Space fantasy comes to life in Gravity

Every now and then we need a little escape from our own realities. While I have never harboured a passion to be an astronaut, I was curious about the recent space thriller, which brings science fiction into reality, almost... So I convinced my movie buddy to visit one of those expensive automated theatres without volume control, too many slick adverts and trailers of films I would never pay to see. Eventually we donned our 3D glasses for our very own trip out there. Interesting to note that the concept described by the title Gravity, is almost entirely absent. However the visuals of earth in shimmering blue contrast to the bulky astronaut suits and floating leggo space stations are impressive. Movement and speed are severely distorted as Sandra Bullock and George Cooney go weightless, swooping in slow motion while tethered together. Then it all goes so terribly wrong; falling and twisting sequences are sped up to reflect the seriousness of the situation and the real threat of flying debris. Time slows down again when she makes it back into the space station and we enjoy seeing and almost feeling the range of floating objects amidst the high tech screens and controls everywhere. The technical skills and wizardry almost take you there, as at times I felt my muscles tensing to reorient myself to the moving upright position! So I guess it is inevitable that the technical prowess has won over the script, which is pretty thin; a disillusioned Dr Ryan Stone (Sandra) needs to escape her earth life after her daughter's death and is tentatively saved by the congenial space veteran Matt Kowalski(George). Throughout, we are wondering whether she will and can choose to save her life and return to earth! Allusions of this film as a religious parable, an ecological script or a feminist triumph are a bit too out there. But it was a seriously engaging and entertaining visit to a world away from mine - that left me happy to return!

Surprised by Philomena

This was not just another remake of the tragic Irish story, but a brilliant exploration of the raw feelings between a mother and her son, as mirrored by a disillusioned journalist caught in a mere common interest story. Steven Coogan explained to Andrew Marr this morning that he wanted to move through cynicism, past sentimentality towards sincerity and authenticity. Yes he was moved by reading the true story, and he gave himself the lead role because this was his chance to portray an alternative to the comedic Alpha Papa series. The script was authentic and it prompted independent thought and discussion about why the noble catholic church would sell illegitimate babies for cash at the same time as ignoring the mothers' feelings in the haze of punishment and penitance for carnal sins. It was easy to relate to Martin Sixsmith's anger, as a lapsed catholic. What was more challenging was to accept that Philomena was truly happy to receive confirmation that her son had considered her and that was sufficient to enable her to forgive such potentially damaging untruths. I personally could not believe that the nuns were so capable of blatant lies in the face of human suffering, but then perhaps theirs is not a normal life!

I was further incensed when I read more about Martin Sixsmith's journalistic challenge. It transpires that her son, the American Michael Hess was also tormented by his past and had visited the orphanage, to be turned away twice. I had under-estimated the real tragedy of both mother and son being unaware that they were trying to find each other, against the cruel manipulative lies of the church. How many other mothers and orphans have hidden similar stories of lost identities? A victory for human greed over spiritual compassion... All the while, Dame Judi Dench played the Irish mother with humour and integrity. Steve responded with a dry wit, announcing that he “now knows what a lifetime of reading romance novels, the Reader’s Digest and the Daily Mail can do to the human brain”. Together, they transformed this dire story into one of compassion and hope. Truly inspirational entertainment...

Flesh and Bone in Oxford

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has achieved national recognition for its exhibition titled Flesh and Bone, which contrasts the sculpture and drawings of Henry Moore with the paintaings of Francis Bacon.

Both lived through two wars and were intimately involved with them - but while Moore produced some amazing drawings of people sleeping in cortorted shapes in the bunkers and later transformed these into amazing sculptures, Bacon distorted solitary figures in large almost invisible cages. Despite similar abstract shapes, I was able to acknowledge a deep empathy in Moore's painting and to a lesser extent his sculptures, I only felt displaced anger in Bacon's grotesque paintings.

Perhaps there is a link to contrasting childhoods, where Moore was a loved child, growing up in southern England, and Bacon was a child in a harsh and critical family in Ireland. However, they are linked by their shared fascination with the human figure. For both men, art was about bones; ribs, forearms and eye sockets; and the contrast with surrounding flesh.

Vermeer and Music

It is not every Friday night that I can relax to a documentary about an art exhibition that I did not see. The National Gallery, in London, had a major exhibition of 30 paintings surviving from the mid 1600's by Johannes Vermeer, painter of the Girl with a Pearl Earring. Vermeer painted a lot of women with musical instruments, so it was good to find out more about these instruments and what life might have been like at the time. The film was bigger than the exhibition and offered many insights into Vermeer's life. I really enjoyed listening to Tracy Chevalier, the author who created the story around the girl with a pearl earring.