Mark Kermode reviews Blithe Spirit. A writer suffering from writer’s block enlists the help of a medium to hold a séance, unwittingly recalling the spirit of his deceased wife – creating an otherworldly love-triangle with his new wife of five years.
Judi Dench
Judi Dench
The kiss in the poppy field from “A Room With a View”
“A Room With a View” (1985) was Director James Ivory’s masterpiece, and one of my favorite films of all time.
In this brilliant scene, Ivory combines beautiful cinematography with the music of Puccini. The song is “Chi il Bel Sogno di Doretta” from Puccini’s La Rondine. The singer is Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (listen to a full performace in the clip below.)
Actress Helena Bonham Carter, then eighteen years old, has since described the difficulty of the scene; walking in full skirt and high heels through the field in 90 degree heat, and being forcefully kissed by actor Julian Sand (while her mother watched from the sidelines), without laughing!
Making Movies Gets More Frightening With Age, Judi Dench Says
VENICE — Making movies gets more terrifying the older you get, British actress Judi Dench said on Monday, a day after her latest royal comedy drama “Victoria & Abdul” premiered at the Venice Film Festival.Dench, who won an Oscar for her role in “Shakespeare in Love” and was nominated for Academy Awards six other times, said unlike in theater, where you can adjust with each performance, in films you get only one chance.“It’s always challenging, I am always frightened, always frightened,” the 82-year-old actress told Reuters in an interview. “I get more frightened the older I get [ . . . ]
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