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Movie Monday - The Woman in Black

 

It's my birthday! We didn't lose electricity in the snow storm on Saturday. That was a very good b-day present but the best ever, present was...... 

 

Well, a back story first. Over two months ago, after a trip to A. C. Moore, I discovered my beloved and, oh-so-handy, collection of mini-coupon "credit" cards (Michaels, A. C. Moore, Stop & Shop, etc.) were missing. I called A. C., I emptied every purse I had worn in the last month, I searched every coat and blazer I might have worn but except for a large assortment of individually-wrapped mints, I came up empty. I was so bummed. Fast forward to last Saturday. It was a dank looking day so I thought: What a perfect time to move furniture. Well, not really to move it as much as to put a comfy chair by my bed area so I would have a place to sit and knit or read. In the process, I had to move some open shelves which I use for the storage of sweaters, shawls and small purses. OK, I know you know what's going to happen. For some reason, I decided to look in a small brown purse. Why? No idea. After all, I had written those coupon cards off as a loss into the dust bin of history. But my hands reached over to that purse, the zipper slid open and there were my coupon cards, tied together by green crochet thread, smiling up at me. Some of you may be thinking: God led her to them. I say, if there were a God, I would have found them before all my A. C. Moore points expired on January 31! But it was a pretty great b-day present.

 

Apparently, after plays, Equus, etc., The Woman in Black is the  first non-Harry Potter movie for Daniel Radcliffe who plays lawyer, Arthur Kipps.

 

It's a period piece, set sometime soon after the automobile appeared (early 1900s), and deals with spiritualism which was the rage of the Victorian era. So, while we may dismiss the appearance of malovent, powerful ghosts, many Victorians would eat it up. Children's accounts of fairies in the garden, photographs with a mysterious figure, disappearing figures in the mist, the dead returning - all were accepted by many people of that time as reality. 

 

In keeping with the gothic horror theme so popular in literature in England since the publication of The Castle of Otranto in 1764, this film excellently captures the doom, gloom, and spooks of that genre. Even though, at our time in the history in film making, audiences should be used to the spooks popping up randomly, director, Peter Cornwell, keeps you on edge as you anticipate these scary "Boo!" moments.

 

The sun never shines in this short movie (95 minutes) and the opening scene of Kipps' wife dying in childbirth warns you that bad times are ahead. Four years later, Arthur is sent to Eel Marsh House located outside a desolate small, English village to sort out the papers of the recently deceased owner, Alice Drablow, so his law firm can sell her house. It's there that Arthur sees the woman in black and sets off a series of tragedies for the town and himself.

 

This is Radcliffe's movie, with excellent supporting characters revolving around him. There are a few, very few, comic/sweet touches such the innkeeper's wife comforting him with a drink and his discovering who the twins are who will be joining him for dinner in Daily's house. But basically, you wait for the next shoe to drop in this movie. It's the classic spooky house with really spooky happenings both in the house and in the small town stuff. Melodrama, but played very well. Director, actors, cameramen, editor, everyone got together to ensure you'll have a spooky/bumpy ride in this film. In fact, they even give you a little more since you can leave the film discussing: Was that a happy ending?

 

And now to Daniel Radcliffe. On the absolutely postive side: he is not Harry Potter in any way in this movie. He has been able to walk beyond that character which brought him such fame and fortune and he allows the audience to see him as Arthur Kipp. Never once did I expect a magic wand to appear from under Arthur's coat. But Daniel does have one physical aspect which became obvious in the final HP movies: he has grown only into 5' 5 & 1/4" height! He's shorter than I!

Actors Cagney, Newman, and Cruise, to name a few, all were/are short men and all rose to stardom. But, even with the youngest, Cruise (50 years old), that was in other generations. Most actors, most people, today are taller and unless Radcliffe maintains a fantastic Q rating, I don't know about his future as a leading man, if that's what he's aiming for. I noticed that Radcliffe played many of his scenes alone. DH pointed out that it looked like the camera shots were taken from about Radcliffe's waist so shooting up added height. And, the scene with Mrs. Daily (played by a 6'1" actress), begins with her at the top of a few steps, thus higher than Radcliffe, but quickly she walks down to the ground, he climbs the steps, and the scene is played with her talking up to him.

 

So, height differences which even became obvious as Radcliffe played opposite Ron (5'8"), Hermione (5'5") and Ginny (5'6") in the final HP movies, may be an important factor as Radcliffe chooses roles to propel him toward/keep him in "leading man" movie roles.  

 

The Woman in Black is fast and entertaining. It's not epic quality but is similar to a very good/excellent second feature Hollywood studios would sometimes send along to movie houses to be shown with their current blockbuster. Of course, you don't have to watch TWIB at the stroke of midnight in a darkened house where you are the only one awake as I did. But watch it.

 

See you next week.