Review - Notes From Hollywood
Great Films are great whether they are from the USA, UK, or Uganda. Paradise Grove hails from the UK and is a classic example of great film imitating real life. No helicopters or car chases, explosionless and lacking a sky diving scene, Paradise Grove delivers satisfaction on a level similar to the moon; in other words, not often touched upon.
In what can only be described as a coming-to-the-end-of-your- age film, Paradise Grove centers around the life of Keith (Leyland O'Brien), half black and half Jewish, who struggles to find his purpose in life while rebelling against advice to go out and get some real world experience. Determined to continue working in his mother’s (Rula Lenska) retirement home so he can watch over his ill grandpa (Ron Moody), he finds out that sometimes the outside world comes to you.
Couple the above with the backdrop of the retirement home’s quirky residents and oddball employees, and Charles Harris’s directorial feature film debut comes across as an on-screen jewel that will shine for years to come.
The jewel in question is Paradise Grove, and the man is director Charles Harris.
Hailing from the UK, and being Jewish himself, it was fitting that Harris direct the first British film with a Jewish twist in the last 10 years. Harris knows the significance of putting out a film in the UK that deals with Jewish characters. He relayed to me that if all goes well, films like this will become commonplace instead of rare instances.
While it is filmed in Britain and does deal with characters of Jewish heritage, Paradise Grove, with the help of Harris, never once comes across as a one-dimensional film. Under his directorial eye, the true meaning and message of the movie come across with great clarity in a powerful manner that leaves your mind in a state of contemplation that resonates for days after you’ve left the theater.
Harris’s ability to make the on-screen characters shine in their designated roles is directly related to his past successes as an author of short stories. He told me the process of writing books and screenplays was similar, and that when writing a book, you are able to anticipate reader emotions the same way you do when writing the script for a movie.
In addition to the short stories, Harris has won numerous awards for his work with the BBC television network in England. He has also put out a documentary on Marc Chagall that was critically acclaimed.
Colin Hamilton, Notes From Hollywood, November 2002
Paradise Grove Home page | The Movie | Reviews | Information | Dee says Welcome | Contact | Useful Links
Material Copyright © 2005 Paradise Grove Ltd