Longford (2006)
This capsule review was originally published in the Winter 2008 installment of Connections, an email newsletter for Seattle Pacific University alumni.
-
Presented on HBO in 2006, Tom Hooper’s film Longford offers one of the most inspiring and moving portrayals of a Christian in recent memory.
A frequent and compassionate minister to prisoners, the Seventh Earl of Longford — Frank Pakenham, or “Lord Longford” — made headlines and stirred up scandal in the 1960s as he developed a friendship with one of England's most famous criminals. Longford befriended Myra Hindley (played by Samantha Morton of In America and Minority Report) while she was serving a life sentence for acting as an accomplice to a malevolent child-killer named Ian Brady (played here by The Lord of the Rings’ Andy Serkis).
Longford, a passionate Catholic, was a model of forgiveness and conscience, striving for the healing of broken people. But his compassion for Hindley stirred up wrath among the English people. And, as he counseled her to a return to the Christian faith of her childhood, questions were raised as to the honesty and authenticity of Hindley’s humility and confessions. Longford stakes his reputation on this campaign to help a troubled woman, and his story, while heartbreaking, is also inspiring.
Ultimately, Longford claims, “I consider my visiting Myra Hindley, and indeed, all the other prisoners I've visited for over 50 years, to be one of the great blessings of my life. … Forgiving her has proven difficult, very difficult. Not for what's she's done to me — that's neither here nor there — but for the terrible crimes themselves. Forgiveness is the very cornerstone of my faith. And the struggle to deepen my faith is my life's journey.”
Actor Jim Broadbent is best known for playing the professor in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and for his Oscar-winning turn as the husband of Iris Murdoch in Iris. But Broadbent’s performance here is his finest yet, a profound portrayal of longsuffering, courage, and forgiveness.
Longford is now available on HBO Home Video.
The Kindlings Muse on "U23D" and Many More...
At The Kindlings Muse, you can now download the latest podcast conversation about movies between Dick Staub, Greg Wright, Jennie Spohr and me. On that fine afternoon a couple of weeks ago, we discussed...
Michael Chabon's Famous, Unfilmed "Spider-man 2" Script is Yours
Michael Chabon, who I'll be seeing at Calvin's Festival of Faith and Writing next week, isn't just an acclaimed novelist. He also took a stab at the screenplay for Spider-man 2, and when I heard him speak about that in Seattle a few years ago, he talked about how the experience of writing a comic book movie for Hollyowod was not one he was eager to repeat.
Now, the script he wrote is available for download, at least for now, via McSweeneys.
Psycho, Killer, Bigot, or Saint? Christians in the Movies in 2008.
It's 2008, and I'm still waiting to see if any brave filmmakers out there will dare to introduce a Christian character who isn't a mass murderer or a psychopath.
Compromising Caspian?
Today at CT Movies, witness Mark Moring challenging Douglas Gresham on Prince Caspian. And Gresham's answers are just fine... that is, if you aren't concerned that the movie be true to the book, and if you thought the film version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was just spiffy.
Gresham doesn't seem too concerned about asking "What would C.S. Lewis think about these adaptations?" His answer: He's concerned about what the Holy Spirit would think. So... we should blame the Holy Spirit for the fact that many of Aslan's regal characteristics were stripped away for the first film? And that the enemy was portrayed as almost fearless in Aslan's presence? Is the Holy Spirit screwing up the screenwriting process?
Why not just change the title of the film and say, "Inspired by a few details from C.S. Lewis's book Prince Caspian?" That would be honest, at least.
Even more baffling: Gresham seems surprised to hear that there were any criticisms regarding the portrayal of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I guess that means he never read my reviews at CT or Looking Closer, or reviews by Chattaway, or Greydanus, or... did he read any reviews at all? And yet he calls himself "the severest critic in the world"?
I understand that novels do not always translate well into movies, and that some creative embellishment may be necessary to make Prince Caspian work as a film. And I haven't given up on Caspian, although the filmmakers' comments have given me plenty of reasons to consider it. But the lack of concern for translating Lewis's story to the screen, and for the concerns of zillions of fans who cherish the book, are diminishing my hopes for this movie... and this series. Let's hope Michael Apted can turn things around with Dawn Treader. But as most of the mistakes in Wardrobe occurred at the script level, I doubt there's much he can do.
Do you remember how hard Peter Jackson and company worked to communicate with the fans, and how their responses made the fans of the books feel respected and considered in the creative process? I'm not getting that here at all.
Brian Volck Remembers Paul Scofield
Among my friends, the man with the most impressive voice for reading and public speaking is probably Brian Volck, a pediatrician, coauthor of Reclaiming the Body: Christians and the Faithful Use of Modern Medicine (Brazos Press, 2006), and a recent graduate of Seattle Pacific's MFA in Creative Writing program.
Thus it seemed only fitting that Image journal would publish something of Brian's in remembrance of an actor with an unforgettable voice: Paul Scofield.
It's the second reflection on Scofield's career published at the Image blog. The first was by Image publisher and editor Greg Wolfe himself.
Sixpence None the Richer, Together Again, Live
Stephen Lamb reports on this year's most exciting band reunion, live in concert.
Are you Visigoth or an Athenian?
This interesting question is even more interesting when it is being asked by Neil Postman, author of Amusing Ourselves to Death.
Take the time to read these fleeting 85 sentences by Mr. Postman, and get your week off to a great start.
Thank you, Adam Walter, for sharing the link!
The Eagles are Coming!
The Eagles are Coming!, my essay on the power of fantasy storytelling and fairy tales is published in the new issue of Response magazine. It features a new, original illustration by Bryan Pollard of the eagles rescuing Frodo and Sam at the climax of The Return of the King.