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Ealing is back after a silence of some forty years with 'The Importance of Being Earnest', but is this revival going to last, or has Ealing truly had it's day?
To start with, I personally wasn't particularly enamoured of the new production. It may be that I'm too familiar with the play to really enjoy an adaptation to film, but there was something about it which just seemed unsatisfying, and the quality of acting IMHO ranged from good to pretty dire. That said, it was good to see Ealing back on the screens again, but only because it put me in mind of the classics previously released (Ladykillers, Whiskey Galore, etc, etc), and not because it filled me with confidence that a new string of British 'classics' were about to hit the international film scene.
I guess I'm too jaded when it comes to cinema, but I see Ealing's future as being either to continue as a small company, producing quality (tricky when their owners - Fragile Films - were responsible for things like 'Spice World') films for small but dedicated audiences, or, alternatively, selling out to Hollywood, at which point it will stop making films and start producing movies. I think part of me is so in love with the old Ealing school of film-making that I don't want the studio to come lumbering back, making a fool of itself and the 'name', and so tarnish the reputation of those early greats.
Does anybody have an opinion of seeing Ealing on our screens again, and please somebody, tell me I'm wrong and Ealing is not making a big mistake in returning to the scene... |
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