Any Human Heart (Series Wrap-Up)

The first episode finished with Logan Mountstuart (Matthew Macfayden) leaving to be a journalist in the Spanish Civil War on the news that his mistress Freya (Hayley Atwell) is pregnant.

Whilst there he runs into old friend Ernest Hemingway (Julian Ovenden) and obtains some paintings by Miro that he gives to his friend Ben (Ed Stoppard), an aspiring art dealer. He goes through an acrimonious divorce from Lottie (Emerald Fennell), and moves into suburbia with his Freya, and their daughter Stella. It is not just Logan who is facing problems of the heart, his old friend Peter's (Samuel West) infidelity to his wife of many years Tess (Holliday Grainger), leads to her committing suicide and in turn, Peter's conversion to Catholicism and release of a bestselling novel Guilt. After being a journalist, he is recruited by Ian Fleming (Tobias Menzies) into naval intelligence, where he posted to observe the Duke of Windsor (Tom Hollander) and Wallis Simpson (Gillian Anderson) in the Bahamas. Yet he is thrown out when he refuses to support the Duke when he tries to frame an innocent man for the murder of a local businessman. Logan is then sent into Switzerland to pose as a trap for the Nazis, but he is caught and thrown in prison. When he returns, he discovers Freya and Stella have been killed in a rocket attack.

Some years later, Logan is now living in America, working for Ben and married to an American, Allanah (Natasha Little) and her daughter Gail (Skye Bennett). However, his somewhat staid lifestyle and lack of inspiration has led him to turn to alcohol and in turn to therapy with Dr Bryne (Richard Schiff). On a visit to London, he then embarks on yet another affair, this time with Peter's third wife Gloria (Kim Cattrall). When he returns to New York, Allanah leaves him for another man. Yet soon, Lionel, Logan's son from his marriage to Lottie, turns up with a new name and with a band in order to find success in America. Tragedy strikes again when Lionel dies of a drug overdose, and Lottie blames her ex-husband. Logan responds by embarking on a love affair with Monday (Lydia Wilson), his son's girlfriend and a minor, leaving him open to prosecution. Ben advises him to flee the country.

More years have passed, Logan (now played by Jim Broadbent) lives a frugal existence in a basement flat in London, which he purchased when his mother died. Gloria, now divorced from both Peter and an Italian count, returns to him, dying from cancer and spends the last few days of her life with him. As Logan moves on from the loss of a dear friend, and the news that Ben is suffering from cancer, he too finds himself in hospital after he is hit by a truck when leaving follows outside the house where he once lived with Freya. Logan is devastated by the news that Ben has died whilst he's been in hospital and is left with little chance of earning any more money. Whilst he makes do, while leaving on a diet of dog food stew, he discovers the Socialist Patient's Collective, believing that it is to help improve patient care in England. What it actually is is a left-wing organisation working to free the Baader-Mainhof gang. When Logan discovers this, he quits the group and moves to the house in France that an old poet friend left for him in his will. Whilst living there, he meets a wealthy divorcee, Gabrielle Dupetit (Valerie Kaprisky), who reminds him very much of Freya. News soon meets him that Peter too has passed away, whilst researching for his new novel, and as the last one now alive, Logan gets rid of his plans for a novel, and decides to spend his time writing a memoir, based around the women he has loved; Tess, Land, Lottie, Freya, Gail, Gloria and Gabrielle.

Any Human Heart was stunning. A roller coaster-ride of emotions accompanied each episode, as the fine performances pushed the story onward. Whilst it is like Forrest Gump in that it is hard to imagine that one man could have played an important part in all these social movements, the backdrop of these events makes Logan's own story the more interesting.

I mentioned in my last post how much I adore the performances of the ensemble cast, and this is not diminished in the other episodes. Matthew Macfayden is wonderful as the imprisoned and heartbroken Mountstuart, who attempts to find solace in alcohol and women. Jim Broadbent plays Logan in the final years of his life and was remarkable detailing Logan's decline from a man who is still very much the man he was in his younger years, just with less money and less hair, to an elderly, somewhat frail man.

Other good performances come from Hayley Atwell as Freya, Tom Hollander as the annoying and cruel Duke of Windsor, and most of all from Kim Cattrall as Gloria. I'd only ever associated Cattrall with the few Sex & The City episodes I'd seen, and she surprised me with her wonderful performance as Gloria, who goes from a vivacious and flirty women to one who is very, very ill. I also got a bit of a chick out of seeing Richard Schiff, who I adore as Toby in The West Wing, playing Logan's American psychologist-who would appear to be a bit of a fraud (when Logan steals a look at his notes it is merely doodles) but perhaps represents the idea that the best form of treatment could be having someone to talk to, about anything.

Channel 4 has really surprised me with this and Pillars of the Earth, and I hope that more good dramas come from them in 2011.

Any Human Heart

Any Human Heart was broadcast in late November/early December on Channel 4, and I'm only just getting around to watching it. And it's wonderful.

Based on the novel by William Boyd, Any Human Heart follows the life of Logan Mountstuart, a writer who lived through some of the most important parts of the last century. The television programme begins with Jim Broadbent as the elderly Logan, looking through his journals and retracing his life; seemingly as he is about to die.

The story begins properly in 1926, at Oxford University. A young Logan (Sam Claflin) is in his final year at Oxford and sets a wager with his two best friends Peter Scabius (Freddie Fox) and Ben Leeping that they will lose their virignities. Peter finds his 'one' in the stable girl Tess (Holliday Grainger), which leds to him being almost disowned by his parents. During a time when Peter is banned from seeing Tess, Logan fills his shoes quite quickly, but soon finds himself in a far more intellectual passion for 'undergraduette' Land Fothergill (Charity Wakefield). After the death of his father, to whom Logan promises to look after the family business, he travels to Paris to meet Ben, and whilst there, having coverted with Russian prostitutes and Ernest Hemingway (Julian Ovenden), Logan decides tht writing is the only career for him. When he gains an agent, he also finally gains Land, and they live in apparent bliss. His novel, The Girl Factory, is branded 'obscene' and yet is a commercial hit, however, when he proposes to Land she rejects him, saying he is living an 'empty life' and that his book is rubbish. On the rebound, Logan finds himself marrying Lottie (Emerald Fennell) much to the suprise of his friends.

A few years later Lottie gives birth to a son, but Logan (now Matthew Macfayden) soon leaves looking for work and travel upon the commercial failure of his novel The Cosmopolitans, a critique of the poets he met in Paris. When in Spain, he meets Freya (Hayley Atwell), whom he is immediatly attracted to and on his return to England he starts a love affair with her; when he leaves to work as a journalist in civil war Spain, she reveals to him that she is pregnant.

All this happens in one episode. Yet the narrative is pretty tight, it doesn't feel as though you're jumping around in time too much, as it flows pretty nicely between the decades. There is also a somewhat strange use of a boy in a boat, apparently Logan's first memory as he is trying to work out if he is the boy in the boat or an observor on the bank-the people on said bank are Logan at various forms of his life; Broadbent, Macfayden & Claflin, and occasionally people such as his father. To me, this seems a bit like an interruption in the story; it doesn't seem to make all that much sense.

The performances also aide the flow of time; as the young Logan Claflin is good at being awkward and naieve, whilst as the older Macfayden is good at being a man in love and yet also retaining his awkwardness in social situations. Macfayden also carries across some of the habits that Claflin gave Logan, which makes the passing of time more realistic. It was great to see both these actors in work straight after their work in Pillars of the Earth, and Claflin's performances give me hope that his work in POTC 4 will not be quite as wooden as that of Orlando Bloom.

In the supporting cast, Atwell plays Freya as a bit of a seductress, she knows exactly what will happen between her and Logan from the very moment they meet, and it is only at the end of the episode that we begin to see Freya as a strong woman. Wakefield is also good as Land Fothergill (what a name), who seems less interested in love, and more in her burgeoning career as a politican-she loses interest in Logan when his book is a commercial rather than critical success, suggesting that she was maybe only interested in a leg-up in society.

I will admit to also being rather excited when the lovely Julian Ovenden popped up; and similarly when Tom Hollander appeared alongside Gillian Anderson, playing the Prince of Wales and Wallis Simpson, who both, judging by the preview of episode 2 will come to play an important part in Logan's life.

I thoroughly enjoyed Any Human Heart, it exceeded my expectations and I hope that it sets a precedent for Channel 4 to produce more solid adaptations of novels or original dramas in the future, hopefully these will take over its reputation for Big Brother and bad documentaries.

Pillars of the Earth (Series Wrap-Up)

Note-This is my review of the first couple of episodes, you should probably read that first.

This is honestly one of the best things I have ever watched. This sprawling adaptation of Ken Follett's novel manages to embrace a huge scope of history, taking in tumultous events, and yet remaining intimate so that the viewer could gain a close tie with the characters that populated the series.

Plot-wise, I don't want to give too much away. Needless to say, the secret that Bishop Waleran (Ian McShane) and Regan Hamleigh (Sarah Parrish) are hiding is revealed, and the good and the bad get what they deserve. This is after numerous deaths; some natural, some very much unnatural and many years of confusion over who exactly is the rightful leader of England; Maud (Alison Pill) or Stephen (Tony Curran) and who will follow them-Eustace (Douglas Booth) or Henry (Freddie Boath). I enjoyed the addition of Elisabeth (Skye Lourie), a young girl who is married to the vile William Hamleigh (David Oakes) and the character arc of Remigius (Anatole Taubman) developed beyond what I expected.

The performances continued to be strong throughout the series. Ian McShane, acting like an Iago figure-constantly setting up characters for a fall for his own gain-continued to be strong in his work as a corrupt bishop, who seems to be convinced that he is merely carrying out God's work. Eddie Redmayne who plays Jack Jackson also reveals himself to be a strong actor, despite being saddled with a somewhat predictable romantic storyline, as Jack moves from being an almost mute to be in charge of the build of the cathedral, Redmayne's performance also gets stronger. I also continued to enjoy the work of Matthew Macfayden as Philip, a character who like Waleran believes he is guided by God but takes his word in a different way, and John Pielmeier as Cuthbert, Philip's loyal follower whose storyline almost reduced me to tears. I'd also like to mention Sam Claflin who plays Richard, Aliena's brother, who strives to regain his father's title and in the process goes from slightly weak young boy, to a brave and dashing knight.

As I've said, I loved this series, and I have the book waiting for me to read. The only slight problem I had was that the characters barely aged between decades, and so when a considerable amount of time has passed the sudden change in appearance of the characters-Philip and Ellen (Natalia Worner) in particular-comes as a bit of a jolt.

Frost/Nixon

The David Frost and Richard Nixon interviews of the 1970s are famous today for being the time when it seemed that Nixon apologised for his behaviour during the Watergate Scandal. If I’m totally honest, I know very little about Watergate, my only knowledge of it being about the fact that Nixon resigned and that it features in the film Forrest Gump!

However, Frost/Nixon’s (written by Peter Morgan, adapted from his 2006 play of the same name) greatest success is that it doesn’t treat its audience like an idiot, but does provide background information on the Watergate Scandal and on David Frost, so that perhaps more modern audiences have a better idea of what is going on.

The people involved in the interviews had very different reasons to want to get involved. For David Frost (Michael Sheen), the chance to interview Richard Nixon would bring him all sorts of fame and fortune, and he drags along his producer friend John Birt (Matthew Macfayden). For James Roston Jr (Sam Rockwell) and Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt) the interviews are about giving Nixon ‘the trial he never had’, in order to stem the anger of the American public. And for Nixon himself (Frank Langella), the interview presents the chance for him to put the record straight on issues such as Vietnam and Watergate.

The film has the problem that many films about historical figures and events face, which is how to give the situation enough tension, to keep the audience interested when they already know the outcome. There are some issues with this within the film; you can only make the interviews so interesting; and so there are some cases of stretching the truth, for instance, Nixon calling Frost the night before the final interview and drew similarities between them both and this spurred Frost into becoming fiercer in the final interview.

However, the performances make the film interesting. Michael Sheen does good work as David Frost, as I’m not familiar with the man I cannot comment on how well he performs him, but he manages to make him annoying, and yet the audience wants him to succeed in his interviews, as we see him having funding rejected and paying for the interview out of his own pocket. There is also fine support from Macfayden (despite him being saddled with a blonde wig) as his long-suffering friend, Platt-who has a great scene impersonating Nixon and Rockwell, who makes Roston Jr an interesting character. Praise should also go to Kevin Bacon (from Footloose) playing Jack Brennan, Nixon’s right-hand-man, who is ready to defend his boss no matter what.

Yet the finest performance in Frank Langella’s as Nixon. Anyone able to make Nixon feel human and even evoke some feelings of sympathy, deserves plaudits. Langella’s Nixon is a man plagued with insecurities; he keeps a handkerchief hidden during the interview so he can wipe away sweat after his embarrassment against John F Kennedy, and one that seems to believe that his actions were always right. He declares that the behaviour of the present can never be illegal, and seems incredibly interested in money.

Frost/Nixon is generally an interesting film, with a documentary-like feel with people like John Birt, James Roston Jr and Caroline Cushing (Rebecca Hall), giving extra information about the interviews to camera. It would have been a strange one to watch in the cinema, as it definitely still feels quite small, perhaps a product of it starting life as a play. It gave me an insight into this important media event, and for that I am grateful.