Do you know exactly what The WI (Women's Institute) do? I didn't, but I had a mental picture of a group of older woman who met and did work for the local community, but I made a generalisation, and thought they would be a group of intimidating gossip mongers with nothing better to do but poke their noses in where they were not wanted, and I go on record now to say I am very sorry, and my opinion has altered greatly. I often see WI announcements in the local press, but have never given them more attention than a fleeting glance, however after last night, I will probably pause on that page for a little while longer to see what they are up to. In case you had not noticed the media coverage of the premiere, and then the release of the film 'Calendar Girls' yesterday, then I will tell you all about it. It is a true story about a group of women who attend WI meetings. What is interesting about that I hear you ask....well read on, and then when you have read this, go and book tickets for tomorrow night, get a babysitter (if required) and go and see this film.
The film starts by introducing us to a group of seemingly ordinary Yorkshire women, who are all members of their local WI group. We glimpse each month of the year, and see them listening to riviting presentations on subjects ranging from broccoli, to the hilarious slides of a local gentleman's holiday of a lifetime, which included numerous slides showing only the tickets for the holiday in the chubby fingered hands of his wife. The women are becoming increasingly bored with their meetings and the incessant renditions of 'Jerusalem', but they still go because they have got into a routine, and they also do not want to face the wrath of branch president Mairi (Geraldine James), who likes to run the group her way, and is not keen on taking on board suggestions from her members.
The film quickly focuses on the two main characters Annie Clarke (Julie Walters) and her best friend Chris Walters (Helen Mirren). The first ten minutes of the film ease you in, get you comfortable, then make you laugh before your emotions hit the floor when you are introduced to Annie's likeable husband John (John Alderton). One day, Annie comes home to find John standing in
the hallway with his case packed, and she begs him not to leave her, as I am sure she thinks that would be the worst thing that could happen to her, but he tells her he has cancer and is going to hospital for treatment, and the bottom drops out of her world while she plays the waiting game that cancer forces upon so many of us. We witness the ups and downs of his treatment, including his attendance at the local fair, where the WI enter many competitions, and the cake baking contests seem to be the main event. This is a hilarious scene, and Helen Mirren is magical. Also, watch out for the real calendar girls, who appear in this scene as a rival WI cake baking group!
The solid friendship which the two women have is strengthened as Chris becomes Annie's rock throughout John's illness, and ultimately his death. I found this so upsetting, even though after reading press reviews, I knew the idea for the calendar was hatched after the death of one of their husband's, it comes so suddenly, and I actually gave myself a sore throat trying not to cry! Annie tries and returns to some normality, but Chris feels the need to mark John's death to try and help Annie cope. One day, whilst having her son's bike repaired, she notices a glamour calendar on the wall of the workshop...you know the type, pretty young things, flashing flesh, but leaving enough to the imagination to make it respectable enough for public display. As Chris sees it, we sense the lightbulb in her head has gone off, and a poem John wrotes seems to have been written for this situation, and she soons rounds up some of her WI colleagues, and asks them how they would feel about posing for the annual WI calendar, instead of the usual shots of the countryside which never sell more than 100 copies.
The group which at first consists of Jesse (Annette Crosbie), who will do it as long as she does not have to show her front bottom, which is a classic line, Celia (Celia Imrie), Ruth (Penelope Wilton) seem keen, and when they meet in a local furniture store, Chris tells them that the funds raised from the sales of the calendar will enable them to buy a sofa for the relatives room in the hospital, so relatives can be more comfortable in such a terrible time. The sofa they like costs £995 for the leather version, so they make that their target. The plan seems like it has full support until Chris breaks the news that in order to maximise sales, she thinks that they should pose in the nude, which is met with disgust, embarassment, and most other emotions you can think of. Chris will not be put off though, and while the group are at her house, she shows them how easy it is to bare your boobs....just as her troubled son Ged arrives home from school with his best friend in tow, and it is hard to tell who is more embarassed.
Right, I have set the scene, and rather than put too many spoilers in this, I will just talk about the film as a whole. Obviously, the women agree to pose for the calendar, but it is the journey from agreeing, to posing, to getting it into print, to dealing with the media attention, whilst still trying to live their lives which is the main focus of the film. Chris, whose past projects have always fallen flat, approaches this with a renewed gusto, but whilst she is giving her all to the calendar, she fails to notice that her family is crumbling in her wake, as her husband feels neglected, and her son turns to drugs and drink to ease the pain he is feeling. This was an excellent approach to the film, as it would have been really easy to make the ladies whiter than white, but we soon discover that they all hide personal demons, such as loveless marriages, unfaithful husbands, and extreme loneliness. Each woman gets something different out of the journey. They also have to battle the hierarchy of the WI committee, and their own branch president, who tries to scupper their plans, but soon does an about turn when she realises she is beaten.
The end of the film informs us exactly what they have managed to buy with the profits from the calendar, but I would never spoil it by telling you here because I feel so strongly that you have to experience this film for yourselves. There are parts of the film which have been changed, and I am sure dramatised to make it better viewing, but it still had a real feeling about it. I connected with these women, even though our paths would never cross, and I barely have anything in common with them, and that is the magic of this film, it is real, it is gritty, but that is how life is, or at least it is for me and most of my friends and family, so why try to sugar coat things to make them more pallatable for the audience.
The cast are tremendous, they are all older ladies, in the nicest sense of the word. Helen Mirren is an absolute gem, and although I have never doubted her talent, it was nice to see her in a role where the majority of the audience could relate to her, instead of her being the police woman in Prime Suspect that is aloof and flaunts her sexuality at every opportunity, which is ok, but is something we have seen her do once to often, or at least I have. The presence of men in the film is scant, and they do not have significant roles in terms on time on screen, but they are all characters with which the film would be worse off if they were omitted, especially the photographer Lawrence (Philip Glenister), who seemed a bit naive to come up with the ideas he did! They all look like they had a brilliant time making the film, and appearing nude at their time in life must have been challenging to say the least, and for that I take my hat off to them all. I have read some reviews which say the screenplay was made too simple, and you could guess what was happening before it actually did, but to that I say, this is life, and when a husband disappears for a week at a time, it does not take a genius to see he is dipping his wick in someone else's candle! To make the screenplay more complex would not have been true to the events as they happened.
Direction is by Nigel Cole, who directed another laugh a minute film with 'Saving Grace' starring Brenda Blethyn, and he captures the emotion of the film without feeling the need to be too intrusive or sensationalist, and the comic timing is absolutely spot on. He has moudled characters from the women who were involved in the actual calendar, and he has made them into amiable women, and every woman in the audience will find an affinity with at least one of the group, no matter what age she is, and men will admire them for who they are and what they have accomplished. He used the scenery of the area in Yorkshire they are from to film some breathtaking scenes, and there is a place Chris' son goes often, and it is a beautiful area, which is used in scenes of complete despair and desolation for Ged.
This is not a film just for women of a certain age. This is a film that anyone, any age, any sex will take some pleasure from, and with a 12A rating, take some of the older children along. When we came out of the cinema, there were 2004 calendars on sale, but the seller was crowded by so many people, I could not see if the calendar featured the actresses or the women who inspired the story.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
Just what kind of copycat attempts are you concerned about? The library staff at Camden where I work have just produced a calendar inspired by the one this film is about. I enjoyed reading your review.
mrsmummy 04.12.2003 00:13
I really want to see this film now. Really good op, informative without giving TOO much away!!!
bball 02.12.2003 23:40
Blimey - you've done a great job here - almost too good as I haven't seen the film yet. Anyway I definately want to watch it now - might wait for the DVD so I've forgotten some of the plot!! Cheers bballx
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In the sensible yet elegant hands of actresses Helen Mirren and Julie Walters,Calendar ... more
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and Julie Walters and directed by Nigel Cole. When twelve extraordinary members of the Women's Institute, a proper local charity, decide they need to find a new ...
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Sep 14th, 2003
very helpful by (100%):
