WEDNESDAY CLUB - Ray LaMontagne - Empty

The menu to-day is a Lincoln Fest, an injustice and Ray LaMontagne

Daniel Day Lewis

 

RAY LAMONTAGNE - Empty (2006)

Did you see the Oscars or any other of cinema's excuses to get on your party dress and say to the world, 'look at me, I'm beautiful, I'm famous and I am special'? By the time the Oscars came round, it was all a forgone conclusion and most of the winners were very predictable. Daniel Day Lewis was odds on favourite to get the best male lead for his excellent portrayal of Abraham Lincoln.

I watched that film and the sets and costumes were magnificent. It was a great insight to what happened at the end of the Civil War and how difficult it was to pass the bill to abolish slavery, The Thirteenth Amendment. The film was more like a play, although quite enjoyable.

Sky TV also had a big production about the conspiracy to kill Lincoln and leading members of the Government. The story was mainly about John Wilkes Booth before and after the assassination. It was good and I found it more enjoyable than the film Lincoln.

Now talk about overload, I got hold of the film The Conspirators which deals with the trial of the conspirators who plotted and killed Lincoln. They included a Woman Mary Suratt who was charged as being part of the gang. It was really a show trial and the verdict and punishment had already been decided. They had to show the trial was being conducted correctly and the conspirators had to be represented by  defence lawyers. Frederick Aiken (James McVie) was the Lawyer for the Woman. He eventually proved that she may or may not have been guilty. There was cause for doubt. Watch the movie it is well worth the effort. In fact, of the 3 films I found this the best.

Mary Suratt

The whole point of this post and how I get to this here is that normally at the end of a movie I switch off but in this case I left it on and was really taken with the song sang over the titles. Eventually (blimey, these titles go on for ages and ages, don't they?) I found out it was by Ray LaMontagne and I could not remember hearing the track before, although it sounded familiar. It is from his album Till the Sun Turns Black (1996). It's a good one. Even worthy of Tuesday Blues!.


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