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If there is one type of music I really can’t stand to listen to, it is opera. Sorry opera lovers. And so, I resisted watching the French language film Marguerite for quite some time. This was a mistake!

Marguerite is a film inspired by Florence Foster Jenkins who was a true opera afficiando but who could not sing. In the film Marguerite, Marguerite Dumont is played by the wonderful Catherine Frot. Marguerite is a wealthy woman whose deepest wish is to become a famous opera singer. There is but one problem – Marguerite Dumont cannot sing for toffee. Indeed, when she does sing, she belts out one discordant and ear-splitting note after another. Marguerite’s sycophantic friends, her husband and her staff pretend to adore her singing and she waltzes along in a fantasy world believing she has the voice of an operatic angel. She hasn’t (and not by a long shot).

Marguerite is a beautiful made film with magnificent performances from Catherine Frot, the man who plays her husband, André Marcon and especially Marguerite’s highly supportive butler, Madelbos – played excellently by Denis Mpunga. I am sure that we will see much more of Denis Mpunga in international films in the future.

I now need to watch the film Florence Foster Jenkins starring Hugh Grant and Meryl Streep to see how it compares to Marguerite.

Marguerite, set in the decadent 1920s, is wonderfully constructed and photographed film and I recommend it highly.

I give Marguerite the PhotoNomad 10/10 rating plus two ticks, three stars and four cherries on top!

This clever little device caught my eye and for around US$275, it costs much less than a drone and has interesting possibilities.

Here for more details.

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The last film I reviewed left me with a real need to find and watch a more uplifting and humorous film. I found two of them. The Spanish language Spanish Affair (AKA Ocho Apellidos Vascos) and its sequel, The Spanish Affair 2 (AKA Ocho Apellidos Catalanes).

Anyone who remembers the old British Ealing Comedies will, I’m sure, enjoy these two films and recognise the comedy format – farce, double meanings, misunderstandings, confusion, physical comedy and so on. The linked plots of both films deal with the North/South divide in Spain and the meandering and erratic love affairs between the central and supporting characters. I’m sure there are in-jokes in both films that you would have to be a Spanish speaker to understand. I enjoyed watching both films.

The leading lady of both these films, Clara Lago, can be seen in a new English language film starring Liam Neeson called The Commuter (2018).

I give the Spanish Affair and the Spanish Affair 2 a Photo Nomad 9/10 rating.

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The Spanish Affair

The Spanish Affair 2

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I’m afraid this French language film just didn’t do it for me.  If you enjoy gritty drama, then you would probably enjoy this film.  This film portrays the lives of people who are struggling to get by in the most difficult circumstances.  There are some brutal fight scenes – bare knuckle fighting – and also some distressing scenes involving a child. Overall, this film left me feeling uneasy and unsettled.  This film has a very hard and unpleasant edge to it.

I give this film a Photo Nomad 4/10 rating.  Simply put, I did not enjoy this film and, at times, was tempted to stop watching it.  Not a story well told.

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Please click on the link below, close your eyes and join me for a ride on an Amsterdam Tram

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The Amsterdam Tram

Some of the best stories are those based on true stories.  The African Doctor is one of those stories.

This is the story of an African doctor who takes up a post in a rural backwater in France where many of the people in the village have never seen an African before.  The doctor eventual overcomes a high degree of prejudice, fear and ignorance and becomes a widely respected member of his community.

This French language film is peppered with some truly colourful characters including the doctor, his family, African friends of the doctor’s family and the villagers who the doctor treats.

I give this film a Photo Nomad 10/10 rating.  An excellent film.

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Please click on the link below, close your eyes and join me on Platform 2 at Amsterdam Central Station

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Amsterdam Central Station

Click on the link below, close your eyes and join me in a crowded cafe in the Netherlands

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The Cafe

Click on the SoundCloud link below, close your eyes and join me on a train in the Netherlands.

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The Train

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It isn’t every day that you hear the words penguin and eroticism mentioned in the same sentence but the French language film Arctic Heart (AKA Le Secret des Banquises) has both penguins and some tasteful, if not slightly whacky, sex scenes.  Some mouse sex even!  Apart from all that, the film is interestingly different and certainly out of the ordinary.  Excellent cinemaphotography.  This film, staring Charlotte Le Bon and Guillaume Canet hovers, easily, somewhere between drama and comedy.

I give this film a Photo Nomad 9/10 rating.

I especially enjoyed the performance of the two lead characters.  And, oddly, the off-beat and almost irregular comedy in this film works really well – science goes mad but not in a terrible way.  Charlotte Le Bon gives a fine performance as a fragile and sensitive young lady.  To say any more would give away the plot of this delightful film.  This is a film for those with a romantic heart.

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The Film Review (FR1) – The Art of Loving. The Story of Michalina Wislocka – Photo Nomad rating 10/10

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My grandson recently introduced me to Netflix and I’ve discovered a vast treasure-trove of films from around the world including this film about a Polish gynaecologist and sexologist, Michalina Wislocka.  This is a Polish language film.

This film gets the Photo Nomad 10/10 rating!

This is a film which clearly demonstrates what happens when State and/or Religion has a viciously tight grip on what little freedoms we have. The message is clear; censorship breeds ignorance.

We hear much about gender equality these days and this beautifully shot film shows us all too clearly what happens in unenlightened times when countries around the world are dominated by unsighted male dictators and politicians.

The film also shows how difficult it is for creative pioneers and people of genius to flourish in those hopelessly claustrophobic societies where hopes, dreams and aspirations can never be realised. Although the Art of Loving is a story which begins during the communist era in Poland, there are still countries where the ruling elites crush anything and everything they’re not happy with – usually citing the ‘greater good’ as their motive for repression.

We need more people like Michalina Wislocka in today’s turbulent world.

And, finally, quoting Michalina Wislocka from the film – “use your tongue!’

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