Alex von Tunzelmann on Radio 4's "Any Questions?"

I've been a regular listener to BBC Radio 4's 'Any Questions' show for several years now, and, what with iPlayer, it's rare that I ever miss an episode these days. But I was particularly pleased to hear that Alex von Tunzelmann the historian who writes the Guardian's weekly Reel History column was going to be a guest on last Friday's show. I've only managed to listen to the start of it so far, but I thought anyone else who follows von Tunzelmann's work with interest might be interested to know. I'm never sure how much of iPlayer is available overseas, but for those of you who do have access to it (which may include people who don't normally get a lot of the BBC's output on iPlayer) you can listen to the programme here.

Reel History on Solomon and Sheba

The ever-amusing Alex von Tunzelmann has written up her latest history report card for a Bible film and this time its 1959's Solomon and Sheba starring Gina Lollobrigida and Yul Brynner (pictured above) that she has in her sights.

There have only been a handful of films about Solomon, and this is easily the most well known, even if, as von Tunzelmann points out, it's a bit of a disaster, representing the worst excesses of the 50s biblical epics, whilst leaving little to appreciate aside from Gina Lollobrigida's skimpy outfits. That said, its been such a long time since my one and only viewing that I may well have missed one or two notable aspects.

Incidentally, in searching for a picture to accompany this post, I stumbled across Brooklyn Babylon - a modernised take on the story from 2001.

Thanks to Peter Chattaway for the tip off on this one.

Reel History on Passion of the Christ

On Wednesday I linked to some recent pieces on The Passion of the Christ by Juliette Harrisson and Alfonso Méndiz, and now The Guardian's Alex von Tunzelmann has posted her own views on the film. Despite the similarity in subject of von Tunzelmann's Reel History to Pop Classics, the two writers come to opposite conclusions on the film, which is kind of fitting given that it has always provoked similarly strong and yet similarly divided opinions.

Interestingly one of the things von Tunzelmann dicusses is how Satan's costume makes her look like a Jedi. I'm reminded of the post I made back in September 2007 that noted other similarities betwen this film and Return of the Jedi.

Alex von Tunzelmann on Prince of Egypt and Greatest Story Ever Told

I've mentioned before Alex von Tunzelmann's hugely enjoyable Guardian series Reel History. (In fact, I may as well give it its own label). Well, as with last Christmas she celebrated the festive season by review two Bible films - The Prince of Egypt and The Greatest Story Ever Told.

She's a bigger fan of Prince of Egypt (Entertainment grade: A– to Greatest Story's E), but ranks the Jesus epic higher in terms of it's history (C as compared to the Moses film's D). As ever they are written in style that manages to be light-hearted, perceptive, history geeky and enjoyable all in one go. Take for example her shrewd take on the depiciton of Mircales in Greatest Story:

Lazarus is raised from the dead in long shot, so you can't really see what's going on. The feeding of the 5,000 and turning water into wine are mentioned, but not shown. "The next thing we know, they'll be calling him the Messiah," complains a Jewish leader. "And that's not all." "What else?" asks Pontius Pilate. "He walked on water." "Get out!" Historically speaking, this is fine: there's no independent evidence for any of the miracles. Cinematically, it's more of a problem. If the director was concerned about excluding the sceptical audience, you've got to wonder why he picked this subject. Because, if you don't go in for God, this is just three hours of the musings of a first-century Middle Eastern hippie. A few whizz-bang moments would really have livened things up.

These are two films which have been criminally under-discussed by this blog. The Prince of Egypt didn't even have it's own label until just now. The Greatest Story Ever Told does, but there's precious little there except my podcast review.

The Guardian's "Reel History"

Ever watched an historical epic, and came away wondering how historically accurate it was? If so, and you secretly worry that scurrying away to check it out on Wikipedia may be equally as futile, then you should probably try out Alex von Tunzelmann's "Reel History" column in The Guardian.

Tunzelmann biog describes her as "a historian and writer", name checks her first book ("Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire") and reveals that "she lives in London". Her Reel History articles have been coming out every Thursday since July last year, and are as entertaining as they are informative. Her drawing and quartering of Braveheart is a great example.

So far only two Bible films have been covered: Life of Brian (my posts on this film) and DeMille's The Ten Commandments (likewise). Hopefully, though, there will be plenty more to follow.