Capturing Mary,
written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff
Capturing Mary is an interesting, pleasant film
that has alas attracted very little, indeed, almost no attention.
On the most popular movies site- IMDB- there
are only fifteen users that have expressed an opinion.
Furthermore, there are an unbelievable number
of external reviews: just two critics have reviewed this work.
Well, this is going to be three
now.
The legendary Maggie Smith plays the role of Mary Gilbert.
She is a woman of…well, should I
venture and place a figure here?
Let us just say that the lady in
question is at a very advanced age, or just passed the middle age?
She comes by a mansion where she used to attain
parties in her youth and knocks at the door.
Joe, a young man who appears to be somewhat
special or challenged, slow to catch on at times, opens the door.
After some hesitation, he allows the older lady
to come into the house and he becomes ever more hospitable.
He offers the visitor some tea and while she
was reminiscing about the past, she spills a lot of milk on the tiled floor.
Images from the past are appearing before her
eyes, from the days when they were feting around this small palace.
In these ample, beautiful rooms, she was
enjoying good music, food and illustrious guests that she mentions.
One could never tell if that was Alfred
Hitchcock sitting on a chair, Ava Gardener behind a curtain.
Other writers and famous intellectuals attended
these celebrations- E. M. Forster and Evelyn Waugh among them.
However, Mary Gilbert is fascinated with some
other figure from the past.
Greville White has mesmerized her.
David Walliams portrays this character.
For this viewer, it feels awkward to watch this
performance from the actor who became familiar from:
Little Britain
Type casting is wrong.
In addition, David Walliams takes the part seriously;
indeed, he is perhaps too pompous in some scenes.
That could all be justified, as Greville is an
unusual, mysterious, outré personage that acts in a peculiar manner.
At one moment, he meets in the kitchen with
Mary and invites her to share his meal: a…salad that he makes himself.
He then takes her to the wine cellar that he
knows much better than the owner, who allows him to take precious, unique wines
at home.
Nevertheless, the knowledge that this man has
covers more important territory, for he is acquainted with leaders and ruling
classes.
He has some very despicable stories to tell,
including one in which rulers say about the Nazi concentration camps that the
Jewish people have brought this calamity upon themselves…or words to that
effect.
It does not get any better, as other inside
stories reveal other aspects of racism, with figureheads talking about
Africans:
They will not be able to handle it, once we
retreat…again, this is not a quote, but it renders the image.
Mary is haunted by the figure of Greville. She even
thinks she sees him in a park, only she is passed her prime, while he has the
same exact age he had when they first met…
Capturing Mary is …captivating
and entertaining.
