GEN-TRIVIA-UNIVERSAL-L Archives

Archiver > GEN-TRIVIA-UNIVERSAL > 2007-03 > 1173388719


From: "stan bayne" <>
Subject: Re: [GEN-TRIVIA-UNIVERSAL] Akenfield
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 10:18:39 +1300
References: <016901c74e51$34c08c20$01fea8c0@Susie>


Greetings to the list!

I have just read Eleanor's email relating to the film "Akenfield". For
some unknown reason it never appeared in my Inbox, but a copy went straight
into my Gen Trivia holding box which I have just looked into.

I didn't know that there was a film of that book. It probably never
appeared on any New Zealand TV programme - they are not notable for showing
anything of an intellectual nature. I am now wondering if it is on a DVD.
It is such a fascinating book that the film would certainly be worthwhile
tracking down. I hope Eleanor can find that book.

It's odd how some excellent films seem to go into obscurity and are rarely
brought out into the daylight. I have recently picked up a DVD of
"Zulu" - the story of the defence of Rorke's Drift by 100 British soldiers
against 4000 Zulu warriors in 1879. No mock heroics and no sentimentality
in that 1968 film - I daren't imagine what Hollywood would have done to it.

Stan
in warm New Zealand




----- Original Message -----
From: "ejstine" <>


> Hi,
> I sent this shortly after receiving Stan's post last evening, and for
some reason, it apparently didn't go through. So I am resending it.
>
> This book sounds very interesting! I checked google to get an idea of
how
> easy it would be to find a copy, and stumbled onto this:
>
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/akenfield.shtml
> AKENFIELD REVISITED
> Monday 24 April 2006 7.20pm-8pm; 2am-2.40am
>
>
> In Peter Hall's 1974 film Akenfield, the director used the residents of
East
> Anglian villages to act in stories of rural life. Thirty years after the
> release of this unusual film, a new documentary sees the original
> producer/editor Rex Pyke gather together crew including Sir Peter Hall,
> author Ronald Blythe and members of the local 'cast' to see how life has
> changed for those featured and to recall the making of the production.
>
> Rex Pyke: It was an improbable film to make - with no cast, no stars and
no
> script - but it is an important film in British cinema.
>
> Facts
>
> a.. Ronald Blythe's Akenfield: Portrait of an English village became a
> best-seller after publication in 1969. The evocative novel is based on
the
> writer's East Anglian background and experiences of rural change.
> a.. The film was the first to be simultaneously broadcast on television
and
> open the London Film Festival, challenging a ban on films appearing on TV
> within four years of release.
> a.. Akenfield the film was released in 1974 and directed by Peter Hall.
It
> was an enormous success on television attracting 13 million viewers.
> a.. The production took over a year filming the changing Suffolk seasons.
> a.. To appease Equity, the actor's union, the cast of non-actors
improvised
> their dialogue and never repeated lines, thereby not 'acting'.
>
>
>
> Eleanor, in bitter cold Pennsylvania
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "stan bayne" <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2007 6:27 PM
> Subject: [GEN-TRIVIA-UNIVERSAL] Akenfield
>
>
> > OK - I suggested a while back that if we could all contribute just one
> > item
> > to this list each month it could become quite lively. I contributed
in
> > January - no-one else did. But here's my effort for February. Give
me
> > credit for persistence.
> >
> > Have any of you ever read that interesting book "Akenfield" by Ronald
> > Blythe? I read it a few years ago and am now reading it again. It
is a
> > portrait of a fictional East Anglian village in the earlier years of
the
> > 20th century, based on the actual reminiscences of people who lived in
> > such
> > places, and is very readable. Although the author invented the
village,
> > he based it on the place where he lived in the 1960s, and he looks
> > backwards as well as forwards from that time. It is well worth
reading
> > for those who like to know what life was like for those English people
who
> > lived in a rural area in the period spanning the late Victorian period
and
> > the immediate post-WW2 years. Recommended reading as far as I am
> > concerned.
> >
> > Stan
> > in New Zealand
>
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
with the word 'unsubscribe'
without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.441 / Virus Database: 268.17.33/678 - Release Date: 2/9/2007
4:06 PM
>
>

This thread: