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Maigret on Screen: The BBC Series

Maigret on Screen: The BBC Series

Georges Simenon was a notorious publicity hound. Biographies are filled with accounts of stunts and statements designed to ensure newspapers ran a story. By the 1960s he was effectively creatively bankrupt. Way past his artistic peak, the author was all too aware that the majority of his sizeable income was generated from the sale of film and TV rights.

The unveiling of a statue in the Dutch…

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Maigret on Screen: The Man on the Eiffel Tower

Simenon’s relationship with his most famous literary creation was filled with contradictions. Resentful at being primarily known as a crime writer he nonetheless enjoyed the royalty cheques that enabled him to travel widely and savour a comfortable lifestyle.

Despite his publicly proclaimed aversion at being solely identified as the author of the Maigret novels, he recognised that securing a…

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Shut That Door by Tony Nicholson

Seems like a nice boy: Comedian’s life was tinged with sorrow and joy.

At its peak, Larry Grayson’s Generation Gameattracted audiences of 25 million. For an entire generation, the show was a key part of their Saturday night viewing schedule. The Oxfordshire born comedian’s catchphrases “Shut that door!”, “Seems like a nice boy”, and “Look at the muck in ‘ere” seeped into popular culture. His…

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Book Review: I Am David by Anne Holm (Trans by L..W. Kingsland)

Danish novel is a hymn to the plight of refugee children.

Since its publication in 1963, I Am David‘s reputation has continued to grow. For a continent struggling to heal the scars of recent conflicts, the story of a child discovering his identity while crossing Europe on foot resonated with readers. At the time of Anne Holm’s death, it was reported that the book had sold in excess of two…

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Book Review: Max Linder – Father of Film Comedy by Snorre Smári Mathiesen

Book Review: Max Linder – Father of Film Comedy by Snorre Smári Mathiesen

The story of a screen comedy giant’s rise and fall is a haunting tragedy.

Feted by Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd, Max Linder was one of silent era’s biggest stars. Born to wealthy vineyard owning parents, Linder would dazzle audiences all over the world. Shooting films nine years before Chaplin, Linder was a cultural icon but today is largely forgotten outside of French-speaking territories.

A…

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Book Review: I Am Not A Number: Decoding the Prisoner by Alex Cox

Book Review: I Am Not A Number: Decoding the Prisoner by Alex Cox

Maverick indie filmmaker’s guide to the perplexing cult classic.

First broadcast fifty years ago, The Prisoner was a seismic television event. Viewers expecting a continuation of Patrick McGoohan’s espionage series Danger Man were confronted with a challenging series that took inspiration from Franz Kafka and John Le Carre.

A product of its time and yet unlike any other series produced, The…

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Book Review: The Venice Train by Georges Simenon (Trans by Alastair Hamilton)

Book Review: The Venice Train by Georges Simenon (Trans by Alastair Hamilton)

Dark story of deception and anxiety.

Mid-level clerk, Julian Calmer’s life is thrown into disarray when a chance encounter on a train shatters any semblance of normality. Another example of Simenon employing an Everyman to explore the darker recesses of the human psyche. The Venice Trainis a suspense-filled novella which analyses how a turning point in a life might compel an individual to walk…

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Betty by Georges Simenon (Trans by Alastair Hamilton)

Betty by Georges Simenon (Trans by Alastair Hamilton)

Lost soul’s facade conceals a dark past.

One of six books cited by Simenon to counter accusations of misogyny, Bettywas reportedly inspired by a chance encounter with a drunken women in a Versaiiles bar. In the majority of his books Simenon’s mother is an ever-present figure. Men are represented as victims of symbolically castrating feminine forces. Temporarily jettisoning the recurrent mother…

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Betty by Georges Simenon (Trans by Alastair Hamilton)

Betty by Georges Simenon (Trans by Alastair Hamilton)

Lost soul’s facade conceals a dark past.

COPY: One of six books cited by Simenon to counter accusations of misogyny, Bettywas reportedly inspired by a chance encounter with a drunken women in a Versailles bar. In the majority of his books Simenon’s mother is an ever-present figure. Men are represented as victims of symbolically castrating feminine forces. Temporarily jettisoning the recurrent…

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Book Review: The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By by Georges Simenon (Trans by Siân Reynolds)

Book Review: The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By by Georges Simenon (Trans by Siân Reynolds)

Madman on the run seeks refuge in Paris’ seedy underbelly.

A notorious frequenter of brothels, Simenon boasted of visiting thousands of sex workers. His experiences in houses of ill repute, cheap backstreet hotels, and conversations with prostitutes were mined for a credible recreation of a shadowy world filled with dawn police raids, jealous pimps, and treacherous friends. An ice cold naked…

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Book Review: The Pitards by Georges Simenon (Trans by David Bellos)

Book Review: The Pitards by Georges Simenon (Trans by David Bellos)

Disappointing novel offers few glimpses of Simenon’s greatness.

Determined to retire his most famous creation Inspector Maigret, Simenon intended to focus on writing literary fiction. Simenon used the term ‘roman dur’ to refer to his portraits of deviance. Freed from the crime genre’s conventions he explored themes present in the Maigret novels without the restriction of having to include a…

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Blu-ray Review: Invention for Destruction (Vynález zkázy)

Blu-ray Review: Invention for Destruction (Vynález zkázy)

Retro-futurist classic from the Cold War era continues to delight.

One of the most significant names in the history of Czech animation, Karel Zeman has frequently been referred to as the Czech Méliès. Working in the pre-CGI era, his pioneering use of special effects anticipated digital techniques used in contemporary science fiction films.

Admired by Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, and Wes Anderson,…

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Desert Island DVDs: Douglas Skelton

Desert Island DVDs: Douglas Skelton

Douglas Skelton is a former journalist. He has written eleven acclaimed true crime and Scottish history books before making a splash on the Tartan crime fiction scene with his dark novel Blood City. Years spent researching Glasgow’s criminal underworld for newspapers and his non- fiction books have ensured his novels are packed with authentic details. His fourth novel, Open Wounds, was nominated…

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DVD Review: The Juniper Tree

DVD Review: The Juniper Tree

Slow-burning Icelandic Folk Horror.

Bleaker than Disney adaptations, this version of a Brothers Grimm fairytale is an overlooked film that viewed from a twenty-first-century perspective is a much-needed antidote to Twilightified narratives.

Director Nietzchka Keene was originally in Iceland on a Fullbright scholarship to make a different film when she decided to jettison the project and bring…

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Book Review: Getting Carter by Nick Triplow

Book Review: Getting Carter by Nick Triplow

Comprehensive biography delivers everything you wanted to know about the rise and fall of an influential writer.

COPY: Despite being well respected in France and attaining cult status in America, Ted Lewis is largely forgotten in his native Britain. Author of nine novels, his legacy today largely rests on the move adaptation of Jack’s Return Home, filmed as Get Carter.

Fusing techniques borrowed…

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Book Review: Folk Horror by Adam Scovell

Book Review: Folk Horror by Adam Scovell

  What is Folk Horror? When did a group of disparate texts become linked under the banner of a relatively new subgenre? Do the works of M.R. James, Dennis Wheatley, and Nigel Kneale share common preoccupations? Were The Wicker Man, The Blood on Satan’s Claw, and Witchfinder Generalexploitation films or did they reveal something deeper about that era’s attempts to reconcile conflicting views of…

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Interview with Giedrė Žickytė

Interview with Giedrė Žickytė

Director of documentary on the life of one of the most important photographers of the Soviet era talks about the film ahead of its screening at Ciné Lumière.

I wanted to ask you about working with archival footage: your previous film, “How We Played the Revolution”, and “Master and Tatyana” are both related by you working with material that was sourced from archives.

The footage was radically…