To Moving Image! …on Monday evening for the first screening of the new season at the village cinema. Being played out in the not quite so multiplex William LovelessHall was The Christophers, a British film about art and intrigue starring Ian McKellen and James Corden.
It’s been a while since we’ve been at Moving Image. Time and tide - football fixtures - have kept us away. The new autumn season seemed like a good opportunity to get back into the Moving Image habit once again.
A few things have changed in our absence. Blimey - there was a sizeable queue when we rocked up not so fashionably late. It was hit and miss if we would actually get in.
The layout of the pop-up cinema has also changed. The big screen has rotated 180 degrees. It is now being rolled down on the actual stage of the Loveless Hall. It meant for a little uncomfortable viewing with the top of the screen ever so slightly clipped by the stage roof.
We missed The Christophers when it was first released a couple of months ago. It’s a film that I wanted to see as some of the locations include our Sunny Stockwell patch.
Most of the outdoor scenes were shot around Fitzrovia, but the interior of the main house of Sir Ian McKellen’s artist character was filmed in a Sunny Stockwell property. I think I know which one…
There are some contrasting performances in the film. McKellen plays a wonderfully bumbling old artist whose physical, but crucially not mental, faculties are in decline. James Corden, of course, plays James Corden. Thankfully, his screen time is limited.
The Christophers in the title refers to the name of a series of paintings created by the main character over 30 years ago. They take on almost mythical status throughout the film and are the real stars of the show, as they form the centrepiece of the plot.
At the centre of the Christophers film is storytelling at its heart. This is not a film with a big budget or special effects. In fact not a lot actually happens in terms of visual narratives on screen. It’s the dialogue which is quite gripping.
It’s also a film that addresses the differences between generations. McKellen’s bumbling artist character may portray progressive traits, but he is also veering towards an old codger, “things were better in my day” type of persona.
This is balanced wonderfully against Michaela Cole’s brilliant performance as what I hesitate to call a more WOKE character that is pretty much in tune with the London art world of 2026. The coming together of the two generations shows that despite the differences, divisions can be overcome.
Some of the detail in the film is quite stunning. The ramshackle, almost anarchic layout of the Sunny Stockwell house looks familiar. There were also some nice touches when the sound of South London, aka police sirens, can be heard behind much of the dialogue.
It was a decent evening albeit a little stuffy in the old William Loveless Hall. This will soon change as the new season ushers in and we have darker, more autumnal nights.
