Bridge of Spies

I wasn't overly fussed about the prospect of Bridge of Spies when I saw the trailer a while ago.  That's why, even though the other members of Film Club were keen, I didn't initially organise a trip (yes, I abuse my power as club president - but then, if I didn't organise the trips, we'd never see anything!).  Then, my parents went to see it, and came back raving about how good it was, so I relented.  And I'm very glad I did!

Bridge of Spies is difficult to categorise - courtroom drama crossed with spy thriller?  But, apart from a plane being shot down in the middle, there's very little in the way of action or excitement, suspense or thrills.  Where the film's genius truly lies is in the stellar performances of Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance, an excellent script helping them to create characters you can't help but root for.

I was gripped from start to finish, and very much enjoyed the multiple moments of unexpected humour (most likely provided by the Coen brothers, who polished the script).

The only weakness I can come up with was that the story apparently jumped from 1957 to 1961 somewhere in the middle (about the time the wall went up) - but there was no indication that I could see that this happened.  Still, it wasn't necessary to know - it just made it seem as everything happened very quickly and conveniently in terms of proving Tom Hanks' character right.  It also reduced the impact of the American pilot's imprisonment by the Russians, as it appeared he was only a prisoner for a few weeks, while Wikipedia tells me it was actually nearly two years.

Let the masterclass begin...

As I enter the next stage of writing my novel - editing the first draft - I thought it might be a good idea to go to the masters of the craft for some much-needed instruction.  And so, I created the Masterclass Project - seven novels that stand out to me as being exceptional in some way, and which I plan to re-read over the next few months to try and glean some pearls of wisdom for the improvement of my own writing.

I started with Emma by Jane Austen.

This is probably the Austen novel I am least familiar with, since I consider it my least favourite.  In labelling it as such, I had forgotten that it is, of course, still Austen, and therefore amazing by its very nature.  I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed re-reading it, after a gap of several years.  It's a very assured novel; rich in detail and characterisation.  One of Austen's main strengths is the distinctiveness of each character - the way she crafts their dialogue to give them depth without being caricatures.  The knowing authorial voice is another much-commented-upon feature - I love the way she can criticise her own creations without losing understanding of or sympathy for them.  I liked Emma, both the character and the novel, more on this reading than perhaps ever before, perhaps by paying more attention to the method of their creation than usual.

I did find the ending a little odd, though - the resolution for the heroine comes fifty pages before the end of the novel, and then there's a whole load of tying up of loose ends for other people.  It seemed a bit strange for Emma's story to be essentially complete, and then for the novel to carry on for so long afterwards - but I suppose it does fit with lengthy process of having to break change gently to Mr Woodhouse and then let the idea settle for a while before acting on it.

Anyway, I'm not sure how much I learned from re-reading Emma, but the experience was certainly a joyous one.