When The Queen Came To Town (2014) film review

Year: 2014
Running Time: 78 minutes
Director/ Writer: Maurice Murphy
Narrator: Bert Newton

When The Queen Came To Town is now showing at selected Australian cinemas and is distributed by Umbrella Entertainment. For a list of participating cinemas, please see the official site and local guides for show times.

When Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh toured Australia in 1954, it was the biggest event the country had ever seen. Even today, it is still the biggest non-sport related event Australia has ever seen and involved more people than both the Melbourne and Sydney Olympics. Maurice Murphy's wonderful documentary, When The Queen Came To Town captures the jubilation that the country felt 60 years ago and gives the people of today a chance to understand what it meant and for the people who were there to reminisce a time of pure happiness. The film does a superb job at reminding one that despite a great deal changing since that time, some things manage to remain the same.

In 1952, Princess Elizabeth was in Kenya on her way to tour Australia with her husband, Prince Philip when she received the tragic news that her father, King George VI had passed away. Two years later and now as Queen Elizabeth II, she honoured the trip she had once planned and toured Australia and the South Pacific. The monarch was in Australia for nearly two months and travelled to not only the major cities including Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, but also several regional towns such as Newcastle, Wollongong, Wagga Wagga and Cairns. Three quarters of the population had turned out to witness the young queen and she was greeted by many young Australian children wherever she went. During this film, several of the people who were able to see the queen and also some who were able to have direct contact with her are interviewed and all reinforce how incredible the event was and how the queen left such a lasting impression on the country.

When The Queen Came To Town is a beautiful documentary made with pure love and affection for the Queen herself and for Australia. Narrated by Bert Newton, it is a memory of an exceptionally joyous occasion in Australia's history and the film is a 78 minute celebration accompanied by bright, uplifting colours to reinforce this. It is an extremely well researched piece of work that isn't just a travel diary of the royal couple, but looks at Australia in the 1950's and also looks at what this royal tour meant to the people on a cultural level. The extensive actual colour footage of the royal couple is exquisite and if it wasn't for the obvious differences in landscape, could well be mistaken for recently filmed footage. This accompanied by the interviews with over forty Australians who were actually there to see the Queen provides an understanding of what life was really like and how the tour impacted Australia. It is said during the film that the tour made Australia feel like they were no longer a faraway land, but that the country mattered on a global scale.

It is interesting to note that although Australia has changed a great deal since the 1950's, the way which people reacted to Queen Elizabeth II when she was 26 years old and Prince Philip was 33 is not unlike the way people relate to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. For the younger generation, it may be hard to envision how the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were ever looked at in the same way as William and Kate, but this film is a snapshot of a time when the similarities are striking. It is not a comparison that is spoken of, but one that is impossible to ignore. The royal couple represented a marriage which many aspired to have which is one based on love, respect and commitment. At 26, Queen Elizabeth was young and beautiful, which inevitably led to her being a fashion icon. Her wardrobe was a talking point wherever she went and for two months she graced the cover of every women's magazine in the country. She arrived in Australia at a time when Australian women were wearing rather drab colours and her style of pastel and bright coloured dresses were immediately mimicked. Although royalty has always played a part in influencing culture and fashion abroad, the young Queen was the first British monarch to ever visit Australia and this started the continents obsession with royalty which is not unlike celebrity obsession. People looked up to the Queen and her husband the way people look up to William and Kate. As this young royal couple visited Australian shores in the past year, the event itself was not on the same scale yet the interest in them as people is the same as it was sixty years ago.

When The Queen Came To Town has been described as a film about the celebration of the British monarchy not just for royalists, just as the tour itself was embraced by royalists and non-royalists alike. The royal tour was an important and joyous event in Australian history and should be celebrated as it is in this film. When The Queen Came To Town is a culturally significant documentary which should be shown in all schools as a celebration of Australia's history.

8/10

A Hard Day's Night (1964) film review

Year: 1964
Running Time: 87 minutes
Director: Richard Lester
Writer: Alun Owen
Cast: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Wilfrid Brambell

A Hard Day's Night will be screening at the 2014 Emirates British Film Festival as one of the Six from the 60's films. For more information on times, dates and tickets, please visit the official website.
To purchase A Hard Day's Night , please see link at end of review.

A Hard Day's Night is undoubtedly one of the best music films of all time. Whether a fan of The Beatles or not, it is impossible not to appreciate the snapshot of history which the film captures. While A Hard Day's Night features some of the band's greatest hits and is tremendous fun, it is treasured for the rare glimpse it gives into a day in the life of the Fab Four that explores the personalities of the band members with hilarious results.

In 1964, The Beatles were the biggest band of the world. Their days consisted of travelling from one town to another to perform live shows and always with a crowd of screaming and crying teenage girls in tow. However, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were just four young lads from Liverpool out to do what they love, but at the same time have a bit of fun. On this particular day, they are accompanied by Paul's grandfather (Wilfrid Brambell) who turns out to be the biggest troublemaker of the group and encourages Ringo to take a stand against his fellow band members as a result of their constant teasing. The drummer abandons his band with only hours to go till their highly anticipated live television performance, which throws everything into turmoil.

A Hard Day's Night is something very special. What makes it so entertaining and enjoyable is that the film truly feels as though a group of boys just got together and decided to make a film of themselves being completely random and hilarious. In this case, the boys just happen to be The Beatles. The naturalness of these famous boys being boys is a complete credit to screenwriter, Alun Owen. Owen followed The Beatles around for a time before they left for America (which they discuss briefly in the film) and came to understand the personalities of each of the band members, which allowed him to accurately craft the screenplay around a day in the life of the foursome. It was no coincidence that it was Ringo abandoning the band as he was tagged as the sad one who was always at the back as he was the drummer, so therefore automatically the odd one out. Each band member's personality shines through in the film and it is such a wonderfully personal thing to have this film which shows the four just being boys and doing what boys do, with the added extras of fame and music.

While the majority of the film was scripted, the four all improvised at certain times throughout and the results are hilarious. The random brand of humour employed in the film paves way for numerous hilarious and now famous quotes which are witty and delivered with perfect timing. Director Richard Lester reiterated the fact that he was not trying to get any award winning performances out of the band, but wanted each of them to perform as naturally as possible which is clearly evident in the film. John, Paul, George and Ringo all look completely at ease on screen and with each other during the film and it is refreshing to see that none of them are trying to be something they are not.

The soundtrack of the film is, of course, perfection for any Beatles fan as it contains many of the band's greatest hits including "Can't Buy Me Love", ""And I Love Her" and "A Hard Day's Night". "Can't Buy Me Love" is a particularly well crafted piece in the film as it acts as the song for the band's escape from the craziness that ensues them. The four take off in a large field where they are able to run free and do whatever they please. There are some fantastic aerial shots during this song and the editing superb, as it is throughout the whole film. Visually the film is also a historical snapshot of the early 1960's where all the women had high, teased hair and go-go danced at parties.

A Hard Day's Night is incredibly enjoyable and toe-tapping fun with it's timeless soundtrack. It is the film that delights anybody who admires The Beatles and has the ability to convert others into fans.

9.5/10