Cultural Diary - January

As part of Radio 4's Film Season, The Film Programme asked listeners to provide their own film diaries for the month, so I thought I'd expand that to a general cultural appraisal of this month to kick-off the year.

The first, most noted aspect of this month has been the exclusive broadcasting of "The Genius of Mozart" on BBC Radio 3, something I feared would be a little monotonous but proved to be an unexpectedly sublime experience. Almost every time a tune was playing during the first 12 days of 2011, you could always guarantee that it would be bloody good. On Sunday 2nd I listened to the latest in the 53rd series of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, which has become enough of a comedy institution to have survived the loss of the irreplaceable Humphrey Lyttelton, and still remain funny, innovative, nonsensical and sometimes satirical, with Jack Dee fitting nicely into the host's chair now.

My sporting affiliations had me listening to Test Match Special's coverage of England's record innings victory over Australia at the Fifth Test in Sydney on January 7th; aside from England's splendid win, the commentary is much more entertaining and informative than the dour Sky TV coverage, and makes for an adequate consolation for the shameful lack of live terrestrial TV cricket.

For my friend Kevin Topple's 50th birthday party in Copford on January 8th, Kevin himself provided the entertainment with the help of Kerry King, Martin Rayner, and Guy Singleton's tribute to the great Jake Thackray. On the BBC I-Player on January 9th I caught up with the TV drama The Sinking of the Laconia, a fascinating true story of nobility during World War II, and much more interesting for its second half than the first, which follows a cliche-ridden variation of Titanic.

On the 11th I finally got to watch on DVD a film I'd been curious to see for some years, the Hollywood 1930's version of Alice in Wonderland, which was an interesting if rather disappointing experience. More disappointing was to see that Pointless has finished the last of the series on BBC 2, an ingenious quiz show where contestants are required to find the most obscure answers to public survey questions. There's no sign as to whether a new series is coming along.

On the 12th I filled in for Paul Reed at Colchester Theatre Group's rehearsal for The Canterbury Tales, which even at this early stage promises to be another innovative, entertaining and slightly naughty adaptation of Chaucer from Ian Amos, who seems ideally suited to the material.

The remarkable De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill was the venue on the 15th for Bexhill Amateur Theatrical Society's (BATS) production of Dad's Army, with a very capable collection of local actors bearing useful resemblance to the famous characters such as Mainwaring and Wilson (left), Frazer, Pike, Jones, etc. The actor playing Captain Mainwaring had trouble remembering his lines, and would occasionally stumble on his words waiting to be prompted - much like Arthur Lowe in fact!

Back at home on the 18th, I got round to watching The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a clever and powerful true-life study of a magazine editor's struggle to communicate with the outside world; a French film with more than a hint of the help of Steven Spielberg with the project.

Over to the Headgate Theatre on the 20th, for one of their best recent pantomimes, Beauty and the Beast, capturing some of the spirit of the Disney cartoon version - and some of the darkness - whilst still remaining within the pantomime tradition - with two rather fetching dames!

The welcome return of the Ipswich Film Theatre allowed me on the 22nd to see Of Gods and Men, the profound and moving true story of Cistercian monks in Algeria, continuing to go about their daily practice despite (and because of) the terrorist threat around them. The following morning I listened to Betty (Coronation Street) Driver's choice of Desert Island Discs, and one touching insight she gave was during her wartime entertainer days, when soldiers returning from the war in the Far East in 1945 left them looking "dead" (from the effect of tetanus jabs and other vaccines), but how the show had helped them on the road to getting back home feeling alive again.

On the 27th I continued on the theme of 1930's cinema with Greta Garbo as Anna Karenina, then the day after contributed my own bit of culture this month with a cameo in the Orpen Players' pantomime Babes in the Wood, as the "Elfin Safety" man - no prizes for guessing what my spoilsport role in the production was.

Finishing off the month delving in the macabre, with The Watcher in the Woods on DVD, an odd mixture of creepiness and cutesiness from the Disney studio (with not one but three different endings), which though it never made a great deal of money at the time, must have been a experience for families at the time - especially those parents who thought Disney only produced harmless, wholesome entertainment.

And then on the 31st, I also saw Colchester Operatic Society's production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - ambitious, well performed and a good evening's entertainment for those who came in the mood for it; unfortunately all I could do was try and shut my eyes through the production because I had a brief bout of 'flu!

Finally, I'll cheat a little for this one-off month and shoehorn in The King's Speech on February 1st at the Odeon Colchester, with the plight of King George VI doing excellent prospects for Colin Firth's career. The film I think is one of the best examples of British triumph in adversity since Chariots of Fire made 30 years before.

Complacent Britain

Snow is a great leveller, a sanitiser of people's frantic everyday lives, especially in this globally technological 21st century.

Unfortunately, with the infrastructure that this country has, with most transport and communication services deregulated since the 1980's to allow for greater profit and ease of use, essential services are no longer a requisite, private car-based transport has become the norm, and we have become spoilt by mild winters. It seems that there are still certain things in this world where we are still at the mercy of the elements - yet there are those who feel this should not be so.

In previous wintry times it was difficult but we coped. I well remember once travelling on the school bus as the only passenger - but the schools stayed open. The braced, bruised, and I confess rather boring British have revealed themselves to be more Scrooge-like than they realised, if snow is meant to be a symbol of Christmas spirit. "Nice to look at, not nice to be in" is a phrase often rendered; another way of putting that is things are fine in principle but not in practice.

The only true downside to the snow is the hurt, the damage and sometimes death caused, particularly to the sick and the elderly, for which sorrow and sympathy are required. For the rest it's really just a case of putting up with it.

Happy White Christmas.

Liberal Democracy - the double-edged sword

The current coalition government is hardly a proper coalition. It is really, to most intents and purposes, a Conservative government by the back door, with extra Liberal Democrat flavouring thrown in. Those Lib Dem ministers who supported the fee rises have their cross to bear, but the rest are pretty much helpless. Unfortunately, the Lib Dems with their previously trenchant views on education, are taking the rap for what is basically a Conservative policy.

It is in many ways, the best of times and the worst of times for the Liberal Democrats.

Wikileaks - the truth kills?

In the 1960's the cause of the Vietnam War was undermined considerably by the on-the-spot television coverage of the devastation by American forces (and only scant mention of the Viet Cong reprisals).

Now the modern variation has emerged from the Internet. Many of the leaks are from past exchanges, but ones that still very much affect the present international climate, and the slightest indiscretion could tip the balance dangerously and wreak havoc with diplomacy

I'm all for getting (some of) this information out, but there are things that people say and things that people do. Spilling the beans like this may lead the one inexorably to result in the Other.

Mandelson and the Media

Hannah Rothchild's much-trumpted drama documentary Mandelson - the Real PM? (the double meaning of the title was lost on me until the first few minutes) was a rather mundane affair and actually rather poignant - if seen very much from Mandelson's enclosed perspective, with certain supporting characters in the drama rather underused, particularly Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, and there is next to no mention of the key player in the 2010 election, Nick Clegg.

What does come through is the visible terror of some of Mandelson's fellow advisors (and George Osborne), and a very deep antipathy with Alistair Campbell - which he, not Mandelson, openly expresses.

In truth, Mandelson manipulates Rothschild as much as everyone else in the Media. The final moment in the documentary when he asks her if she has any more questions, when clearly "the Mandelson fizz" has gone, is another way of manipulating the focus of interviews round to the interviewer rather than the interviewee.

By way of not complete contrast, I switched over to BBC1 later that evening and saw Alan Yentob's Imagine documentary featuring the shameless but rather endearing paparazzi Ron Galella. Shameless, and rather chauvinist in his pursuit of certain glamorous figures in the limelight, especially his obsession with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, which escalated to illegal stalking.

In spite of his ceaseless lack of discretion, by sheer rule of numbers some of the photos are great moments, particularly the candid shot of Jackie walking in the street with her hair coming across her face (right). Unfortunately (for Jackie) no matter how many times Gallela snaps her, in whatever level of irritation or harassment, she always looks fabulous.

His argument (and that of other paparazzi) is that as far back as Ancient Egypt, the Egyptians were fascinated by the appearance of their Pharoah, and the public's fascination with stars is a continuation of that. It is this attitude that has led to the obsession with celebrity that the Media - not the public - retains to this day.

A revealing moment is when Galella mutters he would rather photograph Angelina Jolie (which he has, since her childhood) than the more prestigious but less photogenic Robert Redford, emphasising that looks, not status, are really at the heart of his shallow profession.

The Grapes of Wrath

Mercury Theatre. Act I 95m. Act II 75m.

A Oklahoma dust bowl family escapes to California to find work, but once there things are even worse.
Long but engrossing production with many innovative and epic moments, a powerful story put across with some powerful performances. Not as brilliant as John Ford's searing black-and-white film masterpiece from 1940, but pretty good in its own right.

w: Frank Galati, from the novel by John Steinbeck
d: Timothy Casement
s: Gary Shelford, Nicky Goldie, Roger Delves-Broughton, Tim Treslove, Adrian Stokes, Ignatius Anthony, Gillian Cally, Keith Dunphy, Emily Woodward, Ian Harris, Jim Kitson, Christopher Staines, Holly Knowles
lighting: Ben Payne

The Hurricane and the poodle

Watching the fascinating and entertaining tribute documentary Alex Higgins: The People's Champion just reminded me how much of a force of nature he was. The nickname "Hurricane" was well chosen - arrogant, erratic, brilliant, self-destructively alcoholic - it's all there.

I was at an Alex Higgins snooker match at the Wembley Conference Centre in 1987, where he came from behind to beat Terry Griffiths 5-4 in true determined Higgins fashion, but the end of the match was marred by an overbearing fan who leapt onto the stage to congratulate his hero.

That sort of entourage often dogged and characterised Higgins: if he was the People's Champion then I would liked him to have behaved more like one of them than the self-destructive rebel without a cause he often seemed. Nonetheless, he comes across as a very genuine human being, unlike Tony Blair, whose much anticipated biography was accompanied by a BBC1 interview with Andrew Marr yesterday. I found it a depressing example of how the transition from leader of the opposition to Prime Minister can become sadly coercive to establishment views and dangerously subversive to political bias across the Atlantic in America.

On the television today I noticed was also an old classic 1950's political drama on BBC2, All the King's Men starring Broderick Crawford as an ambitious politician who works his way up to Governor but gradually betrays all his principles to get there. The same could well apply to Tony Blair.