The Portuguese House

 

New Iberian film from Avelina Prat

Fernando is a college Geography teacher, who appears to be happily married to his Serbian wife, Olga. One day he returns from work and she has left him, returning to Belgrade. After reporting her disappearance, the police state they cannot do anything as she has left willingly. Fernando promptly takes a spontaneous trip to a Portuguese coastal resort for a break. 

When at the hotel, he meets the gardener, Manuel and they swiftly start a friendship. Sadly, Manuel suffers a heart attack. In another pique of spontaneity, Fernando decides to take over Manuel's identity and goes to his next job tending to a luxurious stately home. Here Fernando begins a new life with a new name and role in the family dynamic becoming close to the matriarch, Amalia.

Starring the sadly departed, Manolo Solo as Fernando the film acts as a part valedictorian performance in one of Solo's last roles. He carries for Fernando, a life unlived and how the unexpected possibility of a new beginning can offer. On his first day on the job as Manuel, he plants a small tree it much like him ripe to grow and blossom in new grounds. 

As Fernando, he lead a life of little discovery a man who hardly knew his wife and had become accustomed to the rigmarole of teaching life. As a Geography teacher, he passes on knowledge about the world - a world that remains largely unchartered to himself.

Yet as Manuel, a gardener hired unseen, he is now a blank canvas. He interacts with lovely people daily, listens and is attentive to people's needs; the job allows him to get his hands dirty and at night he can be at peace. Solo's performance is of added gravitas due to his passing (after a short battle with cancer) and lifts the film to one of grandeur thanks to his performance. 

As Amalia, Maria de Mederios is familiar to film fans and here in her native Portugal she gives Amalia a grace and fortitude amidst her quiet underlying problems. 

This is a rich text of a film, stepped in literary traditions for the cine-literate and fans of European cinema. The pace is not rushed, it is a stark reminder that within this world is the possibility of humanity amongst the chaos. There are multiple scenes of friends talking to each other and enjoying each other's company - solitude is welcome on occasion but we all yearn for connection when available. 

The film garnered three nominations at the Goya Awards (Spanish Oscars) last year; including one for Best Screenplay for Prat's script as well as nods for the two main leads. 

A warm glow and hug of a film that hopefully will live long in the memory of those who have the opportunity to indulge in it. A film perfect for Autumn, the season of new beginnings and calming down.

THE PORTUGUESE HOUSE is available from New Wave Films and out on limited release. My thanks to them for the review opportunity

A Thousand Silent Cries - Karen Millie James

The third novel in the series featuring investigator/medium Cydney Granger by author Karen Millie James.

The Gist

Known for uncovering truths others cannot see, Cydney has built her career investigating secrets, deception and hidden motives. But this time, the mystery centres on someone close to her.

When her friend’s husband, renowned barrister James Carrington QC, becomes the target of a series of increasingly sinister threats, Cydney discovers he is not the man he claims to be. Thirty-six years earlier, James was the sole survivor of an IRA bombing that killed his parents and destroyed his childhood. Given a new identity and hidden away from those responsible, his past was buried along with the truth about what happened that day.

Until now. 

As Cydney digs deeper, she uncovers a trail stretching from Belfast to London, exposing decades-old secrets, hidden identities, corruption and betrayal rooted in the legacy of The Troubles. The man responsible for the bombing has resurfaced and, after decades in the shadows, is determined to eliminate the last witness to his crimes.

With her closest friends under threat and a ruthless killer closing in, Cydney finds herself in a race against time to uncover the truth before history repeats itself.

Because some crimes are never forgotten. They simply wait for the right moment to strike again.

The Review

This tightly wound narrative revolves around the unearthing of long hidden secrets and what happens when those secrets come home to roost.

This narrative involves the history of the IRA and how people may or may not have passed away during the Troubles. The story starts with a much troubled marriage, a love that has hit the rocks following the tragic passing of a four year old child after a protracted illness. Fils is a psychiatrist who cannot get through to her absent husband, James Carrington, a long standing barrister of note in the Royal Court of Justice who has put career before his home life.

The story becomes more long winded when ghosts of James' past re-appear with names not as they seem. Cydney is on the case and this coupled with one of Fils' patients, a young girl Rachel seeking sanctuary from her home after a period of molestation by her own father leading to his imprisonment for which her mother blames her.

While this is a well told story with an interesting depiction of domestic abuse and psychological torture, this is a read that did not grip this reader fully. Parts of the narrative lacked cohesion and at times the narrative went on unnecessary tangents which was to the detriment of the overall premise.

Nevertheless, returning readers to the series will not be disappointed. The climax in the hospital was well handled and paced bringing a nice end to the gripping proceedings.

This is the third in the series following The Shadows Behind Her Smile and Where in the Dark.

A Thousand Silent Cries is out now from Vinci Books on all formats

My thanks to Midas PR for the review opportunity 

Cotton Queen

Debut film by Sudanese director Suzannah Mirghani

Set in a cotton-growing village in Sudan, the film centres on teenage Nafisa, who has been raised on her grandmother's tales of anti-colonial resistance. She becomes caught up in a village power struggle when a young businessman returns from abroad with genetically engineered cotton and plans for modernisation. What unfolds is Nafisa finding her own quiet power amongst the chaos around her.

Blending themes of feminism and womanhood, along with the rich tapestry of folklore and storytelling; Mirghani's skilful debut is also a tale about the continuing battle of tradition and modernity. While the world is coming to terms with the impending doom of artificial intelligence (AI) and that threat to lives and employment, Nafisa is a vessel for transformation changing both herself and her community.

Mirghani has a nuanced observational eye detailing her film with tender and careful costume design and a boldness of stark cinematography by the film's conclusion; a lot is said within the frame combining controlled performance and set design to bear fruit.

Hailing from Sudan, filmmakers especially females are having a purple patch currently with contemporaries such as Soudade Kaadan providing further proof that women from minority backgrounds can tell just as a good a story that looks back to critique the current day circumstances.

Mihad Murtada as the lead Nafisa gives a solid leading performance but special kudos belongs to Rabha Mohamed Mahmoud as the matriarch/grandmother Al-Sit - the one who may hold the key to overcoming the new opponent to the village status quo.

Out in cinemas now on limited release, this is the third such title from Sudan from TAPE Collective (a group that focuses on subversive filmmaking with a focus on representation, identity and heritage).

The Stepmother - Sheila Bugler

New standalone thriller by Sheila Bugler out September 24th

It is a day like any other when Sarah arrives at the school gate to pick up her two stepchildren, Izzy and Patrick.
But when the twins don't run out to meet her like normal, Sarah knows something must be wrong.
Sarah can't believe what she's hearing when the teacher informs her that their father, Mike, removed them from school earlier in the day. All of Sarah's calls to Mike go to voicemail.
Worse is to come when Sarah is told by police that as she and Mike are not legally married, and he is the children's father, there is nothing they or Sarah can do.
Then she receives a text message from Mike: Don't go home. It's not safe.
What has Mike been hiding? Where are their children? How can Sarah get her family back? Before it's too late...

Bugler has written a number of books across the last ten years, this reviewer has read the majority of them. After a short series, she has nestled into this ability to write gripping novels based in and around the South East of London, away from her home town of Eastbourne. 

This book like all of Bugler's has a very good plot to begin with - all seems well for our heroine Sarah, she lives a happy life and goes about her day of picking up her stepchildren from school at the end of the day. Only when she arrives, the children have already been picked up by their birth Dad, Mike, who is now not picking up the phone. 

Panic sets in for our heroine as her routine is disrupted by this strange change of events. As she tries to find out the reason for this change of circumstances, Sarah gets more and more wound up leading to some desperation and a growing dependency on red wine, when it comes to light that Sarah and Mike's marriage is not legal meaning she has no legal authority as guardian to the two children.

As with most Bugler protagonists, they become investigators as the police exhaust all their avenues of enquiry, meaning Sarah must uncover the truth as a battle of wills is apparent in a tense psychological setting. 

What follows is a tale of familial differences and relationships that have been cast aside when selfishness comes along. The depiction of abuse and bullying by a later toxic male is well handled and fits in well with this current climate of combating the supposed alpha males who believe they are right just by the fact of which chromosomes they muster.

This confronting the mainstream is across Bugler's work - strong females who are misunderstood by authority or must battle to be heard. The title of the book is an inversion of media stereotypes; normally the Step-person is a figure of evil or malevolence from across literature and Disney movies - here we are afforded a female who is a figure of nobility and goodness. 

A strong paced final act means this book ends on a high and will leave the audience satisfied, my hope being that a large audience does enjoy this book and leads them to more of Bugler's back catalogue which is growing stronger by each thrilling novel released.

The Stepmother is released by Hodder & Stoughton on 24th September

NTTA Looks Back: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe or The Cast, The Script and the Scraping Barrel

My wife is a secondary school drama teacher, she loves drama and the power it has to create emotion and connect audiences (think the end of Hamnet); yet as a teacher of a failing and lazy generation she is always at great pains to tell the young boys and girls that drama and theatre is not merely about learning lines; if you want to go into law, it might be good to know how to speak publicly with confidence, or if you are more creatively inclined, why not endeavour to learn about lighting, costume or set design to help with the formation of a production.

The reason a film blog starts with a drop of drama, is that my wife is putting on a school production of C.S.Lewis' seminal work The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. During an evening of preparation on her end, we put on the 2005 film adaptation of the film from Disney Studios. I had seen bits of the film but never the film in full, and so this is a debrief on a full first time watch of the film.

Directed by Andrew Adamson, the director of the first two animated Shrek films, this his first foray into live-action cinema; it is a faithful adaptation of the classic Narnia story. Featuring a mixture of established adult talent - Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy (on the crest of stardom) and Jim Broadbent, along with four newcomers as the Pevensie children and very famous voice actors led by Liam Neeson as Aslan the formidable lion.

What struck this viewer from the outset of the film, is how only four years after the first Harry Potter film and six years after the first Lord of the Rings film; this was Disney's genuine attempt to obtain a new age franchise after the success the previous two iterations gave to Warner Bros. and New Line cinema. 

Lets do the check-list and recipe for success, Disney felt you needed. Beloved children's literature story with something for children and adults. Check. The first entry in a series of possibly five to seven films. Check. A New Zealand director. Check. Key casting of future Hollywood stars in the key roles of the children. Rain check.

And that for me was the problem with the viewing experience, the four children cast in the roles of Lucy, Susan, Edmund and Peter are sadly nowhere near the level of the three cast in the Potter series which was definitely lightning in the bottle.

This goes hand in hand with CGI that looks a bit ropey in a post LOTR world, some scenes are shot in near darkness making it hard to see who is where on screen. This was a similar problem that faced the Philip Pullman adaptations - an imagined fantasical world but from a bygone WW2 era just did not go hand in hand with the new millennium audience with technology at their fingertips. Nevermind the christian symbolism and allegory that runs throughout Lewis' tale. 

However, one note of the film is that the script was doctored or overseen by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely; the duo who would go on to write the majority of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (beginning with Captain America (2011) and up to Avengers: Endgame (2019)), some of the best written films of this century. It should be noted that the battle scenes between Aslan and Edmund's army and the opposition of the witch's army is not too dissimilar to the battle in Wakanda during Avengers: Infinity War (2018) in terms of scope and stakes culminating in the return of a hero on the battlefield.

When the overlong film does conclude, the children learn about sacrifice and there is a richness to imagination being fermented in the youth. There is however, an overall feeling of the film not quite fulfilling its objective and being as good as it should be. However, it does have a great final line delivered by Jim Broadbent

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is available to stream on Disney+ along with Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Moonlight Robbery - David Barker

Children's author David Barker returns with a new standalone YA heist thriller

This reader first became aware of Barker's output when he wrote adult tilted thrillers around the then impending doom of water as the next valuable commodity, and the thing that wars may well be fought over. His high-thrilled conspiracy thrillers across the Gold trilogy was well told.

Those books at the tale end of this century's first decade may not have connected with as deserving an audience as it should have. Barker then transitioned to young adult fare starting with the dystopian boarding school set mysteries of Pax. Those three books again showed Barker's talent for tight plots and proudly wearing the influences on his sleeve.

The new book, Moonlight Robbery, combines two of Barker's passion - science and space exploration. We meet Max, a young orphan who lives under the stairs of his grumpy Uncle and Aunt in a moon colony. He lives with them following the death of his parents, so far so JK. However, Max is then cast aside by his Uncle and banished or pushed out to the vast of the moon-base he lives on. 

From then on the narrative never lets up on the pacing - Max falls in with the Jetsams, a band of scavengers who live off-the-grid and without the highly trusted wrist tabs that hold people's identities. Max has one so the Jetsams led by Fagin-like Quinten sees the opportunity to use Max to their advantage. Max is entrusted with Art (short for Artemisia), a young girl with a gift for pickpocketing.

Barker has fun with taking the genre of a fish-out-of-water, such as Oliver Twist but putting in new words for our familiar terms. Every time a character messes up, they say 'Craters!' as a sign of self-admonishment. He uses science fiction for the technology, jetpacks from Bond's foray in Moonraker for instance - but while these influences are at times obvious, the keen sense of plotting and control of tone is effective throughout.

When they first meet, Art knows more than Max because she has lived in the slums longer, and Max's naivety gets them into trouble. Later on, though, when Art is captured, it is Max who has to grow up very quickly and with his ability to code and handle technology expertly - there is a shift between them when the damsel is in distress.

At just over 200 pages, this is a speedy read but entertaining nonetheless. A biting read at the present day control of corporations over natural resources but transplanted to the yet uninhabited moon surface. We will be moving to the moon in a few more decades time for sure, and the work of NASA and the recent Artemis launches bode well for that. However, Barker like all good science fiction writers does feel there should be a note of caution before colonising the moon.

Moonlight Robbery is out from Tiny Trees on 17th September on all formats.

My thanks to Tiny Trees for allowing me the opportunity to review and be part of the blog tour on 16th September

Alex Gerlis Interview

Alex Gerlis granted me the opportunity to ask him some questions following the release of his most recent book CITY OF TRAITORS which I reviewed last month. The book is the third book in the Double Agent series - released by Canelo - and it will reach it's thrilling finally next year.

This is the third book of the series, what was the original genesis of this series?

I wanted to cover a sweep of European history - from Stalin's purges and the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s, the Second World War, the start of the Cold War and the events of 1956

- The book is so well researched, do you enjoy research?

I do yes - and I also find that the research throws up interesting plot and storylines

- Do you like to travel as much as Charles Cooper?

I enjoy travelling, yes - perhaps not in the same way as Cooper and certainly not in clandestine circumstances but I like to visit the key locations covered in my books.

- Was this all plotted out and meant to be a four part series from the outset?

yes, I always envisaged this as a four-part series and I had a sense of what period and - to an extent - what events would be covered in each book and I also had an idea of how it would end. I've actually just written the end of the final book and it's far closer to the original ending I had in mind than I'd have expected. I like a book to develop and evolve as I'm writing it, but with a series you do have to be a bit more disciplined.

- The series has grown as it's gone on, from London to Europe to now America, was that deliberate?

Yes, I like the idea of including different countries. America was always part of the plan - it works with the plot.

- What is your typical writing day?

There's no absolutely typical writing day, I don't have a strict routine in that sense but I do try to write in the mornings and then from mid/late afternoon for 2/3 hours - but I often work around whatever else is going on in my life.  

- What spy books are you reading at the moment? Any recommendations?

Icarus 17 by Charles Cumming and Appointment in PAris by Jane Thynee. Both very good.

City of Traitors is out now from Canelo on all formats.