03/02/2012 The Review Show


03/02/2012

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Harry Potter's afterlife, Daniel Radcliffe discards his Wizard's

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cloak to step into the had you Hammer incarnation, The Woman In

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Black, the journey of a lifetime, the British Museum reveals the

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extraordinary living tradition of The Hajj.

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Any Human Heart author, on his latest book. Roman Polanski is back

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with Carnage. Plus as political biopicks flood

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into the cinema, we ask if they ever reflect reality.

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We have music from rising star Aaron Delahunty.

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Joining me are three culture connoisseurs, Sarah Churchwell Pref

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fosor of English at University College London, John Mullan, whose

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books include How Novels Work. And writer, columnist and former

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director of the Poetry Society, Christina Patterson, whose

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:01:35.:01:36.

Independent column discussed dumbing down on TV this week.

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Welcome to tonight's qul turl smorgasbord, we will hear what our

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-- cultural smorgasbord, we will hear what our guests think but you

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can e-mail or send a tweet. A film adaptation of one of the

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most successful novels and plays in recent history, The Woman In Black.

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The book has sold more than a million copies, the play is the

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second-longest running on the stage. Now there is a movie written by

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Kick Ass Describe Jane Goldman. The lead is a rather familiar face.

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Daniel Radcliffe's first on-screen leading role since leaving behind

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Harry Potter is an all together more chilling affair. He takes on

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the role of Arthur Kips, a recently bereaved solicitor, who is sent to

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investigate the affairs of the deceased owner of the house. The

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horror director James Watkins keeps it simple, it is not long before

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secrets of times past, and the eerie presence of The Woman In

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Black come to the fore. Extraordinary film, very restrained,

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very quiet in your performance. James said he did lots of things

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with you, for example, even, you are 22, but you are a grief-striken

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father. He sent you to a grief counsellor? He did. I read a Grief

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Observed, and a couple of other books on bereavement, it is about

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furnishing yourself with as much information as possible so when you

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get on set you are not thinking about it, and you hope the

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information you have taken on will naturally inform choices. You now

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get sent so many scripts, and Jane had done an extraordinary job with

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the script, putting a huge emotional heart in it, did you know

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whether to do it automatically? Jane's righting was so good. It is

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so rare you get a script can so much stage direction, that is such

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a quick read. Because it read like a novel. It was beautifully written.

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You brought a different sensability to it, there is talk of Japanese

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horror and all sorts of things you were interested in? That was

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something that inspired me, it had always struck me how much Japanese,

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contemporary Japanese horror movies have in common with traditional

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Victorian English ghost stories. The idea you can have something

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that pacing-wise is very contemporary. But, with all the

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elements of a classic ghost story, was something that really excited

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me. You are playing with two great actors, Kieran Hynes, you are

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starting on your acting jouorn year, eventhough you started when you

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were ten, someone like Kieran Hynes, who asen extraordinary presence?

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have been -- who has been extraordinary presence? I have been

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privilege today watch a lot of great actors, but the

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distinguishing feature of Kieran is how easy it is, and how easy he

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makes it looks. It is amaze to go watch and be around him. He talked

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a lot in the edit, let people lean in, you can hear footsteps, strip

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it back, if something happens in, you jolt them back. It is to make

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it immerseive, and pulling people in. After the whole Harry Potter

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experience of being huge cast, a lot going on, this is obvious low a

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much smaller film, in a way -- obviously a much smaller film, have

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you liked the intimacy of working in this way? Once you are on set it

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is the same. It is always just chaos and fun. Here I was involved

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in the preproduction side of things, right from the off, that was very

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cool to watch all of that. Thank you.

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It was a very big moment for Daniel Radcliffe, because this was his big

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first main lead post-Harry Potter. Does he convince as a widower?

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afraid he didn't convince me. I feel guilty saying that now, he

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seems so charming. I feel like a horrible person saying this. You

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mention Kieran Hynes and Janet McTieran, I felt they wiped the

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floor with him, when they are on screen you realise how wooden he is.

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A great deal of the film is watching Daniel Radcliffe react to

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ghosts. You have to be interested in that, and basically, I don't

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think he has enough range in what he's doing, there isn't enough

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emotion. It is the story about grief, but you actually don't feel

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the grief evolving or changing or transforming him. You don't feel

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that he is, I did get a sense, I think perhaps because the idea that

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they have changed it from the book, he was engaged in the book, Susan

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Hills' book and now he's bereaved and has this child. I did feel he

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had that range? Yeah, I think it was a very ill-considered change,

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the one you have just referred to. In the book, I think the point is,

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he looks back in late middleage on something that happened in his

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youth. The point is he's confronting some horrible things in

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this story. It doesn't make sense, actually, that he's already an

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emotionally shattered character. The point is, he gets shattered in

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the book, by what happens to him, in the main part of the story. They

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have chosen to drain him, his sap is sunk before it starts. But there

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is a vulnerability which I think actually works rather well? I think

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the vulnerability is what he has to discover in the course of the

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narrative rather than what he gets as a check at the beginning of the

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narrative. That is what they have chosen. I think it is like lots and

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lots of changes, I won't give anything away, to the novel, and I

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don't know quite what I would have thought if I hadn't read the novel.

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Having read it, I thought every single change was a bad idea.

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say that the film was a completely different entity, and look at some

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of the horror parts, I thought it was drop dead scary at times, I

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absolutely did. I loved, for example, the smashing dolls, the

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toys. Listen, it is beautiful, it is visually absolutely gorgeous, it

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is Cath Kitson meets Childplay, I found myself lusting after a chest

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of drawers and the China cups. It is visually brilliant, the

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landscape and the house is fantastic, but horror, no, for

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horror you need a variation in tone. This is the same register all the

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way through. Where as you are meant to have, exactly as John says, a

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guy who is perfectly happy, he's engaged and looking forward to get

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matter yeerbgsd then he goes through the trajebgt -- married.

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Then he go through the trajectory of things going wrong. With this we

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have a guy who is miserable, scared and baffled. I thought they worked

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hard to make sure the villagers didn't seem to be two-dimensional,

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you were convicted whether the villagers were part of the evil

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story or not? I have to say I haven't read the book, the only

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person left in the country who hasn't read the book or seen the

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play. When I heard we were seeing the film I decided not to, to judge

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the film on its own terms. It doesn't make sense, it doesn't work.

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With the village thing, I kept looking at them thinking why don't

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you leave. All of your children keep dying, why don't you leave.

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It is a film. The point is, how were they going to leave any way?

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He can leave. My point is, that when horror really works and it

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grips you, you are not left asking those plausability questions, you

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don't worry about them, because you are taken up by the moment. I liked

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the fact fact it was a fundamental story of the two sisters. It wasn't

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explained, I thought it worked? didn't think it worked at all, that

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was my problem with it, the heart of the whole story is why did the

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two sisters do this to each other, I'm left going I don't know why.

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Why would they do the terrible things to each other. Then I think

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why don't the villagers leave, and then all the plausability unravels

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because I don't believe the core. What MJ Watkins, what he said when

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I interviewed him, about stripping the whole thing back and the sound

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scape was extraordinary. What was clever, it was Hammer, afterall,

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without giving too much away, there was a scene where you expect

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something horrific to happen, and there was the map in the

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Southwester? The visceral material of horror does work. It was put on

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with a trowel, you have the man looming up out of the mist, the

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crow flying out of nowhere, the water coming out of the pipe. For

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horror you need some variation. Here it was, to me it was like a

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pile-up, and with just, which meant that you just were bombarded, and

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to me it turned into farce. Plenty of people started laughing in the

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audience. You're meant to be scared, you don't have time, you think I

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don't believe he's done that, all the cliches. This is going to be

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the start of the revival of Hammer there is talk of, and Jane Goldman

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brings a sensability to it? thought she brought anachronism to

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it, it was like you have the nicest car in the village, and that

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bothered me. The Hamburg Celler, bringing that back, they made you

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jump by making a loud noise that had nothing to do with the story,

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putting a bang in the soundtrack making anybody jump. It turns into

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Indiana Jones with some great mission, you think it is not about

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a mission it is about being scared. The Woman In Black is in cinemas

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from next Friday. A new exhibition devoted to a

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spectacular spiritual journey, undertaken by millions each other,

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the most important tradition in the Islamic calendar, The Hajj. The

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annual pim grimmage to Mecca is the focus of the -- pilgrimage to Mecca

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is the focus of the British Museum. The exhibition aims to offer an

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insight into this extraordinary display of faith, spanning decades

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and centuries. The point of the British Museum is let people make

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sense of the world now. One of the great facts of the modern world, is

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the notion of one worldwide Islamic community. At the centre of that

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idea is Hajj. That once every year, nearly three million Muslims come

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from all over the world to Mecca, to perform the same rituals.

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Working in partnership with the king Abdalla Public Library in

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:12:45.:12:45.

Riyadh, the curators -- King Abdulaziz public likebury in Riyadh,

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-- King Abdulaziz Public Library in Riyadh, they have brought together

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paintings, text siels. It is a wonderful textile to sit on a

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canopy. Every year the ruler of Istanbul would send one of these

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pan piece with -- canopies with only the Koran in it.

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It is an undertaking for all Muslims physically able, The Hajj

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has been going on since the 7th century The difficult thing is to

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remember how extraordinarily difficult it is to get to mekka,

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people have had to make this arduous journey, we have focused on

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the routes they have taken. The oldest route is from Iraq to Mecca.

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There has always been a route from west Africa. People there have

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always wanted to make Hajj. We show the route from Tim buck too, and

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Mali, right over North Africa to Mecca. Despite the challenges

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facing the pilgrims, numbers have swelled dramatically within the

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last century. In 2011 we had just under three million people travel

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on Hajj, you can see the jumps in numbers occur in a major way in the

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1940s, where we have the use of oil resources by the Saudi Arabian

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Government. Hajj, Journey to the heart of Islam, highlights the

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spiritual undertaking. Can the exhibition truly communicate the

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power of the experience to believers and non-believers alike?

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None of us here is Muslim, but do you think the exhibition was for us

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all? Absolutely. I mean there are two-and-a-half million Muslims in

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this country, a quarter of the world's population, if we don't

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know anything about Islam, we ought to. But it was wonderful. It was so

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respectfully done. Actually too respectfully done, I will move on

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to that in a minute. But it did give you a taste. It is in the old

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reading room of the British Museum, you go round in a circle, like The

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Hajj, you have the dome above you. You feel like you are taken on a

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journey, I went around it in two- and-a-half hours, I could have

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spent more times, it is fascinating. There is a palpable sense of

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excitement, there was a lot of kids and teachers. There was the two

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things, there was the beautiful art facts, but there was the interior

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spiritual journey and the idea of what a humbling experience that was.

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Do you think the exhibition managed to do both things? I think it did

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the former more successfully than the latter. I felt like one of the

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children there, I don't mean that in a bad way, I was shameful low

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ignorant of what most of the -- shamefully ignorant of what most of

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it was about, I was like a school kid. After drinking it in, I did

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find what Neil MacGregor was talking about there, the historical

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account of what it was like before everyone went by plane in their

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hundreds of thousands. I found the historical aspect of it much more

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interesting. It was fascinating. The objects, the extraordinary

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fragments of people's amazing journies across vast spaces. That

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was more interesting, gripping to me, than the account of what it has

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become, which was, indeed, very respectful. And slightly

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uncomfortably so. It is in Saudi Arabia, it is, it was an account

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that was so determined to be respectful, that you were feeling

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that perhaps there were things that were being left out. They had some

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plaques that said, this was where Mohammed received his revelations,

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and you think, sorry, no, I think this is where Muslims believe

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Mohammed received his revelation. That is like putting on a Nativity

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play and saying some of us don't believe in the Nativity? I felt

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occasionally, tonally it went too far in that way. I don't think it

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needed to say this is what they believe. I agree, it was almost

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tentative at times. There were ways in which you could feel it really

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pulling back, and particularly, I agree with John, the earlier stuff

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is a lot more compelling. What you see is this kind of ancient worship,

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and I think that's, for all of us, that is something that brings

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history to life. The extraordinary journies, someone from Anadaluthia,

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he talks about the journey, and having to avoid the route of the

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crusades. I had no idea that Sir Richard Burton, the first westerner

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to do it secretly, in disguise, he went to Mecca. Thomas Cook was

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commissioned to do it, but it turned out not to be profitable.

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The ways that the stories of east meeting west, that I think many of

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us were also ignorant about. I also thought there were really

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interesting contrasts. One of the things that comes out in the

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exhibit, and I agree with the more modern stuff not as compelling in

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one sense. What was fascinating is how much the market becomes part of

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the journaly to Mecca, they are supposed to go and buy -- journey

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to Mecca, they are supposed to buy things. In a juddaiyo Christian

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aspect, we go to the Vatican and it is wrong to buy things there. Yet

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the way they present it, it seems to be this completely uncomplicated

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relationship between the two. was extraordinary to look at the

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logistics of it now, funny isn't it that the London Olympics are

:18:30.:18:33.

consulting about how to actually move that amount of people. In a

:18:33.:18:43.
:18:43.:18:46.

sense, what was Joan by the modern -- shown by the modern bits about

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the iron filings. When you hear about people making journies from

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the 8th century, months on foot and on camel. You are right about that

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then, the thing you talked about being left out was your feelings

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about your conflict, about how you felt about Saudi Arabia. What I

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thought was sad they left out, was the fact that natural disasters,

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people have died, since 1989, 3,000 people have died. You want to say

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that is extraordinary. I very much felt that too. Those are new

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stories which you can feel in your head, lots of people probably

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thought that going around. They are buried in the catalogue. It is

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almost as though it has to become univocal by the end. One of my

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favourite objects in the exhibition is this 10th century illustration

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of an account of going on The Hajj, it is called Pilgrims Arguing. It

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is beautiful, and it is also you know, you think you have read

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Chaucer, it is people on camels, it is gold leaf, it is beautiful, a

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watercolour, they are having a great big row about who has the

:19:53.:19:56.

better reason for going on pilgrimage, and who is the better

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one. You feel that with some of the relics from the past you were going

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to get that. The nearer you get towards the present, the more

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everyone has to agree. The more sanatised it starts to feel and

:20:07.:20:11.

more controlled. We haven't said, so many of the things were donated

:20:11.:20:14.

by the Saudi Arabian Royal Family, and I did also feel towards the end

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as if there is a whole world of Muslim experience that is being

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excluded. There is nothing about the Indonesian pilgrimage, there is

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nothing about what was the other one I was thinking, the other

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obvious one which will come back to me, Turkey I was thinking about,

:20:30.:20:34.

these huge populations of Muslims that don't come into the story at

:20:35.:20:41.

all. There is nobody about the Waugh hobby takeover of Islam in

:20:41.:20:46.

Saudi Arabia. There is a bit which says "Muslims try to create a fair

:20:46.:20:49.

society and distribute wealth equally" and you think, not in

:20:49.:20:56.

Saudi araib ja. I'm a big fan of Islam -- Saudi Arabia. I'm a big

:20:56.:21:00.

fan of Islamic art, I will be drooling over tiles for hours,

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there are beautiful things. You have the great divide between the

:21:05.:21:10.

early stuff, equisitely beautiful, and then the end, I thought all the

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embroidered hangings were hidious, with the sparkle thread. In the

:21:14.:21:20.

last third there was almost nothing beautiful to look at. Except for

:21:20.:21:25.

Magnetism. I strongly recommend you make your own way to see The Hajj

:21:26.:21:28.

eggs Biggs at the British Museum until the 15th of February. William

:21:29.:21:32.

Boyd is one of the few writers enjoying litry and commercial

:21:32.:21:36.

success. Recently triumphing with a Channel 4 adaptation of Any Human

:21:36.:21:45.

Heart, it chronicled the long and adventurous life of Graham Stuart.

:21:45.:21:51.

His new book spans Vienna for three decades. William Boyd's story

:21:51.:21:59.

canvasses go from rural Africa to sun soaked Los Angeles and London

:21:59.:22:05.

cock Docklands. His late -- Docklands. His latest novel is

:22:05.:22:08.

early 20th century Vienna. It is an amazing place, when you think about

:22:08.:22:14.

who was there, in 1910-1914, it is mind-boggling in every single

:22:14.:22:21.

Department of Human culture and politics. And psychoanalysis,

:22:21.:22:31.
:22:31.:22:32.

Freud's city. You have calf ka, not far away in Prague -- Kafka not far

:22:32.:22:39.

away in Prague, and then Adolf Hitler. Boyd's hero named Lysander

:22:39.:22:49.

Rief is an actor from London, who becomes entangled in an adventure

:22:49.:22:54.

after travelling to Austria for treatment on an unusual sexual

:22:54.:23:00.

problem. I wanted it to be a mind- bending passion, and in a way, it

:23:00.:23:05.

is Lysander Rief falling for her, and she's sort of his nemisis, in a

:23:05.:23:11.

way. "A love affair wasn't an arc as he heard it described, it was a

:23:11.:23:19.

far more variable line on a graph, undulating, it wasn't smooth,

:23:19.:23:23.

however much pleasure one derived from it day by day. He headed down

:23:23.:23:29.

the drive, snow was falling, big soft flakes, the Wightening before

:23:29.:23:33.

him, the world going quiet and muffled, as a few final distant

:23:33.:23:38.

bells continued to ring in 1914 ". Our Secret Service, which is

:23:38.:23:47.

perhaps the oldest, was founded in 1909, so the Secret Service has

:23:47.:23:50.

existed in World War I but was embryonic, there were very few

:23:50.:23:54.

members of staff, it was amateur night. It was entirely plausible

:23:54.:24:00.

that a young actor might be asked to lend a hand. It has become much

:24:00.:24:06.

more professional, but in those days, it was invisible ink and

:24:06.:24:08.

carrier pigeons. Part historical thriller, part love

:24:09.:24:12.

story. Boyd's book aims to transport the reader to another

:24:12.:24:20.

world. But does he make the most of his setting? William Boyd is one of

:24:20.:24:26.

our most popular writers, and Any Human Heart has been such a huge

:24:26.:24:33.

success, is this as an enthralling as that? I think so, it is less of

:24:33.:24:38.

a sweep, it is Any Human Heart without the heart, actually. What

:24:38.:24:41.

people who haven't read Any Human Heart would still have got if they

:24:41.:24:46.

saw the TV thing, is not the comedy of it, which there is lots, but the

:24:46.:24:50.

emotional throb of it. This doesn't have that, this is a much more

:24:50.:24:55.

skittish performance, but, I think, you know, for those who think

:24:55.:25:01.

literary fiction, clever literary fiction is often rather short of

:25:01.:25:07.

plot, this is, I find, quite intoxicating pleasure in that. It

:25:07.:25:15.

has a lot of the same set up as Any Human Heart, there is this

:25:15.:25:20.

befuddled yet endlessly resourceful protagonist drifting through.

:25:20.:25:27.

Graham Stuart is a much more determined character -- Mr Stuart

:25:27.:25:35.

seems to be much more exciting than Lysander Rief. Sexual analysis,

:25:35.:25:39.

bombing London, and all sorts. kitchen sink. I was very

:25:39.:25:45.

disappointed by this novel, and I'm obsessed, not obsessed by, but very

:25:45.:25:49.

interested in psychoanalysis, I don't see how you can set things in

:25:49.:25:51.

Vienna at the start of psychoanalysis and not make it

:25:52.:25:56.

interesting, to me, that is what he had done. Was it more like a pro-

:25:56.:26:06.
:26:06.:26:06.

log to the main story? I think so, I thought you would have the theme

:26:06.:26:13.

of the running of sex, sex is not a new theme in human experience or

:26:13.:26:17.

literature, it felt the novel was constructed about these themes

:26:17.:26:23.

about the river of sex, secrets and shadows, and of war. It just didn't

:26:23.:26:28.

handle it well. To construct it around anything is to do it more

:26:28.:26:32.

justice than it deserves. I kept waiting for all of the threads he

:26:32.:26:35.

was weaving through it to come together, in some way that made

:26:35.:26:41.

sense. He would bring in a storyline and drop it, and one

:26:41.:26:45.

character might be mad and turns out not to be. It all just sort of

:26:45.:26:49.

disappears and dissipates and none of it comes together. I felt as if

:26:49.:26:53.

he took a bowl full of ideas like confetey and threw them in the air

:26:53.:26:58.

and said let's see how they fall. As you said, it is the kitchen sink.

:26:58.:27:02.

It is literary fiction not short on plot. My problem is it is long on

:27:02.:27:07.

plot, it has so much it doesn't know what to do with it. I'm not

:27:07.:27:10.

sure about the literary fiction, it is riddled with cliches, I was

:27:10.:27:13.

really shocked by the writing. I mean characters are always saying

:27:13.:27:19.

things in a no-nonsense manner or with a chuckle, or their faces

:27:19.:27:24.

darkening, and they are saying things like "what is the world

:27:24.:27:30.

coming to". A lot of is supposed to be mimicry, and pass Taoiseach.

:27:30.:27:40.
:27:40.:27:43.

what sense -- Pastiche. In what sense is it pastiche. At one point

:27:43.:27:48.

Lysander Rief's mother says I like that you do this, is this Manhatten,

:27:48.:27:51.

2011. I can't say too much without giving it away, a lot of the plot

:27:51.:27:55.

doesn't hang together, a lot of the explanations that purport to be

:27:55.:27:58.

explanations don't explain anything. At the end it turns out lots of

:27:58.:28:02.

characters have done things that are quite inhe can publicable, I

:28:02.:28:09.

don't believe that Lysander Rief, in a central -- he can inexplicable.

:28:09.:28:14.

I don't believe Lysander Rief in a central moment, someone does

:28:14.:28:18.

something very serious to him and he moves on quickly. Do you think

:28:18.:28:22.

the fact the motivations seem skewed is a problem? In lots of

:28:22.:28:27.

places. If you are looking for psychological depth it is. One is

:28:27.:28:32.

looking for psychological depth. think the pleasure of it is in the

:28:32.:28:36.

mimicry, which is what Boyd likes to do, and I think most of the time

:28:36.:28:42.

he stays just this side of spoof. There is a bit of sub-TS Eliot,

:28:42.:28:50.

because the guy writes poetry. He likes doing the mimic, he has a

:28:50.:28:54.

protagonist who has a gift or penchant. That is the point of

:28:54.:29:00.

reading the pwhook. Featuring Freud, where the character bumps into him

:29:00.:29:09.

in a cafe, ought to pay a bit to psychology depth. There is this

:29:09.:29:12.

interesting patrollism, if you create an alternative narrative.

:29:12.:29:18.

Just before we finish, we all loved the Edwardians at the moment. There

:29:18.:29:23.

is War Horse, everything. Speak for yourself. And back to First World

:29:23.:29:27.

War again? I love historical fiction, I like plot-driven stories,

:29:27.:29:30.

I wanted this plot to hold together more and the history to do more.

:29:30.:29:35.

Read it for yourself, Waiting For Sunrise by William Boyd is

:29:35.:29:41.

published by bloomsry on the 16th of this month. Given his checkered

:29:41.:29:44.

history, Roman Polanski might be an odd person to direct a story about

:29:44.:29:50.

modern morality. But that is what he has turned to in his latist film,

:29:50.:29:54.

a theatre hit, Carnage. In Carnage two sets of parents are thrown

:29:54.:29:59.

together after their children are involved in a fight. Attempts to

:29:59.:30:02.

reconcile the dispute in a civilised fashion begin cordially

:30:02.:30:07.

enough. As their discussion unfolds, buried tensions begin to surface.

:30:07.:30:13.

So what kind of cobbler. Apple and pear. Apple and pear? It is, you

:30:13.:30:18.

know, it is a little recipe of mine, it it is a shame, it is cold.

:30:18.:30:24.

and pear. That is new to me. Apple and pear is a classic. Jodie Foster

:30:24.:30:28.

and John C Reilly play the supposedly liberal Penelope and

:30:28.:30:32.

John Longstreet, whose son has been injured by his friend. He's the son

:30:32.:30:39.

of movers and shakers Nancy and Alan Cowan, played by Kate Winslet.

:30:39.:30:43.

As the film progresses, conversations about the hardy

:30:43.:30:46.

perennial subjects, children, politics, money, art and even

:30:46.:30:51.

animal welfare become increasingly fractious. So you have no remorse?

:30:51.:30:56.

No I have no remorse, that animal was disgusting, I'm glad it has

:30:56.:30:59.

gone. Michael that's ridiculous. What's ridiculous, have you lost

:30:59.:31:04.

your mind now too. Their son beats the shit out of Eathan and you are

:31:04.:31:11.

in my face about the hamster. you did was wrong to that hamster.

:31:11.:31:19.

I don't give a shit about the hamster. Yasmina Reza, who co-wrote

:31:19.:31:24.

the play, co-wrote with Polanski. The film remains faithful to the

:31:25.:31:28.

original work, with the camera discreetly looking at the action as

:31:28.:31:34.

it unfolds in the one location. can't believe she bar ofed over my

:31:34.:31:40.

books, when you know you are going -- barfed over my books, when you

:31:40.:31:45.

know you are going to puke you prepare yourself.

:31:45.:31:49.

Unusually Polanski has taken a minimalist approach to the film,

:31:49.:31:54.

staying closely to the conventions of the theatre, has this rigorous

:31:54.:31:59.

dedication to the play produced a screen adaptation that meets the

:31:59.:32:05.

expectations of the original. Reza had never allowed an adaptation for

:32:05.:32:09.

a film of any other of her plays, Art being the big one. Do you think

:32:09.:32:14.

she must have stipulated, within the confines of the parliamentary

:32:14.:32:17.

party. Polanski has done that before with Rosemary's Baby before.

:32:17.:32:23.

I don't know if he does, Polanski does do those claustrophobic

:32:23.:32:26.

interiors very well. I don't think this play should be made into a

:32:26.:32:29.

film. It doesn't feel like a film. It felt like a bit of fringe

:32:29.:32:33.

theatre, in a nice setting. And actually rather too fancy a sitting

:32:33.:32:38.

for a guy who sells pots and pans for a living. That is one of the

:32:38.:32:41.

things I didn't believe, so many I didn't know where to start. It is

:32:41.:32:45.

so artificial. You can get away with some artificialality, on a

:32:46.:32:50.

stage, with four chairs and nobody is pretending that anything real is

:32:50.:33:00.
:33:00.:33:05.

going on. Here the whole premise was one convincing. If the parents

:33:05.:33:09.

had agreed to meet the parents of the child who had hit and read a

:33:09.:33:12.

statement and sign it. Why would the guy spend all the time yelling

:33:12.:33:17.

down the phone. He's like a parody of a lawyer going, hit the jugular,

:33:17.:33:24.

with all his stupid lawyer stuff. That is unconvincing, it is

:33:24.:33:27.

unconvincing that they sit there for hours drinking coffee. It is to

:33:27.:33:32.

the tkwrally unconvincing. -- It is totally unconvincing.

:33:32.:33:37.

is unconvincing, when I saw it as a play it wasn't. All I can report is

:33:37.:33:41.

there is part of an intensity which is a matter of the medium, it did

:33:41.:33:45.

hold you, I was trying to think why it was that the film didn't in the

:33:45.:33:49.

same way. You started noticing things which I didn't notice. I

:33:49.:33:54.

think it was to do with the fact that when you see it on the stage,

:33:54.:33:57.

the actors, they are all, in a sense, in a kind of competition,

:33:57.:34:00.

they have these parts and they have to try to win your sympathy for

:34:00.:34:03.

some pretty horrible people. You are watching all of them all the

:34:03.:34:07.

time. In the film you are being directed, all the time, as to where

:34:07.:34:14.

is the focus now, who is losing it now. The defensiveness and offence

:34:14.:34:22.

was well handled, particularly by the richer couple. I think Waltz is

:34:22.:34:26.

brilliant, so is Kate Winslet in it? He has the best part. In the

:34:26.:34:32.

stage play, Ralph Fiennes is the best in the play, he's the one who

:34:32.:34:38.

says more sard doneic things about what -- sardonic things about what

:34:38.:34:43.

people are saying. Polanski got themselves together for four weeks

:34:43.:34:47.

and made them get together and learn it. I was stunned that four

:34:47.:34:51.

such fabulous actors and a director who can clearly make films could

:34:51.:35:00.

make a movie that I thought was so bad from start to finish. It wasn't

:35:00.:35:05.

that bad. It really was. It made the, the language of it was so

:35:05.:35:09.

flimsy. If you hadn't seen the stage play, none of it held up, I

:35:09.:35:12.

didn't believe any of it for a second. I didn't believe any of the

:35:13.:35:15.

characters would say any of the things they were saying. It was

:35:15.:35:20.

making really good actsors turn on a dime, and go -- actors turn on a

:35:20.:35:25.

dime and go from anger to is hysterical laughter. It is very

:35:25.:35:30.

speeded up and then it ends incredibly abruptly. I won't say

:35:30.:35:34.

much about it, I was sitting there going, it can't be finished.

:35:34.:35:38.

calibration of the characters, I mean I actually thought Kate

:35:38.:35:42.

Winslet's change, at least she has some journey, I thought for Jodie

:35:42.:35:46.

Foster, she was wound up from the very start. And she didn't have any

:35:46.:35:51.

journey at all? No arc at all, I didn't know that she could be so

:35:51.:35:55.

unfunny as well. She doesn't get the timing, the MoD dull laigs at

:35:55.:36:00.

all right. Waltz is funny and John C Reilly is very funny. I haven't

:36:00.:36:06.

find it funny. I meant they are funny actors, they found the only

:36:06.:36:09.

funny moments for me in the movie much I didn't think Winslet was

:36:09.:36:13.

particularly good, she's always good, I wouldn't say it was her

:36:13.:36:23.
:36:23.:36:25.

best performance. The script I thought was so appalling. I think

:36:25.:36:29.

it is the lauter thing, the only thing coming from the laughter is

:36:30.:36:32.

the characters. The experience of laughter, when you see it on the

:36:32.:36:36.

stage, the characters do win some laughs, and the laughs are, and

:36:36.:36:40.

they have to stop and the laughter and the responses of the audience

:36:40.:36:43.

become part of that. These characters are impervious. In a

:36:43.:36:49.

strange way it reminded me of Plenty and Betrayal? Both of those

:36:49.:36:54.

felt simply kind of contrived, when they were put on film. I think

:36:54.:36:57.

Christina used the word "artificial", it is exactly the

:36:57.:37:03.

right word, Jodie Foster said she can't believe she barfed on her

:37:03.:37:07.

book, and I couldn't, because nobody does that. Carnage is

:37:07.:37:12.

playing cinemas now, you can see Kate Winslet vomiting half way

:37:12.:37:18.

through. You wait an age for a biopic and three come along at

:37:18.:37:22.

worse, The Iron Lady, Coriolanus and others are pulling in audiences

:37:22.:37:27.

across the UK. We asked Anne McElvoy why directors are drawn

:37:28.:37:33.

into the political orbit and what makes a good buyyo pick.

:37:33.:37:43.
:37:43.:37:56.

From The Iron Lady to J Edgar and Coriolanus, the Roman story of

:37:56.:38:00.

natural born vote winner, we have acquired an appetite for the grimy

:38:00.:38:04.

business of politics, and screen portrayals of great political

:38:04.:38:08.

leaders. Frankly, very few political biopics

:38:09.:38:18.

are very good at all. The Iron Lady is a great fete of acting by Meryl

:38:18.:38:23.

Streep. Leonardo DiCaprio's J Edgar has the same strength, and the same

:38:23.:38:28.

flaw. A premier cru lead, Oscar performances and no sense of the

:38:28.:38:32.

politics of the period. For the dizzy feel of an election

:38:32.:38:37.

campaign, and the absurdties of the spin cycle, I would still take us

:38:37.:38:42.

back to the flares and orange shirts of 1972 and Robert red Ford

:38:42.:38:47.

in the candidate. Red Ford makes us squirm as we watch him hollowed out

:38:47.:38:51.

by selling himself, the TV era of Coriolanus, reluctantly showing his

:38:51.:38:56.

wounds to the public. Except here he does get the job, leaving us

:38:56.:38:59.

with the question real life politicians would recognise, when

:38:59.:39:04.

the hurly burly is done, and the big office is their's to decorate.

:39:04.:39:13.

Marvyn, what do we do now? Hapless, handsome Bill is a Democrat, in

:39:13.:39:17.

Hollywood little good comes of Republicans, full stop, and few

:39:17.:39:26.

have had such a bad time on screen as George Bush. George W was a pour

:39:26.:39:32.

frail of a Texas -- portrayal of a sex SAS muppet. Years of reviewing

:39:32.:39:39.

this stuff has made me think the best takes of political seems are

:39:39.:39:44.

alleg orical, if you want to revise the Cold War, Dr Strangelove is

:39:44.:39:49.

better than James Bond. Peter Sellers prevailed as the nutter

:39:49.:39:53.

with his finger on the button, not bust he was the best screen mimic,

:39:53.:39:57.

but because he was so many Cold Warors rolled into one. What about

:39:57.:40:04.

today? The war on terror films did badly at the box-office, there was

:40:04.:40:14.
:40:14.:40:15.

one that delves terrifyingly into the battle it is The Dark Knight.

:40:15.:40:19.

It shows how many public eyes can be told in the service of the truth.

:40:19.:40:24.

Show it to any newcomer to Number Ten or the White House, or anyone

:40:24.:40:32.

with designs on ruling goth tham Glk Thanks to all my guests tonight.

:40:32.:40:37.

Next Friday on the Book Review Show, I will be celebrating the

:40:37.:40:40.

bicentenary of Charles Dickens in the company of Geoff Dyer and

:40:40.:40:45.

others. We will be resurrecting some long lost Victorian classics.

:40:45.:40:48.

More details on all the items we have been discussing on the website.

:40:48.:40:52.

To play us out tonight, another musician who is part of BBC

:40:52.:40:56.

Introducing, which supports young and up and coming talent. Aaron

:40:56.:41:00.

Delahunty is a born and bred Londoner, who trained at the

:41:00.:41:03.

British Academy of New Music, and whose influences include everything

:41:03.:41:10.

from classic swing, hip hop, here he is with his new single,

:41:10.:41:20.
:41:20.:41:26.

Straighten Up. # This is a song for anyone with a

:41:26.:41:29.

mate # Who needs to fix up

:41:29.:41:32.

# They ain't flying straight # Tell that fool

:41:32.:41:37.

# It will do them good # You know it's about time they

:41:37.:41:40.

understood # So what if they start blowing up

:41:40.:41:42.

in your face # Somebody has to go and put them

:41:42.:41:45.

in their place # They are acting like they don't

:41:45.:41:49.

give a dam # You have to turn around and tell

:41:49.:41:52.

them # Listen fam$$NEWLINE # Straighten

:41:52.:41:55.

up and fly right # Straighten up and stay right

:41:55.:42:00.

# Straighten up and fly right # Cool down

:42:00.:42:04.

# Don't you blow your top # Straighten up and fly right

:42:04.:42:09.

# Straighten up and stay right # Straighten up and fly right

:42:09.:42:19.
:42:19.:42:24.

# Cool down brother # You don't wanna be the one

:42:24.:42:28.

# To put their nose out of joint # But if they are behaving like

:42:28.:42:30.

mugs # You need to be making a point

:42:30.:42:37.

# Just like when your boy's belling # You wanting to go for a drink

:42:38.:42:43.

# And then waits for you round in and then reveals he's kint

:42:43.:42:49.

# Or the guy that's in the clik # Who hits the drink a bit quick

:42:49.:42:52.

# Starts acting thick # Thinking he's slick

:42:52.:42:58.

# Still he's slipping over # Straighten up and fly right

:42:58.:43:00.

# Cool down brother # Don't you blow your top

:43:01.:43:04.

# Straighten up and fly right # Straighten up and stay right

:43:05.:43:08.

# Straighten up and fly right Income cool down brother

:43:09.:43:13.

# Don't you blow your top # Straighten up and fry right

:43:13.:43:18.

# Straighten up and stay right # Straighten up and fly right

:43:19.:43:23.

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