P.Viktor

The Kenneth Williams Diaries

“The preoccupation with diary writing is caused by various things: the desire to keep a record which can be useful later, and committing to paper what can’t be communicated to a mentor… oh! all kinds of reasons, but fundamentally it is about loneliness”. Tuesday, 8 March 1988.

In February I saw the BBC3 drama Fantabulosa, a portrayal of Kenneth Williams based on his diaries. Michael Sheen’s performance is quite spectacular – he manages to capture the man without imitating or caricaturing him. Throughout the programme Sheen narrates directly from the diaries, and it so it gives the whole affair a very intimate, personal feel, and offers a picture of William’s rarely seen before. I bought the diaries some years ago, I think after I had seen a documentary about William’s life, which was one of the first to change the popular perception of the comic actor. At eight hundred pages I left it on the shelf gathering dust, perhaps never having enough time to do them justice. After seeing Fatabulosa my curiosity led me back to them. I wanted to know more about this man who I had always had huge affection for and laughed and giggled with in my childhood during the Carry Ons, Jackanory, and Willo’the’Wisp, the man who brought laughter to so many but who had very little for himself. 

Kenneth Williams is widely known for his comic performances, his high camp, his outrageousness, and his forgivable rudeness. He had excellent comedy timing, and in the Carry Ons he was the one actor you often looked forward to seeing. But the man, like many comics seem to be, was a deeply unhappy individual. He was a gay man caught in a time when homosexuality was still illegal, and even though times moved on and homosexuality was decriminalised, he still met with great disdain and reproach in a Britain that was still largely racist and homophobic. He was extremely religious and had a fervent belief in god, and this was also at odds with his homosexuality. It is widely believed (and the diaries support this) that he remained a virgin his whole life. His relationships, if one could ever call them that, were brief misunderstandings and humiliations, and yet ironically, the one thing he always wanted was a partner that he could love and who could love him. But, because of these conflicts within him, and his inability to commit emotionally and sexually, it never happened, and that does seem the greatest tragedy of his life.

Nicholas Hughes - Death of a Son

Read in the Times today the desperately sad news that Sylvia Plath's son, Nicholas Hughes, has committed suicide. It is believed that, aged forty-seven, he hanged himself after a long battle with depression. Sylvia Plath of course killed herself from gas poisoning when Nicholas was only one years old, and one can only guess that such a long shadow was cast over his life, perhaps becoming unbearable with the occurrence of Mothering Sunday (though this event often occurs in May in the US). The Plath-Hughes family have endured a great deal of sadness and tragedy, their lives seemingly blighted by depression and suicide. It is not surprising that neither Nicholas, nor his sister Frieda Hughes (the only remaining family member) have had no children, as though they have somehow unconsciously wished to stamp out a dark legacy. No doubt his death will add to that tainted, tragic glamour of a story which sees no signs of abating.

The Huffington Post has a detailed article of Nicholas Hughes' life.
Joe Saxton, a close school friend, remembers Nicholas in The Times.

In Memoriam: Sylvia Plath reads Nick and the Candlestick:

Nick and the Candlestick

Let The Right One In, Review

Let The Right One In (2008) is a Swedish horror film that you may not have heard of. Although being very successful in its native country, the film has only had a limited release in the US and I believe won't be receiving a UK cinema, although some art house cinemas have shown it. This is something of a travesty, because it is without doubt one of my favourite horror movies (a list I have since needed to revise after seeing this film). Let The Right One In is beautiful, bold, intelligent, and horribly creepy, and if you are as much a horror connoisseur as I am, you will undoubtedly love it.

Adapted from a novel by the Swedish author Tomas Alfredson, LTROI is exceptional because it takes the tired genre of the 'vampire movie' and completely reinvents it. No sleeping in coffins, no tricks with mirrors, no garlic, no stakes through the heart, no creepy mansions, no capes, and no Christopher Lee. This is a modern vampire-shocker for a modern, knowing audience. Set in the eighties, it tells the story of Oskar, an alienated boy – a troubled, intelligent loner - bullied by the popular kids, who lives with his mother in a small apartment. He soon befriends the mysterious girl Eli who moves in next door, and it’s not long before he realises that Eli is more than just a little girl.

But what was wrong with IT?

Stephen King’s horror classic IT is the latest in a string of horror remakes that Hollywood is churning out for 2009. I predicted this one back in August 2008 when I wrote a blog post on the news that one of my all time favourite horror films, Poltergeist, was also being remade. A remake of the latter film is completely unnecessary, because the original film is excellent – why not just re-release it in cinemas, or at least attempt a film that uses the premise of the original and takes it into new territory. King’s IT is different though. As I suggested in the same blog post, this book has never been adapted for the big screen and would benefit from the treatment. The novel is extraordinarily long and bloated (in my view), and its sprawling narrative could have really used an editor’s ruthless guidance. The book was adapted into a very successful two-part television adaptation in 1990, which now has a huge cult following, but at over three hours it is essentially a very long movie, one that loses its way in the final quarter. The fact is a film remake of Stephen King’s IT would probably be welcomed if it was done properly.

King has often fared very well on television. Alongside IT, other critical successes that come to mind are ‘Salem’s Lot (1979) directed by horror maestro Tobe Hooper, and The Stand (1994). However, film’s based on King novels/short-stories have gained the greatest critical and commercial success – Carrie (1976), The Shining (1980), Stand By Me (1986), Misery (1990), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), and The Green Mile (1999) – and that is why I believe a film adaptation of IT could also be well received. The success of recent films The Mist (2007) and 1408 (2007) could be the platform for King’s distinct brand of horror. The appetite is certainly there, and a film version of IT could work because a two hour film would cut away a lot of what wasn’t so great about the book and tv-series, the most notable of which is the rather poor and unscary ending which lets both down.