The English Patient

Another Oscar winner and another long film that we watched in two sittings. The film opens with a sweeping desert vista and a fiery plane crash that leaves the pilot horribly burned and in the care of a medical convoy picking its way through the chaotic aftermath of the Italian campaign in World War II with land mines and unexploded bombs. Realising that the mysterious English patient hasn’t got long to live, nurse Hana (played by Juliette Binoche) resolves to stay behind and care for him in the bombed out ruins of a monastery. The man (played by Ralph Fiennes) slowly reveals more of his memories of what happened to him, going back to an archeological expedition in the North African desert just before the war where he was a pilot scouting ahead and making maps of the terrain.

The expedition is joined by a husband and wife team, and Count László Almásy (as we find out his name to be) starts a passionate and doomed love affair with Katherine (played by Kristin Scott Thomas) told through various flashbacks as the war in North Africa takes hold. The contemporary narrative in the present day mirrors the flashbacks as various other people come to the monastery - sapper Kip Singh (Naveen Andrews) defusing bombs and mines and David Caravaggio (Willem Dafoe), a Canadian spy bearing the scars of torture at the hands of the Nazis.

The reveal of the truth of the matter is heartbreaking but sensitively handled. The film is gorgeously shot, especially for the desert scenes although my main criticism would be that the native inhabitants of the area are merely background details for the colonial English to ‘discover’. I guess that’s true to life, but it still feels uncomfortable.

Plum

Sat in the corner
Pulling fruit from a pudding
Another plum job

Fuzzy Logic by Super Furry Animals

In 1996 Britpop was just starting to take itself a bit too seriously, so it was a good job that Super Furry Animals popped up out of the Welsh valleys to plunder the good bits of late 60s Beatles psychedelia and early 70s glam combined with an indie pop-punk sensibility. They picked their recording studio based on the availability of free jacuzzis and catering, and it sounds like they had a fine time putting this album together.

The end result is a whole lot of fun, with the opening track “God! Show Me the Magic” being a blast, followed by a couple of more laid back tracks and Hometown Unicorn being as trippy as the title implies. I love the uniquely Welsh flavour of this, especially the name check for Siân Lloyd on the final track!

Shade, Chestnut

We sit in the shade
Beneath the spreading chestnut
Conkering the world

Atomizer by Big Black

Steve Albini was one of the most influential voices in music in the last 40 years, mainly as a self described audio-engineer for bands like Nirvana and Pixies, but also as an acerbic commentator and reviewer. He earned his musical stripes with Big Black though - a punk band that combined huge clanking guitars with smart use of a drum machine and some of the bleakest lyrics that you will ever hear.

The opening track Jordan, Minnesota tackles child sexual abuse in a small town in the bluntest possible way and from there the rest of the album continues at a similar level of ferocious anger at the injustices inherent in American society. Racism, drugs, alcohol and being so bored in a dead end town that you want to set yourself on fire make this an uncomfortable listen but an essential one.

For the record, Albini did say that he regretted some of his more confrontational and controversial statements that he made in his earlier days, and people like Kim Deal of the Pixies respected him as a thoughtful and considerate human being. He passed away from a heart attack in 2024, aged 61.

Toss, Quilt

Sweating in the heat
Another tropical night
Time to toss the quilt

Seventh Tree by Goldfrapp

Back in the day I used to have an MP3 player that I would plug into my car stereo. By the inevitable logic of alphabetical sorting, the track A&E would always start playing automatically when I turned the car on, and I would always listen before switching to something else. I always associate this track with setting off on journeys on a summer’s day, and the hope and optimism that flows from that.

As a result, I didn’t listen to the rest of the album quite as much, which was an oversight because it’s excellent. After the haunting ambient sounds of their debut and the more dance and glam sounds of the next two, this album strikes a balance with acoustic elements mixed with dreamy, shoe-gazy keyboards. Alison Goldfrapp’s ethereal vocals (and occasionally surreal lyrics) are the main attraction. Gorgeous stuff!

Mahogany-titties-tastic!