Friday, June 15, 2007

Movies in flight

We had our own screens on the back of the seats in front for the second leg of our trip to London. This has meant we could watch movies as we want, and to watch what we want. However, I tried to watch Road Hogs three times, and each time found the dialogue was in Korean, something that only became evident two or three minutes into the movie. I gave up on it in the end, (though Celia had no problem with it on her screen) and watched one of the half dozen classic movies that were available (Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Sound of Music and so on). I watched It’s a Wonderful Life again (I’ve got it on DVD at home) and thoroughly enjoyed it again. It’s a superb performance by James Stewart and he carries the movie from whoa to go. Frank Capra directs a large (and very talented cast of familiar faces) wonderfully: the film is full of scenes with thirty or forty people all being individuals. It’s surprisingly long - though Capra’s movies did tend to take their time - and even though it starts out as a kind of flashback, that side of the story takes over completely, and it’s more than three-quarters through the movie before the stuff about the angel surfaces again. But that works fine. The exuberance and energy of the movie is tops and another thing was noticeable: the soundtrack was exceptionally clear. One of the problems with listening to the modern films on the earphones provided by K Air is that you struggle to hear the dialogue. Sound effects, background noises, music are all much clearer. The dialogue, especially if it’s quiet, is hard to hear easily. Yet the dialogue throughout Capra’s movie is crystal clear. But then, of course, the scripts were also very literate!

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