- The Scarecrow and his Servant Theatre Review
Southwark News reports: Right, I've got the Christmas entertainment sorted for you. Take your kids (all ages) to see The Scarecrow and his Servant. It is truly magical. And it is written by Philip Pullman, he of His Dark Materials.
It was a frantic, cold Friday night that we attended the theatre beneath London Bridge Station. On Tooley Street all the office bods were off to parties, oblivious to the secret nether world that exists beneath their very noses.
As we walked into the theatre we were met with a multitude of old mineral water bottles hanging from the ceiling. Then CRASH, BANG, WALLOP! A clap of thunder, helicopters, search lights, soldiers marching! Jack runs into a dark field, afraid he'll get caught.
The scarecrow in the field speaks -he's come to life! He's a bit posh panto-dame, a bit C3PO kind of a scarecrow; the kids in the audience were entranced by him.
Once Jack gets over the shock of a talking scarecrow who has a turnip for a head and a broomstick for a backbone he embarks on a journey with him. Scarecrow wants to visit Spring Valley, a wonderful place full of streams, wells and castles with lots of fresh air. Poor old Jack has no family, no friends and no home, so he has nothing to lose by going. New lands, strange people, mad birds, danger and song & dance await him.
Did I mention strange people? How about a scary-fairy-book old crone with a Tesco plastic bag for a hat? There's been some great invention here recycling stuff; it gets the kids seeing rubbish as a creative material. There's tricorn hats made from newspaper, dresses from plastic carrier bags and medals from Coca Cola tins. In fact, there is a very serious message woven into this tale but more about that later.
The cast is a dream: I have seen both Mark Leipacher and Oliver Senton at the Union and they are both fine comic actors. Senton plays loads of characters ranging from Signor Rigatelli, a cockney 'Italian' theatre manager to a farmer who is a bit, ummm, you know. You'll have to go and see it to find out why he's er, you know, ummm…
Scarecrow falls in love with the farmer's broomstick and they have a bit of a barn dance where the water bottles light up and there is a disco glitter ball spinning around. Scarecrow is so happy he feels like an onion (I'm not on drugs, really).
But, tragedy the broom runs off with a rake, so Jack and Scarecrow go to sea, off to war and off to the theatre. Then there is the panto horse and Bernard the Blackbird. The vultures, wise old birds that they are, subtly give the kids a talk about global warming and discarding rubbish. After all, if there are weedkiller factories polluting the air and messing up the rivers, well, Spring Valley won't be that pleasant place any more.
One little boy in the audience summed it all up; Oliver Senton had him in fits, he sang along to the music and burst into tears when he thought his scarecrow had died, only to rally round when he saw the turnip-head dancing again. And that really was magical… Merry Christmas!
Southwark Playhouse, Shipwright Yard (Corner of Tooley St. & Bermondsey St.) SE1 2TF
December 10th 2008 - January 10th 2009,
Running time: 120 min. (incl. interval)
Tel: 020 7407 0234
- Inkheart — Our Review
Today we had the opportunity to see New Line Cinema's (NLC) movie Inkheart, based on the Inkworld trilogy by the German author Cornelia Funke. People will doubtlessly point out that this is yet another fantasy trilogy which New Line Cinema has adapted after their successful Lord of the Rings trilogy, and considering the below-par performance of The Golden Compass (TGC) in the US this observation might not necessarily lead to positive expectations. However, I should start off by saying that there are a few big differences between the two properties.
The Golden Compass book handles some huge concepts: innocence versus experience, the origin of consciousness, and obedience without question are among those concepts. Inkheart is a much more straightforward book with a much more linear concept at its core: it's a book about reading a story, and the power of story reading itself. Inkheart tells the story of Meggie and her father Mo - a pair with the unique attributes of a "silvertongue," but not that brand which tricks armoured bear kings, rather the kind of "silvertongue" who can bring fictional characters and elements to life by reading aloud. With a true father, daughter, and their relations at its core cast rather than a happenstance collection of orphans, panserbjorne, and witches, the fantasy element of Inkheart immediately becomes more family-oriented and less epic in scale.
Aside from the obvious differences in story between The Golden Compass and Inkheart, Inkheart's Director, Iain Softley, had a much more organic approach to creating his movie. Only two large-scale CGI effects appear during the movie - very well put together and integrated with the movie's sets, but in the age of epic battles with sweeping CGI scenes stampeding before audiences, if you can't handle a ferret with a little glue keeping his costume horns on, then maybe Inkheart isn't for you; Inkheart is family fantasy over epic fantastical.
Lacking the same demands as The Golden Compass in terms of having uncontroversial source material and no pressing need to create a parallel world with CGI sets, the true question of Inkheart became this: Cornelia Funke's "silvertongue" can bring stories to life, can Director Iain Softley do the same?
Our short verdict is that the movie is pretty true to the book, and will certainly appeal to the existing fans of Cornelia Funke's book. The longer story - outside of the book itself - is that Inkheart is enjoyably down-to-earth as a fantasy movie, even where its flaws show through.
The film has a very engaging feel, doubtlessly due in part to the fact that the director Iain Softley used as much "real" scenery as possible. Keeping in contact with the book's author Cornelia Funke, Screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire managed to keep the majority of the story's original elements of charm while bolstering some roles with little character quips. One change that fans of Inkheart will notice in the movie's opening is that "Silvertongue" Mo, instead of simply being able to accidentally read characters to life from books, can also hear those characters speaking to him from within the books themselves - quite a nuisance for a man with an occupation as a bookbinder!
The movie advances with Mo and his daughter inevitably thrown from one circumstance into another, with the villainous Capricorn at the core and the ambiguous Dustfinger often setting events in motion. As far as the cast goes, author Cornelia Funke may have literally been writing Mo's role to suit the actor Brendan Fraser, but Andy Serkis as Capricorn is distinguishably the first character of serious note. Not one to be trifled with but not such an evil villain to send parents with screaming children running from the theatre, Serkis' Capricorn is the perfection of stylishly scary, threatening without the actual need to commit dramatic acts of on screen violence; in any case, who would be foolish enough to go against him? Capricorn waxes lyrical on the beauty of duct tape and, after bidding his "silvertongue" to steal away a particular fairy tale princess from within her bookbinding, the dark-hearted villain announces her fate with delight: "Throw her into the dungeon, and give her a haircut!" Our nameless princess is, of course, that famed Rapunzel.
Brendan Fraser and Eliza Bennett, in the lead roles of Mo and Meggie, make a believable pair as father and daughter. Not an Oscar-worthy performance, but not weak either. Played by Paul Bettany, Dustfinger rounds out the remainder of the main characters. Despite a flat start for his character, Bettany walks the line well and doesn't disappoint with Dustfinger.
Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent, and Rafi Gavron make up the secondary cast. Mirren, who looked to poet Edith Sitwell rather than the character Aunt Elinor for her inspiration, makes the largest character change from book to film. Her portrayal of Aunt Elinor stems on stereotypical book nerd sometimes, but she is well supported in her role and is noteworthy as an actress. Broadbent shines in his quirky kid-in-a-candy store role as Fenoglio, the author of Inkheart who discovers his characters have come to life. "Look, it's Basta!" He remarks joyously while Basta - clearly his own black mark on the bad guy scale - holds a knife to Fenoglio's throat.
The movie's soundtrack comes from the same Javier Navarrete who wrote the score to Pan's Labyrinth. The scenes sweep by mountainous regions and the music swells. Nothing spectacularly complex as in The Golden Compass, but it's an enjoyable soundtrack that isn't overbearing on the heartfelt imagery of chords.
The movie might be aimed at the younger generation, but there enough jokes and scraps of symbolism strewn through the story which appeal to adults. An example of the latter is found in one of the final scenes, where Capricorn, dressed all in black, faces off with Meggie dressed in a white ceremonial dress.
Overall, we give Inkheart a 7/10. It's a family movie and one that is refreshingly distinct from the other holiday fare of Kris Kringle's and reindeer, so it is a shame that US and wide-release cinemas won't be seeing Inkheart until late January. The screenwriting does leave something to be desired of a few characters in terms of their development and story arcs, but this may be a quality levelled at the book itself as a very linear narrative. A very faithful translation from book to screen, Inkheart may not have the epic visual battles and struggles of some of the bigger fantasy films, but what it does have is a nice sense of timelessness, and what better to say of storytelling than that very quality.
- Inkheart — Where Are We Now?
It's been a while.
Remember way back when wirework with witches filled sets and men dressed as Bolvangar guards could be seen on lunch breaks? When the days of filming styrofoam balls on sticks in front of green screens were at their peak and the calendar read 2007? To say that it has been a while is to say that the Earth still rotates; here we are nearly two years later.
There may not be a great deal happening right now to look at Philip Pullman, Chris Weitz, Dakota Blue Richards or any of the other hundreds of names we might think of when we think HDM and news, but luckily for book readers and story lovers, there are always more dark materials to create more worlds.
One of those dark materials with such potential is Inkheart, the bestselling first novel in the series by German author Cornelia Funke. Inkheart is a story about reading aloud in an age when the bedtime stories stop being fun far too early in life. Mortimer "Mo" Folchart and his twelve-year-old daughter Meggie, share a passion for books. Oddly enough, they also share the ability to "read" characters to life: to make actual living persons appear because of their reading aloud from a book. However, the gift isn't without consequences and we meet the pair living alone after Mo has read to life a slew of personalities from one particular book, while accidentally reading his wife into that same binding. The book is, of course, Inkheart.
And what good would a book called Inkheart be without a dark-hearted villain at its core? His name is Capricorn, and after meeting our world and making himself home here, he decides to use Mo and Meggie's talents to build even more comfort. Kidnapping Meggie, Capricorn demands that Mo bring more of his evil henchmen to life. Determined to rescue his daughter and send the fictional characters back where they belong, Mo assembles a unique group of friends and allies - some real, some magical - and embarks on a daring journey to set things right.
But Mo and his daughter aren't the only ones bringing fictional characters to life. Back in the days of polar bear stand-ins on stilts, we had a set visit to Shepperton Studios to see how The Golden Compass was coming along. Our visit didn't end there, and we moved on to see New Line's second project in filming: Inkheart, starring Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Eliza Bennett, Andy Serkis,
Jim Broadbent, and Helen Mirren.
Entering the studio set for Inkheart was a striking contrast from The Golden Compass. After all the green screens we stood in a set decorated with an ominous, enormous medieval church, a partial tower and staircase built of real stone - not the carved foam blocks of most movie sets, but the real organic stuff you'd expect to see from European architecture. The set wasn't entirely dressed, but it was still impressive to see.
We met with Executive Producer Diana Pokomy who spoke with us and
introduced some of the other on set personalities. Costume Designer Verity Hawkes explained some of her direction choices in making costumes for the movie. Her pieces had to span from the modern clothing of our world to the somewhat medieval era clothing Mo inadvertently pulled from Inkheart on the characters he read to life.
Production Designer John Beard was up next to talk more about Inkheart and show off some of the movie's scenes and props. Our group looked over concept art, scene stills, and some of the character props. Beard explained some of the challenges in design, including the integration of the book's sequel into set dressing.
The film set also boasted a set of animal trainers. Apparently when the little ferret on an actor's shoulder doesn't need to change into a wildcat at will, it works just as well to have a real ferret. Or a dozen real ferrets. And if that ferret is actually a marten "read" to life from another world where martens have little horns on their heads, the creative production group seeks out the makeup department necessity: beard glue. Aside from the ferret actors, the character Dustfinger has an affinity for animals in general and the set animal trainers keep that respect mutual. We watched one of the trained dogs respond to their cues and rewarded them with treats for their good performances.
HisDarkMaterials.org also then the chance to watch a scene from Inkheart being filmed. To set the stage a little: Capricorn has kidnapped both Mo (Brendan Fraser) and Meggie (Eliza Bennett) and makes his confession that none of the characters will ever be returning to the pages of "Inkheart." He wickedly throws the last copy of the book into the fireplace to the complete destruction of Dustfinger (Paul Bettany), a character read to life whose only ambition was to return home. Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings, The Prestige) plays the villain Capricorn with aplomb, delighting over his loves of the real world: "Duct tape, ah yes, duct tape," he gleams.
The scene cut and our group went off to cast interviews and lunch. But lunch never led to dinner, and the release of the Inkheart film got pushed back nearly two years after its filming. Cast interviews from the set visit are riddled with questions to Fraser on the filming start of The Mummy 3, in theatres this past summer. Author Cornelia Funke has brought to life the third book of the series and fans of her book have likely been disappointed once and again to see the Inkheart adaptation sent further down the production line.
Perhaps they've borrowed some of Capricorn's delightful duct tape, but reason regardless, Inkheart now has an official theatrical release date stuck to it. As Director Iain Sotfley told ComingSoon.net, "one of the things that appealed to me about the story was that it was this very sort of dysfunctional group of people who were fighting the good fight." With hope that Inkheart is one book-to-film translation that makes the good fight a great movie. The fight's been long.
Inkheart in UK theatres 12 December, 2008
US theatres 23 January, 2009
Wide
Release Info
- Put your questions to Philip Pullman
BBC News reports: Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, is one of the world's best-known children's writers.
He has won several awards for the trilogy - Northern Lights , The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass - including the Whitbread Book of the Year Award in 2002.
Northern Lights was made into a Hollywood film last year, The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.
And Billie Piper played the lead role in the BBC adaptations of his Sally Lockheart novels, The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North. Pullman has also written several other books.
Pullman's His Dark Materials books have been controversial with some Christian groups who have accused Pullman of using them to promote his atheist beliefs, a claim he has denied.
Pullman will answer some of your questions as his 2005 book The Scarecrow and his Servant is adapted for the stage. It will open at London's Southwark Playhouse on 10 December.
More on The Scarecrow and his Servant
Submit your questions to Philip Pullman using the form on the BBC website:
Form link
- Stars Book a Place at Literary Festival
Liverpool Echo reports: Literary giants including Philip Pullman and AS Byatt are heading for Liverpool next week.
The University of Liverpool organised the Shipping Lines Literary Festival to celebrate the city’s Capital of Culture title.
Simon Armitage, Beatles biographer Philip Norman and Howard Jacobson are also among the line-up for the November 3-9 event.
Children’s author Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, will be joined by 38 renowned writers.
They will discuss their work and take part in interactive workshops.
Poet and novelist Simon Armitage, who was most recently shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize, will be joined by Roger McGough, Brian Patten andCarol Ann Duffy.
Roger McGough said: "The festival is a great way of acknowledging Liverpool’s literary heritage and welcoming new talent.
"I’ll be reading from my work, as well as hosting a session where readers can discuss their favourite poetry and exchange recommendations."
Booker Prize winner A S Byatt, best known for her novel Possession: A Romance, will talk about her life and work including Little Black Book of Stories and Matisse Stories.
Authors Andrea Levy, Malorie Blackman, Mal Peet and poets Jorie Graham, George Szirtes and Paul Farley will also host events during the week-long festival.
University School of English head Professor Marcus Walsh said: "We’re thrilled to welcome so many internationally-renowned writers to the city during Capital of Culture year.
"We work closely with the community to promote reading and cultural engagement, and we hope that the festival will entertain and inspire all who are passionate about reading and writing."
Shipping Lines Literary Festival is open to the public and will take place at venues across the university and city centre.
Tickets are available from the Philharmonic Hall Box Office on 0151 709 3789 or online at www.liv.ac.uk/literaryfestival
Shipping Lines Liverpool Literary Festival
3 - 9 November 2008
Friday 7 November - Philip Pullman Lecture: The Elementary Particles of Narrative
Saturday 8 November - In Conversation: Philip Pullman
- Happy Birthday Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials, turns 62 today, 19 October, 2008.
Warm Birthday wishes and all the best from the staff of HisDarkMaterials.org.
Bio in Brief
Philip Nicholas Outram was born in Norwich 19 October, 1946. His father, an RAF pilot, was killed in combat and after his mother remarried, Philip took the last name Pullman.
Pullman spent his childhood years on the move, from Southern Rhodesia to Australia, eventually settling for a time with his Grandfather - an Anglican vicar - in Wales. Educated at Exeter College - the inspiration and real-life movie backdrop for Lyra's Jordan College - Pullman has become a noteworthy author and spokesman, giving voice to causes to prevent strict reading limitations and save a local historical boatyard.
Pullman has written numerous books, the most popular of which, the His Dark Materials trilogy, has been translated into 36 different languages.
Pullman's novel The Golden Compass (U.K. title Northern Lights) saw the big screen late last year in the film adaptation The Golden Compass. Pullman's other series, starring Sally Lockhart in a Victorian thriller, has also come to life as a TV drama in The Ruby in The Smoke and The Shadow in The North. A film adaptation of Pullman's The Butterfly Tattoo - a uniquely fan-funded production - is also set to reach cinema and you can watch the trailer online.
Pullman's books have also seen success in the theatre, with
