46 GSCENE
SHOPPING
WITH MICHAEL HOOTMAN
) THE LONG GOODBYE (Arrow blu-ray). Robert Altman's
adaptation of the Chandler novel is not only the
director's best film, but perhaps one of the finest films to
come out of Hollywood. Updated to the 1970s it boldly
reimagines Philip Marlowe
(Elliot Gould) as a slob living
alone in an untidy apartment
with his cat. Its opening
sequence where he gets food
for his pet is one of my
favourite scenes in cinema.
Nothing of any significance
happens, it's not vital to the
plot, and it's hard to say why it's
so brilliant - but it's utterly
entrancing. The film has a
traditional noir plot in which its hero - despite being
absolutely a man of his time - still retains a core of oldfashioned values. Though, as the film's conclusion shows, these
values are, at the least, unsettling to a modern audience. A
strangely romantic, contradictory film which has at its
magnificent centre Gould's brilliantly charismatic
performance. A whole raft of extras includes
interviews with Altman, Gould and
cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond.
) GASLIGHT (BFI blu-ray). This 1940 adaptation of
Patrick Hamilton's corking gothic melodrama has one of my
favourite plots: the evil Victorian husband determined to
commit his wife into an insane asylum. Anton Walbrook
seethes with psychotic anger in a great performance - it's not
exactly what you'd call
naturalistic but it's certainly a lot
of fun. Diana Wynyard is the
impeccably accented, fragile wife
who finds herself at the centre of
a dastardly plot involving murder,
madness and one particularly
saucy parlour maid (Cathleen
Cordell). Is it about the
controlling power of patriarchy or
a romp in fog-shrouded London
streets? As Hamilton was a
Marxist at the time he wrote the
play it's probably a bit of both. Not quite a minor masterpiece,
it's nevertheless a well-crafted, entertaining psychological
thriller.
) Two-bottle Wine
Cooler, £34 (Caz
Systems, 17 Church St,
Brighton, 01273 326471)
) Squeezable
Tea Infuser,
£10.50 (Pussy,
3a Kensington
Gardens,
Brighton,
01273 604861)
) 'UNT' Mug, £10 (England at
Home, 22b Ship St, Brighton,
01273 205544)
) LASC Striped T Shirt £35; LASC Mesh Gym Pants £45;
Pump Spring Break Trunk - with side pockets £25.95
(Prowler, 112-113 St James's St, Brighton, 01273 683680)
) Joco Glass Coffee Cup,
£19.95 (Edited, 3 Gardner
St, Brighton, 01273 604006,
editedbrighton.com)