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Charlotte Rampling’s slide projector – and the sad demise of analogue Charlotte Rampling’s slide projector – and the sad demise of analogue
(1 day later)
An hour into the brilliant new British movie 45 Years, Charlotte Rampling holes herself up in an attic and looks at some slides. They were taken by her husband, Tom Courtenay, when he was hiking in Switzerland with a previous girlfriend. During the trip, she fell into a glacier; her perfectly preserved body has just been unearthed. He’s finding it hard to cope. His wife likewise.An hour into the brilliant new British movie 45 Years, Charlotte Rampling holes herself up in an attic and looks at some slides. They were taken by her husband, Tom Courtenay, when he was hiking in Switzerland with a previous girlfriend. During the trip, she fell into a glacier; her perfectly preserved body has just been unearthed. He’s finding it hard to cope. His wife likewise.
The plot – memories put on ice, a past literally defrosted – smacks of the short story; metaphors packed tight for extra oomph. And, sure enough, 45 Years is adapted from one. But the slides scene doesn’t feature in the book. Rather, the awful info Rampling gleans from the images is just told to her straight by her husband.The plot – memories put on ice, a past literally defrosted – smacks of the short story; metaphors packed tight for extra oomph. And, sure enough, 45 Years is adapted from one. But the slides scene doesn’t feature in the book. Rather, the awful info Rampling gleans from the images is just told to her straight by her husband.
In 45 years time, Rampling's character would just swipe through Courtenay's Instagram rather than plug in a projectorIn 45 years time, Rampling's character would just swipe through Courtenay's Instagram rather than plug in a projector
So what we have here, then, categorically, is the most inspired book-to-movie improvement ever in the history of cinema. It is an absolutely terrifying few minutes. The level of dread, already high, is soundtracked by the mini-guillotine whirr and click of the machine. It all plays out in very slow strobe – a brief plunge into total darkness punctuating every picture. A relationship drama becomes a horror film. The bogeyman intermittently glimpsed beneath a dodgy basement lightbulb. So what we have here, then, categorically, is the most inspired book-to-movie improvement ever in the history of cinema. It is an absolutely terrifying few minutes. The level of dread, already high, is soundtracked by the mini-guillotine whirr and click of the machine. It all plays out in very slow strobe – a brief plunge into total darkness punctuating every picture. A relationship drama becomes a horror film. The bogeyman intermittently glimpsed beneath a dodgy basement lightbulb.
In 45 years’ time, such a scene won’t be possible. Rampling’s character would just swipe through Courtenay’s Instagram, clocking the comments, zooming in with finger and thumb, maybe annotating with a sad-face emoji. There would be no need to unhook a loft ladder or plug in a projector. No special audio or light effects. No sound at all.In 45 years’ time, such a scene won’t be possible. Rampling’s character would just swipe through Courtenay’s Instagram, clocking the comments, zooming in with finger and thumb, maybe annotating with a sad-face emoji. There would be no need to unhook a loft ladder or plug in a projector. No special audio or light effects. No sound at all.
The noise of analogue is something I’m really going to miss, should I live that long. Hardware beeping and groaning back at you, humming its own little tune. A student at Cardiff university has turned floppy disk drives into musical instruments, adjusting their cogs so they can play passable versions of The Final Countdown and Get Lucky. Engineers are hard at work mimicking the stealth technology of owls so drone weapons will be able to suppress wing vibrations and swoop on their prey without a whisper.The noise of analogue is something I’m really going to miss, should I live that long. Hardware beeping and groaning back at you, humming its own little tune. A student at Cardiff university has turned floppy disk drives into musical instruments, adjusting their cogs so they can play passable versions of The Final Countdown and Get Lucky. Engineers are hard at work mimicking the stealth technology of owls so drone weapons will be able to suppress wing vibrations and swoop on their prey without a whisper.
The future will be played out in silence. Rampling’s slideshow was scary. But that sounds even more uncanny.The future will be played out in silence. Rampling’s slideshow was scary. But that sounds even more uncanny.
Best feet forwardBest feet forward
Death is no longer the end, if you’re a potentially lucrative actor. Studios, understandably reluctant to let little things like rigor mortis get in the way of bums on seats, have begun meticulously recreating the deceased via the magic of CGI – and their pool of candidates is pushing further back into the past. The latest long-dead thesp to be resurrected looks likely to be Peter Cushing (died 1994), whose evil commander Grand Moff Tarkin will return for a new Star Wars movie.Death is no longer the end, if you’re a potentially lucrative actor. Studios, understandably reluctant to let little things like rigor mortis get in the way of bums on seats, have begun meticulously recreating the deceased via the magic of CGI – and their pool of candidates is pushing further back into the past. The latest long-dead thesp to be resurrected looks likely to be Peter Cushing (died 1994), whose evil commander Grand Moff Tarkin will return for a new Star Wars movie.
Related: Star Wars: Rogue One 'to resurrect Peter Cushing via CGI', despite slipper issuesRelated: Star Wars: Rogue One 'to resurrect Peter Cushing via CGI', despite slipper issues
But there’s a sticking point: slippers. Cushing had unusually whopping feet, and the riding boots of his official costume pinched. So he lobbied George Lucas to only shoot him from the thighs up, or at least edit out his lower legs, enabling him to stalk about the set in carpet slippers (a brown pair, on display at an exhibition in Whitstable a few years ago).But there’s a sticking point: slippers. Cushing had unusually whopping feet, and the riding boots of his official costume pinched. So he lobbied George Lucas to only shoot him from the thighs up, or at least edit out his lower legs, enabling him to stalk about the set in carpet slippers (a brown pair, on display at an exhibition in Whitstable a few years ago).
The producers ought, of course, to embrace this – to run with the footwear. Slippers are these days a sartorial slamdunk: both Beckhams have lately been snapped out and about sporting slip-ons. And such a suggestion of fashion, or even of fluff, in this steeliest of characters would help add some shade into a story not noted for its ambiguities. And if Darth Vader could wear a bathrobe ...The producers ought, of course, to embrace this – to run with the footwear. Slippers are these days a sartorial slamdunk: both Beckhams have lately been snapped out and about sporting slip-ons. And such a suggestion of fashion, or even of fluff, in this steeliest of characters would help add some shade into a story not noted for its ambiguities. And if Darth Vader could wear a bathrobe ...
Let’s get hammeredLet’s get hammered
From next week, a new pop-up ale house in Dalston, east London, will offer its punters a larky new pastime to play between pints. Its name is Hammerschlagen – a German game that involves hammering nails into a plank of wood. The winner is the person who requires fewest strokes to get the head flush with the wood. It’s closely related to stump, an American drinking game in which the hammer is chucked around the group before you have a go at bashing. And you thought fruit machines were dangerous.From next week, a new pop-up ale house in Dalston, east London, will offer its punters a larky new pastime to play between pints. Its name is Hammerschlagen – a German game that involves hammering nails into a plank of wood. The winner is the person who requires fewest strokes to get the head flush with the wood. It’s closely related to stump, an American drinking game in which the hammer is chucked around the group before you have a go at bashing. And you thought fruit machines were dangerous.
@catherineshoard@catherineshoard