Kathmandu:

Walk The Line is the story of country and Western singer Johnny Cash with Joaquin Phoenix playing him, and Reese Witherspoon, who won an Oscar, playing his wife.

Says Reese Witherspoon of June Carter Cash whom she brought to life, “I think the biggest thing we have in common is that we’re Southern. It’s a very particular thing to grow up Southern. There’s a sensibility of focus on family and community and also a certain accessibility of your personality. She was just as comfortable having dinner with the postman as eating with the queen. And she would do it with such grace. That really helped me figure out where to begin. I was frightened to my core about singing in front of people. I would sweat and shake all day long because I was so afraid of messing up. It was really intimidating, but it’s also the greatest feeling of… well, relief when you’re done, but of achievement too. You feel like you got through it. Whether or not you were good or bad or what people were going to say about you, at least you overcame your fears. That was a big thing for me.”

The Constant Gardener gave Rachel Weisz an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Of her part and the movie she says, “She’s an activist married to a British diplomat in Africa. She finds a very high level of corruption among the international governments and pharmaceutical companies that are abusing Africans. I desperately wanted to play it. It was the best part I’d ever read, because she’s a very passionate character and flawed and irreverent and idealistic and a much better person than me. I met a lot of aid workers and activists in England, which was very helpful, but the main inspiration came in Africa. I spent time with a woman named Patricia.She was black Kenyan activist, and she was rather like Tessa in that she didn’t work for an organisation — she was kind of a lone warrior. She counselled the women of the slum where we filmed who were HIV-positive, and she allowed me to go with her on house calls. That was the most tremendous privilege, to be able to spend time with her.”

Directed by Fernando Meirelles with Ralph Fiennes as the title Constant Gardener, the movie is beautiful to watch both for the direction with a hand held camera and the acting by Fiennes and Weisz that has as much resonance to it as the deeply moving story.

Keira Knightley, Oscar nominated for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in the latest adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, which while taking liberties with Jane Austen’s novel is a lush beautiful movie of which writer Jeff Shannon says, “Elizabeth Bennet is strong-willed and opinionated, but her head (not to mention her pride and prejudice) lead her heart astray when she meets the wealthy Mr Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), whose own sense of decency and discretion (not to mention his pride and prejudice) prevent him from expressing his mutual affection. They’re clearly meant for each other, and as Knightley’s performance lights up the screen, Austen’s timeless romance yields yet another timeless adaptation.”

Knightley said of Elizabeth Bennet, “In a funny kind of way, maybe she thinks too much.

She’s a strong personality, and it can be quite a turnoff. She says things that maybe she shouldn’t, and she doesn’t care what other people think. I don’t know if I identify with that, but I certainly admire it.”