God's children: Margaret Ann Neve

 

This woman is called Margaret Ann Neve at the age of 110 in 1902.⁣ 

She was born in 1792 and died in 1903, making her the first proven person in recorded history who lived in 3 different centuries

"Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris" by Anthony Fabian (2022)

 

There is a particular brand of British light comedy that hugely appeals to me - from the top of my head I can name "Calendar Girls", "The Hundred-Foot Journey", "Shirley Valentine" and "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" - they are combination of well-known familiar actors, excellent witty scripts and unpretentious film-making, in short, perfect escapism. I won't go into explanations why other countries simply don't match these high criteria, but there is simply too much moralism and political correctness elsewhere - Brits are just untouchable. To this list, I can now add lovely "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris" which is another feel-good British movie that uplifts the soul and can be enjoyed time and time again. 

It is apparently based on a famous novel, however the novel was published in 1958. and I have never heard of it, so its all new to me. The story is happening in 1950s London where widowed Mrs.Harris lives a drab life working as a cleaner and accidentally discovers that one of her clients own a Dior dress - it is the most beautiful thing Mrs.Harris has ever seen and from that day on, she decides to save her pennies and buy herself one. The whole plot about her going to Paris and what happens there is just too precious to be carelessly wasted here so I just suggest to watch the movie - its absolutely worth checking out and it is lovely little gem indeed, in fact I wanted it never to end. 

Lesley Manville is perfect in a title role as a simple, sweet and lonely widow - we have see her a hundreds of times but probably still can't point the finger where exactly she played, looks like she was always part of bigger cast ("Secrets & Lies", "Topsy-Turvy", "Maleficent") and to my knowledge this is the first time that I see her in a main, starring role. Surprisingly, there is also Isabelle Huppert and Matrix antagonist Lambert Wilson (this time as a suave French Marquis), Lucas Bravo (from "Emily in Paris") and Jason Isaacs (Malfoy in the "Harry Potter"). I strongly recommend this one. 

"Golda" by Guy Nattiv (2023)

I would go trough the fire and high water to see Helen Mirren in anything, but her latest movie came as a bit if disappointment, if not exactly by her own fault. You see, every time when film biopics portray a historical figures, there is always a heavy pressure of being respectful - unfortunately, the sheer reverence results in a predictable, boring movies (unless the movie depicts someone who is remembered as evil, which contradictory, works very well in the movies). The best example is 2012 "Lincoln" by Steven Spielberg that was boring as hell, because nobody dared to say anything bad about Lincoln and eventually it just ended up as a dry history lesson. Even recent 2021 "Respect" was bland and predictable, because of well, respect for Aretha Franklin (and her estate that would not approve of anything that has not been sanitised and whitewashed). In general, biopics are extremely difficult to make - from top of my head I recall 2012 "Hitchcock" that was very good (and included excellent Helen Mirren) because it had a new, interesting approach - it was not a biopic but it depicted only one chapter in Hitchcock's life, the time leading to his creation of "Psycho". That was actually an intelligent, entertaining and well done movie, where time was not wasted on trying to explain someone's whole life but we were there in a moment, understanding it is year 1959 and what was going on around the main characters. There was no pressure of squeezing someone's life in two hours.

"Golda" follows similar idea - what was happening around 1973 when Israel was simultaneously attacked by neighbouring Egypt and Syria. This was also time when Golda Meir was prime minister and she knew very well that she completely depends on help of US. Hence her reluctance to instantly react to the threat, because she knew too well that if Israel strike first, it will get no help from anybody.

This decision eventually made her very unpopular at home (and it led to her resignation afterwards) but to be honest, it was a very dangerous time and with Soviet Union backing Arabs and US backing Israel, it was actually very close to a nuclear war. 

Helen Mirren is buried under all those prosthetic that made her look like dowdy, grandmotherly Meir and she was not really given space to examine her character's feelings or opinions - she is constantly surrounded by the clouds of cigarette smoke, hiding in the basements with her ministers, people crowding around her as some Queen Bee, manoeuvreing her diplomatic contacts with Henry Kissinger and trying her best to save the country - it sounds much better than it actually is, because the final result is a gloom & doom that drags a bit and never really catches fire. This has nothing to do with a excellent cast and everything to do with Israeli director Guy Nattiv who is too reverent for his own good and the movie is simply too careful not to stir any controversy - it might have worked out better if he gave his historical characters some humanity. Curiously, at the end of the movie we see a clip of real Golda Meir who was charming, witty and engaging - completely unlike the stoic faced portrayal of her in this movie. 

Photo of the day

 

The Three Degrees Live In Concert 15/09/2023

A week ago I have visited a concert that was just a perfect Friday night fun - legendary female trio The Three Degrees celebrating 60 years in business and performing in front of their faithful fans. It is already known that black US performers are usually lovingly embraced in Europe, where they are loved, respected and they can always count on loyal support, even when audience back home don't care anymore. The Three Degrees had their golden years in the mid 1970s when they were celebrated as Philadelphia Sound and for a while they looked as greatest new challenge to untouchable The Supremes - when Diana Ross left Supremes, The Three Degrees took over with a list of classic hits like "When Will I See You Again", "Take Good Care of Yourself", "Giving Up, Giving In" and "The Runner" - their popularity in Europe was cemented when Prince Charles publicly claimed to be their biggest fan and the group was even invited on a royal wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981 (the only US guests besides Nancy Reagan). As with all girl groups, the trio was constantly changing line up and not one single person stayed constantly, though Valerie Holiday is now the longest veteran in the band.

 

I was invited by some friends and was thrilled about the night of disco, though a little apprehensive about not being too familiar with their repertoire - shouldn't had to worry because the audience was in such a great mood that the atmosphere was happy even before the ladies came on the stage. I noted that the public that evening was a bit over the hill - but than, who else would be enthusiastic about the big disco hits from 1974 - it didn't matter since everybody was clapping, dancing and having a genuine great time, including me and my friends. The location was place called Q-Factory in the Eastern part of the city and it was big enough to assure audience being close to the stage, quite intimate and fun experience.

The ladies were actually much better than I expected. The current line up includes Valerie Holiday, Freddie Pool and lovely new addition Tabitha King who took over from veteran Helen Scott - they wee all in sparkling dresses, danced to impeccable choreography that we expected from them and even though this was advertised as 60 years anniversary, they sound like a dream. One thing I noticed was how often they would switch their places in the front of the microphone, almost each song they would shuffle their places and someone else was doing the lead. A friend was very impressed with their sassiness and whispered that he always found black ladies being the best singers - I attributed this to simple experience how to slay the public, these ladies are in a business long enough to know every trick how to behave on the stage, how to interact with the audience and how to get over any temporary situations that might occur on the stage (like when blonde Freddie Pool lost her shoe and briefly left the stage, the other two ladies simply continued without missing a beat). On top of it, they sang also other people's hits (as a part of their album "Strategy (Our Tribute To Philadelphia)") so I did not have to worry - everybody was singing and dancing to "Disco Inferno", "Don't Leave Me This Way", "You'll Never Find Another Love" and the legendary Soul Train theme "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" - it was a great evening, everybody had a wonderful time and apparently the ladies are often guests here, because Dutch audience just can't get enough of them. 

 

                                              

                                               

God's children: Ida Forsyne

I have stumbled upon this beautiful photo and was instantly captivated by it but had no idea who this person was: a subsequent internet search unearthed a few more details about the identity of this lady. She was indeed a very famous vaudeville dancer Ida Forsyne who had reached the peak of her success before WW1 and was later more or less forgotten. I just found this photo so beautiful that I needed to find more about her.

Apparently Ida starred in a travelling show led by celebrated "Black Patti" Sissieretta Jones so we are talking about earliest opportunities for black performers - she also toured Europe, where she had far bigger success and respect than back home. She even managed to pick up a few Russian dance steps, which created her a dancing sensation and was probably a novelty to see an energetic black lady doing something so exotic on a stage. However, after WW1 she had returned to US just to find her fame slowly disappearing and job offerings diminishing - new fashion trends in Harlem meant that nightclubs prefferred light skinned girls and Forsyne was not fashionable enough. She even went trough gruelling tours with Blues queens Mamie Smith and Bessie Smith where she had a chance to reprise her famous Russian dance routines but experience left her traumatised and she wowed never to tour the South again. Rather than facing the racism, she opted for work outside of show business - later she worked as domestic and elevator girl, living up to 100 years and dying in Brooklyn 1983. In her time, Ida Forsyne was known as "Queen of the Cakewalk".