Late November 2016:
Going on my first big night out with a friend,we walked passed a cinema in Birmingham called The Electric,which had a sign up for being the oldest working cinema in the UK (it opened in 1909!)
Finding that we had missed all showings,I made a note of the place. Planning to see England is Mine (which by coincidence, is another bio-pic) when I went to gather birthday presents for a pal in July 2017,I accidentally left my map at home,and thanks to running into no one but clueless locals,was unable to find the place.
Early December 2017:
Weeks before setting off to do some Christmas shopping in Birmingham, I made extensive notes/directions for places that I wanted to go to take with me. Despite the poor reviews it has got,I decided that I would see Suburbicon at the Electric Cinema,due to it being the only screening that would give me plenty of time to catch the train home.
Finally arriving at the cinema, I found out that a mistake had been made on their site,and that a very interesting- sounding Gloria Grahame bio- pic was being shown instead,which led to me entering the screening with an electric atmosphere.
View on the film:
Walking down the cobbled streets of late 70's/early 80's Liverpool, director Paul McGuigan (former bass player with Oasis!) & cinematographer Urszula Pontikos grab handfuls of grit from the British New Wave/ Kitchen Sink works of the era, with dour browns covering the rising damp of the Turner household, and thick smog on the streets casting an earthy drama atmosphere.
Going with Grahame back to Hollywood, McGuigan sharply contrasts the humble time in Liverpool with stylised glamour of excellent camera tricks that bring to life a dream factory version of Hollywood-complete with colourful overlaps and fade ins/fade outs,that keep Grahame's past of her name up on billboards flickering.
The first non-Bond movie produced by Eon since 1963's Call Me Bwana, the screenplay by Matt Greenhalgh brilliantly keeps this adaptation of Peter Turner's book as far removed from 007 as possible.
Greenhalgh gives the May-December romance between Turner and Grahame a passionate rawness, (cleverly expressed by events being played out twice,from Turner and Grahame's perspectives)where their moments of breezy romance can turn with ease into abrasive doubt. Reunited with a very good Julie Walters as his mum Bella, Jamie Bell gives an excellent performance as Peter Turner, lit by Bell taping into the Angry Young Man of the British New Wave, that Bell keeps from becoming overpowering,by neatly softening the edges of Turner's frustrations with a romantic warmth.
Bringing the bad and the beautiful sides of the Hollywood icon to Liverpool, Annette Bening gives an incredible performance as Grahame, thanks to Bening crossing a feisty determination over how Grahame wants to live her life, with a delicate touch that makes the romance between her and Turner sparkle,in the place where film stars don't die.
