Your Egypt

[Winky]

I went to the movies last night


"The Prestige" Absolutely brilliant !





Please go and see it if you can
It kept my attention for 2 and a half hours , the only let down was the very last scene at the end



WATCH THE TRAILER:
http://theprestige.movies.go.com/




Synopsis: From the time that they first met as young magicians on the rise, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) were competitors. However, their friendly competition evolves into a bitter rivalry making them fierce enemies-for-life and consequently jeopardizing the lives of everyone around them. Full of twists and turns, The Prestige is set against the backdrop of turn-of-the-century London. The cast includes two-time Oscar® winner Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie.

[Explorer the eighth]

It looks like a good cast. I like period dramas when the story line seems credible. I will have to remember this one for future reference.

[Explorer the eighth]

I've been watching one of my old video tapes today, of a film called FANN* BY GASLIGHT, made in 1944, starring Phyllis Calvert, James Mason and Stewart Granger. It is based on a novel by Michael Sadlier. I can't find much information about the novelist, except that he wrote the novel in the 1930s.

The film (and novel) is set in the 1870s and illustrates how rigid and all-pervasive the class system must have been in those days. It shows us how very different today's British culture and values are from those of the late nineteenth century and even from those of the 1940s. The First World War was the main catalyst for the breaking down of the old class structures and of the roles of men and women in society and how they see themselves and how they see the other classes and the other genders. Whilst I was watching the film, I realised that if I went back in time to 19th century Britain, I wouldn't fit in anywhere except in the role of a foreigner, and even then we are looking at a 1940s view of the 1870s.

I certainly recommend the film. It is an interesting story and it is well acted especially by James Mason. His character is like a dark shadow in the plot.

The further we go on in time, the harder it is for the film makers to put themselves into the minds and values and culture of any of these lost times. I have seen modern films about the past where the characters say things or do things which I am sure that those people wouldn't have done. I think the Alexander film was one of those. The characters had too much of a modern American way of thinking sometimes.

Back to "The Prestige": I will watch it when an opportunity arrives.