Little Jerusalem (La petite Jérusalem) (2005) 7.5/10
I watched The Lost Moment (1947) which starred Robert Cummings, Susan Hayward and Agnes Moorehead.
Based on the novel The Aspern Papers by Henry James, a book publisher (Cummings) rents a room in a mansion in Venice where a centenarian recluse (Moorehead who was 47 at the time) lives in order to locate the letters from her vanished lover to publish them. The mansion is run by her niece (Hayward) who is very severe.
It's an interesting film and I felt there was a touch of Orson Welles about the film. Agnes Moorehead is the obvious connection. The ending of the film is a bit like the end of Jane Eyre (in the 1943 version Welles played Rochester & may well have influenced the style of the film).
The film was directed by Martin Gabel. This was the only film he directed and he subsequently became a character actor. It turns out that Martin Gabel had been a member of The Mercury Theatre Company and of course that was run by Orson Welles. I'm not aware of any direct involvement by Welles in this film, but Gabel was certainly influenced by his Citizen Kane in the style of the film.
I rewatched Hans Christian Andersen (1952) after a gap of many years. It starred Danny Kaye with songs by Frank Loesser. The film makes it clear from the start that this is not a biopic but more of a fairy tales built around the stories.
Danny Kaye (in a relatively subdued non-humorous role) and the songs are delightful.
Quite a large proportion of the film involves a ballerina (played by Zizi Jeanmaire) and her husband (Farley Granger) and the staging of a ballet based on The Little Mermaid. The ballerina had been intended to be played by Moira Shearer but she withdrew as she discovered she was pregnant. I am not surprised that Moira Shearer was intended for the part as this part of the film is clearly intended to emulate the likes of the Michael Powell fims "The Red Shoes" (1948) and "Tales of Hoffman" (1951) where she was the actress/ballerina.
I watched Bachelor Mother (1939) which starred Ginger Rogers and David Niven. Very enjoyable and well worth watching. The Radio Times rating of 3/5 is too low. IMDB rating of 7.4 is closer.
Rogers and Niven work well in this film. She works in a department store at a counter where she sells Donald Duck wind up toys, and Donald Duck is in the credits as himself.
I resaw Matilda (1996) based on the Roald Dahl book and directed by Danny DeVito who also appeared in the film alongside his wife Rhea Perlman (best known for Cheers).
Matilda was played by Mara Wilson, quite remarkable considering that she had just lost her mother. Pam Ferris played the monstrous Miss Trunchbull, the headmistress of the school (which I doubt would have passed any OFSTED inspection) and Embeth Davidtz played Miss Honey, who as the name suggests was the very sweet teacher.
I watched a Russian film Ovsyanki (Silent Souls) (2010).
A quiet reflective film. When Miron's beloved wife Tanya passes away, he asks his best friend Aist to help him say goodbye to her according to the rituals of the Merya culture, an ancient Finno-Ugric tribe from Lake Nero, a picturesque region in West-Central Russia. Although the Merya people blended into Russians in the 17th century, their myths and traditions live on in their descendants' modern life. The two men set out on a roadtrip thousands of miles across the boundless lands. With them, two small birds in a cage. Along the way, as is custom for the Meryas, Miron shares intimate memories of his conjugal life. But as they reach the banks of the sacred lake where they will forever part with the body, he realizes he wasn't the only one in love with Tanya...
Ovsyanki means buntings, the two birds who accompany the men.