Mike Newell's Other Movies
11/18/2005 23:11 Filed in: Movies and Television
Guest blog entry by Andrew Wells
I’m one of the only people I know that will go (or not go) see a movie because of who directed it or who wrote it. I’m not just talking about the new Steven Spielberg movie. I mean all movies. It is with that in mind that I’m very curious about Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Goblet is directed by Mike Newell, who is probably best known for Four Weddings and a Funeral and Donnie Brasco. Newell has also made a couple of films that are real gems, and they are worth seeking out: Enchanted April and Into the West.
Enchanted April is quite simply one of the most magical movies I have ever seen. You don’t just feel happy afterward, you feel joy. In turn of the century England, four downtrodden women reply to an ad offering the use of an Italian villa for a month. Eventually, the sunshine, the charm of the villa, and the beauty of the countryside (which looks absolutely gorgeous in the movie) begin to lift their spirits and mend their souls. I have rarely felt so uplifted after seeing a movie. Sadly, it’s not on DVD.
Into the West is on DVD, in the children’s section of the video store. That’s a shame, because it is more than a children’s movie. A father and two young boys have moved out of an Irish gypsy camp into a run down part of Dublin after the death of their mother. (Irish gypsies are also called travellers.) One day the boys find a magical white horse. To keep the horse, the boys become “cowboys” and head for the west of Ireland (hence the title). The father, meanwhile, has to return to his gypsy clan to ask for help in finding his boys, which means coming to terms with the life he left behind, who he really is, and the loss of his wife. The movie has plenty of humor a! nd adventure and fairy tale elements (if you know Irish mythology, the story has added meaning), but it also explores the social and economic realities of the travellers, who are considered second-class citizens. The children’s adventure and the father’s quest, both for his boys and for himself, come together beautifully in the end.
Andrew can be contacted at arwell012002@yahoo.com.
I’m one of the only people I know that will go (or not go) see a movie because of who directed it or who wrote it. I’m not just talking about the new Steven Spielberg movie. I mean all movies. It is with that in mind that I’m very curious about Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Goblet is directed by Mike Newell, who is probably best known for Four Weddings and a Funeral and Donnie Brasco. Newell has also made a couple of films that are real gems, and they are worth seeking out: Enchanted April and Into the West.
Andrew can be contacted at arwell012002@yahoo.com.