Midnight Oil:Movies and More

“The Snake Pit”  has Olivia de Havilland play the part of Virginia Cunningham, a young woman who finds herself locked up in a mental asylum. The film is taken from a novel by Mary Jane Ward and is  directed by Anotole Litvak. It combines the point of view of the disoriented and harassed patient, Virginia, with external elements that keep the film firmly grounded in reality. In spite of the efforts of her loving husband (Mark Stevens) and Dr. Mark Kik (Leo Genn) to reach her, the harrowing experiences of the mental patient continue for a full two hours. “The Snake Pit” is  an unusually honest film about mental illness for 1948, even if it does enter the realms of the melodramatic and over the top psycho-analysis at times.

>>Real Life: John struggled with the mental grief of a lifelong physical affliction. Why couldn't he just be normal?

>>More to see: Looking for more out of life?

Video excerpt from "The Snake Pit" (1948)



“Dear Frankie” (2004) IMDb is a real gem starring Jack McElhone as a young deaf boy and Emily Mortimer as his mom. Gerard Butler is the stranger who is brought into the picture in order to play the role of Frankie’s “dad” for a day. Things have a way of getting kind of complicated when the adults involved find they have to bend over backwards in order to maintain the charade for Frankie’s benefit. It’s a lovely tale told with much care and compassion for the plight of the single mom who tries to do her best with a very difficult dilemma.

TVO producer, Thom Ernst talks on his blog. about how this unusual and charming film came to be screened on SNAM.

See the TVO interview related to "Dear Frankie", in which the issue of telling lies in order to protect children is examined.

>>Real Life Story: Shannon deals with her fatherless childhood and, in her adult life, leaves an abusive relationship.

>>More to see: Looking for more out of life?

See the video trailer for "Dear Frankie" (2004).



“Monsoon Wedding” (2001) gives a glimpse of  a wedding day in modern-day India that has lots to say about the institution of marriage, families and India as it is today. Director Mira Nair lovingly constructs a multi-layered picture of an extended middle class family as it goes through the Hindu ritual. The gathering of the clan and the awkward introduction of two strangers who are soon to be husband and wife present the perfect opportunity for both flamboyant display and clandestine concealment. moviescreenshots.blogspot.comMultiple revelations take place during the course of the film. Some are funny and fun and some stumble upon the great tragedies and imperfections of life as it really is. Nair’s film is enjoyable because it captures “the way things really are” today in a specific state in India. The movie reaches beyond the frivolous and the cliché because it simultaneously reveals “the way things have always been” on a universal level. Who’s to say that the torrential downpour of a monsoon would not be the perfect ending of a grand celebration of a very imperfect life? It’s a different way of looking at things. It might just be a very lucky thing.

Be sure that you don’t miss the SNAM Interview dedicated to examining the intricacies of “Monsoon Wedding”.

Also along the wedding theme as shown on SNAM was “Father of the Bride” (1950) , and The Philadelphia Story (1940). These movies were previously reviewed on Midnight Oil.

 >>More to see: Looking for more out of life?

>>Real Life Story: Shawna went from the fairytale wedding to disappointment in her marriage to real happiness.

 See the official trailer for “Monsoon Wedding” (2001). I decided some words of explanation (in English) were necessary to tell the story even though this video clip does an great job of capturing the visual story of the film through colour, texture, song and dance.



“The Anderson Tapes” (1971) starring Sean Connery  is a bit of a retro trip with a great twist in conclusion that almost makes it worth staying up for the ending. Sean Connery’s character, Duke Anderson, is all about proving that he is still at the top of his larceny game after he gets out of the slammer. He engineers a complicated heist involving several luxury apartments made more complicated by multi-layered surveillance systems.

I don’t know how things will turn out in the remake of the movie scheduled for release later in 2010. They will surely have updated surveillance equipment to replace the old reel to reel tapes that were “state of the art” in 1971. Connery, while playing Duke Anderson, doesn’t get to play with all of the super spy toys that were a part of the James Bond franchise of the same era. These days you can go down to the local electronics super store and buy yourself some of the gadgets that only Bond and the boys could have way back when. I don’t know that I’ll be paying money to go and see the remake of “The Anderson Tapes” in the theatre, but at least I can say that I’ve seen the original and, yes, I do know what happens at the end of that version! 

>>More to see: Looking for more out of life?

>>Real Life Story: David found he had to stay on top in a world of petty crimes fueled by a drug addiction. It had to end somewhere. And then things got better.

See the original trailer for "The Anderson Tapes" (1971). View also three film clips with co-stars Dyan Cannon, Christopher Walken and Alan King.