Roma

seen on 31 January 2019

Alfonso Cuarón directs his own screenplay of Roma which shows the life of a troubled middle-class Mexican family through the eyes of their devoted and much loved nanny Cleo, played by the novice actress Yalitza Aparicio.

Shot in widescreen format in black and white, the film depicts events entirely from Cleo's point of view - in fact in some scenes the camera is used to show exactly what Cleo would be seeing, as if she herself were filming it. Like many domestic servants, she is 'part of the family' - the children love her, and their mother relies on her - but she is by no means an equal. Sofia, the children's mother (Marina de Tavira), can be very sympathetic, but at times of personal anguish she can explode and issue peremptory demands. Cleo's private life seems to hold some promise at first, but when she falls pregnant her erstwhile boyfriend disappears. At the same time, Sofia's husband is also deserting his family, though for a considerable time the children are led to believe he is on an extended work assignment in Quebec.

Mary Poppins Returns

seen on 28 January 2019

Rob Marshall directs Emily Blunt as the eponymous nanny in a long-awaited - or long-delayed - sequel to the 1964 classic which starred Julie Andrews. There is sterling support from the likes of Lin-Manuel Miranda (Jack the lamplighter) Ben Whishaw (Michael Banks), Emily Mortimer (Jane Banks), Julie Walters (housekeeper Ellen - she seems to 'do' comic housekeepers in children's fantasies having taken an equivalent role in the Paddington movies), Colin Firth (bank manager) and Meryl Streep (Mary Poppins's cousin Topsy), and cameos from Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Chris O'Dowd (voicing an animated character) and Dick van Dyke, the latter being the only obvious front-of-camera participant from the original film, though he does not play the same part. (Several technicians and musicians from the first film are also credited on the sequel.) The new generation of Banks children is represented by the sensible Pixie Davies (Annabel), the practical Nathanael Saleh (John), and the angelic Joel Dawson (George).

The Favourite

seen on 7th January 2019

Yorgos Lanthimos directs Olivia Colean as Queen Anne, Rachel Weisz as Sarah Churchill (nee Jennings, now Duchess of Marlborough) and Emma Stone as Abigail Hill (later Masham) in an irreverent depiction of life at the Court of the last Stuart monarch, replete with personal jealousies and political machinations. Support is provided by Nicholas Hoult as Robert Harley, James Smith as Sidney Godolphin, Mark Gatiss as John Churchill (Duke of Marlborough) and Joe Alwyn as Samuel Masham, though the film concentrates on the personal relations between the three women and the menfolk are largely ancillary.

The three principals give excellent performances, providing some depth to what would otherwise be a very superficial story of sensationalist intrigue. Olivia Coleman's queen is petulant, moody, indulged, but also enduring the physical pain of gout and the emotional cost of numerous stillbirths and the loss of the few children who survived beyond the cradle. Rachel Weisz's Sarah Churchill shows a steely determination to dominate and to use her position to political advantage for her husband, though her command of the situation is by no means flawless as she inadvertently gives Abigail Hill access to the Court. Emma Stone's Abigail soon proceeds to establish her position, revealing herself to be as single-minded as she needs to be to succeed. The film looks very fine, too, with gorgeous early eighteenth-century costumes (and over-the-top male wigs) and luxurious great house surroundings in which to show them off - though I found the frequent deployment of a wide-angle lens to swoop around the rooms distracting and needlessly intrusive.