Charles Dale Movies
Can a working-class wife find happiness through the discipline of sumo wrestling? After half-bright layabout Kenny (Lee Ross) loses his job, he tries to persuade his wife Daisy (Charlotte Brittain) to bring in some extra income by posing for nude photos. Daisy, who is more than a bit overweight, hardly regards this as either amusing or practical, and instead takes a position at a canning plant. Daisy doesn't much care for the work, but dutifully does her job until her boss Marlene (Annette Badland) approaches her with an unusual request. It seems Marlene is a member of a group of women who are fascinated with Japanese culture, and they've taken it upon themselves to secretly found Britain's first female sumo wrestling society. Marlene is convinced Daisy is just the sort of woman they need, and while she's not certain at first, Daisy plays along and soon finds she quite enjoys her new hobby; she's even given an appropriate new nickname, "Mistress Great White Jellyfish." While Daisy is enthusiastically learning the "way of the warrior" without telling her husband, Kenny starts to think something funny is going on, coming to the conclusion that his wife's mind had been overtaken by space aliens. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Brittain, Lee Ross, (more)
In France in 1452, the dark superstition of the Medieval era was beginning to give way to the more enlightened attitudes of the Renaissance. But the changes were slow in coming, as Richard Courtois (Colin Firth) learns when he moves to the country village of Abbeville, owned and ruled by the Seigneur (Nicol Williamson). Courtois is a lawyer, or an "advocate" as they were called in those days, and the Seigneur has hired him to act as a public defender for those who cannot provide their own legal counsel. One odd remnant of the dark ages that Abbeville has not purged from its legal system is the practice of prosecuting animals as well as humans for crimes; as Courtois arrives, he nearly witnesses the execution of both a man and a donkey who were found guilty of bestiality (the donkey was spared at the last minute because it could not be proved that she consented to the act). So Courtois is not exactly surprised when one of his first cases finds him defending a pig against charges of murdering a small child. Courtois soon discovers that the pig belongs to Samira (Amina Annabi), a beautiful gypsy woman he finds himself falling in love with. Losing the pig would mean losing many meals down the road, so to win Samira's good tidings, Courtois must prove the pig innocent -- which means finding the real killer. However, since the Seigneur is eager to see Courtois (or anyone, for that matter) marry his daughter Filette (Lysette Anthony), his affection for Samira may not be good for his future employment prospects. This period comedy/drama also features Donald Pleasance, Ian Holm, and Michael Gough. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Firth, Ian Holm, (more)
