tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post2057475768055286339..comments2024-03-16T10:03:59.180-07:00Comments on The Movie Projector: A Taste of Honey (1961)R. D. Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-16298043465105179222011-03-31T14:33:49.613-07:002011-03-31T14:33:49.613-07:00Filmboy, glad you liked the movie the first time a...Filmboy, glad you liked the movie the first time around but saddened that you missed it on TCM. Although I've wanted to see it for years, I probably would never have (pending a release on DVD, which as far as I know is not planned) if it weren't for TCM. Aren't all of us classic film lovers lucky to have TCM? It was shown in the new guest programmer series they're running in which the films are selected by staff members at TCM. This one was chosen by the woman who does the programming/scheduling. It was a good print but had quite a few places where the film had noticeably been broken and mended--something I haven't seen on TCM before--which I think indicates what lengths they had to go to to get a copy to show. Maybe they'll show it again before long.<br /><br />I know exactly what you mean by the contrast between the stark realism and the likable characters. Nicely put.R. D. Finchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-42205469871751073112011-03-31T11:45:47.640-07:002011-03-31T11:45:47.640-07:00I am so mad that I missed "Honey" when i...I am so mad that I missed "Honey" when it was shown recently on TCM. I haven't seen it in years but loved it when I first did so. It's stark realism contrasted with these likable characters grabbed me. I also felt this was the first film to portray a gay character that was realistic, not some stereotype or the butt of a joke. Superbly written, acted and directed, this film should be seen by more people.Classicfilmboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01278928051994100842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-83025615408653645052011-03-30T09:53:05.649-07:002011-03-30T09:53:05.649-07:00Sam, I liked "Kes" a great deal when I f...Sam, I liked "Kes" a great deal when I finally saw it a few months ago. Because its main character is quite a bit younger than those of most of the British New Wave films, it has a different feel to it but also captures the bleakness of provincial working-class life in, if anything, an even grittier way than those films. My own favorites of the BNW movies are "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" and "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning." "Honey" shows this environment in just as bleak a way but somehow has a less harsh overall tone, more sad than angry.R. D. Finchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-56923662492856816212011-03-29T21:18:42.117-07:002011-03-29T21:18:42.117-07:00"Taste of Honey is a first-rate film in all r..."Taste of Honey is a first-rate film in all respects and a very intelligent one to boot. It's difficult to believe that a movie with such insight into its characters' emotions and moods, and so aware of the power their environment has over them, is the product of the imagination of an eighteen-year old writer. It's a melancholic film that treats its melancholy in neither an overly intellectual nor an overly sentimental way and is all the more moving for its temperate view of the essential sadness of life."<br /><br />Beautifully framed here R.D. I agree of course that the British film industry had those two great periods in the 40's and in the 60's. I am also a big fan of the British New Wave, and also regard THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER as the greatest film in this movement, though in an overlap, Ken Loach's KES (1969) is my favorite British film of the 60's. A TASTE OF HONEY is rather shapeless, but it's sympathetic. It's sometimes amateurish, but it's stunning to look at and you've well-delineated it's power. In addition to the leads, Robert Stephens and Murray Melvin are excellent, and again John Addison, who scored LONG DISTANCE RUNNER makes a significant contribution.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-48765047200123107882011-03-28T22:42:22.630-07:002011-03-28T22:42:22.630-07:00John, thanks for your comment. I'm pleased tha...John, thanks for your comment. I'm pleased that you seem to be as big a fan of the British New Wave as I am. I saw some of the BNW films many years ago. Others like most of Richardson's I've seen only in the last few years, but I've also revisited some of the ones I saw earlier, and I find them all still as powerful as they must have been when they were made.R. D. Finchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-52007953013758085472011-03-28T13:36:45.673-07:002011-03-28T13:36:45.673-07:00Richardson's THE LONLINESS OF THE LONG DISTANC...Richardson's THE LONLINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER is a great film. Courtenay is superb in it. I look forward to catching this one and THE ENTERTAINER, both of which have been sadly neglected on my part. The Britsh new wave films of the late 50's and into the early 60's were filled with raw talent and a lot of creative anger that gave us some masterful works. I had no idea Delaney was on 18 years old when she wrote it! R.D., as always an insightful and educational review.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01808503055317962289noreply@blogger.com