The Post

The Post

Directed by

USA, 2017

HOME, 28 January 2018

The good guys always win in the end, though they have to show courage to get there.

That is Spielberg’s vision and it is not without a tranche of truth. Here, in the summer of 1971, Kay Graham (Meryl Streep) and Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) of the Washington Post go after the hidden US government policy relating to the Vietnam war. And Nixon’s White House tries to stop them.

In true Spielberg style, it is America itself that protects and supports Graham and co, in the form of the checks and balances, the formidable provisions, put in place by the Founding Fathers. Their foresight is the Post’s salvation.

There are many delights to be had in this fibre-enhancing film: the many moments of surprise and suspense; the humour, as when the daughter makes a mint from her lemonade stall; the many conversations between Streep and Hanks and others – it is full of smart talk; Graham’s (Streep’s) transformation and growth from little lady to decision-maker; the allusion, a throw-away joke almost (but, like all here, deftly done), to Watergate at the end.

All in all, it is a supremely accomplished film that both delights and instructs.

Bridge of Spies

Bridge of Spies

Directed by Steven Spielberg

USA, 2015

HOME, 21 December 2015

As you would expect with Spielberg, this is a superb entertainment, a suspenseful and engrossing Cold War drama set in 1957.

Tom Hanks plays James Donovan, a lawyer given the task of negotiating a spy swap in East Berlin. He wants to exchanging a Soviet colonel, this fellow he had previously represented in court, for Gary Powers, a pilot shot down over Soviet territory. An American economics student is somehow in the mix too. There is a terrific pace to the film throughout and the sequence where Powers’ plane is shot down is quite spectacular. Spielberg has a golden touch still.

If you are looking for contemporary resonance here, you can find that too. In the figure of James Donovan, a man who upholds what he calls ‘the rule book’ – the Constitution, American law and values – one can read a critique of the conduct of recent American governments, and not just that led by George W. Bush, always an easy target. Barack Obama apparently has no qualms about Guantanamo Bay. And as for Powers’ high-tech plane, a U-2, one might see this as an allusion to the predator drone, a weapon beloved by Obama. He even used the drone to target and kill an American citizen, one Anwar al-Awlaki. One wonders what James Donovan would have to say about that?

Of course, the many innocent deaths due to drone strikes are attributable to poor intelligence and/or human error. There’s nothing wrong with the technology behind the drone, and therefore every reason to continue using it.

Bridge of Spies is a fine film.

Jaws

Jaws

Directed by Steven Spielberg

USA, 1975

Cornerhouse, 22 July 2012

What I realised about Jaws this time around is that – like Psycho, a similar offering – it’s in a sense two distinct films.

The first is set on the island, where a shark attack, a threat from outside, puts a small-town community under stress.  It’s apparent that this community is not quite as unified as it seems, the mayor placing economic interests above public safety with fatal consequences.  When these conflicts are finally resolved, we are at sea and the hunt for the shark begins in earnest.

This second film is pure Howard Hawks territory: you have a mismatched trio working together to bring down a fearsome foe.  At the start there’s a mutual disregard, then a grudging respect develops, and finally it transpires that they’d gladly die for each other.  All according to formula.

Everything is well done and works well, but it is John Williams’ score that raises a well-crafted film to classic status.  It’s exceptional, not only the mesmerising theme but also the way it sometimes subtly echoes Quint’s sea shanty.

Jaws is showing again on Wednesday as part of the Matinee Classics season, further details can be found here.