As the story begins, a group of Australian Aboriginal female singers are being mistreated and discriminated against in their home country. At a local competition, the singers are granted no applause while many audience members walk away because of the color of their skin. At the time, discrimination against aborigines in Australia was obvious and shocking so the girls are looking for an escape–any escape– to have a real chance at success. When they hear about the opportunity to perform for the troops in Vietnam, they leap at the opportunity—not realizing how dangerous their trip will become.
Joined by their new manager Dave Lovelace, the women– alongside their friend Kay– audition for the chance and are ultimately sent to the war-torn country.
The four singers are composed of the dominant Gail , the fragile Julie, the irresponsible Cynthia , and the friendly Kay. Lovelace, their carefree (and often intoxicated) manager, must keep an eye on the girls as they travel throughout Vietnam in the midst of the war. Such an assignment would be tough for anyone but the four women–especially the demanding Gail–are constantly pushing Lovelace to find more security for them.
As their tour of Vietnam begins, the proceedings have a pleasant and fun flavor to them. The singing is lovely and the chosen songs are top notch. Even when the plot meanders, the songs will likely keep audiences enthralled and tapping their feet to the classic tunes.
Eventually, the serious consequences of their surroundings take center stage, and the girls and their manager are forced to witness the reality of the war around them. Even as entertainers who are kept off of the battlefield, they see the deadly violence and brutality that surrounds them.
Surprisingly, the film works well as both a comedy and as a drama, never faltering in one of the two distinctive genres. And the heartbreak they witness seems inevitable, considering how close they are to the combat zones. It would’ve been disingenuous for the filmmakers to leave out the violence as it would have been silly of them to leave off the joy that these singers enjoyed as they earned the fleeting admiration of the soldiers who watch them sing and dance.

Regretfully, we are forced to announce the cancellation of our planned Christmas event, The Sound of Music.

As a volunteer organisation we do not have the resources of both time and money required to tackle a point of legal debate surrounding the licensing of the movie for such an event. Despite clearing the film licence with the pertinent authority, another group that organises sing-along style events in London has taken issue with our intention to host a sing-along event for our small local audience.

Anybody who purchased tickets online will shortly receive a full refund.

In order to fill the void in our schedule we have brought forward our planned January movie “The Sapphires” to December 9th, and we are planning on releasing an updated Winter/Spring schedule within the next week.

If you’d like to see The Sound of Music as a sing-along event, regular events are hosted in London by this company. Their contact details are on that page should you have any queries. Their phone number for bookings  is 01483 488000. Return tickets on the train to London are available from here, here or here among other places.

For lovers of classical French cinema, and I am one, this earthy throwback is a whiff of lavender borne by the bracing winds of the mistral.

Daniel Auteuil stars and makes a very competent directing debut with this handsome, old-fashioned film, adapted from the novel by Marcel Pagnol. It’s a bucolic tale, set around the second world war, which must surely remind his fans of the movies that made his name in the UK: the 1986 dramas Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources. Auteuil plays Pascal, a digger and cleaner of wells: he is a greying widower and the father of a number of daughters. The most beautiful of these is the 18-year-old Patricia who is being by Pascal’s heartbreakingly humble, middle-aged mate Félipe.  But she, like Hardy’s Tess, is to be romanced and ruined by a handsome, unreliable young man from wealthier stock. This is Jacques, whose parents are the upwardly mobile bourgeois owners of the local store. You will need a slightly sweet tooth for this movie, as the ending is a little saccharine – but it is well made and well acted throughout. Auteuil’s own performance, taking Pascal from fatherly indulgence to dignity in the face of adversity, and then to cold anger, is very well managed, as are the interactions of Jacques parents Patricia and Jacques.