The Swiss Guard

Everyone has presumably seen a picture of the Pontifical Swiss Guard who guard the Vatican and the Pope, both at home and abroad. They have been doing this since 1506, and are they are still going strong, and that is what today's documentary is about; what it takes to join the ranks of the Pope's army.

My only complaint about the documentary is that the voice over is text to speech which gives it a flat tone, instead of using actual voice over actors, but beyond that it is pretty interesting, whether you are religious or not.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week! 

 

 

 

 

Whistle and I'll Come to You

I have on two separate occasions watched videos on movies and shows that traumatized British viewers, either unintentionally or entirely on purpose.

Both videos featured:

Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968).

This 42 minute long TV movie is based on “Oh, whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad” by M. R. James who wrote many acclaimed ghost stories in his time.

It stars Michael Horden as Cambridge Professor Parkin who we meet as he arrives at a hotel somewhere on the English east coast. The professor is there on a small walking holiday, unlike the few other guests who are there for golf. On his first outing, as he walks briskly around, muttering and humming to himself, he finds a crumbling grave in an old cemetery. The grave is half exposed due to the erosion of wind and sea, and upon closer inspection he finds and pockets an ancient flute, or whistle. After dinner, he cleans it up and blows it. That night as he falls asleep he hears a vague fluttering noise. The next night, the noise is louder and almost sounds like a heartbeat, and as he falls asleep, he is constantly disturbed by dreams where a spectral figure chases him along the beach. Something is coming closer, but that is all I'm going to reveal. Watch it yourself if you want to know the ending.

It is worth noting that this story was first published in 1904 and this was shown in 1968, so it's not incredibly scary. If you are a horror aficionado, you may even find it a bit dull, but they managed to make something very atmospheric with very little. Whistle and I'll Come to You is a proper ghost story, not a gore fest.

Whistle and I'll Come to You was remade in 2010 starring John Hurt but I haven't seen it yet.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, absolutely. As I said, it isn't super scary, but I did get a couple of quick chills, which is more than enough. It is a bit slow and very old fashioned, but they really did a great job building the atmosphere from the very beginning. Being so short, I would urge any and every fan of ghost stories to give a go, in fact, I'll embed it below.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

We have ways of making you talk.

I had this whole thing planned with World of Warcraft Legion: Remix, but I got slapped with a proper flu, and my brain has been replaced with snot. Instead I'll just say, Legion: Remix is really cool and if you play WoW, give it a shot.

Instead of my planned content I want to highlight a channel: WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk.  

This channel is WW2 history with comedian Al Murray and historian James Holland who are currently talking about the Battle of Britain. I've seen two videos so far and it is really good. So, enjoy that if you like history. I'll embed the first video for you.

 

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week! 

The Club Dumas

I just finished reading:

The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte published in 1993. (Beware of spoilers in the link).

I chose this novel because it is the basis for The Ninth Gate (1999) by Roman Polanski and starring Johnny Depp, Lena Olin, Frank Langella and Emmanuelle Seigner.

The Ninth Gate has always been one of those movies that stuck with me, and I was pretty happy to sit down and finally read its origin. Like almost all novels with a movie based on it, the two are pretty different.

First off, the book has two main plot lines, instead of only one; an unknown, hand written chapter from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, and a separate plot with a book called Of the Nine Doors of the Kingdom of Shadows.

Our main protagonist Lucas Corso, or Dean Corso in the movie (Depp), a book mercenary in the world of rare antique books, is hired to authenticate the Dumas chapter while also checking up on the Nine Doors. This book, written by Aristide Torchia in 1666 was reputed to be able to summon the Devil. The church burned him and his book in 1667, although three copies survived. Corso's job is to figure out which copy is real and which are expensive forgeries.

A sinister figure stalks Corso as he travels around Spain, Portugal and France, attacking him and trying to steal his bag of books. He is aided by a mysterious young woman, who shows up when she wants to and even helps him fight off the mysterious attacker.

The two plot lines are intimately entwined, up until the end, where as is normal, we get our resolutions. There were times where I was a bit lost trying to make sense of what was going on, and this is not by accident. The Club Dumas is very well written, and nothing is left to chance, but I appreciate the two plot lines being resolving separately. This really helps keep things in perspective, and provides much needed clarity.

Now in the movie, the Three Musketeers plot is removed completely. Certain elements from that plot line are folded into the Nine Doors plot instead, in order to make the full narrative make sense. I think it was a smart move to remove the Dumas part as it is nice but takes a lot of space in pure explanations, something the movie couldn't have handled. If someone wanted to make a TV show based on the novel, the Dumas plot should absolutely be included.

The movie follows the Nine Doors plot pretty faithfully, going to far as to use the engravings created for the novel with only two minor changes to fit into the movie. As movie adaptations go, it is pretty good.

So, do I recommend this book? Yes, I think so. I'm a bit biased as I really like the movie, but I do think the book is well worth reading. It is charming if at times a bit goofy. I don't feel cheated by the end at all, but I would understand if someone else felt that way. Overall I found it interesting and a pretty nice read. I learned a great deal about Alexandre Dumas as a bonus.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!