As I think I may have previously mentioned I did, a few months ago, watch
"Horrible Bosses", which, to be honest, I found generally pretty dismal (luckily a freebie via the daughter) and only briefly brightened up by the, blink or you'll miss it, glimpse of some Meridian loudspeakers. Today, I thought I'd done it again.
During a re-watch of
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", the scene where Smiley and Guillam are searching Control's flat, I happened to spot a "Dual CS 505-1" packing case (being used to store files). Now that's a nice bit of authenticity, I thought, until I discovered it was manufactured between
1981-82 - the TTSS story being set firmly in the mid 70's.
Now, some may think this a little pedantic and doesn't in any way effect the storyline in, (what I do believe to be), an extremely enjoyable film (I also recommend
"The Guard", by the way). How about this though...
This week's edition of the
Radio Times carries a letter from a reader in Birmingham...
After being very impressed with the book, Birdsong, I eagerly awaited the TV adaptation of Sebastian Faulks's novel (22 January BBC1).
The first episode, while being rather drawn out, was riveting. However, the first major scene between our two lead characters Stephen and Isabelle during a walk in wood, presumably near Amiens, was somewhat dramatically interupted for me (a keen birdwatcher), by a very prominent and lengthy burst of charming "birdsong" from a collared dove.
This was originally an Asian and Near East species that did not start it's western invasion until the early 20th century, not reaching Germany until 1945 and the UK by the early 1950's. It was inaccurate to place it in a northern European wood before the onset of the First World War. It was the "Letter of the Week" and won for it's author the grand prize of a
"Pure Oasis Flow" DAB/FM/Internet radio. Personally, I think a notepad, pencil and platform ticket for
"Anorak" of the week would have been too much.
PS
For the record, I too have read and watched that production of Birdsong. I though the book so, so and the production, though quite stylish, not really worthy of the effort.
