Oh, That Guy: Bravura!

I love the Internet. Years ago, it had to be at the wonderful Cleveland Cinematheque, I saw a short film that's mesmermized my memory ever since. So mesmerized that I could never remember its name. But over the years, whenever I've had conversations about great movies, I always bring it up and try to describe it, but all I am able to say is that it's basically a one man show about some English Lord talking about his estate. Wickedly funny. And it stars Jim Broadbent. Broadbent is one of those "oh, that guy" actors. A lot of people don't know his name, but he turns up in a lot of movies--always the better for his acting--and is easily recognizable. I think I first fell in love with him in Mike Leigh's amazing film, Life Is Sweet. He's one of those actors who will pull me to a movie just because he's in it. Anyway, tonight I was determined to re-discover this short film. A few clicks not only gave me the name of the film, A Sense of History, directed by, of course, Mike Leigh, but also the film itself.

If anything, the film is even better than I remembered it from nearly 20 years ago--it's a British TV film from 1992. Broadbent is brilliant, and if you stick around for the credits (watch them all, there's one more bit at the end) you find out he also wrote the thing, which only serves to raise the man that much higher in my pantheon of cultural heroes. If Ray Davies wrote screenplays and acted instead of writing Kinks' songs, this is what he might have come up with on a dourly very good day. The film is a classic of black humor: macabre at times, witty, hilarious, and oddly moving. The language--the writing and how Broadbent delivers it--astounds me.

I can go on and on. I'm just happy to have found it after all these years and to be able to share its wonders. So, go get something to drink, settle in for a mere 25 minutes, and enjoy.