Projectionist's rating: 7/10
A large group of us came together to discuss Four Weddings and a Funeral. This included a member of the Zoom who had appeared in the last James Bond movie. The night contributed to the village’s fund-raising events for Ukraine.
The key message was that this 1994 film captured an era. Some of us still found it fresh, however, with its use of non-professional cast members and its inclusion of a deaf actor. The mixture of silliness and a comedy of manners was appreciated.
There were several members of the group that just loved the film. Hugh Grant’s performance was admired, despite it being quite a sketchy role. “Quite magnificent,” said one. We did talk about how Grant moved from the floppy-haired nervous character actor stereotype to far more meaty roles in later life. One member of the group had been at college with him.
A key point was that although the film appeared to be about love, in fact the big theme was the celebration of friendship groups and how they support us through highs and lows in life.
We talked about the gay relationship was represented in the film. Some of us loved Simon Callow’s over the top colourful performance and some preferred John Hannah’s quieter intensity. In fact, one younger member of the group hadn’t picked up that the two actors were in a gay relationship – today this would have been far more evident.
The characters were seen as ‘ciphers’ rather than fully drawn individuals and we never really got to know much about them. What were their jobs, for example?
As we gave the film our marks out of ten, it was clear that despite some reservations, we had a high satisfaction rating. For us, it still stood the test of time.
Anne