Wyrd Britain: July 2023

Sunday, 30 July 2023

The Open Doors

Made in 2004 this short film is very closely based upon 'The Open Window' by arch satirist of the Edwardian era Saki (Hector Hugh Munro). The story was originally published in 1914 in the author's 'Beasts and Super-Beasts' collection and follows that collections theme of human animal interaction with the title change being the only notable difference to the story as written.

Michael Sheen plays the fabulously named Framton Nuttel sent to the country to recover from his nervous exhaustion where, letter of introduction in hand, he calls on Mrs Sappleton, an acquaintance of his sister, played by 1990s coffee peddler and Excalibur's Guinevere, Cherie Lunghi but first meets her niece Vera (Ghosts' Alison, Charlotte Ritchie) who tells him of the loss of her uncle and cousins and the reason for the open French windows.

At only 12 minutes The Open Doors is exactly as long as it needs to be and not a second is wasted. Lunghi is calmly assured in the type of role she was made for, Ritchie, only 15 at the time, is a little drama school in her delivery but carries the story well and Sheen is at his comedic best, bumbling, wide eyed and twitchy, suddenly confronted by a tale of the supernatural and it all comes together in a hugely enjoyable adaptation

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Sunday, 23 July 2023

Threads

Since it's first screening on BBC Two on 23 September 1984 Threads has taken on almost mythological status as the show that terrified a nation. Focusing on young couple Ruth (Karen Meagher) and Jimmy (Reece Dinsdale) as they prepare for marriage in a Sheffield soundtracked by news reports of the escalating conflict between the US and Russia that eventually degenerates into nuclear war.

Sensitively written by Barry Hines (Kestrel for a Knave / Kes) for the most part Threads appears as a kitchen sink drama with the focus very much on the everyday lives of the protagonists as they become increasingly aware of the events spiralling out of control whilst also highlighting the utter ineffectiveness and woeful inadequacies of the British government's preparations. Director Mick Jackson (Ascent of Man) who displays a subtle sleight of hand during the build up is unflinching in his depiction of the attack and its aftermath starkly showing the lie of a survivable nuclear war and the uselessness of available information such as the 'Protect and Survive' leaflet and film, the latter of which can be heard occasionally playing in the background as people remove the doors from their frames to build utterly ineffective shelters.

Almost 40 years after it's initial screening with tensions between the nuclear superpowers again at boiling point and with the unlikely reappearance of the name Threads in the popular consciousness the lessons of this powerfully unforgettable film, unlearned at the time, seem once again to be depressingly apposite as the film has lost none of it's power to shock.