Sunday 10th August 2025
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Review: A Single Man

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If there is one thing I learned from A Single Man, it is, as the protagonist says, that nothing seems to go as planned. For starters, I hadn’t planned on being so captivated by this gem of a film, which is so exquisitely rendered in the most heart-wrenching way.

A Single Man, based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood, follows George (Colin Firth), a British ex-pat who has just lost his partner, Jim (Matthew Goode), in a tragic car accident. George spends his days as an English professor lecturing to apathetic students at a California university, and his nights wishing he didn’t. We meet him on a seemingly typical day, as he goes to work, withdraws money from the bank, talks to his friend Charley (Julianne Moore), and calmly puts the final touches on his plan to kill himself at the end of the day, right down to the gun in his desk drawer. The plot as a whole is very Mrs. Dalloway-esque, as it jumps back and forth between Firth’s golden memories of his past and his grey, empty present. He is a man continually stuck in the in-between, made worse by the film’s setting during the Cuban Missile Crisis, where everyone is straining against the needs of day-to-day life and the desperate desire to run around screaming in frustration.

Firth is at his very best – his grey, weary face, so exhausted in its grief, is spellbinding, as he wanders about his day in a perfectly pressed suit. It’s refreshing to see him in something where he doesn’t play an uptight, emotionally void, bumbling twit, dressed in some unfortunate period costume ranging from tights to Christmas jumpers? Moore is also devastating as Charley, a desperate middle-aged California housewife, in love with George in the most impossible way, and waiting for her life to begin.

Of all the films I have seen the past year, A Single Man, is by far the most achingly beautiful. Tom Ford, a former fashion designer-turned first time-director, does an excellent job in the aesthetic sense. Each frame seems to burst onto the screen, snapshots of the most perfect proportions. His attention to detail – the curve made by the sweep of inky black eyeliner, the wafting tendrils of smoke as it leaves one’s lips – gives the film a sense of an almost hyper-reality, as California life can so often be. It is this overwhelming sense of careful control that makes the underlying tension so palpable – the film is a never-ending series of beautiful images just waiting to give way into chaos. A Single Man slows a bit in the middle, but it is this sense of complacency that lulls the audience, making the surprise ending that much more of a surprise. Expect the unexpected in this truly heartbreaking work of staggering beauty.

4 stars

 

 

MP’s are just like you and me

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Sir Thomas Legg. You may well have heard of him, defender of the public interest, scourge of Westminster, punisher of those “crooks in Westminster”. Auditor of MPs expenses, Sir Thomas has ordered the repayment of over £1 million (after an investigation that cost £1.2 million) in so called “dodgy expenses” including Duck Houses, Moats, flagpoles, private security patrols and extravagant furniture which have come to remind us of parliament as much as Big Ben or the Magna Carta. Trust in parliament has plummeted to almost tragicomic lows and fears of anti-systemic parties benefitting from a public deeply unhappy with the “Big 3” have become an ever increasing prospect. We just can’t trust them anymore. They abused the system. They stole from the public purse.

 

But have you heard of Sir Paul Kennedy? No? Unsurprising. Sir Paul is the former High Court Judge to whom MP’s have been allowed to direct their appeals. And Sir Paul has painted a rather different picture of the expenses scandal, a picture far less likely to grab the public’s imagination. For, upon appeal, 44 of the 75 MPs claims considered by Sir Paul were upheld. Almost 200 would’ve been upheld had they been submitted according to a senior MP.

 

A little digging shows that the Auditors enquiry has indeed been the “deeply flawed” process that Sir Paul has criticised so strongly this week. For example, many of the claims that were thrown out by Sir Thomas were judged not by the standards at the time of submission, but rather according to new limits set years later. These limits were not consistently applied. In fact, most of the claims appeared to have been submitted in good faith, on the advice of Parliamentary staff, and were fully in accordance with the rules of the time.

 

Now, it is true that a number of MPs did break the rules. And some did just take the piss, Barbara Follett’s private security, fine art insurance, six telephone lines and pest control being a case in point, but most did what all of do on a daily basis.

 

Let’s take an example. You get an interview at the Foreign Office and they offer to pay for your transport to London. How many of us would take the train even though we know we can get a bus for a great deal less money? They take you to lunch. How many of us would order the most expensive item we think that we can get away with? This isn’t theft. It’s not some enormous scandal. It’s human nature. And how many of us would be happy if three years down the line the FCO ordered us to repay the difference in cost between the price of a meal at the Randolph and one at McDonalds.

 

Yes the expenses system needs to change, but the expenses scandal wasn’t a scandal, it was a PR failure. It was the result of individuals acting as all rational self interested actors do within the bounds of an agreed set of rules and regulations: they maximise their rewards. Assuming that MPs should somehow be judged not according to the legality of their actions, but some sort of super-moral code is unfair, hypocritical and a bit silly. Especially when that code is based upon rules applied in retrospect. Sir Paul has tried to drag the debate back in that direction, but, unfortunately, Sir Thomas has already delivered the much more exciting headlines. Headlines from which parliament does not look set to recover.

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (Andris Nelsons/Baiba Skride)

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After a few years of absence, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra returned to town on Friday thanks to Music at Oxford. The orchestra grew steadily in size and reputation since Elgar conducted its inaugural concert in 1920, but it became one of the UK’s finest ensembles when it was headed by Sir Simon Rattle (now the director of the Berliner Philharmoniker). 

 

 

Since 2008, the young Andris Nelsons has been its Music Director, and his almost flawless performance this week – part of a string of highly-acclaimed live performances and recordings – showed that the orchestra’s worldwide reputation will only grow under this new leadership. 

 

 

The performance opened with Mussorgsky’s Night on a Bare Mountain, no doubt familiar to most people as a nightmarish work adopted by a plethora of films, adverts and bands. Although it is difficult to block out the sound of cliché that can’t help but present itself in such a piece, the intimate nature of the Sheldonian gave this devilish music an impact that bordered on the right side of overwhelming. Nelsons handling of the orchestra’s remarkably refined sound also brought out the great colours offered by Rimsky-Korsakov’s orchestration. 

 

 

Also on the programme of Russian music was Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. The sorrow of the first movement perfectly complemented the Mussorgsky, and, after a beautiful horn solo by Elspeth Dutch in the second movement, the finale was played with such triumph that it won’t soon be forgotten. There were moments when the music could have been played with greater tenderness, but perhaps the music would have sounded softer in a larger venue like Birmingham’s own Symphony Hall. 

 

 

The highlight of the evening was the piece sandwiched by the two giants above – Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto, with Baiba Skride as soloist. It acted as a great bridge between the two other pieces, with its grotesque first movement executed by Skride with an ironically sweet tone on her Stradivarius ‘Wilhelmj’ violin (1725). Even her sombre-looking green dress fitted the music, and her wonderfully energetic playing of the demonic Scherzo had the audience gasping by the climax. 

 

 

By the time Skride had negotiated the cadenza of the third movement, speaking through her violin as though Shostakovich himself had told her how to play, it became clear that she is a serious contender. Since David Oistrakh’s famous recording of the concerto, only Maxim Vengerov’s seems to have come close in quality and excitement. Thankfully, Skride recently recorded the piece with the Munich Philharmonic, and it is a must-buy for any serious Shostakovich fan. Anybody wishing to explore more of Skride’s interpretations might also be interested in her CD featuring Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, which was recorded with none other than Andris Nelsons and the CBSO.

 

Boxing: Town vs. Gown

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A packed chamber at the Oxford Union saw OUABC succumb at the annual ‘Town vs Gown’ Boxing Event.

Despite some impressive victories and close-fought bouts, the ‘Town’ fighters showed their might, triumphing 7-4. Cherwell photographer Jessica Butler was among the crowd to witness Wednesday’s match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got some photos that you’d like to share with the rest of Oxford?
Why not send them in to [email protected]?

Terry’s sacking is punishment enough

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Honestly, the high horses on which some people seat themselves. Take this quote from the Mirror’s Sue Carroll, “How ironic that the hopes of resurrecting the passion and glory of ’66 have come crashing down before the first ball is even kicked in South Africa, thanks to one man.”

Ludicrous, utterly ludicrous. There is no doubt that Terry has done wrong, but the continuing uproar is wide of the mark. Terry has, quite correctly, been punished. Being sacked from the England captaincy will be a bitter blow to a man who clearly took great pride in the job. The decision was the right one; the player’s leader in the dressing room can’t be a man that his team-mates don’t trust.

Moreover, the England captain’s job is almost as much a PR role as it is a football one. Numerous leaders, club captains, will assert their influence on the pitch, but the England captain is also essentially an ambassador for the footballing nation. Retaining Terry would hardly have sent the right message about the integrity of the England camp. The punishment was sufficiently stern without taking any rash steps; Terry remains an essential cog in the England set-up, especially with Rio Ferdinand’s worrying form and fitness.

Two further reasons exist why the punishment need not be repeated at Chelsea. Firstly, Wayne Bridge is no longer a Chelsea player, so there is no need to appease the wounded party. Secondly, and rather more pressingly, Chelsea’s only focus is the success of their own side. John Terry is still the most effective leader of a side seemingly marching toward the title, so Carlo Ancelotti would have to be bananas to dethrone his captain. If football clubs took the time to punish players for every personal indiscretion, club bosses would never be able to leave the office for the paperwork.

So please God can we let the hyperbole and moral superiority die? I frankly don’t care what sort of a character he is, if he can stop Torres et al in South Africa, I’ll be cheering him on just like everyone else. Besides, Chelsea fans aside, the nation’s supporters have a rather humorous stick with which to beat him. Surely punishment enough. 

Town v Gown Boxing Match

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Find out who won this year’s legendary boxing match: Oxford Uni, or Oxford City?

The Pro

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Where to start with someone who describes their worst characteristic as “wanting to do everything”? In only her second term at Oxford, Hertford’s Izzy Westbury has been elected to the Union, is in the Hockey Blues team and was, last week, selected for the England ‘A’ women’s cricket tour to India. Quite an achievement considering sometimes she “wonders whether I am actually studying Physiology as well”. When you consider that she has lived in Malaysia, Syria and now Holland, was head girl at Millfield and would like to pursue a career in the Foreign Office – cricket permitting – she has certainly not had an average upbringing.

For such a sporty individual the Union seems an unusual path for Izzy to have chosen to take at Oxford. She has loved the opportunity to “say what I think” and describes how speaking in the upcoming ‘healthcare debate’ is at the moment both nerve-racking and exciting. Blues hockey has been her other focus at Oxford, and she talks with excitement about her potential Varsity debut, though she admits to feeling guilty that in playing her second sport for the university she is perhaps depriving another the chance.

Cricket is without a doubt her priority. Her introduction to the sport came when, aged twelve and newly arrived in Holland, she learnt that she was not allowed to play football at the “local very traditional club that backed onto our garden and so turned to cricket because I loved competing with the boys.” Her progression through the upper levels of the sport began when she represented Holland aged fifteen in an ODI which she describes now as “horrific and premature”, although does credit Holland’s women’s set up for her flourishing career. A week after being selected for the England women’s ‘A’ tour to India you get the impression that whilst Izzy sees it as a great honour and opportunity, it is far from her final ambition. The England side is what she has her sights set on although she feels that, with “three years left in the England academy it maybe a way off”.

For the time being then, when actually in Oxford, look out for her in the cricket nets, the hockey pitch, the Union debating chamber, or perhaps even every once in a while in a tutorial or lecture.

The Pro

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Where to start with someone who describes their worst characteristic as “wanting to do everything”? In only her second term at Oxford, Hertford’s Izzy Westbury has been elected to the Union, is in the Hockey Blues team and was, last week, selected for the England ‘A’ women’s cricket tour to India. Quite an achievement considering sometimes she “wonders whether I am actually studying Physiology as well”. When you consider that she has lived in Malaysia, Syria and now Holland, was head girl at Millfield and would like to pursue a career in the Foreign Office – cricket permitting – she has certainly not had an average upbringing.

For such a sporty individual the Union seems an unusual path for Izzy to have chosen to take at Oxford. She has loved the opportunity to “say what I think” and describes how speaking in the upcoming ‘healthcare debate’ is at the moment both nerve-racking and exciting. Blues hockey has been her other focus at Oxford, and she talks with excitement about her potential Varsity debut, though she admits to feeling guilty that in playing her second sport for the university she is perhaps depriving another the chance.

Cricket is without a doubt her priority. Her introduction to the sport came when, aged twelve and newly arrived in Holland, she learnt that she was not allowed to play football at the “local very traditional club that backed onto our garden and so turned to cricket because I loved competing with the boys.” Her progression through the upper levels of the sport began when she represented Holland aged fifteen in an ODI which she describes now as “horrific and premature”, although does credit Holland’s women’s set up for her flourishing career. A week after being selected for the England women’s ‘A’ tour to India you get the impression that whilst Izzy sees it as a great honour and opportunity, it is far from her final ambition. The England side is what she has her sights set on although she feels that, with “three years left in the England academy it maybe a way off”.

For the time being then, when actually in Oxford, look out for her in the cricket nets, the hockey pitch, the Union debating chamber, or perhaps even every once in a while in a tutorial or lecture.

For such a sporty individual the Union seems an unusual path for Izzy to have chosen to take at Oxford. She has loved the opportunity to “say what I think” and describes how speaking in the upcoming ‘healthcare debate’ is at the moment both nerve-racking and exciting. Blues hockey has been her other focus at Oxford, and she talks with excitement about her potential Varsity debut, though she admits to feeling guilty that in playing her second sport for the university she is perhaps depriving another the chance.

Cricket is without a doubt her priority. Her introduction to the sport came when, aged twelve and newly arrived in Holland, she learnt that she was not allowed to play football at the “local very traditional club that backed onto our garden and so turned to cricket because I loved competing with the boys.” Her progression through the upper levels of the sport began when she represented Holland aged fifteen in an ODI which she describes now as “horrific and premature”, although does credit Holland’s women’s set up for her flourishing career. A week after being selected for the England women’s ‘A’ tour to India you get the impression that whilst Izzy sees it as a great honour and opportunity, it is far from her final ambition. The England side is what she has her sights set on although she feels that, with “three years left in the England academy it maybe a way off”.

For the time being then, when actually in Oxford, look out for her in the cricket nets, the hockey pitch, the Union debating chamber, or perhaps even every once in a while in a tutorial or lecture.

ere to start with someone who describes their worst characteristic as “wanting to do everything”? In only her second term at Oxford, Hertford’s Izzy Westbury has been elected to the Union, is in the Hockey Blues team and was, last week, selected for the England ‘A’ women’s cricket tour to India. Quite an achievement considering sometimes she “wonders whether I am actually studying Physiology as well”. When you consider that she has lived in Malaysia, Syria and now Holland, was head girl at Millfield and would like to pursue a career in the Foreign Office – cricket permitting – she has certainly not had an average upbringing.

The Pro

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Where to start with someone who describes their worst characteristic as “wanting to do everything”? In only her second term at Oxford, Hertford’s Izzy Westbury has been elected to the Union, is in the Hockey Blues team and was, last week, selected for the England ‘A’ women’s cricket tour to India. Quite an achievement considering sometimes she “wonders whether I am actually studying Physiology as well”. When you consider that she has lived in Malaysia, Syria and now Holland, was head girl at Millfield and would like to pursue a career in the Foreign Office – cricket permitting – she has certainly not had an average upbringing.

For such a sporty individual the Union seems an unusual path for Izzy to have chosen to take at Oxford. She has loved the opportunity to “say what I think” and describes how speaking in the upcoming ‘healthcare debate’ is at the moment both nerve-racking and exciting. Blues hockey has been her other focus at Oxford, and she talks with excitement about her potential Varsity debut, though she admits to feeling guilty that in playing her second sport for the university she is perhaps depriving another the chance.

Cricket is without a doubt her priority. Her introduction to the sport came when, aged twelve and newly arrived in Holland, she learnt that she was not allowed to play football at the “local very traditional club that backed onto our garden and so turned to cricket because I loved competing with the boys.” Her progression through the upper levels of the sport began when she represented Holland aged fifteen in an ODI which she describes now as “horrific and premature”, although does credit Holland’s women’s set up for her flourishing career. A week after being selected for the England women’s ‘A’ tour to India you get the impression that whilst Izzy sees it as a great honour and opportunity, it is far from her final ambition. The England side is what she has her sights set on although she feels that, with “three years left in the England academy it maybe a way off”.

For the time being then, when actually in Oxford, look out for her in the cricket nets, the hockey pitch, the Union debating chamber, or perhaps even every once in a while in a tutorial or lecture.

For such a sporty individual the Union seems an unusual path for Izzy to have chosen to take at Oxford. She has loved the opportunity to “say what I think” and describes how speaking in the upcoming ‘healthcare debate’ is at the moment both nerve-racking and exciting. Blues hockey has been her other focus at Oxford, and she talks with excitement about her potential Varsity debut, though she admits to feeling guilty that in playing her second sport for the university she is perhaps depriving another the chance.

Cricket is without a doubt her priority. Her introduction to the sport came when, aged twelve and newly arrived in Holland, she learnt that she was not allowed to play football at the “local very traditional club that backed onto our garden and so turned to cricket because I loved competing with the boys.” Her progression through the upper levels of the sport began when she represented Holland aged fifteen in an ODI which she describes now as “horrific and premature”, although does credit Holland’s women’s set up for her flourishing career. A week after being selected for the England women’s ‘A’ tour to India you get the impression that whilst Izzy sees it as a great honour and opportunity, it is far from her final ambition. The England side is what she has her sights set on although she feels that, with “three years left in the England academy it maybe a way off”.

For the time being then, when actually in Oxford, look out for her in the cricket nets, the hockey pitch, the Union debating chamber, or perhaps even every once in a while in a tutorial or lecture.

ere to start with someone who describes their worst characteristic as “wanting to do everything”? In only her second term at Oxford, Hertford’s Izzy Westbury has been elected to the Union, is in the Hockey Blues team and was, last week, selected for the England ‘A’ women’s cricket tour to India. Quite an achievement considering sometimes she “wonders whether I am actually studying Physiology as well”. When you consider that she has lived in Malaysia, Syria and now Holland, was head girl at Millfield and would like to pursue a career in the Foreign Office – cricket permitting – she has certainly not had an average upbringing.

The Pro

0

Where to start with someone who describes their worst characteristic as “wanting to do everything”? In only her second term at Oxford, Hertford’s Izzy Westbury has been elected to the Union, is in the Hockey Blues team and was, last week, selected for the England ‘A’ women’s cricket tour to India. Quite an achievement considering sometimes she “wonders whether I am actually studying Physiology as well”. When you consider that she has lived in Malaysia, Syria and now Holland, was head girl at Millfield and would like to pursue a career in the Foreign Office – cricket permitting – she has certainly not had an average upbringing.

For such a sporty individual the Union seems an unusual path for Izzy to have chosen to take at Oxford. She has loved the opportunity to “say what I think” and describes how speaking in the upcoming ‘healthcare debate’ is at the moment both nerve-racking and exciting. Blues hockey has been her other focus at Oxford, and she talks with excitement about her potential Varsity debut, though she admits to feeling guilty that in playing her second sport for the university she is perhaps depriving another the chance.

Cricket is without a doubt her priority. Her introduction to the sport came when, aged twelve and newly arrived in Holland, she learnt that she was not allowed to play football at the “local very traditional club that backed onto our garden and so turned to cricket because I loved competing with the boys.” Her progression through the upper levels of the sport began when she represented Holland aged fifteen in an ODI which she describes now as “horrific and premature”, although does credit Holland’s women’s set up for her flourishing career. A week after being selected for the England women’s ‘A’ tour to India you get the impression that whilst Izzy sees it as a great honour and opportunity, it is far from her final ambition. The England side is what she has her sights set on although she feels that, with “three years left in the England academy it maybe a way off”.

For the time being then, when actually in Oxford, look out for her in the cricket nets, the hockey pitch, the Union debating chamber, or perhaps even every once in a while in a tutorial or lecture.

For such a sporty individual the Union seems an unusual path for Izzy to have chosen to take at Oxford. She has loved the opportunity to “say what I think” and describes how speaking in the upcoming ‘healthcare debate’ is at the moment both nerve-racking and exciting. Blues hockey has been her other focus at Oxford, and she talks with excitement about her potential Varsity debut, though she admits to feeling guilty that in playing her second sport for the university she is perhaps depriving another the chance.

Cricket is without a doubt her priority. Her introduction to the sport came when, aged twelve and newly arrived in Holland, she learnt that she was not allowed to play football at the “local very traditional club that backed onto our garden and so turned to cricket because I loved competing with the boys.” Her progression through the upper levels of the sport began when she represented Holland aged fifteen in an ODI which she describes now as “horrific and premature”, although does credit Holland’s women’s set up for her flourishing career. A week after being selected for the England women’s ‘A’ tour to India you get the impression that whilst Izzy sees it as a great honour and opportunity, it is far from her final ambition. The England side is what she has her sights set on although she feels that, with “three years left in the England academy it maybe a way off”.

For the time being then, when actually in Oxford, look out for her in the cricket nets, the hockey pitch, the Union debating chamber, or perhaps even every once in a while in a tutorial or lecture.

ere to start with someone who describes their worst characteristic as “wanting to do everything”? In only her second term at Oxford, Hertford’s Izzy Westbury has been elected to the Union, is in the Hockey Blues team and was, last week, selected for the England ‘A’ women’s cricket tour to India. Quite an achievement considering sometimes she “wonders whether I am actually studying Physiology as well”. When you consider that she has lived in Malaysia, Syria and now Holland, was head girl at Millfield and would like to pursue a career in the Foreign Office – cricket permitting – she has certainly not had an average upbringing.