I’ve been writing and editing pretty much non-stop since the new year, and the index finger still hasn’t healed properly. Not that I’m complaining – being an author is just the best thing. But balance is important and I’ve made sure that I’ve taken time out to rest a bit. (The football has been impressive!)

Besides, deadlines can cause havoc with blood pressure if you let them. And I haven’t blogged for ages. It’s about time I did.

So, I’ve seen three films recently, and I thought I’d offer some recommendations. Of course, these are only my opinions. You may feel completely differently.

The first film was one I watched round a friend’s house. It was Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, taken from David Grann’s 2017 nonfiction book. It was even more interesting because it’s factual. It’s set in the early 1920s, in the town of Gray Horse, in Osage County, Oklahoma. Money and power are inextricably linked. But money is not concentrated in the pockets of the white community, since the Native Americans have discovered vast reserves of oil in their reservation. The power balance in the town shifts slightly, and the focus of the film is specifically on rich women of Native American or First People families, and how the white men try to take it from them.

The film is beautifully shot and the plot unwinds cleverly, at a good pace. The performances of the actors are most memorable. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Ernest, straight from the army, pliable and docile. His acting is wonderful; his frown deepens as the film progresses, as he struggles to work out just what is being asked of him and to understand his own feelings. He marries Mollie, played magnificently by Lily Gladstone, who is dignified and serene throughout, against a background of noisy and pushy men.

Robert DeNiro plays his controlling uncle, ‘You can call me King,’ and the dynamics of the film unfold between the three characters, and others whose lives are chess pieces for a prosperous and dangerous patriarch who has no other belief than in his right to decide what will happen to others for his own greed.

I loved this film. It is hugely recommended.

 I watched One Love at the cinema, a biopic of Bob Marley’s life. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I am a great fan of Bob Marley and reggae music in general, and I hoped I wouldn’t be disappointed.

I was, a bit.

Biopics usually bring out something about a character’s life that is new and important; perhaps we understand them better. Perhaps we get a glimpse into their darker side, their dreams, their fallibility or their background. Both Rocket Man and Bohemian Rhapsody did that for me.

It wasn’t that Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob wasn’t good. My mum would have said that he ‘had him off pat.’ But for me, important opportunities were missed. The film dealt with the shooting of Bob and Rita in Jamaica and his rise to European stardom. But I never felt the essence of the real man. I wanted the film to explore his background more, his culture, his spirituality, his relationship with the other women who were mothers to his children. Because I am familiar with Bob’s story, I was able to identify important characters in the film, such as Peter Tosh, Judy Mowatt, the Marley children. But their roles contributed little to the central character or the themes of the film, and they didn’t give the viewer a better understanding of Bob. The music was good though. There’s a biopic of Amy Winehouse, Back in Black, coming up soon. I hope I enjoy that a bit more.

The last film I saw in the cinema was Wicked Little Letters, based on a true event in Littlehampton in the 1920s. It involves Edith, a spinster, played by Olivia Colman,who receives insulting letters containing ranting and quirky swearwords such as “Piss-country whore” and “Foxy-assed rabbit-fucker.” It’s both a comic and serious film.

The acting is very good, and of course the bittersweet tale is not just about the letters. Timothy Spall plays a controlling father. Olivia Colman is perfect as his daughter and Jessie Buckley is her feisty single-parent neighbour on who suspicion of writing the ‘poison pen’ letters falls.

 Anjana Vasan gives a superb performance as the county’s lone female police officer and the plot is perfectly set up to explore the themes of misogyny and patriarchy. There are hilarious scenes and ones that will make you shudder.

I loved the scene in the police station where the feckless officer was using exactly the same wordsabout real women as in the offensive letter, much to his sergeant’s delight. Clever stuff. See what you think.

It’s a beautifully sweary and funny, yet it’s a poignant and thoughtful film, directed by Thea Sharrock. If you don’t mind a potty mothed heroine/ anti-heroine, it may be for you. I enjoyed it.

Back to the editing cave…