Melancholy mood.

I'm feeling very melancholy today. Things are going wrong in the house (woodworm in the sideboard, damp patch on the bedroom wall, cat going scratching mad on the hall carpet, toaster breaking... that kind of thing) and it keeps on raining which does nothing to raise the spirits!! So because of this I am going to make my next movie list my favourite five melancholy films. These films always leave me thinking about them long after they have finished. I am sure a lot of you wonder how on earth I watch so many films and find the time to sit through a whole film... well it's taken a lot of practise. Obviously being single helps. When the kids are entertained or asleep I can make myself a nice cup of tea, grab some chocolate and settle down to watch a film without much interruption ( say without much, as of course there is always some). I am usually busy making something when I am watching them. I am pretty sure if I had a partner I would not spend so much time watching films, but as I have been single for a long time now I've had a long time to build up my film collection. So here are my five favourite melancholy films.

5: Serendipity
*click here for trailer*

I like Kate Beckinsale, I do. I had a crush on her Dad though when I was young and watched repeats of 'Rising damp', so that's probably why I hold her in quite high esteem. I liked her in 'Cold Comfort Farm' and I liked her in this (I'd quite like to look like her in this film, but I am the wrong size with completely the wrong colouring.. but you know). I also think John Cusack is cute (although he does look too much like his sister) so I am a fan of this film. I like the whole 'Serendipity... will fate direct us' story line, as I have always wondered about fate and would like to believe it exists.

4: Dear Frankie
*click here for clips from movie*

This film has Gerad Butler in it, need I say more.... okay I will. (I was all teary watching the clips on youtube just then!!) I love this film. I found it by accident on sale at the Library. It looked interesting so I bought it. I am so glad I did. It is such a beautiful film, it would have been a shame if I had missed out on it.
Frankie (Jack McElhone) is a deaf boy who recieves letters from his Father who is away at sea. Unbeknown to him, it is actually his mother Lizzie (played by Emily Mortimer), who is writing them to avoid telling Frankie about his father. They are constantly on the move and when they move yet again to a Scottish seaside town, Frankie discovers his fathers ship is to dock there in a weeks time. Lizzie has to decide whether to tell Frankie the truth about his father or to find someone to pretend to be him... enter Gerad Butler...

3:Amelie

*click here for trailer*

Do I really need to write much about Amelie, I am pretty sure a lot of you will have already seen this. My absolute favourite, favourite part is when she is baking and she runs out of something and imagines Nino has gone to get it for her and then she hears the beaded curtain move and turns thinking it is Nino but it isn't... so so sweet and sad.

2: The war Bride
no trailer or clips :(

I don't remember Anna Friel for her lesbian kiss in 'Brookside' but apparently that is what she is most famous for if you ever read articles on her... I remember her most for this film (although this is more recent than brookside!)
Anna Friel plays Lily, an orphan, who's grown up in London, now in the middle of the Blitz she falls in love with an American serviceman, Charlie, impulsively they get married and Lily falls pregnant. Charlie is posted away. Two years pass and now with a daughter, Lily has only seen her husband for thirteen days. Her and her friend (who married Charlie's friend) receive word from the Canadian Embassy that they are to go and live in Canada to wait for their husbands return. Full of hope of a new beginning Lily and her daughter arrive at the train station and are picked up by Charlie's mother (played by Brenda Fricker) and Charlie's sister. Not quite the reception she expected Lily finds herself having to live on a remote farm, and fighting her own battle to be accepted and liked by people she has only just met. Finally she has to bring back the Charlie she fell in love with when he returns home suffering from the after effects of the war.
I think Anna Friel really suits this era (as she does in 'Land girls). I think Brenda Fricker is marvellous as the mother, (especially when she rips the head off a chicken) and I love the fact that no matter what is thrown at her Lily 'keeps her pecker up' and hopes for the best. If you love the 1940's then you'll love this film.

1: Frankie and Johnny
*click here for trailer*

awww I just watched the trailer and I was 'I must watch that tonight!!' Not to be confused with the film starring Elvis, this one stars Al Pacino as Johnny, and Michelle Pfieffer as Frankie. Johnny has just been released from prison, and gets a job in a cafe beside waitress Frankie. Frankie is a bit of a loner, and not ready for a relationship, happy to settle for a VCR and take out pizza rather than have to contend with someone trying to put their tongue in her ear... but Johnny is determined to win Frankie around whatever it takes.
(Trivia: Ever since I watched this film I always wanted a pair of black and white striped long bed socks, like Michelle Pfieffer wears when she's watching tv on the bed.. but I have never been able to find any.. this has been going on for years.. sad but true. I have decided I must learn to knit just to knit a pair of long black and white striped bed socks... that could take some time). I would say this is my all time favourite movie ever! And I have watched it many many times. Maybe I'm just waiting for Al Pacino to come knocking on my door ;)