A good tagging

I have been tagged by the wonderful, irrepressible Linda of gotyourhandsful and havealovelytime. Linda is a great writer, and one of the kindest people I know, so I have no hesitation at all in nicking one of her best lines, to announce that I do love a good tagging.

This tag is all about favourite film characters. Hmm, it got me thinking. My favourite ever film roles? Naturally, my mind wandered to Bergman and the early works of Bunuel, while I pondered long and hard, of course, on the epic Fitzcaraldo ........but no, there was no contest really. I saw again, in my mind's eye, that fair expanse of English lawn, with a big house mistily in the background, and a certain someone striding forward ....

1.Yes, I'm afraid standing proudly at Number One in my list is Colin Firth as Mr Darcy, in that drenched shirt and those shiny leather boots, wading out of the pond at Pemberley and into the arms of Elizabeth Bennett. New Prides and Prejudices may come and go, and I did even quite like Bride and Prejudice and Lost in Austen, but no one does it quite like Colin. Sigh.

2. I adore the film Some Like It Hot and, in it, Marilyn Monroe is at her most incandescently beautiful - and she's very, very funny.

3. Harrison Ford in Blade Runner. What can I say? I'm just a sucker for a strong man. Harrison doesn't even have Pemberley to whisk me home to but I'd still jump up into the cab of his truck at the end every single time ....

4. Natassja Kinski as Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I saw this film when I was very young and the perfidy of Angel Clare still shocks me, even though I've now seen worse in real life. How could he abandon his Tess? Interestingly, I quite recently came across this poem by Thomas Hardy which has quite a different view of fallen women ....

5. Marisa Tomei plays a brilliant cameo in the film My Cousin Vinnie, as the world's most unlikely - but most convincing - expert witness. A real 'you go, girl' moment.

6. Audrey Tatou in Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain. A quirky gem. When I first settled down to watch this when I was living in Brussels, a large rat ran across the floor, signalling a huge infestation which took months to quell, and a very unpleasant chapter in my life. Despite this, I have a soft spot for Amelie's optimism and wish I possessed it myself.

7. Ralph Fiennes in The English Patient. I found the book very annoying but the film, from the first shots of the undulating gold of the desert, is beautiful and moving. And, of course, it's the story of a doomed love affair. I'm like a moth to a flame.

8. Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Okay, I know I'm not supposed to admit to liking stuff like this, but yes, I am a hopeless romantic and I find this simple Cinderella tale curiously compelling. Of course, some of its messages are rather curious - become a hooker and meet the man of your dreams, for instance - but who could resist Julia Robert's watermelon smile? And Richard Gere is delish.

9. Richard Burton in Anne of A Thousand Days. Another alpha male, this time one with a murderous glint in his eye. I just fall for them every time. I saw this as an eleven year old and fell madly in love with the Tudors and history in general. Plus is that a dagger in his codpiece, or is he just very, very pleased to see us?

10. The Lion King. There are a lot of Disney films which I adore, but I've always particularly loved this one. The idea of the circle of life is so pleasing and helps children to understand and come to terms with a lot, the wildebeest stampede is edge-of-your-seat scary and Timon and Pumba are irresistible. What's that you say? Mufasa is yet another alpha male? You know, that just hadn't occured to me at all .....

Part of Linda's instructions were to pass the tag along, so I now hand the baton to some lovely bloggy friends:

Chic Mama
Hot Cross Mum
Mumplustwo
Angel Bluestocking
Geekymummy