The film was written and directed by Anthony Minghella and stars Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman. Minghella has said he wrote the script specifically as “a vehicle for [Stevenson] to express all her talents. She plays piano, likes dancing and has a quirky side to her which she usually can't express in the classical parts she is asked for”. The title comes from a word game played by the main characters, in which they challenge each other to by turns repeat and add to a series of adverbs describing the depths of their mutual affection. The working title for the film was 'Cello', a reference not only to the cello within the film, but also to the Italian word 'cielo' for heaven.

…It has often been stated that World War II was part of a European Civil War that began in 1914 at the start of World War I. This is partly true. In Europe, at least, the two world wars were the two hideous halves of the Anglo-German controversy that was at the heart of both conflicts. The question posed was: would Britain be able, or willing, to maintain her vast Empire in the face of German hegemony on the continent of Europe? The answer to that question never came…

The Complete Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II makes a very important contribution to the subject - perhaps even a vital one - for it describes every major weapon and vehicle employed during the full period of the conflict, on land, sea and in the air, in enormous detail, both in textual and in graphic form. It also provides detailed specifications about the 'core' weapon or system and all its major variants. Thus it allows straightforward comparisons to be made accurately and effectively.

It was a photographer's war…

…The great majority of the photographs in this book come from the archives of London's Imperial War Museum. The museum is the repository for official British photographs of the Second
World War, and includes shots from a dozen theatres of war, taken by a variety of photographers. Many served with the Army Film and Photographic Unit: some were destined to remain unknown, while others, like Cecil Beaton, were already acknowledged as masters of their craft. Others were officers and men who broke the rules to freeze the moment in Brownie of Kodak…

A bickering couple (Alan Rickman and Polly Walker) drive fast through a downpour to catch the last ferry to their island retreat. In a flash, they recognize a crumpled body laying at the side of the road after much argument they stop, only to find a young boy (Norman Reedus) battered and bruised. An offer of summoning the police firmly rejected, the two help the boy as best they can although it certainly means missing the ferry…and so starts this thriller: a tale of twisted sexual attraction and ulterior motives.

The Search for John Gissing is a fast paced film which would probably have been more suited to an audience in the 1970s than the modern day. The first 20 minutes or so were for this watcher, quite mortifying with Mike Binder doing what to all intent purposes seemed to be a representation of Woody Allen. That is fine if you like Woody Allen, but I don't…

In 18th-century Vienna, the medical establishment was threatened by the unorthodox yet succesful healing methods of physician Franz Anton Mesmer (Alan Rickman). His new therapy seemingly cured the beautiful, blind pianist Maria Theresa Paradies (Amanda Ooms);the daughter of a well-to-do businessman, and also of this patients. The pair developed a bond and an intimate relationship ensued, but could this forbidden love affair or his unique gift, in a world that feared the eccentric, be the reason for his exile from Vienna? Alan Rickman is the Austrian physician Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer, in this elegant period drama, that won him the Best Actor award at the Montreal Film Festival, 1994.