1. LEISURE20
The Times, Friday, October 3, 2014 Fax No. 01530 811361 Editorial and Advertising 01530 813101
ATTHEMOVIES
ANYONE who was
wondering where all
the nasty, unsympa-
thetic, horrible villain-
ous movie characters
had gone this year, it
turns out that they are
all in The Riot Club.
If you imagine Harry
Potter, but without the nice
people, the magic, the mysti-
cal atmosphere and Draco
Malfoy and his cronies as the
"victors", You would not be
far off target.
The story follows the select
club for the elite few at
Oxford University.
With a capped member-
ship, and a reputation that
extends back a good century
or two, it turns out there are
a couple of vacancies come
the start of the year.
Cue two new first year stu-
dents who emerge as possi-
ble candidates.
Alistair, played by Sam
Claflin, (the Hunger Games
and Pirates of the
Caribbean: At World's End)
makes no bones about his life
of privilege and his belief
that the rich deserve to be at
the top of the tree.
Meanwhile Miles, played
by Max Irons, arrives at
Oxford off the back of family
pressure, but is less
impressed by the displays of
wealth and snobbery.
The two inevitably become
early rivals, as gradually
writer, Laura Wade, who
penned the screenplay based
on her own stage play, Posh,
exposes us more and more to
the views and behaviours of
the infamous Riot Club.
It's a very slow escalation,
handled surely by Danish
director Lone Scherfig.
Despite finding yourself
transfixed by what's happen-
ing throughout the film, it is
far from a comfortable film
to watch.
Films this harsh generally
need at least one or two
characters to cling to, to give
us a more relatable way into
the story.
Yet Scherfig and Wade
barely tick that box.
This is a savage arrow to
the heart of the establish-
ment.
That said, there are
glimpses of humanity and
decency in the film, brief as
they are, and they're in the
hands of the main female
characters.
Holliday Grainger is par-
ticularly impressive as
Lauren, who's come
through state school and
enters into a relationship
with Miles, refusing his
immediate advances how-
ever, reasonably arguing
that neither of them wants
to spend the next three
years avoiding the person
they had a fumble with in
freshers' week.
Apparently a new charac-
ter for the film, her story
doesn't get too much of the
focus, but she's an excellent
counterpoint to what else is
going on.
The film builds towards
its biggest culture clash, as
the ten besuited members
of The Riot Club turn up in
an out-of-the-way pub for
their 'dinner'.
Here, the stage origins of
the material shine through a
little, as Scherfig slowly
builds up the tension and
intensity of the event.
Some things to watch out
for is the "initiation" process
and the meal.
It's the "highlight" of the
movie: as the people round
the table down more and
more drink, wade takes her
time getting to things that
the film's horrible spoilerific
trailer has less discipline in
holding back.
The Riot Club, with its
refusal to compromise in its
exploration of humanity's
less pleasant side, feels not
dissimilar in tone to some of
the earlier work of Neil
LaBute.
You get to the end credits
and you feel quite hollow,
you cannot believe what you
have just witnessed and
there will be a part of you
that never wants to sit
through it again.
It is a challenging, political
piece of work, capable of
inducing a variety of emo-
tions, none of which are
related to 'warm' and
'happy'.
If you imagine the univer-
sity-student life, double it,
triple it and then add waist-
coats, you can get a good idea
as to what this film is about.
It may get a lot of viewers
but don't expect it to feature
too heavily in Oxford
University's prospectus come
August, September or
October next year.
RUNNING TIME: 107 MINUTES : RATING: 15 : STARRING: MAX IRONS, SAM CLAFLIN,
DOUGAS BOOTH, HOLLIDAY GRAINGER AND FREDDIE FOX DIRECTOR: LONE SCHERFIG
WITH NICK REID
INTHEGARDEN WITH DIRTY NAILSGARDEN
THE RIOT CLUB:
ASIDE from pests, a range
of phenomena can cause
troubles in the edible gar-
den. It is often impossible
to accurately identify a
problem without specialist
knowledge and equipment
but familiarity with the
basics is very helpful in
diagnosing common ail-
ments. Only with an
understanding of what we
are up against can the
home-producer start to
work out how to treat dis-
eases and disorders.
Fungal afflictions mate-
rialise in various ways,
most often (but not
always) restricted to spe-
cific parts of a plant. For
example, mildews look like
dry white powder dusted
on the leaf surface and are
especially prevalent in
humid conditions. Rust
occurs as orangey pus-
tules. Leaf spots show as
irregular or circular dead
areas on foliage, some-
times with a fluffy or yel-
low halo.
When many spots merge
into lesions we call it
’blight’. If this happens on
a plant stem the correct
term is ’canker’. Fungal
cankers don’t split and are
often sunken and dis-
coloured. When the fungus
is systemic (present
throughout the plant) it
can cause wilt due to col-
lapse of the roots and/or
stem.
Fungi reproduce via
microscopic seeds called
‘spores’ and are very
responsive to warmth and
wet. These are carried on
the wind, soil water or
raindrops. Spores come
out of so-called ‘fruiting
bodies’. A toadstool or
bracket on a tree is the
fruiting body of larger
fungi. The majority, how-
ever, are microscopic.
Bacteria have been
alive on Earth since
before oxygen existed
and can survive temper-
ature extremes and des-
iccation (drying) over
lengthy periods. They
are microscopic, single-
celled organisms that
often join together to
become the sum of many
parts. Bacteria produce
carbon copies of them-
selves through ’binary
fission’, whereby they
enlarge and split in half.
Bacterial spots show-
ing on a leaf may be
angular and pronounced
between the veins. When
they merge the result is,
once again, blight.
Bacterial canker looks
like its fungal namesake
but will cause splitting of
the bark on fruit trees.
‘Galls’ are distortions both
above and below ground.
Some are good. Those on
pea and bean roots fix
atmospheric nitrogen and
are essential in promoting
healthy growth.
Dramatic and rapid
deterioration of plant tis-
sue, complete with associ-
ated rotting, wet oozing
and unpleasant aroma is
bacterial. This may occur
on the plot or in store and
is why harvested crops
like spuds and onions
must be regularly checked
for signs of decay.
Viruses are even small-
er, or ‘sub-microscopic‘.
Basically they comprise
just a scrap of genetic
material and have no
means of self-reproduc-
tion. They manipulate
cells of a host plant into
producing more virus par-
ticles. Being unable to
physically move them-
selves, viruses rely on
insect ‘vectors’ to transmit
infected sap from one
plant to another.
Gardeners do this too, via
unwashed tool blades.
Viruses also carry through
infected seeds.
The commonest symp-
toms of virus are yellow
leaf markings. Although
the problem will be sys-
temic, it may manifest in
specific areas and appear-
ances may vary. Viral
infection signs are com-
monly blotchy mottling or
mosaic patterns; distor-
tion, warts and twists of
leaves and fruits; concen-
tric rings on leaves or
fruits that look like Celtic
knot work.
Disorders result from
irregular or over-watering,
weedkiller drift, frosts and
weather extremes, or
nutrient deficiency of soil
when exhausted resources
are not replenished.
Trying to cultivate crops
unsuited to a site can also
cause failure.
Pests, diseases and dis-
orders often occur together
as ‘secondary infections‘.
Good luck!!
‘HOW TO GROW YOUR
OWN FRUIT AND VEG’
by Joe Hashman (ISBN
978-905862-77-1) is avail-
able in good bookstores
and Amazon, rrp £9.99.
DISEASESANDDISORDERS
THEUNIVERSITYLIFE
...WITHWAISTCOATS