The Betrayal... superb but shocking

As a sequel to The Siege, Helen Dunmore writes a stand alone novel, set 10 years after the Leningrad siege. Hopes are high that Anna, her brother Kolya and husband Andrei can rebuild their lives, by keeping quietly diligent and out of sight of Stalin's secret service. However Andrei, as a hardworking junior paediatrican, is not-so-innocently referred a young child who has a serious illness, by one of his senior colleagues. When he realises that he is a son of a senior secret policeman, Andrei believs that his medical duty is most important, and the fact that he quickly develops rapport with the young boy has enormous consequences. This is another meticulously researched historical novel, which describes the 1950's Soviet bureaucracy and hospital life, from the perspective of good people trying to do the right thing in challenging times. I was alternately mesmerised by the daily unravelling and shocked by Stalin's Russia, and ultimately thankful that I could be an avid observer.

impressive resilience in 12 years a slave

I was so impressed at the humility of Chiwetel Ejiofor when he received the BAFTA best leading actor award for playing Solomon Northup, and also when Steve McQueen accepted the BAFTA award for Best Film. It appeared that there was a reverence for the true story written down by Solomon over 150 years ago. So I braced myself for an important cinema experience... I can't say it was a comfortable 133 minutes, but the sheer brutality was mostly realistic and was somehow balanced by the brilliant visuals and sound track. Steve McQueen's artistic background was obvious and there were many stunning sunset panoramas of forests, rivers and plantations, contrasted by a distorted close up of a violin being tuned. It was a wonderful reflective escape from the dire reality. We initially meet Solomon as a devoted father and husband, living free in New York. He is lured by a two-week job as a musician, but is drugged and sold into slavery. He is renamed Platt and although he is horrified by his change in fortune, he quickly realises that he needs to manage his agression and retain some dignity. We are exposed to twelve years of violent racism and I was truly shocked at how self-righteous, pathetic and ugly the slave owners and their plastic wives were. So I was totally relieved when he met Brad Pitt, in the form of a Canadian abolitionist, who acted to change his life.

Invisible Woman..slow but dramatic

I am really enjoying historical drama at the moment - and the chance to see Ralph Fiennes direct and play Charles Dickens seducing a young muse was too much to resist. This was a slow and delicate costume drama, carefully depicting beautiful English country and seaside in the late 1880's. Felicity Jone plays Nelly the invisible woman, who, as the youngest and least accomplished of three actress sisters, was almost recommended for this affair, by her mother Kristin Scott Thomas. While I was surprised by this maternal protection of her daughter, I was totally bemused by Nelly's patronising need for marriage - it seemed as if the PC police had influenced the moral tone for the current generation... Anyway the creative egoistic male is not a new concept, and it is reassuring to see the English recognise one of their own. And Ralph played Charles so enticingly...

amazing impressions of a mountaineering artist - Gabriel Loppe

it was a snowy afternoon treat - to find in the Musee Alpin in Chamonix, a mountaineering artist; Gabriel Loppe.

For someone painting in the mid 1800's, he was an early impressionist who was truly able to capture to delicate light on snow and ice at altitude. Way before photos, he must have entranced those who could only dream of heading up into the mountains. For those of us lucky to have been up there, he captures both the light and the emotions of wonder at the physical power and beauty of rugged mountain peaks and ridges. I was spellbound by the way he captured the different colours and layers of glacial ice. This exhibition aimed to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of his death, and was arranged in different rooms to reflect themes of alpine nature, sunsets, snow filled valleys, snow scenes and finally, his studio. I was able to imagine a wealthy adventurer, traveller and aesthete. From his home in Geneva, he climbed Mont Blanc three times in 1861, and regularly visited Chamonix, Zermatt, Paris and London.

human resilience explored in The Siege

I love it when a chance second hand book purchase offers an impressive surprise. The author, Helen Dunmore, is a prolific comtemporary English poet, who has also written short stories and chidren's books. This historical novel was inspired by her two years teaching English in Finnland. I was attracted to read about the Leningrad Siege, having visited this amazing city in summer, twenty years ago. The story begins in June, 1941, the summer before Hitler’s armies encircled Leningrad. There is a brief reconstruction of a northern Russian summer where the city people who can, visit their rural dacha's to enjoy the countryside. Soon, normal life is over, children are evacuated out of the city and adults work in building defences to obstruct the advancing Germans. The focus then shifts quickly to one family's struggle to survive the extremes of cold and hunger while the city is expected to starve into extinction. Anna assumes the maternal role for her younger brother, after her educated mother died in childbirth. She does not fully appreciate the writing talent of her dissident father, and cannot develop her artistic talents. But she works tirelessly to unite her father, his long term girlfriend, her younger brother and a medical student lover. The daily challenges to stay warm and spread the tiny bread ration are so extreme, yet believable. It is such confronting reading, but the message of hope is always there...how ordinary people can survive the many levels of forced destruction.

what a family in August:Osage County

It's always good to see a film that makes you appreciate your own rather-more-normal family. I must admit I was attracted to the star cast and having George Clooney as producer was not such a bad thing! The film August:Osage County grabbed my attention from the start, slowly and curiously. It was not long before I realised that this was no ordinary rural family. OK the vast emptiness of Oklahoma countryside was both captivating and concerning. Living in the middle of nowhere has its benefits and challenges. So I was impressed, again, with Meryl Streep's portrayal of the matriarch, Violet Weston. She was clearly recovering from chemotherapy for mouth cancer but her pill taking addiction looked like a more fun alternative than mere drunkenness. I liked the way her husband Beverley, played by Sam Shepard, described their marriage agreement; she took pills and he drank as much as he wanted! But then he ran away and took his own life in a local lake, perhaps to escape the drama that followed. So as the three sisters unite with their crazy and damaged mother, a tyrannical family drama develops through a chilling crescendo to a fairly predictable conclusion. Ultimately, I imagine most people can walk out, feeling frazzled, but with a new appreciation for their own simple family issues...