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Sydney Morning Herald

Monday August 18, 2008

Robin Oliver

Heartless

(2005) Hallmark, 8.30pm

Heartless tries hard to amuse and when it succeeds it does so with charm. However, the success rate doesn't offer full measure for the 105 minutes viewers have to invest along with the ads. A pity, for Angus Deayton and Simone Lahbib (pictured) work hard on the case of Harry Holland (Deayton), a womanising divorce lawyer who is representing his boss in court when he collapses from a heart attack. When he wakes up in hospital, he discovers he has been given a new heart and is well on the road to recovery.

Convinced he is a changed man, Harry heads for the Scottish village of Brudalleach Laganeinman, the ludicrous name of which is his only clue to his heart's previous owner. When he puts up at a B&B run by Amanda MacNaughton (Lahbib), it is hardly surprising she turns out to be the donor's widow. Harry may be a new man but he hasn't forgotten his old ways. Will he fall on his feet this time?

Victoria's Empire

UKTV, 7.30pm

The abundant talents of Victoria Wood take another turn. Creator of the dramatic triumph Housewife, 49, in which she played the central character, and the comedy series dinnerladies, comedienne Wood now takes a personal journey to places bearing the name Victoria. In Queen Victoria's day, the British Empire stretched across the world. Nearly 3 per cent of Earth's land mass bears her name, from Australian states to bridges, lakes and harbours, and a London rail terminus. Wood travels to the places where the Victorian era has left its mark.

Fragments Of Antonin

(2006) World Movies, 8.30pm

Of the nine films launched under the title Heart Of War on August 4, the 94th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, Fragments Of Antonin is the only one to feature that conflict. This is the story of of the mental rehabilitation of Antonin (Gregori Derangere), a traumatised and partly catatonic French poillu who returns from the trenches shell-shocked and unable to communicate. Under the care of Professor Labrousse (Aurelian Recoing), a military psychiatrist, Antonon begins his recovery.

First-time director Gabriel le Bomin depicts this in an award-winning surreal format as Antonin's memory is gradually restored in a series of black-and-white flashbacks. The graphic detail brings a different perspective to the horrors of war as Antonin recalls his countrymen turning on each other, a reality usually avoided in French cinema.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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