04 Mar 2014
My teacher Christopher Jefferies, wrongly arrested for the murder of Joanna Yeates in Bristol, gave an excellent talk last week on the British media. At the time I was astonished how even broadsheets willfully peddle lies simply to corroborate a story they are determined to tell, no matter how misleading. The Daily Telegraph reported that Christopher showed pupils a violent and horrific film. The film they were talking about was the acclaimed Nuit and Brouillard by Alain Resnais, the first and perhaps the finest film ever made about the Holocaust.
But the Telegraph decided to leave out the name of the film because that would have spoilt the story. They were content to deceive the readers into thinking that strange Mr Jefferies liked violent, horrific films. His talk reminded me that Christopher showed us three films by Resnais: Nuit and Brouillard, Last Year in Marienbad and Providence, which has stunning performances by John Gielgud and David Warner. I became a huge fan of Warner after seeing the film and so you’ll understand the cloud I walked on when 30 years later I bumped into him in Regent Street and invited him for dinner. I find that there are large gaps in my memory from times part, but these three films are seared into my mind. They are extraordinary works of cinema and if you ever get the chance to see them, rush!