Things to Do


The BFG in Pictures


  House of Illustration.King’s Cross. Until Oct 2. £7.70.


Real to Reel: A Century of War Movies


  Imperial War Museum.  Lambeth North. Until Jan 8 2017. £10.


LIKE MANY OF you, I’ve long wanted to see the Santa hat Jake Gyllenhaal wore on his knob in ‘Jarhead’ up close. It’s a tribute to the scope of this not-massive show on the history of war in cinema that it gives you the chance to do justthat. In 1916, cameramen were


allowed to record the build-up and action of the Battle of the Somme. The resulting film was part documentary, part propaganda. Seen by 20 million people back in Blighty, it established many of the themes and paradoxes around the way that war has been shown on screen in the 100 years since. There’s a lot to see here, from a brilliant montage of changing tastes


in depicting D-Day, to Disney’s little- known classic ‘Victory Through Air Power’. There are even – inspired! – the models from Aardman’s ‘Great Escape’ parody ‘Chicken Run’. If the show soft-pedals on death


and maiming, it reflects what we’ve learned in 100 years of near- continuous conflict: that we as the audience can only take so much, and that filmmakers have to find ways of dressing up the monstrosity of war. Hence the Santa hat.■Chris Waywell


UNLIKE THE BIG Friendly Giant’s ears, this exhibition of original drawings – some on display for the first time – is pretty tiny, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in charm. Quentin Blake himself has provided text for the labels (he is the gallery’s founder, after all), meaning they’re extra loveable and a little fact-light, but the joy here is being able to almost press your nose up to the beautiful illustrations that are so familiar and yet still so exciting to look at. The two-dozen-odd frames


include a guide to drawing the BFG, and there’s a colouring table with a wonderful activity sheet for smaller


visitors, drawn by Blake, which is a good thing as they would find the exhibition itself fairly dry. But as a grown-up who wants to relive the magic of Dahl’s stories it’s hard not to get excited about the first ever drawings of a snozzcumber.■ Ashleigh Arnott


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