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Member since:05.02.2006
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'Calendar Girls' is a moving and funny film based on the true story of a group of Women's Institute members from Yorkshire who set out to publish a calendar. This was no ordinary calendar though, as all the women who agreed to appear, appeared nude! At the time, back in 1999, there was huge publicity surrounding this venture, so it was really no surprise that the story was made into a film in 2003 starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters.
Although the film is based on the true story, a lot of the elements are purely fictional. The two main characters are Chris (Helen Mirren) and Annie (Julie Walters). Annie's husband John (played by John Alderton) is diagnosed with leukaemia early in the film and soon dies. While he is treated for his illness, Annie and Chris spend a lot of hours waiting in the hospital on a somewhat uncomfortable sofa. After he dies, Annie's aim is to raise enough money to replace the sofa with something a lot more comfortable, so that other relatives can wait in better
circumstances.
Somehow, the idea of the nude calendar emerges and the two women set about recruiting their different months and finding a photographer. The scenes where the women are being photographed are very amusing - it's difficult to tell who are more embarrassed - the women themselves or the somewhat shy amateur photographer Lawrence (played by Phillip Glennister) All the women pose in extremely tasteful ways with their modesty covered up by the host of WI activities they are undertaking - cake making, flower arranging, etc. There is a classic line, when at the start of the photography session, Celia Imrie's character (Celia) is posing behind an arrangement of cakes, and Helen Mirren, in a broad yorkshire accent proclaims - 'It's no use Lawrence - you're going to have to find some bigger buns!'
Eventually, not without some resistance from some WI members, the calendar is produced, and all the women are astounded by the media interest and the successful sales. All of a sudden their lives are taken over and they find themselves in Hollywood being interviewed by Jay Leno. For some of them, particularly Annie, a lot of this attention is unwelcome, and it leads to tensions within the group themselves. It also causes some difficulties for the women's families - Chris's son Jem is mortified that his mother has appeared nude, and her husband is left to run their joint business virtually single handedly.
However, at the end of the film, most difficulties are overcome, and the most impressive thing is that not only have the women raised enough money to replace the sofa, they have also raised enough to build a whole new cancer wing at the hospital!
I really enjoyed this film - it has just the right mix of humour and poignancy which meant that when I was watching it, I would be laughing one moment and almost in tears the next! Overall though, it is very uplifting, and you cannot help but admire the real gutsy women that made it happen.
The cast is excellent. Both Julie Walters and Helen Mirren are sympathetic and convincing - the love that both women feel for each other is evident, and when they feel the tension between them, you feel uncomfortable watching them. There is a wonderful supporting cast too with some very well known names - John Alderton, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton and Annette Crosbie.
As I said there is a lot of humour in the film, and a lot of this is based on having a laugh at the expense of the WI. There are a series of very dreary speakers, experts on topics that range from the life cycle of broccoli to all sorts of floor coverings! There is also a little dig at a certain snobbishness by some WI members and also the rivalry between different local branches.
So overall this film is well worth watching, and as I have it on DVD I have watched it more than once. I love the story, more so because it is based on the truth, and I love the fact that it is possible for ordinary people to achieve some quite extraordinary things! Maybe there's hope for us all!
The DVD does have some extras as well. These include some deleted scenes, the naked truth which looks at the real story, and creating the calendar which is quite interesting as it looks at how the real actresses approached the nude scenes!
The overall running time of the film is 104 minutes and it has a 12 certificate. At present, it can be bought from Amazon for £6.97, and at that price is definitely one for the collection.
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Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
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Production Year: 2000 - Comedy - Director: David Raynr - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, Shane West, Marla Sokoloff, James Franco, Colin Hanks, Christine Lakin, Aaron Paul
In the sensible yet elegant hands of actresses Helen Mirren and Julie Walters,Calendar ... more
Girlswalks a fine line between sappiness and snickering and ends up both wonderfully funny and gently touching. When her best friend Annie (Walters) loses her husban...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In the sensible yet elegant hands of actresses Helen Mirren and Julie Walters,Calendar ... more
Girlswalks a fine line between sappiness and snickering and ends up both wonderfully funny and gently touching. When her best friend Annie (Walters) loses her husban...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
CALENDAR GIRLS is the hilariously quirky comedy starring Golden Globe winners Helen Mirren ... more
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 ...
![Calendar Girls [DVD] [2003]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78498835.jpg "Calendar Girls [DVD] [2003]")
Mar 28th, 2007
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