Andover Film Club

Monday 9th January,  Odeon Cinema, Andover   Start time: 8:00

Release: 2011 (Cert 15)

Director: George Clooney

Starring: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti

Andover Film Club’s season continues at the Odeon (formerly the Reel) on Monday December 5th with “The Ides of March” (cert 15), directed by George Clooney.

Released in the UK only last month, the movie features a first-rate cast including Ryan Gosling and Clooney himself. With US politics constantly in the news, the storyline is bang up to date and centres on the skulduggery surrounding the US Presidential campaign trail.

The film has been praised for its realism by many and viewed as being too cynical by others. The excellent acting has been acclaimed from all quarters, however, and the quality of Clooney’s direction has drawn comparisons with Robert Redford. This is a serious political thriller which should not be missed.

As always the presentation is open to the public as well as club members, and the show will start at 8.00pm.   

Introduction Given On The Night, By Graham Richardson

Tonight’s film, “The Ides of March”, went on general release only in October of last year, although it did make its first appearance at the Venice Film Festival in August. Incidentally, at that festival it won the Brian Prize. This is an award inspired by the Monty Python movie Life of Brian. It was established in 2006 by the Italian Union of Rationalists, Atheists and Agnostics to award to movies that highlight the values of rationality and humanism rather than religion, superstition and prejudice.
The Ides of March is a American political thriller derived from a play by playwright Beau Willimon called Farragut North, which is itself loosely based on the 2004 campaign of Presidential hopeful Howard Dean. Farragut North, by the way, is a station on the Washington Metro system.
Subject matter

The film centres on the hectic last days of the Democratic Presidential primary campaign, in which Governor Mike Morris is vying with his Democratic rivals to become that party’s candidate in the forthcoming Presidential election. Governor Morris is a man of the political left, at least in American terms, which is presumably what got the movie its Brian prize. With the primaries currently getting into full swing for this year’s Presidential contest, the film could not be more topical.

In tonight’s movie, the campaign has reached Ohio, a vital “swing state”, what we would term a marginal constituency. The film was largely shot in Cincinatti, but some parts were made outside the state in Michigan and Florida.

 “The Ides of March” is essentially about the conflict we see in all democratic politics between holding ideals and compromising those ideals in order to gain electoral success. It is an old issue, but perhaps in these days of 24 hour TV news channels it has become more acute than ever, as candidates have no hiding place from the media.

Director and cast

The film is somewhat of a vehicle for George Clooney, who co-wrote, co-produced, directed and stars. Clooney is 50 and the nephew of singer Rosemary Clooney. His big breakthrough came in 1994, when he began a five-year run as Dr Doug Ross in the US TV medical drama ER. He has appeared in over forty films, directed four and co-written three. His greatest commercial success in the movies so far came when he played Danny Ocean in the 2001 comedy Ocean’s Eleven.

As well as his acting career, Clooney has become deeply involved in humanitarian work, and taken a particular interest in the Sudan, about which he made a documentary called Darfur Now. This activism has extended into more mainstream political issues, on which, like the subject of this film, he has taken a leftist stance. He vigorously opposed the Iraq war, and was an active supporter of Obama in his presidential campaign. Indeed a number of his films have a political message. This has of course made him a target, both for the political right and for satirists who see a certain smugness in him. In this vein, he’s been lampooned in both South Park and American Dad. However, as compensation, he’s twice been voted sexiest man alive!

Playing alongside Clooney in tonight’s film is 31 year-old Canadian Ryan Gosling. Given his perceived sex appeal and interest in social causes, some see him as a younger version of Clooney himself. Perhaps his best-known recent work is the 2010 movie Blue Valentine.

The third actor in this film that I’ll mention is Philip Seymour Hoffman. For me he’s the real “craftsman actor” of the three, if I can put it that way, a real professional rather than a celebrity He’s been in film since 1992, and has a whole range of diverse roles to his name. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2005 for his portrayal of Truman Capote in the film of the same name.

Critical reaction

What have the critics made of tonight’s film? Generally favourable, a “seven and a half out of ten” sort of film would be a reasonable summary. The most positive comments have been from those who view at as a realistic depiction of the complications of electoral politics. The most negative have been those who view the movie as just a bit too cynical, that politicians do have ideals as well as ambition, and that this film does not do justice to that. Let’s see what we think.