Whimsical Kitten

Well it’s Oscar time, having watched Helen Mirren pick up her award for Best Actress at the BAFTA’s; I am now wondering which, if any of the British nominations is in with a shout at the Oscar’s. I am not a big fan of any type of award ceremony normally, but we are receiving all the Sky channels free of charge at the moment and the promotion for the Oscars seems to be endless. So anyway, it got me thinking who would I give an Oscar to if it were within my gift? Easy, my favourite actress is Anne Marie Duff (she was superb as Queen Elizabeth I in The Virgin Queen). Also James McAvoy (her husband) not for his latest role in The Last King of Scotland (which I hear is an excellent film resulting in a well deserved BAFTA for Forrest Whittaker), but as the Faun, Mr Tumnus, in the Chronicles of Narnia – I know just humour me it is a separate posting all on its own but not today……. 

Instead I’ve come up with a list of my all time favourite top ten films that reflect my thirty something years in this world, so here are the films that I have loved and been influenced by. 

1. The Belstone Fox (1973). The very first film I ever saw. I was six years old when my parents took me to see this film about the unlikely friendship between a fox - Tag and a foxhound - Merlin. Disney later remade it into an animated movie for children, but the original is hard hitting and for me by far the best version. I recall being very distressed during the scenes of fox hunting, which influenced my objection on ethical grounds to blood sports as I grew older.  

2. In This House of Brede (1975). This made for TV film I saw one Saturday afternoon when I was about eleven years old and for quite a long time after I wanted to become a nun although I didn’t really understand why, I think maybe I just wanted to be Diana Rigg. The central themes of grief, loneliness, jealousy, envy, and ultimately love; highlight my early gravitation towards the melancholy side of life.

3. Robin and Marian (1976). Again seen on television sometime after its release, it is probably my all time favourite film and if I had to choose just one out of the ten it would be this one. Staring Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn it follows the return of Robin Hood to England weary from the bloodshed and futility of the Crusades to find Marian has become a nun and devoted her life to God. Funny in parts but also very poignant, the story follows their journey to rekindle a love no longer in the first flush of youth but in middle age and all that goes with it.

4. The Duellists (1977). I think I developed a liking for men with long hair after seeing this film on TV about the Napoleonic War in my teens. The film dealt with the themes of honour, obsession, violence and also highlighted the futility of war and the destructive nature of revenge. In the end the duellists D’Hubert and Feraude have been fighting for so long, they actually forget what it is that set them off. I had such a crush on the French Hussar Officer D’Hubert, Harvey Keitel who played the other Officer Feraude just scared me.

5. Watership Down (1978). My parents took me to see this as I had so loved the book. I found it utterly spellbinding right from the start with its introduction to Frith the Sun God and El-Ahrairah (Prince with a thousand enemies) the folk hero. I loved Fiver the smallest and seemingly weakest rabbit who foresaw their doom, admired the strength and courage of Bigwig, wanted to (and still do actually) be like Hazel-rah the calm and sensible leader, was frightened of General Woundwort and delighted in the bonkers Kehaar. I now have it on DVD.

6. Never Cry Wolf (1983). This film is the true story of Farley Mowat, sent to the Canadian tundra to collect evidence of the grievous harm the wolf population was allegedly doing to the caribou herds. In his struggle to survive in that difficult environment he studied the beautiful Arctic wolves, and came to realise that the old beliefs and their supposed threat were almost totally false. This beautiful film just reinforced my deep love of wolves and their ultimate descendants dogs.

7. The Last of the Mohicans (1992). My Dad had the book by James Fenimore Cooper and when I discovered it I found the North American Indian way of life utterly fascinating. Although not entirely true to the book, the film can only be described as epic it just blew me away; Daniel Day Lewis as Hawkeye, the soundtrack and the scenery are all sublime.

8. Tank Girl (1995). I really wanted to be Tank Girl. I dressed like her and goofed around like her and generally had a great time in this period of my life. I have it on video as it makes me smile and remember the care free days of my twenties when all I worried about was what colour mascara would go with my combats.

9. The Mayor of Casterbridge (2003). I love the novels of Thomas Hardy and had on my original shortlist many other Hardy film adaptations however when I whittled them down, this one came out on top. The central characters and their troubled relationships touch a raw nerve with me and as a rule I cry through most of it.

10. Lost in Translation (2003). This is a beautiful and subtle film about alienation and loneliness. It also has a soundtrack to die for.  As the film says “Everyone wants to be found”. A well crafted and atmospheric film with the very talented Scarlett Johansson and an aging Bill Murray at his all time best.

Others that made the shortlist but not the final top ten, sorry guys, close but no cigar as they say:

Dr Zhivago (1966)

Far from the Madding Crowd (1967)

Barbarella (1968)

Ring of Bright Water (1969)

The Wicker Man (1973)

Tarka the Otter (1979)

Tess (1979)

The French Lieutenants Woman (1981)

Educating Rita (1983)

Out of Africa (1985)

White Fang (1991)

Jude (1996)

Call of the Wild (1997)

The Woodlanders (1997)

Romeo & Juliet (1997)

Crush (2001) 

Pans Labryinth (2006)

Some pictures of the carpet of snowdrops in the Spinney at the bottom of our garden.

Yesterday I heard a wonderful programme on Radio 4 which combines my twin loves of poetry and nature in one fail swoop. The programme revealed the literature that has inspired my hero James Lovelock, scientist and author of the theory of Gaia, set against the backdrop of his life and work. Lovelock takes you on a poetic journey from an introduction to his family history at the turn of the 19^th century right up to date with the current debate about global warming. 

Lovelock spent much of his childhood walking with his Father in the countryside learning about the flora and fauna native to the British Isles, as did I, something I will be eternally grateful to him for sharing with me. Like me, Lovelock grew up in London, he in Brixton and I in Kilburn. It seems we both spent an inordinate amount of time gazing in awe at the exhibits of both the Natural History and Science Museums, places I think I will never cease to feel a thrill at visiting. I always just want to touch the bones of the dinosaurs, even though you are not meant to, and I get really and unreasonably annoyed if there are just too many people on the earthquake simulator. 

In his closing statements, which are outlined in his book The Revenge of Gaia, Lovelock states that although mortal, he believes that Gaia herself will survive “she has suffered far worse disasters during the nearly 4 billion years of her existence than that of man made global heating, and we humans will also survive as we are among the toughest of all animals but civilisation is much more fragile and it may not survive”. I tend towards an apocalyptic and dystopian world view and the breakdown of civilisation as we know it today just fills me with dread, and a desire to run off to a remote and rugged part of Britain where there are much fewer people, cars, concrete and the air is cleaner. 

We have only one planet, a beautiful, outstanding and diverse environment, I am perhaps showing my naivety but I have to ask the question, when will we as a global community unite to fully appreciate, respect and preserve what we have? It was a lyrical and beautiful programme and it is not too late to hear it via the listen again facility just go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/mainframe.shtml?http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4_aod.shtml?radio4/withgreatpleasure

I have been a knitaholic of late and have attached photos of two completed projects. The fiery coloured bag has been knitted from a pattern featured in the Art of Knitting magazine (issue 2) and is a gift for my friend Rebecca. Becs is currently learning to knit and I am hoping that the bag will inspire her to persevere – go Becs! The pirate bag is a version of the same pattern using a modified skull & crossbones chart that can be found at http://www.helloyarn.com/miniskulltote.htm (this is a brilliant site which has loads of fantastic free patterns and ideas – well worth a look) the bag is a gift for my friend Kate, who can already knit. The pattern used for both is really simple and you can knit up and complete a bag in a weekend.

We had the best snowfall that we’ve seen in a long time today………