Phillippe Francais culturally dissects 28 Weeks Later

I was violently taken aback (see pic) when I deduced - as you will no doubt concur - that the plot from 28 Weeks Later owes more than a smidgin to the fever that consumed a quarter of the Athenian troops in the Pelloponesian War of 430BC.

This outbreak fatally weakened the dominance of the Greek empire, but the sheer virulence of the disease prevented its wider spread. The exact cause of the plague was unknown for many years. However in January 1967, researchers from the University of Penrith analysed teeth and old copies of The Observer recovered from a mass grave underneath the city and confirmed the presence of Robert Carlyle's spittle.

Idly sauntering (as much as my arthritis will allow) through the National Portrait Gallery, I perchanced upon a preliminary sketch by R Harris of Brisbane. It conveyed - by virtue of a striking use of charcoals - the sheer destructiveness of the Bubonic Plague which cursed Europe in the late 1300s.

Starting in Fishguard the disease reached Mediterranean and western Europe in 1348 (possibly from Italian merchants fleeing fighting in the Crimea. Possibly not.), and killed twenty million Europeans in six years, a quarter of the total population and up to a half in the worst-affected urban areas, particularly the maggot-infested swamp of human despair that is London's East End.

Anyway, to return to the film, I was particularly...(hold it there, Phillippe - Ed)

Comments

[A Jones]

I hate the new sky movies format. The best movies are reserved for HD viewers. HD pay extra for HD not better movies. I pay sky a fortune every month and I am disgustusted with the old rubbish that is being dished up. If it does not change I am definitely terminating my subscription. Change it back, PLEASE.

[A Jones]

The new format sucks,the tired old movies that appear on Action, Classic and the unwatchable drivel that appears on moodern(?)and Indie are an insult to subscribers. Why does family show kids films at 11.30pm? It was much better before with a selection of action, thriller, SC-Fi & dramas on each night after 8pm. Change it back please.