Charlie Bubbles [DVD]

Delighted to see this unique movie has now made it to DVD. It's one of those I didn't think they'd ever do, but gradually studios are seeing the sense to produce DVDs of some pretty niche and uncommercial movies because at last they recognise their artistic and sometimes just mainly nostalgic value. This film has both, and remains the only movie Finney has, to date, directed, and as he's known to be a man who says what he means, looks like staying the only one. This original slice of life, semi autobiographical, semi road movie has some pretty distinctive direction and a notable, quite personal feeling screenplay by fellow Salfordian, Shelagh Delaney, not short of wit.

Although the thread is a very simple one, the way it is unravelled is inventive, full of character, and had a lot of film industry folk talking about an interesting new movie director to look out for. Alas we will probably never know how this briefly promising career would have panned out, but judged on the basis of this movie, it may have been a celebrated one. The career he chose to continue devoting himself to is indeed a celebrated one.

CB is one of those 'day in the life' semi realist type of films so its lack of plot or action won't really please the thrill seekers, I shouldn't think. Got generally favourable press at the time despite its rather predictable flop at the box office. But these days studios are realising the age old truth that artistic successes can be as valuable as purely commercial successes. Has a great cast too - Finney himself never fails to please, and there is Blakely in typically solid supporting role form, and Whitelaw at her best, proving to have real chemistry with Albert, which led to at least one other movie playing his estranged wife again.

Not much really happens in the film, but this isn't the point, it is a little slice of life type movie with some good features - most notable is the distintive direction of first and only time director Finney - he shows a good visual sense troughout the movie with unusual viewpoints, often focusing the camera on what he as Charlie Bubbles is looking at, when the dialogue is coming from others out of shot. Even more notable are the seamless cutaways from one focus point to another, as he takes the camera on the same sort of soulful journey Charlie's on, and it works.

Charlie Bubbles was Albert Finney's one and only shot at directing a film. It came out at the tail end of the 1960s and is clearly inspired by a lot of European cinema such as Antonioni and/or Fellini in it's abstract directorial touches and it's pace and narrative structure.

I'm not quite sure why Finney only directed once in his career, but I can sense that this was a very personal project; one that he simply had to direct and so perhaps once done he never truly felt the need again. It is personal because it offers the tale of a very succesful man, in this case a writer, who came from humble beginning in Salford nr Manchester and who is now, at his height, feeling detached and bored, clearly craving something but he doesn't know what. Now compare this with Finney himself, a very successful man, in his case an actor, who came from humble beginnings in Salford nr Manchester and who perhaps at the time of the film was detached and bored craving a new experience and as we can see, he chose to direct.

The film is a perfect snapshot of the 60s as we imagine or recall them. For me, having lived all my life in the North West of England I well remember the deserted, desolate knocked down streets that Finney's Bubbles drives his Rolls around whilst an excitable Liza Minnelli (a great little performance) rapidly takes snap shots of anything and everything. Indeed, another little treat for anyone from the North in watching this is seeing familiar acting faces of the region such as Bryan Mosely aka Alf Roberts of Coronation Street, John Ronane of Strangers, Joe Gladwin of Last Of The Summer Wine and the Hovis ads and Arthur Pentelow aka Mr Wilks of Emmerdale Farm.

But that is not to say this film is just a nostalgia fest. Far from it, because although on the surface, the ambling narrative may appear to say little, what we actually have here is a very prescient piece on the nature of fame and celebrity, something which is all too easily obsessive for today's Britain whose public clamour for navel gazing reality and fly on the wall TV shows featuring people well exhausting their 15 minutes.

However, 1967 was markedly different in that it was a time when to be famous you had to have talent and people would appreciate you as such. These were the days when te country was more obsessed with class than with celebrity culture, so to be succesful you really did have to achieve. But at what price fame? Charlie lives life constantly detached, viewing events from behind glass, as beautifully witnessed in the scenes were he takes his son to a Man Utd game and they watch in an isolated and clinical private box; or when he returns home, to his banks of TV screens, each focusing on every aspect of the house.

In short, I would truly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys 60s cinema, and who likes a message in their movies. But don't be phased by the pace and the lack of events the film provides, the message is there, but you have to reach inside and look with your own eyes, to interact with it, something that Charlie himself finds difficult to do.

A popular and well known but disaffected writer (Albert Finney, who also directed) from a working class background leaves London for a weekend in Manchester in Northern England to visit his estranged wife (Billie Whitelaw, who won the BAFTA supporting actress for her work here) and young son (Timothy Garland). From a screenplay by Shelagh Delaney (A TASTE OF HONEY), this offbeat movie remains the only feature film directed by Finney which is a pity because he has a real director's eye. There's a wonderful sequence played out through multiple B&W screens simultaneously from a security camera watching all the rooms in a house as the characters enter and exit from different rooms as well as a bravado sequence at an all night cafe. Not all of it works. There's a silly scene in a post first class restaurant with Finney and Colin Blakely dumping food on each other that seems to come from another movie. The film is also notable for the film debut (excluding her cameo in IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME) of Liza Minnelli as Finney's American secretary. It's a plotless film, almost surreal in execution but engaging nevertheless. The superbly bleak photography is by Peter Suschitsky. With Yootha Joyce.

The Freemantle DVD from Great Britain is an above average anamorphic wide screen (about 1.77) transfer.