Check these two cinema gems out if you're into 1920s glamour, comedy and a bit of drama…
1. Serena (2014) – filmed in Denmark and the Czech Republic
On Friday, my 29th birthday, I saw a film set in 1929. This film was called Serena and it was the first day it was out in the UK. What drew me to see this film was mainly the fact that it had Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in it, the dream team from Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. This time though, they were actually a married couple.
While it brought smiles to people's faces that Cooper's character George starts the very first conversation he ever has with Serena with "I think we should get married", the film's storyline got darker and darker after that. After loosing her unborn child, Serena's jealousy at a woman from George's past who happens to have a little boy with him, becomes unbearable.
My verdict: Serena is not a film that comes with the feel-good factor, but it's very well acted (especially by Jennifer Lawrence) and for those who like it, it's a thoroughly well done drama.
2. Magic In The Moonlight (2014) – filmed in France and the UK
By contrast, another recent film set in the late 1920s, triumphs with many funny moments. In Woody Allen's newest flick Magic In The Moonlight, Colin Firth plays a professional British illusionist called Stanley. A magician on-stage, Stanley is a deeply rational, snobbish (but in a funny way) and sarcastic (also in an entertaining way) guy off-stage.
He travels to the estate of a rich, befriended American family at the Côte d’Azur, where he meets Sophie (Emma Stone), an apparent clairvoyant and mystic. Rather sceptical, as one is, Firth's character Stanley naturally mistrusts Sophie's supernatural abilities.
As in his masterpiece Blue Jasmine, Woody Allen again makes good use of music in this film. From end to finish, the audience get's a really good feel for 1928. The fact that entrance and end are made like a 1920s silent film further contributes to this.
My verdict: Magic In The Moonlight is a fun, albeit subtly, entertaining Roaring Twenties film throughout. I liked it a lot.
Leave a Reply