I didn't feel strongly either way about Westerns beforehand, I realise they can actually be quite good.

First of all the music. I love the music in Westerns, everyone knows the Magnificent Seven theme even if you didn't realise you do. And after about ten minutes of watching Stagecoach I had familiarised myself with the triumphant strings melody that kept recurring every few minutes when we saw the stagecoach in the journey through the desert.

The film has a really good story and was interesting from a writing point of view. As opposed to what we have said about a lot of Hollywood films being very plot driven, I think Stagecoach is largely character driven. All the characters are very carefully chosen so there is the right combination of different characteristics needed to make drama, conflict, and comedy. I liked that the film had a good comedy value to it. The drunken doctor had quite a few funny moments as did the stagecoach driver, Buck. At the same time there is also conflict between the doctor and Hatfield, Lucy and Dallas and the banker with pretty much all the other characters.

Since we've been talking about it a bit recently I'll say a little about the representation of women in the film. Obviously there are two central female characters, Lucy the well respected wife of a soldier and the prostitute, Dallas. Dallas is looked down upon instantly by Lucy for her poor social status and there is friction between them at different points in the film. However by the end, it is obvious that Dallas is a very caring and considerate character. The men in the film treat the women with great respect most of the time except when Hatfield, who has assigned himself as Lucy's guardian, decides that Lucy is too good to be dining at the same table as Dallas. At one point in the film Dallas is also instructed to make go and make coffee however this is more of an indication of social related injustice than gender related.

The film also made me realise how far the phrase "riding shotgun" goes back. It predates the days of cop shows and cop cars right back to the days of stagecoaches. So remember that next time you shout "Shotgun!" and try to claim the front seat Mr Alford.

Crying With Laughter

On Wednesday after class a group of us decided to go to Cineworld since we were all having withdrawal symptoms from being back in Glasgow and not setting foot in the great building. So some people went to see some Rieper Man film but since we had planned this earlier, Sam and I went to see the Scottish film Crying With Laughter which was made in 2009. I was told it was only in the cinema for a couple of days so it was a good opportunity to go and see it now and blog about it if it was any good.

The film follows the story of a Scottish comedian, Joey Frisk who has had a fairly troublesome life, getting sent to borstal at a young age where he was forced to learn to be funny. The film begins with the news that a comedy scout is interested in seeing Joey's act and if successful, he could make a good career out of it. However, events take a turn for the worse when he is arrested for seriously injuring his landlord after one of his shows.

I really enjoyed the film. It gripped me throughout and I always think films like this are very cleverly written and must take a lot of work. Every eventuality needs to be worked out so that people don't watch it and ask "well why did he not just do X in that situation." I liked the way the plot continues and unravels at a relatively fast pace. There is not a great deal of lingering around unnecessarily in scenes as the story progresses seamlessly. The story is never boring and is also very "edge of your seat" type content which I really enjoy. The fact that Crying With Laughter is a Scottish film made me like it even more: there was a very noticeable difference in the style to this film in comparison with big Hollywood blockbusters which would undoubtedly have turned this script into a completely different and, in my opinion, much less enjoyable film. The fact that it's set in Scotland with Scottish actors also makes it a much more realistic watch for me. There were some very nice shots in the film from a technical point of view and the style and tone of the film to me was great.

So no matter what Sam says I think Crying With Laughter was excellent and it's probably one of the best films I think I've seen this year. That and A Prophet I think, which maybe says something about what I think of a lot of the American films coming out these days.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

One night over the Easter holidays I decided I would have to read a book before I started back at the academy. I don't really read much at all when I'm through in Glasgow so I decided the holidays would be a wasted opportunity if I didn't read something. So one night I decided to start the Robert Louis Stevenson classic The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I chose this for two reasons: it's fairly short so I would have to be quite rubbish if I didn't manage to get through it and two, I had read it before in school and had a weird craving to read it again.

It's a really good story I think and I enjoyed it a lot more this time. In fact when you read things in school I think you always miss loads of stuff. Most people know the basic plot of the story, even if you're not familliar with the book, the phrase Jekyll and Hyde is well known. Stevenson wrote the book in the late 19th century so at the time it would have caused a great deal of shock and controversy as the Victorian people of the time were very interested in the supernatural.

The story follows the well respected London lawyer, Mr Utterson who one day hears a nasty story from his friend about a man named Edward Hyde. This begins to trouble Utterson because he knows that one of his clients and also best friend Henry Jekyll has in his will a donation of all his money and possessions to Hyde. He sets about on a mission to uncover the secret to all the mysterious circumstances and events going on as he suspects there is some form of foul play going on with his friend and the murderous Mr Hyde.

Many critics of the book have tried to outline the many possible meanings that it could have. One of the main aspects of the narrative is obviously the dual nature of humans. However some people think it could represent alcoholism, sexual repression, lust, or the presence of evil within all people's lives. There are many more possibilities that the story could have been trying to sybmbolise. But that's the beauty of storytelling in that it is up to the reader alone to decide what the themes of the narrative are. You can also just enjoy it for the Victorian thriller it is, regardless of all its possible meanings. It's really not that long at all so go and read it, shouldn't take you too long.