THE TRIP TO SPAIN
UK, 2017, 115 minutes, Colour.
Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon.
Directed by Michael Winterbottom.
Fans of the television series, The Trip, as well as the film version which took audiences with Steve Coogan and Rob Bryden travelling around England and Scotlan - and as well, their extended trip to Italy - will probably welcome The Trip to Spain. And they won’t be disappointed.
Part of the puzzle always is that the two actors use their real names and there are references to their actual careers, discussions about Coogan as Alan Partridge and, his wanting to talk about his writing success, Oscar-nomination with the film, Philomena, and his recounting the anecdote of his introducing the actual Philomena to Pope Benedict the XVI (which he actually did). There is a fair amount of slinging off at his films and his career in America. Rob Brydon is far more congenial as audiences know from his television appearances and series.
The trouble is that they also create fictitious characters while using their own names. Rob Brydon has a wife here and three children with some cheery domestic scenes and a welcome home after his trip. On the other hand, Steve Coogan has had various liaisons and his contact with two of the women by phone during the trip and has a fictitious son, aged 20, who is to join them at the end of the trip but is delayed because his 19-year-old girlfriend is pregnant. Much slinging off at Coogan as a potential grandfather at 50!
The arrangement is that Coogan wants to travel to Spain in the footsteps of writer, Laurie Lee, 30 years earlier, visiting the same places, similar and alternate experiences. Rob Brydon is commissioned to write reviews of restaurants around Spain. That is the formula of the past – and it continues successfully into the present.
Audiences who enjoy travelogues will certainly like the visit to Spain, to different places, not necessarily all the expected destinations. The travellers have a week, and go to a different restaurant each day, having a leisurely and gourmet time, meeting owners, service staff, cooks, relishing a great number of meals which food film fans might well be envious of.
There is also a lot of Spanish history, associated with the towns, memories of the Spanish Civil War, the massacre of Guernica, comments on Franco and fascism. We go back into the Renaissance with Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, the expulsion of the Jews, the conflict with the Moors and quite a deal on Moorish history and culture in Spain and in Europe prior to the Middle Ages. They visit the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella as well as a room where Marlon Brando filmed a scene for the 1992 film, Christopher Columbus, performing as Torquemada, the inquisitor.
Yes, for those wondering whether there are impersonations, so enjoyable in the previous films, there are quite a number, some of them very extensive. Probably Roger Moore dominates, with imitations of James Bond and James Bond movies, but Rob Brydon doing an extended imitation of Roger Moore as Coogan explains to visitors the history of the Moors in Spain and their culture, Brydon pretending that Roger Moore identifies with all of this, commenting to his mother and father, claiming all the credit for the Moore family for the Moors – though eventually, Coogan refers to Muslims and Brydon indignantly says his name is Roger Moore not Roger Muslim!
There is Michael Caine again, both of them so accurate. Steve Coogan does John Hurt. Both of them do Mick Jagger. They also do Sean Connery and have a go at Marlon Brando mumbling as Torquemada. There is an amusing scene where Rob Bryden pretends he is on the rack being interrogated and tortured by the Inquisition.
So, all in all, the actors and director Michael Winterbottom keeping to the formula – but, why not? It’s what the fans want – and we are already wondering about the destination for the next trip!.
1. The appeal of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, audience knowledge of their careers, their screen personas – a blend of facts and fictional dramatisation? Coogan and his Alan Partridge character, writing the film, Philomena, Oscar nominations and acclaim, the visit with the Pope? His American film career? Rob Brydon, television, career in comedy?
2. The characters, real and fictitious, the relationships, Rob Brydon and his family, wife and children and the contact with them, the playful family scenes? Steve Coogan and his 20-year-old son, his relationships, phoning girlfriends and wanting to be with them? The effect of the mix of fact and fiction?
3. The popularity of the trips, the television series, to England Scotland, to Italy?
4. The set up, Steve Coogan wanting to write a book, following the steps of Laurie Lee? Rob Brydon, the articles for the papers, the restaurants and descriptions? The presence of the editors and agents in the activities? Talking with so many locals? The British musician?
5. The role of the editors, the articles, photo opportunities, in La Mancha, the two as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza?
6. The attraction of Spain for the audiences? Late in catching the ferry, the voyage, the range of towns visited? The importance of history, the Spanish Civil War, the memories, Guernica? The comments on Franco and Fascism? The Renaissance, Ferdinand and Isabella, Catholic monarchs, the attitude towards the Jews, towards the Moors? The room where Marlon Brando filmed Torquemada? The comments on the Inquisition? The Moors and their culture? The beauty of the countryside, the towns, architecture, lush and mountains, desert, Granada, the Alhambra, Malaga, the harbour, the African ferry (and the dream of sailing to Morocco)? The cumulative effect of this trip to Spain?
7. The structure, each day, the significance of each day’s restaurant, atmosphere, staff, cooks and service? The range of food, local? The audience and the response to the food sequences?
8. The importance of the repartee, during the travels, in the car, the range of jokes, each commenting on their other’s career, serious and comic?
9. The impact of the impersonations? The attention given to Roger Moore, both of them imitating him, especially Rob Brydon, the extended sequence about the Moors and Roger Moore and his claiming all the aspects of Moorish culture, science, arts, philosophy? The imitation of James Bond? Reenacting scenes? Rob Brydon on the rack with the Inquisition and his responses? The parody of Mick Jagger, his mistake about Rob Brydon as Michael Caine? The Michael Caine imitations? The imitation of John Hurt, Sean Connery, Marlon Brando and his mumbling?
10. The overall success of the film as travelogue, Food film, comedy?
