As regular readers of this blog know, I greatly enjoy films. In the afore time before 2020 my Bride and I would see several movies in theaters in typical years. Since 2020 I think we have seen one film in a theater. The below films may tempt me to return:
The Lost King (2023) is a whimsical look at the research which led to the finding of the body of King Richard III under a car park in Leicester in 2012. There is a cottage industry dedicated to proving that Richard was maligned by the Tudors, Saint Thomas More and Shakespeare and that he was a good king and not a monster. My own position is that he was an able enough King, but that morally he was one of the worst men to ever rule England. In any case he was an important King. If the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 had gone his way all subsequent English, and much of European, history would have been altered.
The Shamrock Spitfire (2023) is a tribute to Brendan “Paddy” Finucane who at the age 0f 21 became the youngest Wing Commander in the Royal Air Force. Despite the Irish Free State being neutral, some 70,000 Irish citizens volunteered to fight against the Third Reich, most doing so in the British Forces. Finucane is credited with some 28 aerial victories and it is good to see his noble life celebrated.
This film is about Father Gabriele Amorth who was the exorcist of the diocese of Rome and who passed away at age 91 in 2016. I have always been interested in exorcisms. Two potential problems with the film: It seems to have taken the gross out path pioneered by the fictional film, The Exorcist, and two, the star, Russell Crowe. I was a fan of Mr. Crowe’s work early in his career but his later films seem to involve sullen and/or depressed characters.
But what about Cocaine Bear???
Before the Wuhan flu reign of terror, I would get recent nonfiction books out of the library. I read one on how RIII lost at Bosworth. It was a close run thing. I guess it was written shortly after they found the body.
Re: Cocaine gear. Outdoors mags over the years would write about how after frosts berries would ferment bears would eat them and get tipsy. Not sure if that was true.
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Richard III held the throne for about two years. He lost the throne in battle and had his nephews murdered to boot. Not sure how he could qualify as ‘able enough’.
The Popes Exorcist looks like a cheap horror movie. What a missed opportunity that would have been to represent the life of Father Gabriele Amorth and not give his work and his persona the justice it deserves.
The problem with Russell Crowe is he has a god-complex – he lives on massive rural property in the north of NSW, and skirts the line between understanding the common working battler to sitting front row at Sporting and Celebrity events. He presents himself as this wise cultured-type, when really his only achievement is being an actor. I also find his work and character portrayals, generally, one dimensional. In terms of great Aussie actors- I would rate Mel Gibson and Hugh Jackman well above Russell Crowe in terms of diversity of ability and screen presence.
But darn it – I can’t stop thinking what a missed opportunity The Popes Exorcist is.
He crushed the rebellion of 1483. He established the Council of the North which became a permanent part of the government of England. He established the Court of Requests to allow poor people to bring streamlined suits without legal representation. He improved the granting of bail. He ordered that the statutes and laws in French be translated into English. Lots of other reforming activity for such a short reign.
He brought 8000 men to Bosworth Field to oppose Henry’s 5000. He came close to winning in spite of the treachery of Stanley and Northumberland.
A few facts about Richard III. Judgements on his morality, by necessity, should be based on a reasonable certainty. While he may indeed have had a hand in the princes’ murders, it is by no means certain and there is little way of establishing even probability at this point. It is generally considered that he made a good start at reforming civil process in the country and, that had he lived, would have carried it further. By any moral standard of the day, ex the princes argument, he stood quite above Jasper Tudor and his progeny who gave the country almost a century of retrograde government. Finally, I would note that there was little protest from the Catholic hierarchy in the country when he was given an Anglican funeral when best records indicate he was quite the loyal Roman Catholic.
While he may indeed have had a hand in the princes’ murders,
Res ipsa Loquitur-They were under the control of Richard in the Tower and there were no sightings of them after the summer of 1483. Before he had ascended to the throne Richard had declared them illegitimate. The older boy received the Last Rites daily because he feared constantly for his life.