The Guardian - 06.09.2019

Section:GDN 12 PaGe:2 Edition Date:190906 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 5/9/2019 17:34 cYanmaGentaYellowblac

• The Guardian
  2 Friday 6 September 2019

Grimes

Violence

The latest from Miss_

Anthropocene fi nds

Grimes playing a power-

tripping soothsayer high

on visions of violence

that only she can see,

her reverbed-out voice

like an evil mist writhing

through the trancey haze.

Hollie Cook

Dance in the Sunshine

While reggae auteur

Cook is arguably late for

summer, her escapist

entreats to “follow

me and dance in the

sunshine” are just the

ticket for the UK’s current

political shitshow.

Paul Epworth

Voya ge r

Better known by now as

a producer than an artist

in his own right, Epworth

slips out a rare solo track:

a fi ltered, cosmic odyssey

that seems to never stop

expanding.

Klein

Claim It

London producer Klein

enters nightmare territory

on the milky fog of Claim

It: all static rustling like a

dead body being dragged

across a forest fl oor,

ragged breathing and

intimidating percussive

clatter.

Celeste

Strange

What Amy Winehouse

started, a generation

of less talented soul

singers have fl ogged

to death. But Brighton

singer Celeste’s voice

is distressed yet tender

enough to feel true.

Loraine

Sick 9

Enfi eld producer Loraine

broils up a form of thick,

claggy acid on Sick 9,

a brew distorted by

bracing, looped drums

and disorienting vocal

samples.

Camila Cabello

Liar

Ace of Base and Cuban

brass collide on the best

of Cabello’s two comeback

singles, a lilting, complicit

celebration of how

infatuation makes her

forget all her good

intentions.

Ranked!

Maggie Smith’s

movies

1

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

(1969)

This one really is the crème

de la crème of Smith fi lms. It

is her classic role, which she

immortalised at the age of 35

and which won her the best

actress Oscar: imperious,

h aug ht y, v u l ne rable, u nworld ly,

romantic, intellectual and with

a hold over men. The fi lm is

adapted by Jay Presson Allen

from her stage-play version

of the Muriel Spark novel. It

is the story of a charismatic

Edinburgh schoolmistress

( “schoolteacher” really won’t

do here ) with unorthodox –

and worrying – views and a

dominating personality.

2

The Lady in the

Van (2015)

A colossal

performance as

Miss Shepherd,

the elderly

homeless lady

who chivvied

Alan Bennett into

letting her live

in a van parked

outside his house.

She deploys

the classic

piercing stare of

disapproval, the

pinched lips and

bird-like head

movements as

she assesses the

unsatisfactory

nature of

everything

around her.

5

Nothing Like a

Dame (2018)

Smith gave one of

her greatest

late-period

performances as

herself in this

documentary

with Judi Dench,

Joan Plowright

and Eileen

Atkins. The y

discuss life, love,

the stage, the

screen, the way

the profession

has developed for

women – and the

a wful men they

have dealt with.

Smith reveals

that her delivery

is modelled on

that of Kenneth

Williams.

6

A Private Function

(1984)

Written by Alan

Bennett , this

sees Smith in

charismatic

form as the

demanding wife

of shy, retiring

chiropodist Gilbert

(Michael Palin).

In the postwar era

of rationing, they

abduct a pig being

kept for a civic

feast to celebrate

the wedding of

Princess Elizabeth

and Prince Philip.

7

The Lonely

Passion of Judith

Hearne (1987)

This adaptation

of the Brian

Moore novel

is a delicately

detailed,

beautifully acted

drama in which

Smith delivers a

star performance.

She is the tragic

spinster in 1950s

Dublin who

imagines that the

attentions being

paid to her by Bob

Hoskins’ brash

businessman

mean that she is

on the verge of a

great romance.

8

Harry Potter and

the Philosopher’s

Stone (2001)

Smith gave a witty,

good-natured

spin on her

schoolmarmish

persona with this

commanding

performance

in the Harry

Potter franchise.

She plays the

teacher Minerva

McGonagall ,

who is to have a

decisive role in

Harry’s fi nal battle

with the forces of

darkness. Potter

is what lasered

Smith into the

minds of children

all over the world.

4

California Suite

(1978)

One of Smith’s

funniest , most

self-aware

performances

- which won her a
best supporting
actress Oscar –
came in this
all-star movie,
adapted by Neil
Simon from his
Broadway stage
play. She is Diana,
a British actress
desolate about
her career and her
“lavender”
marriage to
Sidney, a closeted
gay man (Michael
Caine): “I’ve aged
Sidney. I’m
getting lines in
my face. I look
like a brand-new
steel-belted
radial tyre.”

1 2 3 4 6 7

5

3

Gosford Park

(2001)

This fi lm inspired

the Downton

Abbey TV spinoff

and gave Smith

the prototype for

the smallscreen

role. In this

country-house

mystery, she is

the formidable

Countess of

Trentham, a

visitor to the

great house. Her

character delivers

weapons-grade

putdowns and

overwhelming

patrician zingers.

9

The VIPs (1963)

A gem of a turn

from Smith in this

movie , scripted

by Terence

Rattigan. She is

the mousy-yet-

devoted Miss

Mead, secretly

in love w ith her

employer, and

willing to take

risks to help him

out of a jam.

Playlist

By Peter Bradshaw

See full list at theguardian.com/fi lm

10

Washington

Square (1997)

M a g g i e S m i t h i s

the faintly daff y

Aunt Lavinia,

who derives a

weirdly vicarious

excitement

from her niece’s

gentleman caller

in this excellent

Henry James

adaptation.

PHOTOGRAPH: RONALD GRANT ARCHIVE

RELEASED BY "What's News" vk.com/wsnws TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws