Spring Break is over and the Williams Lake Film Club is ready to go once again.
We will screen our next film on Tuesday, March 24, at the Gibraltar Room at 7 p.m.
Our next film is Grace of Monaco, part of the personal story of former Hollywood film star legend Grace Kelly, who became Princess Grace of Monaco.
Let me say it right at the beginning, I have never seen a film being surrounded by so much controversy as this one. And I am quite puzzled by that.
The film opened the 2014 Cannes Film Festival out of competition after the Grimaldi family had absolutely denounced it.
The screenplay was written by Arash Amal and was considered one of the most liked screenplays written in 2011. Prince Albert approved of it. So supposedly did others of the royal family. But once it was completed they completely trashed it without even seeing it.
“The Royal Family wishes to stress that this film in no way constitutes a biopic. It recounts one rewritten, needlessly glamorized page in the history of Monaco and its family with both major historical inaccuracies and a series of purely fictional scenes.”
At that time the film was not even edited, let alone even released.
And the media followed.
The Guardian called it “a film so awe-inspiring wooden that it is basically a fire-risk.” The script, which was previously so admired, was now called by Variety “a script, which is clunkier than a wooden leg on a ballroom floor.”
Nicole Kidman quietly hinted that the movie was a character study, stating: “This is not a biopic or a fictionalized documentary of Grace Kelly, but only a small part of her life where she reveals her great humanity as well as her fears and weaknesses.”
My favourite quote comes from Jim Schembri, 3AW: “If you believed even a 10th of the badmouthing this film has received … you’d think it wasn’t so much a movie as a public health hazard. As it turns out … the film has more virtues than the tsunami of shrill, acidic review would suggest.”
What do I say? I like this film. It tells a part of Grace Kelly’s personal story, her crisis in marriage and identity during a political dispute about taxes between Monaco’s Prince Rainier III and France’s President Charles de Gaulle.
And there was a looming French invasion of Monaco during the early 1960s, yes, a military invasion by France. The cinematography is full of warm colour and lush images. The story is full of glamour and intrigue. Altogether it is a most enjoyable movie about one of the most interesting women in film history.
And, Nicole Kidman plays the role perfectly.
Back doors open at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $9, $8 for film club members and $6 for students, TRU and secondary, and seniors (65-plus please).
All of our proceeds help to support the LDA, Williams Lake Chapter of the Association for Students with Learning Disabilities.