americana that doesn t exist and isn t real. and here s the thing it s basically the stepford wives. the difference is the stepford wives at the beginning of the stepford wives, you think, ok, you know, is there something off kilter? you can t quite figure what s wrong with it. in the case of this, from the beginning, it is absolutely clear that this is an artificial world, that none of this can be what it seems, that somehow, they re in a bubble or an illusion. now, florence pugh works wonders making the character of alice engage you, so that even though she s in this completely artificial environment, you believe in her character and you engage with her character. harry styles, he s fine. there ve been some sort of cruel things said about his performance. it s ok. it s staggeringly unremarkable. the problem is that you very quickly figure out there s one of a number of possible scenarios that are the solution to how this is all happening, and then when it s revealed. 0k,
he s not coming back. she discovers, finally, he s not coming back and she gets a war widow s pension. and she decides, ok, i m going to make my dream come true. i m going to take whatever money i have, whatever other money i can get together, i m going to go to paris and i m going to buy myself a dior dress like i have seen in the houses of these glamourous women that i clean for. so she goes to paris and she turns up at the house of dior, where isabelle huppert is, let s be honest, not pleased to see here. here s a clip. she speaks french this lady wishes to buy a dress. direct her to a suitable shop. go. please, let me escort you out. no, no, no, no, hang ona minute! i ve come miles, saved every penny, scrubbing floors and i don t know- what, so i can buy this frock. a christian dior gown is not for pennies. if you think i ain t - got the money, there. are you mr dior? oh, no, i m mr fauvel, accounts. let me help you. she speaks french excuse me, cher madame, but it
got the money, there. are you mr dior? oh, no, i m mr fauvel, accounts. let me help you. she speaks french excuse me, cher madame, but it would be my honour to have you view the collection as my guest. there you are. merci. shall we? 0h! now, the first thing to say is, lesley manville, isabelle huppert two of the greatest screen talents currently working in the cinema together in what is a complete piece of fluff. now, that s not a criticism, 0k? particularly at times like these, a bit of fluff goes quite a long way. the thing with the film is, it kind of constructs this fairy tale concoction. there are a few nods to the real world. there s a bin strike going on when she gets to paris, so there s a little bit of rubbish. there s lots of french people walking around with paper bags with baguettes sticking out of them, so we re still in that kind of very artificial version of france. what works about this is that the performances are really charming. jason isaacs plays a kind
i mjane hill, and taking us through this week s cinema releases as ever is mark. hi, mark. very interesting week we have. don t worry darling we have blonde, which may be a marilyn monroe biopic, or maybe not. and catherine called birdy, a mediaeval tale birdy, a mediaeval tale with a difference. oh, i thought it was a biopic, but anyway, more on that later. ok, so don t worry darling, which is a new film by olivia wilde, who made booksmart, which i loved. florence pugh and harry styles are alice and jack chambers. they live in a kind of absolutely rarefied, dreamy, late 50s, early 60s americana, you know, glistening cars, mad men suits, fabulous dresses. the wives stay at home and prepare the house and cook the meals and wait for the return of their husbands, who are out doing work which cannot be spoken of when they come back. and florence pugh s character seems to think this is idyllic and wonderful. and then, one of her friends and neighbours becomes suicidal after le
Day in the Premier League. Good day in the Premier League. Morning. After the war the good morning. After the warmest of the year yesterday, today will be warmer in the east changes in the west with thunderstorms. I will bring you all the details shortly. Good morning. Its sunday may 12. Did you stay up late . Maybe you did switzerland has won the Eurovision Song Contest in a competition marred by controversy and politics. The singer nemo triumphed with the song the code. The uks Olly Alexander came a disappointing eighteenth. There was booing for israel in the arena, while earlier, thousands of pro Palestinian Protesters marched outside. Our arts correspondent David Sillito has more. Switzerland, winning one of the most extraordinary Eurovision Song Contests of all time. Fans had to file into the arena amidst a small melee of police and protesters, the presence of israel in the final has provoked demonstrations and discomfort from some of the competitors. But when israels eden golan t