Movies - Thursday, July 9
The Age
Thursday July 2, 2009
Cassandra's Dream (2007)Movie One, 8.30pmWOODY ALLEN has no time to waste. Cassandra's Dream, the third and final of what will eventually be known as his unofficial London trilogy (it was preceded by Match Point and Scoop), begins with simple, economical strokes. At first you may suspect that they're unnecessarily broad but by the picture's close you realise it's simply a matter of Allen giving the audience the essentials and letting what unfolds resonate. The movie, which wasn't even released into Australian cinemas, returns to the moral shadowing of Match Point, although this time the setting is the London suburbs. Two brothers, Ian (Ewan McGregor) and Terry (Colin Farrell), want what they can't afford: the former is smitten with an ambitious actress (Hayley Atwell), the latter can't close out a gambling habit. It leaves them both in need of money, for which they turn to their wealthy uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson). Wilkinson has only a few scenes but they are damningly effective, as his supportiveness turns into a demand that his nephews break the law for him. "Family is family. Blood is blood," they've been told all their lives but when it literally transpires, one brother is liberated and the other destroyed.Things to Come (1936)ABC1, 1.20amH. G. WELLS adapted his own novel for the screen in this story of rationality winning out over chaos after endless wars bring down civilisation.-- CRAIG MATHIESON
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