Film: Saving Mr Banks

Chim-chiminee, chim-chim-cheroo..

Well, since I booked a ticket for Saving Mr Banks (since I was going to Cineworld and they give a discount for booking), I have to confess that I've been humming songs from Mary Poppins instead of Christmas songs! It's about the signing of the rights to the book by Walt Disney, you see, which led to the making of the film.

Anyway, I decided to go to my local Cineworld, which is close enough to home that I can walk, but not close enough to work for that, so I got the bus. (Funnily enough, I phoned my mother from the bus stop, where I could see a bus on that route at the stand, where it was letting off people but wouldn't take any on. I mentioned that to her, but she thought I had said "boss" and that I was fired! ;-)

The bus let me off about five minutes' walk from the cinema, and on the way I came across the most gorgeous Christmas shop! I would have loved to go in, but hadn't time before the film. But I resolved to come back.

I had printed out my confirmation email, with the scannable code, but there was such trouble in getting it to scan that I think I'll get my ticket from the ATM in future. Seating was unallocated. Terrific legroom - I was in a row that allowed me to stretch my legs completely!

And so to the film. Now, this is extremely cleverly made. You could consider it a masterclass in filmmaking, unlike some I could mention. Basically, Walt Disney (played by Tom Hanks) had been trying for the past 20 years to get the rights to Mary Poppins from the writer, Mrs. P. L. Travers (played by Emma Thompson). This is the story of how he managed it. What impressed me most was the way the tone of the film changed, from stiff and starchy at the beginning (just like the lady herself) to all-singing, all-dancing warmth by the end. Perfect. (Oh, and if you think she's overdoing the frostiness, just hang around for the closing credits - she insisted, in real life too, that the sessions where she was collaborating with the scriptwriter and songwriters were recorded, and part of those recordings is played over the credits. You would not believe how true to life Emma Thompson is!)

Much of the film concerns itself with her flashbacks to her childhood, and her alcoholic father (Colin Farrell) to whom she was devoted. And these flashbacks, so different from the world of Hollywood she now finds herself in, are fascinating. The film is an absolute delight, and I defy anyone familiar with Mary Poppins to keep from tapping their hands or feet, or nodding, to the music, which features largely. Or humming it coming out. Particularly the closing song, which turns out to be so important in the story. Really, if you ever liked Mary Poppins, you have to see this! And what good timing, to release just before Christmas a film about the making of another film that is such a perfect Christmas watch!

Paid a visit to the loo on the way out. Very small cubicles.. Then I paid a visit to the Christmas shop, which was closed, of course. But the stock visible from the window looked terrific - I'll be back. Thought about maybe eating in one of the plentiful restaurants along the way, but ultimately ate at home.

For tomorrow, I was looking at an exhibition of 3D printing at the Science Museum, but there was some confusion over the closing time, and that on the website would mean I couldn't get there in time from work, so instead I'm planning another film. Didn't fancy the Turkish romance that would see me heading to a cinema an hour away and not getting back until after midnight - a lot of effort for something I don't really care about. So that leaves Fanny, a French film, directed and written by, and starring, Daniel Auteuil. In the Ciné Lumiere, appropriately - the cinema in the Institut Francais. Much closer than that Turkish film, anyhow.