Late review
Work has been hectic - the state of play at the moment has been eloquently delineated by two other bloggers, Steerforth and Martin at Moments Only.
However, a few hours ago I was able to forget about it all for 90 minutes or so as I watched the NFT's preview screening of "The Ruby in the Smoke", accompanied by parrot_knight. I was bowled over by the sheer craft on display - superb acting, subtle and supple direction, lovely incidental music. The story is a bit too convoluted to fit in to a one-off film comfortably, and still leave room to establish the ensemble team that will carry over into the next adaptation, "The Shadow of the North". (One of the highlights of the evening was hearing the news the sequel is virtually finished - with its ending unchanged from the book - and that there's a definite chance that "The Tiger in the Well" will follow).
Billie Piper, perhaps as a reaction to her most recent, high profile role, underplays Sally - the press release material describes her as 'feisty', when 'quietly determined' is probably a more accurate description. JJ Feild is effortlessly charismatic as Fred, reminding me a bit of a young David Hemmings or Jeremy Clyde. Julie Walters, as Mrs Holland, is just remarkable, menacing, manipulative, and very funny - and gets close to going over the top but reins herself back in. And I must also mention Chloe Walker as young Adelaide, partly for her performance, and partly for asking Philip Pullman, at the Q&A session after the screening, "What happens to Adelaide?"
Mr Pullman was full of praise for the adaptation, and expressed regret that Mrs Holland didn't have further adventures of her own. He played a straight bat to interviewer Matthew Sweet's attempts to lead him to compare his work with J K Rowling's. And there are more Sally Lockhart stories to be told, apparently.
However, a few hours ago I was able to forget about it all for 90 minutes or so as I watched the NFT's preview screening of "The Ruby in the Smoke", accompanied by parrot_knight. I was bowled over by the sheer craft on display - superb acting, subtle and supple direction, lovely incidental music. The story is a bit too convoluted to fit in to a one-off film comfortably, and still leave room to establish the ensemble team that will carry over into the next adaptation, "The Shadow of the North". (One of the highlights of the evening was hearing the news the sequel is virtually finished - with its ending unchanged from the book - and that there's a definite chance that "The Tiger in the Well" will follow).
Billie Piper, perhaps as a reaction to her most recent, high profile role, underplays Sally - the press release material describes her as 'feisty', when 'quietly determined' is probably a more accurate description. JJ Feild is effortlessly charismatic as Fred, reminding me a bit of a young David Hemmings or Jeremy Clyde. Julie Walters, as Mrs Holland, is just remarkable, menacing, manipulative, and very funny - and gets close to going over the top but reins herself back in. And I must also mention Chloe Walker as young Adelaide, partly for her performance, and partly for asking Philip Pullman, at the Q&A session after the screening, "What happens to Adelaide?"
Mr Pullman was full of praise for the adaptation, and expressed regret that Mrs Holland didn't have further adventures of her own. He played a straight bat to interviewer Matthew Sweet's attempts to lead him to compare his work with J K Rowling's. And there are more Sally Lockhart stories to be told, apparently.