An Ode to Daniel Radcliffe: Part 1

It’s summertime. Know what that means? (Other than two jobs and preparing for PhD applications.) That means I have much more (okay, just a little more) time for blogging about stuff. You’re welcome, world.

To celebrate the beginning of this glorious three month period, I will begin my two-part series dedicated to Daniel Radcliffe.

I must open with the obligatory comment about how Danny has grown up – he isn’t just Harry Potter anymore. He’s a talented guy, versatile even.

A Young Doctor’s Notebook
(IMDB)

Recently, I watched the SkyArts series A Young Doctor’s Notebook starring good ol’ Danny and Don Draper himself, Jon Hamm. The show was based on Mikhail Bulgakov’s short novel of the same name, which I really, really loved and recommend you read.

Side note: Bulgakov also wrote The Master and Margarita, a surreal novel about the devil in the Soviet Union (take that literally, it’s not a Red comment), Pontius Pilate, and its titular characters. Read that one, too.

The show centers on, you guessed it, a young doctor as he works in the frozen tundra that is small-town Russia in the early 20th century. It is semiautobiographical as Bulgakov himself went to medical school and was sent to a small Russian village; a Bulgakov biography would also make an interesting and enlightening read. A Young Doctor’s Notebook is written as memoir as the doctor reflects on his experience years later. To achieve a similar reflexive quality, the show features Hamm as the adult doctor, a twist on the novel. I would never have thought to pair Radcliffe with Hamm; they don’t even try to match accents, but for some reason it worked. They both have a sort of broody quality that connects old doctor and young. They both also work the pale, dark haired thing.

Radcliffe is hilarious as the young, perturbed, frustrated doctor. The storyline has two levels: on the first, the audience is greeted with the dismal conditions necessary to being a country doctor. It’s a bit gruesome and disgusting. Get past that and you’re on to level two, which rewards the audience with a dark, dark humor. For instance, in a particularly gross yet entertaining scene, Radcliffe is trying to amputate a young girl’s leg. He’s terrified to do so, but the scenes of him sawing and sawing with a very dull saw present dark comedy at its finest. Radcliffe operates (punny) on both levels very skillfully.

Watching Hamm and Radcliffe bicker while playing the same character, one older than the other, is fun. Radcliffe brings a very true naivety to these scenes, mostly through his eyes that betray all of the emotions a young doctor experiences: fear, doubt, terror, triumph, exhaustion.

Bascially, Radcliffe is a champion, and this time it’s not the Triwizard kind.

Anna Karenina

I saw “Anna Karenina” last night, and it’s taken me nearly 24 hours to wrap my mind around this unique film.

I had read the Tolstoy novel two years ago, and I will not lie to you, I had difficulty getting through it. The multitude of Russian names and excessive snow were obstacles, but the story is as juicy as a soap opera. The new film did a nice job of condensing the tale into 129 minutes. Some of those minutes seemed longer than others.

The whole film took place on a stage, which was a stroke of genius. That coupled with the dance-like movements of the characters symbolized the performance that was Russian society. Always watched, scrutinized and judged, Russian aristocrats like Anna and her husband lived lives that were choreographed by generations before them. Karenin’s adherence to this choreography was at great odds with Anna’s free spirit.

Kiera Knightley was a fine Anna. She’s beautiful, though at times she looked remarkably skinny, which was very distracting to my friend and me as we watched. Jude Law did a nice job as her stoic, strict husband, though no amount of makeup will ever make me believe anyone would cheat on him. Aaron Taylor-Johnson was an excellent Count Vronsky. He was flirtatious, handsome and just naive enough to be ignorant of the social implications of his relationship with Anna.

Matthew Macfadyen stole the show. As Anna’s brother Oblonsky, he provided unsuspected comic relief thanks to his handlebar mustache and absurd facial expressions. My favorite scene of the film involved Oblonsky at work, dancing in and out of varying jackets depending on who he was speaking with and where he was going.

My favorite storyline is the romance between Levin and Kitty, which was played out nicely on screen. Domhnall Gleeson (aka Bill Weasley) and Alicia Vikander were endearing, adorable and in love.

The sets, costumes and music were sumptuous, decadent even. The stage would slowly melt away into fields of snow, ballrooms or horse tracks, only to melt right back to remind the audience of the performance.

I enjoyed the film, but I can’t say it was one I would see again. I wonder if the “epicness” of the storytelling is too much for me to try and relive again. I’ve seen all the tricks and know they’re coming, not very effective the second time around.