 The Wickedest Man in the World, a documentary about devil worshipper Aleister Crowley for Channel 4 television.
"I have never had much time for Aleister Crowley. Magic(k) [one of his books] is nonsense; the mystical societies he formed were simply pretexts for him to take as may drugs and have as much sex as he could. And he was a second-rate writer at best" (Nicholas Lezard, New Statesman, 20 Aug 2022).
A predictable documentary and Berkoff provides the voice of Crowley. The director is Neil Rawles.
Crime Doubles 2002 The BBC´s double length police series. Berkoff plays the crime boss- in prison, but still in control. He has the right level of menacing cynicism. But the program as a whole is a mess, trying and failing with Se7en style editing which rather than speeding up the pace, turns it into a confused jumble of incidents.
.. Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairy Tale from 2001. Andersen is played by Kieran Bew. James Fox and Simon Callow also appear.
Anderson creates his characters, but the film doesn't create the interest to make them alive...
...except for the Japanese sequence which is beautiful, influenced by Paul Schrader's Mishima.
Berkoff plays the teacher Meisling. A predictable Dickensian type role, with Berkoff referring to Andersen as "you charity boy".
Though Dickens (Simon Callow) does make an appearance. The film is a feel-good film but long and bland giving no insight into what drove Anderson or what he was like as a person. The director is Philip Saville, who directed Berkoff in Hamlet in 1964. The Director of Photography is John Kenway and the Editor is Alex Mackie. .. All images from the film.
The episode Satan's Chimney as part of the Jonathan Creek series. A BBC feature length boxing day production for 2001. Magician and amateur detective Creek, played by Alan Davies, investigates a new murder, a traditional "body found dead in a locked room with no murder weapon" story.
Creek, who lives in a windmill, shares the same crime solving techniques as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple- noticing small inconsistencies which gives him clues.
Berkoff plays a film director Herman Grole and the whole crew, including Creek, are at a Scottish castle Doomdorf where a mysterious death occurred hundreds of years ago, in a chamber called Satan's Chimney and this seems to be relevant now.
The character Grole recites lines from Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven "Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, / Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before".
Anonymous letters and a dead body again in Agatha Christie style. At almost two hours the programme can't sustain interest. Berkoff is fine as the director, even though the dialogue is at times wordy and wooden and his American accent doesn't seem authentic. The Director was Sandy Johnson, the Director of Photography was Geoff Harrison and the Editor was John MacDonnell.
All images from the film.
A two-hour documentary The Krays The Final Word in 2000.
Quite a good overview of the gangs in London in the 1960s, the Krays in the East and the Richardsons in the South. There are interviews with ageing gangsters and Kray associates, alongside authors and biographers. Reggie Kray on what would be his deathbed is quite open and honest about the violence. "The Krays were
the most notorious criminals of the 1960s, heading an organised
underworld empire of protection rackets, violence and murder… Ronnie
shot George Cornell in the Blind Beggar public house in Whitechapel in
1966… A year later Reggie stabbed Jack 'The Hat' McVitie in a flat in
North London. His body was never found. Scotland Yard had been on
the trail of the Krays for years, and in 1968 they were arrested by
Detective Superintendent 'Nipper' Read and charged with murder.
The dying Reggie Kray interviewed in his hospital bed after 33 years in jail.
Nipper Read, who managed to arrest The Krays leading to their conviction.
Steven Berkoff narrates but does not appear. Berkoff knew the Krays and attended the funeral "The celebrities the Krays had assiduously courted in their pomp were largely absent although Stephen [sic] Berkoff, who played Ronnie's victim George Cornell in the film The Krays, was there. He spoke of the twins performing 'a mythic service in a dull, dreary post-war environment', and providing 'a sense of colour and identity' (Paul Kelso, The Guardian, 12 Oct 200,0 click here). Berkoff appeared in the film The Krays playing Cornell. The Director of Photography was Steve Tickner.
All images from the film.
Attila the Hun - Steven Berkoff plays King Rua in the mini series from 2001.
Rua is the ruler of the Huns, with a son Attila.
The young Attila (Rollo Weeks) will take over the crown.
When Attila takes over the crown he builds up his kingdom to the edge of the Roman empire. Berkoff is good as the old leader, wise but not as wise as Attila.
Attila decides to take on the might of the Roman empire. The film suffers from comparisons with Kubrick´s Spartacus (the set piece battles) and the filming of battles from above in the mist was handled better in Ching Siu-tung's A Chinese Ghost Story. The Director was Dick Lowry, the Director of Photography was Steven Fierberg and the Editor was Tod Felierman. It was filmed in Lithuania. "Although basically factual, the mini offers a mixed bag of lush visuals and hokey melodrama" (Laura Vries, Variety, 25 Jan 2001, click here). "Finally, we get the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields – sometimes described as one of the most significant in history, despite its unclear outcome. It's even more of a muddle in the film, unless you already know your Visigoths from your Ostrogoths, and your Huns from your Alans. It was famously violent. Edward Gibbon quotes a death toll of between 162,000 and 300,000. The Roman historian Jordanes says a stream was swollen with the blood of the fallen, and "those whose wounds drove them to slake their parching thirst drank water mixed with gore". The film's budget isn't up to this, so we get some cheapo fireballs and two dozen extras lying around on a hillside, vaguely pretending to be dead... Attila gets a bit silly in places, but the research behind it is actually quite credible. Which is more than can be said for Gerard Butler's wig" (Alex von Tunzelmann, The Guardian, 28 Jan 2010, click here).  All images from the film.
In the Beginning - a bible epic covering Genesis and Exodus. Directed by Kevin Connor in 2000. The film starts with a disclaimer "The film reflects the spirit and historical significance of the stories of the bible, although some dramatic license has been taken". A lengthy, almost three hour, television epic in two parts with a plethora of famous names- Alan Bates, Jacqueline Bisset, Geraldine Chaplin, Christopher Lee, Diana Rigg and of course Steven Berkoff. The first part is pedestrian with cheap effects. The second part picks up starting with Steven Berkoff carrying the initial scenes.
Steven Berkoff plays Potiphar who buys Joseph as a slave.
Potiphar's wife Zuleika is played by Amanda Donohue.
She tries to seduce Joseph, but when rejected she accuses Joseph of attacking her.
Christopher Lee has a brief role as Ramesses I but is lost, like many of the other guest stars, as the story moves on relentlessly with few allowed the scope to develop the role as Berkoff was able to do. The story moves to Moses as he leads the Hebrew slaves to freedom, but the Pharaoh sends his troops.
The slaves reach the Red Sea and Moses parts the waves to allow them to escape, and to drown the Egyptian army.
Finally Moses brings down the tablets of stone. The Director of Photography was Elemer Ragalyi, and Editors were Barry Peters and Bill Blunden. I like the imdb.com entry "Frank Finlay... God (uncredited)".
The costumes and make-up give the film some distinction...
... but the special effects, the burning bush here or the Red Sea parting above, are poor and little better than the Hollywood bible stories from the 1950s. "The sweeping shots of the children of Israel on the move, the rickety Egyptian chariots, stormy Mount Sinai - all are more or less the same as they've been in every other biblical epic. And despite all our computer-aided wizardry these days, the parting of the Red Sea still looks as fake as ever" (Neil Genzlinger, New York Times, 11 Nov 2000).
All images from the DVD of the film.
Randall and Hopkirk (deceased). The episode Mental Apparition Disorder from 2000. Randall and Hopkirk (deceased) was a successful series on British television in the 1960s, and is here revived with comic duo Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.
The series is based on a detective agency where one partner dies, but comes back as a spirit to help his partner. Here the spirit Hopkirk gets advice from his spirit mentor played by former Doctor Who Ton Baker.
In Mental Apparition Disorder Randall has to investigate fraud in casino, and sends his secretary played by Emilia Fox to infiltrate the casino. Randall however decides to check into a health resort to cure the "hallucinations" of his dead partner. The episode and series lack the originality of the original series and the episode is poorly written with a wafer thin plot.
The health resort soon turns out to have a sinister purpose.
Steven Berkoff plays "mouth" the gangster head of a casino "No is a word I don't understand, but I do understand fracture, dislocate, dismember, eviscerate".
Berkoff appears for only a few seconds and is seen hidden in close-up so only an eye, a nose and mouth appear. Directed by Rachel Talalay, the Cinematographer was John Ignatius and the Editor was Annie Kocur.
All images from the DVD of the film. |
