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DVD & Blu-ray Picks: January 2015

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

> DVD & Blu-ray Picks for December 2014
> The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2014

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Cinema Lists

The Best Films of 2014

* The following list is in alphabetical order *

’71 (Dir. Yann Demange): The Troubles in Northern Ireland have inspired some very bad films (A Prayer for the Dying), some excellent ones (Bloody Sunday) and some masterpieces (Hunger). This intelligent and absorbing examination of a British soldier (Jack O’Connell) on the run in Belfast, during 1971, can be safely added to the ‘excellent’ category. Although parts of the film owe a debt to Carol Reed’s Odd Man Out (1947), albeit in reverse, it remains a pulsating historical drama. Mostly set over one hellish night in the city, the performances, production design and visuals are deeply impressive and bode well for newcomer Yann Demange.

A Most Wanted Man (Dir. Anton Corbijn): The last significant performance from the late Philip Seymour Hoffman was one of his best, playing a German spymaster in this John Le Carre adaptation. Set in Hamburg post-9/11, it examines the tensions and suspicions that abound between the U.S. and German security services. This comes to a head when a Chechen refugee turns up in the city who may (or may not) pose a security threat. Corbijn evokes the mood and nuances of Le Carre’s world, whilst cinematographer Benoit Delhomme shoots an appropriately gloomy Hamburg in blues and greys. A rare and bold contemporary thriller, which actually embraces the complexities of our times, instead of shunning them.

Birdman (Dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu): One of the most inventive and technically accomplished films of recent years was this darkly comic exploration of a washed up Hollywood actor (Michael Keaton) trying to reignite his career on Broadway. It plays like a brilliantly audacious mashup of Hitchcock’s Rope (1948) and Fosse’s All That Jazz (1979) and is laced with some delicious supporting performances from Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Stone and Naomi Watts. The extraordinary cinematography which glues the film together could spell another Oscar for DP Emmanuel Lubezki.

Boyhood (Dir. Richard Linklater): Perhaps the most conceptually ambitious film project of the modern era, this film was shot over several years, from 2002 to 2013, and follows a boy named Mason (Ellar Coltrane) – and his older sister (Lorelei Linklater) – from childhood to adulthood. Director Linklater demonstrates his trademark eye for human behaviour and the performances are uniformly excellent – especially Patricia Arquette as the boy’s mother – and the seamless time transitions are perhaps the most impressive aspect of all. Is it as powerful as Michael Apted’s pioneering Up documentaries? Probably not, but in terms of US filmmaking this is an unusually daring and satisfying film in an era of safety first thinking from the major studios.

Calvary (Dir. John Michael McDonagh): Although this Irish drama bore some similarities to McDonagh’s last film, The Guard (2011), it was darker in tone and content. The tale of an Irish priest (Brendan Gleeson) who hears a troubling confession explores the light and shade of modern Ireland with a knowing, morbid wit. Gleeson stood out in an impressive ensemble cast, but Kelly Reilly was also notable in a key supporting role as his troubled daughter. Over the last twenty years, Ireland has undergone seismic political, financial and cultural changes, which are reflected in this grimly comic exploration of a small coastal town.

Citizenfour (Dir. Laura Poitras): Perhaps the most riveting cinematic experience of the year for me was experiencing the inside story of the Edward Snowden leaks. The former NSA contractor who contacted Poitras and two Guardian journalists (Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill) about the post-9/11 eavesdropping activities of the US government. What gives the film real power is the sense of being in the Hong Kong hotel room as Snowden reveals the initial secrets, the tension of them getting caught at any time and the consequences of what might happen next. A remarkable document of an incredible story, as tense and thrilling as any fictional film.

Foxcatcher (Dir. Bennett Miller): Bizarre and disturbing real life events are the backdrop for this compelling drama about two Olympic wrestlers (Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo) and their relationship with one of America’s richest men. That man was John du Pont (played with eerie intensity by Steve Carrell), a philanthropist and wrestling enthusiast. The film is something of a blank slate, preferring suggestion over explanation, but this is a powerful tool in exploring themes such as patriotism, class and the seedy underbelly of the late Regan era. Since his rarely-seen debut film The Cruise (1998), Miller has often drawn from the enigmas and oddities of real life and packaging them with considerable intelligence.

Gone Girl (Dir. David Fincher): This love letter to Hitchcock was a smart adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s novel, tailor made for the sensibilities of David Fincher. When his wife (Rosamund Pike) goes missing, a Missouri husband (Ben Affleck) slowly enters a hellish nightmare of trial by media. Using a highly effective flashback structure, it Fincher uses his formidable array of skills to dissect and dismember the institution of marriage. The performances from the leads and supporting cast are all first-rate and Tyler Perry was an unexpected jewel as a high-profile ambulance chasing lawyer.

Interstellar (Dir. Christopher Nolan): A sci-fi epic which blended theoretical astrophysics with human emotions was always going to be a tricky feat to pull off. Thankfully Nolan just about achieved it with this story of futuristic Earth on the brink of dying and the NASA mission to save it. Headed by a former pilot turned engineer/farmer (Matthew McConaughey) forced to abandon his young daughter and family, the depiction of space travel is realised with tremendous verve and clever use of sets and visual effects. Although its grasp sometimes exceeded its reach, it was a bold and unusual blockbuster filled with ambitious ideas.

Life Itself (Dir. Steve James): A documentary about a film critic might seem an esoteric, even indulgent, project, but when the subject is the late Roger Ebert and the director is Steve James it immediately becomes more tantalising. After the acclaim that followed its premiere at Sundance, I was expecting something good, but not quite the heartfelt and fascinating tribute James created. Aside from his storied career as a Pulitzer prize winning journalist, it reveals numerous other nuggets including work with Russ Meyer (!) and backstage spats with fellow TV critic Gene Siskel. Interviews with his wife Chaz and a wide circle of friends paint a moving and unflinching picture of a remarkable man.

Mr. Turner (Dir. Mike Leigh): A slow burn portrait of the famous Victorian painter J. M. W. Turner, was greatly aided by a tremendous central performance from Timothy Spall in the title and some dazzling visuals by cinematographer Dick Pope. Interestingly it begins when he is firmly established as an artist and covers the last 25 years of his life. This means we see a reflective Turner coping with a complicated private life and critics disliking his later, unconventional style. One can still detect a defiant spirit (the list of credited financiers seem to indicate Leigh’s determination to get it made). The result is also a richly layered portrait which ranks highly amongst Leigh’s best.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Dir. Wes Anderson): A delicious layer cake of a movie, Wes Anderson crafted his most elaborate and ambitious project yet. Inspired by the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, the madcap story involves a concierge (Ralph Fiennes) who needs the help of one of his employees (Tony Revolori) to prove his innocence after being framed for murder. A wonderful ensemble cast featuring F. Murray Abraham, Jude Law, Edward Norton and Willem Dafoe (among others) is headed by Fiennes, who gives one of the best performances of the year, showing a lovely comic touch. Some people simply don’t like Wes Anderson’s intricate style of filmmaking, but even arch sceptics might be tempted by this.

The Imitation Game (Dir. Morten Tyldum): When World War 2 codebreaker Alan Turing got a posthumous pardon from the UK government, it was a sad reminder of how a great hero of the war could be a victim of prejudice on the home front. Norwegian director Tyldum also brings a compelling pace to this adaptation, whilst juggling the complexities of Turing’s life and work. Cumberbatch is very strong in the lead role, whilst Mark Strong brings a enigmatic gravitas to his role as a shadowy MI6 agent. The production design by Maria Djurkovic impressively recreates three periods (1930s, 40s, 50s) and is aided by some sharp camera work which involves a subtly altered visual sheen for each.

The Rover (Dir. David Michôd): This follow up to Michôd’s stunning debut, Animal Kingdom (2010), didn’t quite reach the dizzy heights of that film but was still a stellar effort from the gifted Australian director. Set in a lawless post-apocalyptic world, the plot sees a loner (Guy Pearce) have his car stolen by a gang who have left a member behind (Robert Pattinson). It then becomes a fusion of genres, principally drawing from the Western and road movie. Although it bears some similarities to The Road (2009), this has a slightly more arid and oppressive atmosphere, partly due to the hot conditions of the Australian Outback. Filled with intriguing surprises, whether it be strange characters or bizarre actions, the pay off when it comes is a corker.

The Theory of Everything (Dir. James Marsh): The life story of another British genius, only this time the subject was the theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking. Although at times it borders on hagiography, director Marsh and screenwriter Anthony McCarten manage to steer the film away from too much sentiment. The bulk of the narrative deals with Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) and his wife Jane (Felicity Jones) as they fall in love at Cambridge in the late 1960s and have to deal with motor neurone disease. Redmayne bears a strong resemblance to the Hawking and does a fine job in portraying the younger and older man. Beautifully lit by Benoît Delhomme and directed with precision by James Marsh.

> 2014 in film
> Critic Picks from 2014 on Metacritic
> The Best Films of 2013

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DVD & Blu-ray Lists

The Best DVD & Blu-rays of 2014

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS FOR 2014

The Best DVD & Blu-ray Releases of 2013
2014 in Film

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DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: December 2014

DVD and BLU-RAY Picks for DECEMBER 2014

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

  • The Killers (Arrow Academy) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Pulp Fiction (Lionsgate UK) Blu-ray / 20th Anniversary Edition
  • The Lars Von Trier Collection (Artificial Eye) Blu-ray / Box Set
  • The Hayao Miyazaki Collection (StudioCanal) Blu-ray / Box Set
  • Trafic (StudioCanal) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Intolerance (Eureka) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Les Miserables (Eureka) Blu-ray / Normal
  • The Adventures of Antoine Doinel: Five Films By Francois Truffaut (Artificial Eye) Blu-ray / Box Set
  • The Francois Truffaut Collection (Artificial Eye) Blu-ray / Box Set
  • Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (Virgin EMI Records) Blu-ray / Normal

> DVD & Blu-ray Picks for November 2014
> The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2013

Categories
Cinema Reviews

Life Itself

Steve James is one of the best filmmakers of his generation, and his latest documentary is a deeply insightful portrait of the life and legacy of US film critic Roger Ebert.

A US film critic might sound like an unlikely subject for a full length feature, but as James Joyce once wrote:

“In the particular is contained the universal”

This quote rings especially true here: a cornucopia of experiences and emotions compressed into a moving narrative via through the lens of an individual life.

Using Ebert’s 2009 memoir as a platform, the basic outline involves: his formative years in Urbana, Illinois; a long career in print at the Chicago Sun-Times and subsequently on television with Gene Siskel; it concludes with his final years, where he lost his old voice to cancer but found a new one online.

Peppered throughout are startling scenes of the ‘other’ Roger: the screenwriter who co-wrote Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) with Russ Meyer and a never-made project with the Sex Pistols; the prodigious journalist who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1975, but nearly drank himself into oblivion.

He was also an early champion of directors such as Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog and Errol Morris, all of whom talk warmly of him, even when he disliked some of their work. (Herzog even ended up dedicating his 2007 documentary Encounters at the End of the World to his fellow ‘soldier of cinema’.)

There are also some hilarious outtakes from the TV show he presented with rival Chicago critic Gene Siskel. Whether it was squabbling like a married couple over Full Metal Jacket (1987) or whose name should come first on the title (Siskel won out), both found the Yin to the others Yang.

Crucially though, the rich archival and interview material is skilfully weaved in with the personal: his beloved wife Chaz who provided critical emotional and practical support in his later years.

Diagnosed with cancer in 2002, his condition eventually led to him losing his lower jaw and ability to speak.

However, as an early adopter of the web, he eventually found a new audience through his voice-activated computer, an extensive website and on Twitter.

It was in the medium, which almost seemed invented for him, that he wrote deeply powerful meditations on not just the latest films, but his own existence and, by extension, ours.

Four years before his death in 2013 he wrote:

“I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear. I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state. What I am grateful for is the gift of intelligence, and for life, love, wonder, and laughter. You can’t say it wasn’t interesting.”

These words are used at one point in the film and I suspect they have special resonance for director Steve James. His documentaries, which include Hoop Dreams (1994) and The Interrupters (2011), are often fascinating, humane explorations of people’s lives in Chicago.

The Windy City is an almost tangible presence in this film, it was the place where Ebert penned his reviews at his beloved newspaper (The Sun-Times), where he married his soulmate Chaz and where he found a nationwide platform to champion films like Hoop Dreams.

For James, Life Itself feels like the culmination of an unofficial Chicago trilogy, but it is also seems to be the most personal of his works: a joyous celebration of a man who loved movies, people and life.

> Official website for Life Itself and Twitter feed
> Get local listings via Dogwoof, pre-order the DVD or rent or buy via iTunes UK
> RogerEbert.com

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DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: November 2014

DVD and Blu-ray Picks for November 2014

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

  • The Killing Fields (StudioCanal) Blu-ray / 30th Anniversary Edition
  • Chef (Lionsgate UK) Blu-ray / Normal
  • The Wizard of Oz (Warner Home Video) Blu-ray (75th Anniversary Edition)
  • Mad Men: Season 7 – Part 1 (Lionsgate UK) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Blue Velvet (High Fliers Video Distribution) Blu-ray / Special Edition (includes 52 minutes of lost footage)
  • X-Men: Days of Future Past (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) Blu-ray / Normal
  • The Lion King (Walt Disney) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Castles in the Sky (Dazzler) Blu-ray / Normal
  • The Usual Suspects (MGM Home Entertainment) Blu-ray / Steel Book
  • Stanley Kubrick Collection (Warner Home Video) Blu-ray / Ultimate Collector’s Edition
  • The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Second Sight) Blu-ray / Steel Book
  • Spirited Away (StudioCanal) Blu-ray / with DVD – Double Play
  • Playtime (StudioCanal) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) Blu-ray / Normal
  • The Thief of Bagdad (Eureka) Blu-ray / with DVD – Double Play
  • Spione (Eureka) Blu-ray / with DVD – Double Play
  • Guardians of the Galaxy (Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Blade Runner: The Final Cut (Warner Home Video) Blu-ray / 30th Anniversary Edition
  • The Postal Service: Everything Will Change (Sub Pop) Blu-ray / with DVD – Double Play

> DVD & Blu-ray Picks for October 2014
> The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2013

Categories
Cinema Reviews Thoughts

Interstellar

A film of enormous ambition and stunning technical accomplishment, director Christopher Nolan’s space epic dares to dream big and mostly succeeds, even if its reach occasionally exceeds its grasp.

Set in a dystopian future where Earth’s resources are running dry, widowed farmer, engineer and ex-test pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is confronted with a dilemma when offered the chance to lead a last-ditch mission to save humanity by the elderly NASA physicist Professor Brand (Michael Caine).

This involves using custom-built spacecraft, advanced theoretical astrophysics and travelling to the far reaches of space and time. Apart from the obvious risks, he will have to leave his family behind: young daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy) and son Tom (Timothee Chalamet), who are both devastated to see him go.

Joined by Brand’s own scientist daughter (Anne Hathaway), two other NASA (Wes Bentley and David Gyasi) and a multifunctional robot called TARS (voiced by Bill Irwin), the team venture into the unknown, searching for potentially habitable worlds.

To say much more about their mission would be entering dangerous spoiler territory, suffice to say that what they experience in deep space is truly a sight to behold.

Nolan’s own challenge was to blend real-life theoretical science (with the help of world-renowned physicist Kip Thorne), interstellar space travel grounded in a semi-plausible way, and finally to explore the emotional toll this takes on human beings.

It is a tall order and using a blend of practical and digital effects, and a scientifically literate script, the writer-director weaves a patchwork of influences which he just about pulls it off.

The twists and turns of the story may be too much for some on first viewing, but this one where you have to strap in and embrace the ride into other worlds.

Dust-filled Earth and chilly deep space are realised with stunning clarity and imagination: cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema (Let The Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) shoots the dark wonders of space and other worlds with a piercing intensity.

Visual effects supervisor Paul Franklin complements these with seamless digital transitions, working from stock NASA imagery and Thorne’s theories, the work he and his team at Double Negative have achieved here is truly exceptional.

Editor Lee Smith also brings a wonderfully brisk pace to an epic that lasts 166 mins, whilst utilising the crosscutting technique that Nolan used to such great effect in his Batman trilogy (2005-12) and Inception (2010).

The production design by Nathan Crowley, costumes by Mary Zophres and sound design by Richard King all create a rich, immersive and at times even tactile quality, which is surprising for a film as expansive as this.

Given all the technical brilliance at work here, and perhaps because of it, the performances of the actors are occasionally dwarfed by the sheer scale, but McConaughey, Foy, Hathaway and Irwin are the standouts.

McConaughey especially delivers the goods as the engineer burdened with courage and a seemingly impossible inner conflict and Ellen Burstyn burns brightly in a small, but critical role.

Surprises abound in Interstellar, and although the obvious sci-fi influences are here – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) – perhaps less expected are traces of Reds (1981), Field of Dreams (1989), The Abyss (1989), Solaris (2002) and Sunshine (2007).

Like Nolan’s other films it will almost certainly repay repeated viewing, but it bears all the hallmark of his very best work: smart, technically accomplished and leaving the viewer with a desire to experience it all over again.

> Official website
> Reviews at Metacritic
> Interstellar at the IMDb
> Roundtable interview with Nolan and his cast with THR (26 mins)

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Cinema Festivals Reviews

LFF 2014: Mr. Turner

Director Mike Leigh brings the life of Victorian painter J. M. W. Turner to the screen, with the help of a tremendous central performance from Timothy Spall and some dazzling visuals by cinematographer Dick Pope.

Covering the last 25 years of his life, we begin with Turner (Spall) at the peak of his career, a somewhat eccentric but brilliant landscape painter who commands respect among his peers, despite (in their eyes) coming from a more modest background.

The narrative also delves into various relationships over this period: his doting elderly father (Paul Jesson); housekeeper and lover (Dorothy Atkinson); an estranged partner (Ruth Sheen), with whom he has fathered children; a landlady he meets on a trip to Margate (Marion Bailey); Scottish polymath Mary Somerville (Lesley Manville) and art critic John Ruskin (Joshua McGuire).

Whilst all of those actors shine in supporting roles, it is Spall who dominates with a performance of rare quality. The physical movement, intensity, and rough edges he brings to Turner are all a delight to watch, but he also manages to use silence to express the painter’s emotional distance from people.

The slow-burn episodic narrative is effective in immersing us into his world. Details of his life are presented, but they always seem to be in the shadow of his artistic obsessions.

The technical presentation of these is remarkable, as Leigh and his long time cinematographer Dick Pope have crafted a visual look, which uses Turner’s work as a reference point. Added to this, the production design by Suzie Davies, art direction by Dan Taylor and costumes by Jacqueline Durran are all impeccable.

The choice to use the digital ARRI Alexa camera was an interesting one, as the film looks very analogue, but perhaps shooting on digital offered greater latitude in capturing colour and light. After all, embracing new methods in order to capture light is essentially what Turner was doing in his later period.

Whether you are an expert or being introduced to Turner, this is one of the best recreations of an artist, and ranks alongside Pollock (2000), Le Belle Noiseuse (1991) and Van Gogh (1991) as one of the best depictions of a painter at work.

Some art historians, even one who actually advised on the film, have quibbled about details, but the wider thematic point seems to be the conflicts a mature artist has to face when he has already broken through and achieved a great deal of respect.

The choice to eschew the ‘early years’ was a wise one, and perhaps the result of Leigh’s own introspective thoughts as an established filmmaker who still feels like an outsider in an industry filled with social and financial restraints.

Questions like: ‘What have I really achieved?’, ’What is my art worth?’ and ‘Why do I do what I do?’ seem to be in the air, both for the director and subject of this film.

Leigh has always carved out his own identity in an industry susceptible to conformity and now at 71, he is regarded as one of the great British directors.

In Mr. Turner one can still detect a defiant spirit (the list of financiers on the credits seem to indicate his determination to get it made) and a certain satisfaction in going his own way.

The result is also deeply satisfying, a richly layered portrait of an artist that ranks highly amongst Leigh’s best work.

Mr. Turner screened at the London Film Festival on Friday 10th and Saturday 11th October 2014

> Mr. Turner at the LFF
> Watch the official trailer
>
 Find out more about J.M.W. Turner at Wikipedia

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Festivals Reviews Thoughts

LFF 2014: ’71

A riveting portrayal of a young British soldier on the run in early 70s Belfast provides the backdrop for this stunning feature debut from director Yann Demange.

When a young English soldier (Jack O’Connell) is sent to the streets of Belfast in 1971, he is quickly plunged into a nightmarish fight for survival in a city that has erupted along sectarian lines.

Left wounded and stranded by his regiment, he encounters various characters: a young streetwise boy (Corey McKinley); a Catholic (Richard Dormer) and his daughter (Charlie Murphy); two contrasting IRA members (David Wilmot and Killian Scott); and some shady British army agents (Sean Harris and Paul Anderson).

After some preliminary scenes which sketch out the protagonist in his home town, we are soon introduced to the bitter and dangerous streets of the time.

Straightaway the film does something clever, with DP Tat Radcliffe employing a grainy 16mm newsreel look for the daytime sequences and gradually shifting towards a digital palette for the night, which allows us to see more of the unfolding horror.

It is also blessed with some terrific widescreen framing, reminiscent of John Carpenter at his best, which elevate the film far above the usual bland visuals that often plague British films like a virus.

Gregory Burke’s screenplay intelligently weaves a story of survival within a powerful, almost one act structure, with some dark underlying issues which still resonate today.

The cast who help bring this to life are equally impressive: O’Connell in the demanding lead role will inevitably take the lions-share of the plaudits, but supporting cast also shine in what could easily be cliched roles.

Demange, French-born but British-based, this is an audacious leap from TV into feature films and comparisons will inevitably be made with Paul Greengrass, who was also propelled into the mainstream after his TV movie Bloody Sunday (2002).

You could also make career comparisons with director Steve McQueen, whose feature career launchpad was with Hunger (2008), a searing drama set around the Maze prison in the early 80s.

It is interesting that such difficult and controversial events have provided fertile ground for more recent film-makers, when it had previously proved such a minefield, with disastrous films like A Prayer for the Dying (1987) and The Devil’s Own (1997) being prime examples. But over time, things changed.

Gone were the tone deaf, ham-fisted efforts and in their place were works of greater style and substance: Greengrass used a documentary style to depict the seismic events of January 30th, 1972; McQueen realised the horrors of the 1981 hunger strike with a chilling simplicity.

Now Demange has added to this modern tradition, with a film that functions as a gripping thriller but also is an unsentimental reminder of the senseless brutality of warfare.

’71 played at the London Film Festival on October 9th and 10th

> LFF official site
> Facebook page for ’71
> Read more about The Troubles at Wikipedia

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Cinema Festivals Reviews Thoughts

LFF 2014: The Imitation Game

The story of World War Two codebreaker Alan Turing is brought to the big screen with class, compassion and a standout performance from Benedict Cumberbatch.

Based largely on Andrew Hodge’s biography, it employs a well-worn but effective flashback device which sees the maths genius (Cumberbatch) relate his story to a police officer in the early 1950s.

As the story unfolds we see how a seemingly odd bachelor in Manchester, with a fondness for electronics projects, was in the previous decades a maths prodigy who would become crucial in defeating the Nazis, and in the process help lay the blueprint for modern computing.

The real life events that inspired this version are both extraordinary and complex, but screenwriter Graham Moore has wisely woven them in to his nicely honed screenplay, with only a handful of overwritten moments (most of them involving his childhood).

Norwegian director Morten Tyldum also brings a compelling pace to proceedings, whilst juggling the complexities of Turing’s life and work with how it affected those around him.

Production designer Maria Djurkovic impressively recreates three time periods (1930s, 40s, 50s) and is aided by some sharp camera work which results in a subtly altered visual sheen for each.

In key supporting roles, it is Mark Strong who stands out as a shadowy MI6 agent, bringing an enigmatic gravitas to his role. Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode, as fellow codebreakers, also do solid work in fairly underwritten parts.

This is a far superior film to Enigma (2001), the Michael Apted film which covered the same story with a somewhat hackneyed thriller premise, which seemed to turn away from the goldmine of the central protagonist.

Perhaps the shrewdest thing this film does is to embrace the puzzle of Turing himself: war hero; rebel; math genius; autistic savant; and finally a victim of the British society he had helped to save.

That the final film works as well as it does, is in large part down to Cumberbatch’s performance.

Although at times it borders on being a little too mannered, it nonetheless feels like we’ve been in the presence of Turing for the duration of the film.

Convincing whether he is answering back to his superiors or colleagues, fragile when worrying about his emotions, and belligerent that his vision will work no matter what, it is the range of emotions on display that make this his best screen performance to date.

Ultimately, the wider story is a bittersweet one, with a war hero unable to see what profound impacts his ideas had on World War II and the development of the computer and the field of artificial intelligence.

The Imitation Game does not seek to sugarcoat Turing’s legacy, nor is it an ‘issue film’ about Britain of the time.

Instead, it acknowledges the complexities of both the man and the times, whilst wrapping it up in a accessible narrative that acknowledges the profound impact he had on the world.

The Imitation Game opened the London Film Festival on Wednesday 8th October

> Official website
> Find out more about Alan Turing on Wikipedia

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: October 2014

DVD and Blu-ray OCTOBER 2014

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

  • Fruitvale Station (Altitude) Blu-ray / Normal
  • The Jim Jarmusch Collection (Soda Pictures) Blu-ray / Box Set
  • Gone With the Wind (Warner Home Video) Blu-ray / with UltraViolet Copy (75th Anniversary Edition)
  • The Green Mile (Warner Home Video) Blu-ray / with UltraViolet Copy (15th Anniversary Edition)
  • Joe (Curzon Film World) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Natural Born Killers (Warner Home Video) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Shivers (Arrow Video) Blu-ray / with DVD – Double Play
  • Edge of Tomorrow (Warner Home Video) Blu-ray / with UltraViolet Copy – Double Play
  • Steven Spielberg: Director’s Collection (Universal Pictures) Blu-ray / with Book
  • Welcome to New York (Altitude) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Cold in July (Icon Home Entertainment) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Once Upon a Time in America: Extended Director’s Cut (Warner Home Video) Blu-ray / with UltraViolet Copy – Double Play
  • Daybreak (StudioCanal) Blu-ray / 75th Anniversary Edition
  • Westworld (Warner Home Video) Blu-ray / with UltraViolet Copy – Double Play
  • Mystery Road (Axiom Films) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Castles in the Sky (Dazzler) Blu-ray / Normal

> DVD & Blu-ray Picks for September 2014
> The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2013

Categories
Reviews Thoughts

Gone Girl

Director David Fincher has been a long-time devotee of Alfred Hitchcock and his latest work seems to be the ultimate love letter to the ‘master of suspense’.

Although no stranger to dark crime dramas – such as Seven (1995) and Zodiac (2007) – Fincher has never really explored the mind of a killer, instead opting to craft impeccable procedurals, filled with dread.

His latest, an adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel, explores what happens when a marriage turns particularly sour: Nick and Amy Dunne (Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike) have relocated to recession-hit Missouri and when the latter goes missing things really kick off.

To say much more about the plot is tricky because the narrative is filled with startling developments and many hidden pleasures. Even those who have read the book will savour the many twists, turns and dark humour that Fincher puts on screen.

It is some achievement that the director and novelist, adapting her own book, manage to juggle so many plot strands and characters, who include Nick’s loyal sister (Carrie Coon), a local detective (Kim Dickens), Amy’s rich ex-boyfriend (Neil Patrick Harris) and a superstar attorney (Tyler Perry).

That they do so with such precision and skill, will delight fans of the director and the book, but it also marks new ground for one of finest directors working in Hollywood. Previously his films have mainly explored male points of view, but here he delves into the dynamics of men and women.

The institution of marriage, especially the notion of a ‘perfect couple’, is by the end of the movie so prodded and pulled apart that by the end it feels like one of John Doe’s victims in Seven.

Modern, tabloid news coverage is also dissected with a knowing, penetrating wit. Often, the media circus surrounding the case of Nick and the missing ‘Amazing Amy’ resembles the climax of Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole (1951), another example of a master auteur and satirist.

However, all roads seem to lead back to Hitchcock. There are so many of his tropes on display here: a ‘wrong man’ setup; an icy blonde; carefully controlled dolly shots and pans; an important shower scene; even sections that resemble the wilder elements of Vertigo (1958) and Marnie (1964).

Unlike some of Brian De Palma’s work, this is more than an elaborate homage: the flashbacks and shifts in perspective provide a solid foundation for the cast to do some of the best work of their careers.

Affleck is perfectly cast and pulls off a role that is trickier than it might appear at first; Pike reveals hidden depths after a recent run of supporting turns; Tyler Perry is a deeply unexpected delight, whilst the rest of the cast all fit neatly into the world Fincher has sculpted.

Trent Reznor’s haunting electronic score adds a rich aural flavour to proceedings, whilst DP Jeff Cronenweth helps provide the customary dark palette that Fincher is so fond of.

Gone Girl is the kind of film that needs to seen again and perhaps demands another review with spoilers, for a full discussion of its many qualities. But for the moment, it is a film you should definitely see, one of the best of the year so far.

> Official website
> Reviews at Metacritic

Categories
Archive Interesting Podcast

Frank Darabont on The Shawshank Redemption

Frank Darabont on The Shawshank Redemption

* A previously unpublished interview from the FILMdetail archives *

Back in 2004, I spoke with writer-director Frank Darabont about the 10th anniversary of The Shawshank Redemption (1994).

Whilst not an initial success, it gradually became one of the most beloved films of all time, consistently ranking at No. 1 on the Internet Movie Database.

Listen to the interview below, which was recorded in September 2014:

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/169632382″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

> Buy the film on Blu-ray or DVD at Amazon UK
> Find out more about The Shawshank Redemption at Wikipedia
> Frank Darabont at the IMDb
> WSJ article on how The Shawshank Redemption keeps making money

Categories
News

Brain Cancer Appeal

TBTC FD Banner

You may have noticed that there has been a reduction in posts over the last couple of years on this website.

The fact of the matter is that since the summer of 2012 I have had Grade 3 brain cancer and have been getting treatment for it ever since.

This has meant an unfortunate decline in FILMdetail activity (although I still post to Twitter).

Getting a cancer is bad (obviously) but staying alive has made me reassess things somewhat.

That’s why this special post is to inform you that I’m doing a sponsored walk on Sunday 12th October in Windsor (yes, the one where the Queen lives most of the time).

It is for The Brain Tumour Charity, which is a UK charity dedicated to research and more understanding of the illness.

If you would like to donate just visit my JustGiving page: http://www.justgiving.com/AmbroseHeron

Any donation goes direct to the charity and it is a fairly straightforward process.

If you want to see the early stages of the cancer website I’m building, you can find it at whencellsgowrong.com

Life for me online is now divided between films and health, but I hope that one day I’ll be able to go back to focus on the films.

> Help me raise funds for The Brain Tumour Charity via JustGiving
> Find out more about Brain Tumours at Cancer Research UK

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: September 2014

DVD and Blu-ray Picks for SEPT 2014

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

  • The Honourable Woman (BBC/2entertain) / DVD
  • Rain Man (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) / Remastered Blu-ray
  • Richard III (Network) / Blu-ray / Normal
  • Ghostbusters (Sony Pictures Home Ent.) Blu-ray / 4K + UltraViolet Copy – Double Play
  • Frank (Curzon Film World) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Eyes Without a Face (BFI) DVD with Blu-ray – Double Play
  • A Farewell to Arms (BFI) Blu-ray with DVD – Double Play
  • Goldfinger (MGM Home Entertainment) Blu-ray / 50th Anniversary Steelbook Edition
  • The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Eureka) DVD with Blu-ray – Double Play
  • The Last Metro (Artificial Eye) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Love On the Run (Artificial Eye) Blu-ray / Normal
  • Lilting (Artificial Eye) Blu-ray / Normal

> DVD & Blu-ray Picks for August 2014
> The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2013

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: August 2014

DVD and Blu-ray Picks AUGUST 2014

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

  • Black Narcissus (Network ITV)
  • Labor Day (Paramount Home Entertainment)
  • Starred Up (20th Century Fox Home Ent.)
  • Rear Window (Universal Pictures)
  • Clint Eastwood: The Collection (Universal Pictures)
  • Labor Day (Paramount Home Entertainment)
  • Sophie’s Choice (ITV DVD)
  • The 400 Blows (Artificial Eye)
  • Plenty (Network)
  • The Soft Skin (Artificial Eye)
  • On the Waterfront (Sony Pictures Home Ent.)
  • Calvary (Momentum Pictures)
  • Transcendence (EV)
  • Bed and Board (Artificial Eye)
  • Stolen Kisses (Artificial Eye)
  • Locke (Lionsgate UK)
  • Heli (Network)
  • Kurosawa Samurai Collection (BFI)
  • Seven Samurai (BFI)

> DVD & Blu-ray Picks for July 2014
> The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2013

Categories
Documentaries Lists News

Sight & Sound’s Greatest Documentaries List

Sight and Sound Doc Poll

Sight and Sound have recently released the results of a poll of critics and filmmakers to find the greatest documentaries of all time.

The Critics’ Top 10 documentaries are:

1. Man with a Movie Camera, dir. Dziga Vertov (USSR 1929)

2. Shoah, dir. Claude Lanzmann (France 1985)

3. Sans soleil, dir. Chris Marker (France 1982)

4. Night and Fog, dir. Alain Resnais (France 1955)

5. The Thin Blue Line, dir. Errol Morris (USA 1989)

6. Chronicle of a Summer, dir. Jean Rouch & Edgar Morin (France 1961)

7. Nanook of the North, dir. Robert Flaherty (USA 1922)

8. The Gleaners and I, dir. Agnès Varda (France 2000)

9. Dont Look Back, dir. D.A. Pennebaker (USA 1967)

10. Grey Gardens, dir. Albert and David Maysles, Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer (USA 1975)

The poll report is released in the September edition of Sight & Sound published today, Friday 1st August.

The full lists of all the votes received and films nominated will be available online from 14th August.

You can join in the debate at Twitter using the hashtag #BestDocsEver.

> Sight and Sound
> More on documentary film at Wikipedia

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray Reviews

Now In the Wings on a World Stage

Now In the Wings On a World Stage

Depicting the Old Vic’s touring production of Shakespeare’s Richard III in 2011, this documentary – directed by Jeremy Whelehan – explores how a theatre company goes about presenting Shakespeare to a contemporary global audience.

Back in 2003, actor Kevin Spacey took over as the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London and one of his aims was to revive the kind of plays that made it famous, especially revivals of Shakespeare.

Perhaps the most iconic performance of Richard III was Laurence Olivier’s portrayal at the Old Vic in 1944, where the nascent National Theatre company was later born, so this seemed like a natural play for Spacey to reinterpret.

What gave this contemporary production an extra dimension was not just the fact that it was directed by Sam Mendes, collaborating with Spacey for the first time since American Beauty (1999), but that it would tour cities around the world in Greece, Turkey, Italy, China, Australia, Doha and America.

It was also part of the ‘Bridge Project’, which saw US and UK actors participate in a transatlantic ensemble of American and British actors in several productions, such as The Tempest, The Cherry Orchard and As You Like It.

Beginning with Mendes and his cast in rehearsals, the film soon sees Spacey (in the titular role) and his cast take the play around the world.

Crosscutting backstage interviews with scenes of onstage action, it provides illuminating insights into a touring company on the road.

The most momentous place they visit is the ancient site at Epidarus, which is still the best example of a surviving Greek theatre, and provides a stunning backdrop to clearly awed actors.

Istanbul provides an interesting backdrop as the city where east meets west and as tensions in the Arab Spring unfold we see real life tensions mirror the events of the play, with dictators being toppled amidst frequent bloodshed and intrigue.

When they reach Sydney, the real life downfall of Gaddafi even influenced Spacey’s costume in the 2nd Act and the already simmering parallels between Shakespearean villains and more recent ones becomes all too apparent.

Aside from Spacey we get to hear from the company of actors who range from veterans of the British stage (Gemma Jones) to younger Americans (Jeremy Bobb) and a range in-between.

The cultural differences are lightly touched upon but it seems touring has been a bonding experience.

Perhaps the most intriguing venue they visit is Beijing (the National Centre for the Performing Arts), where the Chinese audience is respectfully silent at first but does respond heartily to the unexpected comic aspects of the play.

At one point Mendes describes Spacey as ‘mercurial’, despite working with him on two major projects, and how the process on American Beauty was similar to Richard III.

Although Spacey is generous in describing his thoughts and feelings to camera, you somehow get the feeling that he likes to hold some things back, maybe fearful of revealing what makes his best performances tick.

Given that he filmed the widely acclaimed US remake of ‘House of Cards’ straight after playing Richard III for several months, you can sense how it influenced his performance.

It was already a thinly veiled update of Richard III, with its main villain (Frank Underwood) centre stage and giving frequent asides, but his version seems to be infused with more energy and humour, possibly as a result off his experiences touring the villain around the world.

As the film concludes, with the play finishing in New York, we have witnessed the sights and sounds of what a theatre company go through as they travel the globe.

But there is a sense that the film could have probed a little deeper.

Al Pacino’s marvellous documentary Looking for Richard (1996), which also featured Spacey, was a more compelling and poetic film about what Shakespeare means in the modern age, as Pacino was a more magnetic presence in channelling the spirit of the Bard.

That being said, Now In the Wings An A World Stage, is still an interesting examination of actors still trying to communicate themes and language from the 16th century.

> Official website for the film
> Buy it via Amazon UK
> Find out more about William Shakespeare and Richard III at Wikipedia
> CUNY TV interview with Kevin Spacey about the film (26m)

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: July 2014

Untitled-1


DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

> DVD & Blu-ray Picks for June 2014
> The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2013

Categories
News

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: June 2014

DVD and Blu-ray Picks - June 2014

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

> DVD & Blu-ray Picks for May 2014
> The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2013

Categories
music

Star Trek – Live in Concert at The Royal Albert Hall

Star Trek at the Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall in London is one of the world’s iconic music venues and recently they have been screening films in front of an orchestra.

Last week they screened Gladiator (2000) with Lisa Gerrard providing live vocals, and in the following days they showed J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek (2009) and its sequel Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), with the 21st Century Orchestra.

As the lights dimmed Simon Pegg, who plays Scotty in the current iteration of the long running sci-fi franchise, walked on stage and the crowd went suitably wild.

It wasn’t just sci-fi geeks wearing Star Trek tops getting excited, but a more mixed crowd that saw film fans of all ages. (Although the conductor came out for the second half of the concert wearing a yellow James T. Kirk top!)

This perhaps being a reflection of how Abrams’ latest films have refreshed the long running saga for a mainstream audience whilst honouring the traditions set down by Gene Rodenberry’s TV in the 1960s and the subsequent spin-offs.

Although these kind of musical events have been done before, they seem to be part of a new kind of theatrical experience which is seeks to get people back into cinemas in different ways.

I had never experienced a ‘live-to-score’ screening before and it was quite something to behold: wonderful sound, a huge screen and an iconic venue all made for an absorbing night.

It helped that the venue was sold out (and not just by Star Trek fans) and there was a good atmosphere, but it was also interesting to observe the musicians from the 21st Century Orchestra playing their instruments in-sync with the movie.

At times, it was difficult to decide what to watch: the film unfolding on screen or the musicians playing beneath them.

Ultimately, a mixture of the two was probably what I ended up doing, but it was a tribute to the musicianship of the orchestra that it was perfectly in sync, as there was no margin for error.

There was the added treat of introduction from Simon Pegg (Scotty), Michael Giacchino (composer) and J.J. Abrams (director), the latter getting a particularly large round of applause as he had just come from the set of his latest film (which also has the word ‘Star’ in the title).

Perhaps J.J. might be back sometime for a live to screening of that, but in the meantime I’d love to see Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), whose climax famously takes place at the Albert Hall.

How cool would that be?

> Royal Albert Hall and YouTube channel
> Star Trek (2009) at Wikipedia

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: May 2014

DVD and Blu-ray MAY 2014

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

DVD & Blu-ray Picks for April 2014
The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2013

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: April 2014

DVD and Blu-ray Picks April 2014

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

> DVD & Blu-ray Picks for March 2014
> The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2013

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: March 2014

DVD Blu Picks March 2014

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

Gravity (Warner Home Video) [Buy from Amazon UK]
Brazil (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) [Buy from Amazon UK]
Short Term 12 (Verve Pictures) [Buy from Amazon UK]
Metro Manila (Independent Distribution) [Buy from Amazon UK]
The Stuff (Arrow Video) [Buy from Amazon UK]
Blue Is the Warmest Colour (Artificial Eye) [Buy from Amazon UK]
The Counsellor (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) [Buy from Amazon UK]
Kagemusha (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) [Buy from Amazon UK]
Predator (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) [Buy from Amazon UK]
Au Hasard Balthazar (Artificial Eye) [Buy from Amazon UK]
Philomena (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) [Buy from Amazon UK]
Saving Mr. Banks (Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.) [Buy from Amazon UK]
The Atom Egoyan Collection (Artificial Eye) [Buy from Amazon UK]
Frozen (Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.) [Buy from Amazon UK]

DVD & Blu-ray Picks for February 2014
The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2013

Categories
News

Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014)

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Magnolia

The acclaimed actor passed away in New York yesterday aged 46.

Hoffman was a true modern great, second only perhaps to Daniel Day-Lewis (but far more prolific), who made the breakthrough from a great supporting actor to lead since the late 1990s.

He won the Oscar for Best Actor with his remarkable turn as Truman Capote in Capote (2005) and was also nominated three times for Best Supporting Actor, as well as receiving three Tony nominations for his work on stage.

Although he cropped up in minor roles in movies during the 1990s, such as Scent of a Woman (1992) and Twister (1996), he really started to come into his own with memorable roles in Happiness (1998) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).

But it was his collaborations with writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson that brought him to a wider audience and linger in the memory: the shy boom operator in Boogie Nights (1997); the male nurse in Magnolia (1999); and most recently as a cult leader in The Master (2012).

In the DVD extras for Magnolia there is a 75 minute documentary, which is one of the best of its kind, and one of the highlights is seeing Anderson working with Hoffman.

His smaller roles in Anderson’s Hard Eight (1996) and Punch-Drunk Love (2002) were also examples of his working chemistry with the director who seemed to have a special connection with him.

Whilst I wasn’t the biggest fan of The Master (2012), he was sensational in it, bringing a unique charm and intensity to the character of Lancaster Dodd.

Hoffman was also a versatile supporting presence in mainstream films like Mission Impossible III (2006) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) whilst maintaining his presence in classier fare like Charlie Wilson’s War (2007), The Savages (2007), Doubt (2008), Moneyball (2011) and The Ides of March (2011).

Roles in bleaker films such as Love Liza (2002) and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007) hinted at an ability to portray addictive characters, although whether or not this came easily to him, only he will have truly known.

In such a celebrated and varied career (around 50 films), it seems remarkable that he should be gone at the age of 46.

Time will tell what will be seen as his greatest role, though the sheer volume of work makes that difficult.

The obvious pick is Capote, but his role as theatre director Caden Cotard in Synedoche, New York (2008) would be my choice.

Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut was a strange, puzzle-box of a movie but Hoffman’s performance was integral to the film, which remains a highly inventive and haunting meditation on how humans age and die.

One can only speculate on Hoffman’s inner demons that led him back to drugs and an early death, but for now the world of acting has lost one of its finest practitioners.

> Philip Seymour Hoffman at the IMDb
> Find out more about Philip Seymour Hoffman at Wikipedia

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: February 2014

DVD Blu-ray FEB 2014

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

DVD & Blu-ray Picks for January 2014
The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2013

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: January 2014

DVD and Blu-ray January 2014

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

> DVD & Blu-ray Picks for December 2013
> The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2013

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray Lists

The Best DVD & Blu-rays of 2013

The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2013

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS FOR 2013

  • Billy Liar (StudioCanal) / Blu-ray
  • The Impossible (Entertainment One) / Blu-ray and Normal
  • Amateur (Artificial Eye Blu-ray / Normal
  • One Hour Photo (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) / Blu-ray and Normal /
  • Rear Window (Universal Pictures) Blu-ray / Normal /
  • The Birds (Universal Pictures) Blu-ray / 50th Anniversary Edition /
  • Bullhead (Soda Pictures) Blu-ray / Normal /
  • The Sessions (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) Blu-ray with Digital Copy – Double Play /
  • Blow Out (Arrow Video) Blu-ray Special Edition /
  • My Left Foot (ITV DVD) Blu-ray / Normal /
  • The Unbelievable Truth (Artificial Eye) Blu-ray / Normal /

The Best DVD & Blu-ray Releases of 2012
2013 in Film

Categories
Cinema Lists

The Best Films of 2013

Best of 2013

* The following list is in alphabetical order *

12 Years a Slave (Dir. Steve McQueen): The British director brought us a stunning historical drama with its haunting depiction of US slavery. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender were the highlights of an outstanding ensemble cast.

All is Lost (Dir. J.C. Chandor): Robert Redford alone on a sinking boat provided a multifaceted drama of survival, with Redford’s best role in years. After his brilliant debut Margin Call (2011), Chandor is clearly a talent to watch.

Before Midnight (Dir. Richard Linklater): The conclusion (?) to a unique trilogy provided director Richard Linklater and actors Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy another opportunity to explore their charming characters in another beautiful setting.

Blue Is The Warmest Colour (Dir. Abdellatif Kechiche): An intimate epic of the heart, this year’s Palme D’or winner featured two outstanding lead performances (Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux) and a refreshing approach to portraying relationships on screen.

Blue Jasmine (Dir. Woody Allen): The rise and fall of a rich society wife (Cate Blanchett) provided rich pickings for Allen and his superb supporting cast featuring Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin and Andrew Dice Clay. A bittersweet treat with a memorable lead performance.

Captain Phillips (Dir. Paul Greengrass): This true life tale of a US tanker captain (Tom Hanks) taken hostage by Somali pirates (led by Barkhad Abdi) was an expertly constructed thriller that also managed to examine the sharp end of globalization.

Enough Said (Dir. Nicole Holofcener): One of the lighter pleasures of the year was a romantic comedy that was both clever and funny. A middle-age romance between two divorcees (Julia Louise Dreyfus and the late James Gandolfini), it contained numerous delights.

Gravity (Dir. Alfonso Cuaron): Perhaps the most ambitious film of the year was this stunning drama, with two astronauts (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney) adrift in space. Cuaron, DP Emmanuel Lubezki and VFX maestro Tim Webber took on screen visuals to another level.

Inside Llewyn Davis (Dir. The Coen Bros): The New York folk scene of 1961 provided the backdrop for this bittersweet tale of a struggling folk singer (Oscar Isaac). Intricately crafted, with a great soundtrack produced by T Bone Burnett and a great cat, this is top-tier Coens.

Nebraska (Dir. Alexander Payne): Another road movie from the director of About Schmidt (2002) and Sideways (2004) provided a great role for veteran Bruce Dern in the twilight of his career. Shot in atmospheric black and white, the supporting cast is also note perfect.

Short Term 12 (Dir. Destin Daniel Cretton): One of the unexpected delights of the year was this beautifully crafted drama set in a foster home. Brie Larson and John Gallagher Jr were excellent in the lead roles but there are many aspects to admire, not least Cretton’s direction.

The Act of Killing (Dir. Joshua Oppenheimer): One of the most disturbing and unique documentaries in film history, Oppenheimer secured a remarkable degree of access amongst the former death squads of the Indonesian revolution. A landmark work.

The Great Beauty (Dir. Paolo Sorrentino): Wonderfully rich look at the twilight of the Berlusconi era, with Tony Servillo again proving an excellent foil for his director. As usual for Sorrentino, the visuals and location shooting are of the highest order.

Upstream Colour (Dir. Shane Carruth): Returning from a 9-year absence, Carruth crafted a dazzling puzzlebox of a film, performing multiple duties (acting, writing, directing and music) alongside his impressive co-star Amy Seimetz. Fascinating, complex and brilliant.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Philomena (Dir. Stephen Frears)
Iron Man 3 (Dir. Shane Black)
Mystery Road (Dir. Ivan Sven)
The Look of Love (Dir. Michael Winterbottom)
The East (Dir. Zal Batmangajli)
The Wolf of Wall Street (Dir. Martin Scorsese)

Find out more about the films of 2013 at Wikipedia
End of year lists at Metacritic

Categories
Cinema Reviews Thoughts

Nebraska

Will Forte Bruce Dern and June Squibb in Nebraska

Director Alexander Payne returns to his native state for another wry look at the American midwest and the characters who populate his goofy, desolate cinematic landscape.

In a marked change from the picturesque setting and vibrant colours of his last two films, The Descendants (2011) and Sideways (2004), here we go back the grey Nebraskan skies of his earlier work Election (1999).

Even more than that, Payne has opted for black and white, an unusual visual choice these days and one that invites comparisons to films like The Last Picture Show (1971), with its depiction of things ageing and slowly dying.

This central theme drives the story which revolves around Woody Grant (Bruce Dern), a grumpy and partially senile old man who seems convinced he has won a million dollars, just because he has received a certificate in the mail.

Despite trying to convince him that the letter is a scam, his son David (Will Forte) decides to accompany him on the long trip from Billings, Montana to their home state of Lincoln, Nebraska where they meet family and old friends, some of who believe his story about the $1m.

All of this unfurls in classic Payne fashion: there are shrewd observations about family dynamics; a lingering sense of comic frustration and some truly memorable supporting characters, including Woody’s wife Kate (June Squibb) and an old work partner (Stacey Keach).

Working from Bob Nelson’s original screenplay, this marks the first time the director hasn’t had a hand in writing one of his films. But the material is a nice fit and the road movie structure and odd-couple dialogue has parallels with Sideways (2004).

Although the backdrop couldn’t be more different, there is an acute eye for detail and the bittersweet nature of relationships, especially the effect time and money has on our lives. In its own way, this is a sly parable about the illusory nature of the American Dream.

At the same time there is a lot of heart beneath the surface of these lives and one suspects that Payne sympathises with Woody’s plight, whilst not being too precious about his shortcomings, as evidenced in comic scenes where he visits Mount Rushmore or loses his false teeth.

The decision to use black and white (it was shot in colour and converted in post-production) whilst creating an elegiac tone, also allows cinematographer Phedon Papamichael to indulge in different lighting choices, which are interesting for such contemporary material.

Dern has often been cast in secondary roles, but here at the twilight of his career he gives a wonderfully nuanced performance. He’s cranky and unpredictable, yet somehow manages to paint a sympathetic portrait of a man sliding into the fog of old age.

Forte provides an effective foil as his adult son trying to understand his father better, Bob Odenkirk is nicely vain as the other son (a local TV newsreader), whilst Squibb gets the most belly laughs as the dominant matriarch.

The musical score by Mark Orton, with its use of guitars and strings, also sets a distinctive mood throughout.

> Official site
> Reviews at Metacritic

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: December 2013

DVD and Blu-ray Picks for December 2013

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

> DVD & Blu-ray Picks for November 2013
> The Best DVD & Blu-rays of 2012

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray Reviews Thoughts

Heaven’s Gate

Isabelle Huppert and Kris Kristofferson in Heaven's Gate

One of the most infamous commercial disasters in Hollywood history gets another re-release, but at the correct length there is much to admire in Michael Cimino’s 1980 western.

Heaven’s Gate has a formidable legacy as the film that bankrupted United Artists, virtually ended the high flying career of its director, and led to the major studios taking fewer risks as the sun finally set on the auteur-driven New Hollywood era.

Although the truth may be more nuanced, it certainly came to symbolise the worst excesses and indulgences of the era, whether that was deserved or not.

But how does it hold up now?

Part of the problem is that ever since its New York premiere in November 1980 (when it clocked in at 219 mins), Cimino and the studio decided to pull it from release after just a week and then issue a drastically recut version later that April (148 mins).

This makes it somewhat difficult to judge, given that most audiences haven’t seen the longer version, but thanks to this new re-release on Blu-ray and DVD, we can see the version that has been personally approved by the director himself.

There are numerous sequences that have been restored and one can finally say this is the version that should be seen.

Set in Wyoming amidst the Johnson County War of 1892, it depicts the brutal struggle of Russian immigrants, as the local cattle barons gradually try to exterminate them.

Amidst this backdrop unfurls a fictionalised story involving a U.S. Marshal (Kris Kristofferson), his Harvard class mate (John Hurt), a French bordello madam (Isabelle Huppert), a hired killer (Christopher Walken), a local bar owner (Jeff Bridges) and a ruthless landowner (Sam Waterston).

When revisiting this film at the proper length there is much to feast on: Vilmos Zsigmond’s stunning cinematography, the incredible use of the Montana and Idaho landscapes; and Tambi Larsen’s epic production design, which along with Cimino’s meticulous attention to detail creates a vivid depiction of the West.

For fans of the western genre there perhaps has never been as grand a vision put on screen.

The central love story doesn’t quite match up to the visuals, but the social and political themes are refreshingly bold for a mainstream American film.

Although films such as Shane (1953) had featured an avenging angel character, Cimino’s script delved deep into the class aspects of the American West.

As Jeff Bridges’ character says at one point:

“It’s getting dangerous to be poor in this country.”

Now there is a line that rings down the decades to the present day.

The central love triangle mostly works with Kristofferson and Huppert making a convincing couple, and although Walken and Hurt are basically miscast in their roles, there is enough realism in the rest of the supporting cast to create a compelling atmosphere.

Watch out too for the recurring motif of circles, from the opening graduation dance at Harvard, to the skating rink, the final battle and the wider theme of the overall story.

Despite its many qualities though, there still remain flaws, the biggest of which is not length but pace.

It may have been designed to show off the extravagant visuals but instead clogs up the narrative of the film and is arguably why opinion is still split on it today.

But it remains worth seeing on its own terms and as a kind of lament for both the Western genre and the filmmaking of the 1970s.

SPECIAL FEATURES

  • New Video Interview With Jeff Bridges
  • New Interview With Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond
  • Extracts From ‘Final Cut: The Making And Unmaking Of Heaven’s Gate’ – Michael Epstein’s acclaimed documentary based on Steven’s Bach’s book

> Buy the Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon UK
> Find out more about Heaven’s Gate at the IMDb and Wikipedia

Categories
Awards Season Short Films

Aningaaq

Aningaaq

A short companion film to Gravity, Aningaaq is 7-minute tale that directly corresponds to a scene in the full length feature.

Directed by Jonas Cuaron, it neatly fills out a conversation from the movie and provides a little story of its own too.

> LFF 2013 review of Gravity
> Official site
> Reviews of Gravity at Metacritic
> Interview with Jonas and Alfonso Cuaron about Ano Una in 2008

Categories
Cinema Reviews Thoughts

The Counsellor

Javier Bardem and Michael Fassbender in The Counsellor

The screenwriting debut of novelist Cormac McCarthy sees him team up with director Ridley Scott for a bleak tale set amidst the drug trade of the US-Mexican border region.

When a shady lawyer (Michael Fassbender) gets caught up in a transaction gone wrong, he starts to fully realise that his world may be a cesspit of corruption of murder, endangering not only him but his fiancee (Penelope Cruz).

Employed by a flamboyant Mexican dealer (Javier Bardem), who has a strangely sinister girlfriend (Cameron Diaz), he is warned by a business associate named Westray (Brad Pitt) that Mexican cartels can be ruthless and unforgiving when crossed.

Although an original screenplay, we are firmly in ‘McCarthy-land’, where human suffering is seemingly around every corner and harsh punishment is meted out in remorseless ways.

Ridley Scott has long been interested in bringing the novelist’s Blood Meridian to the screen and he’s admitted that when the option to make this film came up, he jumped at the chance.

The result is a dark and strange film, defiantly going against the grain of conventional studio filmmaking, with its sordid scenes of sex and violence marking it out as a rarity in the current climate of animation and safety-first blockbusters.

It may have one of the most in-demand casts of recent memory, but it largely plays them against type – Fassbender is a naive protagonist, Bardem a surreal supporting act, Diaz a wild femme fatale and Pitt a larger-than-life cowboy, with only Cruz playing it straight.

None of them are untainted by their world (although some are more tainted than others) and initially life seems good for the title character as he indirectly reaps the rewards of the drug trade before foolishly succumbing to his greedier instinct, although ironically it is a benevolent act that triggers the main events of the film.

Although the characters are distinctive, the real stars here are the writer and director: McCarthy has managed to create his grim but often disturbingly plausible visions intact, whilst Scott can do this kind of drama in his sleep as the plot unwinds with clockwork efficiency.

Scott has often been accused of being more interested in visuals than characters, but that makes him a perfect fit for this material, where humans really are pawns, and whilst McCarthy’s screenplay will undoubtedly enrage screenwriting gurus, this is no bad thing.

An early scene involving rabbits being chased and hunted by cheetahs is a forewarning of what is to come: shootings, beheadings, strangulation by weird devices.

This is a brutal world in which we see people in over their heads, affected by forces out of their control.

The oddness of the material extends to the quality — parts of the film are highly effective and stay with you long after the final credits roll, but there is also a strange familiarity here.

This may be because Cormac McCarthy has been such a cultural influence on the border region of Mexico and the US: after Breaking Bad (2008-13) and the Coen Brothers’ masterful adaptation of his own No Country for Old Men (2007), there seems to be a sense of déjà vu running throughout the film.

Despite this, there is something to admire in how it boldly defies conventions and stays true to the spirit of the screenwriter’s vision.

Some audiences will be repulsed by aspects of The Counsellor but like a fine wine may be more appreciated in the years to come.

> Official site
> Reviews at Metacritic

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DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray Picks: November 2013

DVD and Blu-ray Picks 04-11-13

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

> DVD & Blu-ray Picks for October 2013
> The Best DVD & Blu-rays of 2012

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Cinema Festivals London Film Festival Reviews

LFF 2013: Saving Mr. Banks

Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson in Saving Mr. Banks

The story behind the film version of Mary Poppins (1964) is the subject of a clever and charming new film about the clash between the English author Pamela ‘PL’ Travers and famed studio head Walt Disney.

When we first see the elder Travers (Emma Thompson) in 1961 she is running short of money, due to declining book sales, and her agent is urging her to accept the offer of a trip to Los Angeles to meet Walt Disney (Tom Hanks), the mogul who has pursued the rights to the project for 20 years.

Having promised his two daughters to turn their favourite book into a movie, he is very keen on the idea of a big budget musical, granting her full creative input into the project, something he rarely did.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t realise that Travers actively hates the idea of a musical and resists almost all the suggestions from the creative team at the studio (a trio played by Bradley Whitford, B. J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman).

Gradually, through flashback, we discover the reasons for her reluctance may lie in her childhood, when she grew up in Australia with a loving but troubled father (Colin Farrell).

On the surface, this may appear like another slickly produced Disney feel-good comedy.

Whilst it is certainly all that, the film has its own interesting backstory.

The origins of the project lie in a 2002 TV documentary about Travers, which eventually led to Allison Owen coming on board as producer and eventually a script credited to Sue Smith and Kelly Marcel made 2011s ‘Black List’ (an unofficial survey of the years best unproduced scripts).

Then, in a strange reverse parallel to the film, the producers had to persuade the notoriously sensitive Disney that they would not trample on Walt’s legacy.

Eventually, the Mouse House relented to the first ever depiction of Walt Disney on screen and the finished film is mostly a charming surprise.

This is due in large part to Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks, whose constant sparring provides a lot of the comedic sparks.

Thompson’s Travers is a perpetually defiant English woman who manages to hide a troubled past, whilst Hanks plays Disney as a loveable, charming uncle who’s drive and ambition are never far from the surface.

To an extent, the film glosses over the thornier aspects of each character: there is no mention of Travers’ unconventional personal life or the darker side of Disney. However, this is not entirely a bad thing as a warts-and-all drama would have been out of the question for a mainstream Disney release.

But the end result is not just a sanitised product but a rather sly portrait of a spanner in the Hollywood machine.

It is in essence an exploration of ‘creative differences’ — that well-worn phrase so beloved of Tinseltown to maintain the idea that idea that raging rows were amicable disagreements.

Some of the funniest scenes in Saving Mr. Banks come in the rehearsal room, where Travers is aghast at some of the songs and suggestions that are now so beloved by fans of the 1964 film.

These are executed with a light touch that is unfortunately not true of the extended flashback sequences which dwell a bit too clumsily on her childhood.

Make no mistake, this is a manipulative film and the hiring of Thomas Newman to score it only adds to its seductive power, with his lush hanging strings and signature instrumentation providing a lightness to the comedy and emotion to the drama.

As Walt Disney ultimately persuades P.L. Travers to accept the idea of a movie, we can see what a driven man he was, whilst at the LA premiere we can be moved at the author’s reaction to the film, even if that may not have been exactly as presented here.

She told the BBC in 1977 that she had ‘learned to live with the film,’ which is a hardly a ringing endorsement.

But then maybe this film, like the musical and the original book, is just another pleasurable fantasy.

Is pleasure such a bad thing?

Saving Mr. Banks closed the London Film Festival on Sunday 20th October

(It opens in the UK on November 26th)

> Official site
> Reviews of the film at Metacritic

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Cinema Festivals London Film Festival Reviews

LFF 2013: All is Lost

Robert Redford in All is Lost

One man adrift in the Indian Ocean is the premise for J.C. Chandor’s second film, a compelling tale of survival against the odds.

Opening with a brief, mournful monologue of an enigmatic sailor (Robert Redford), we hear a crash and are plunged back a few days to when his boat, the Virgina Jean, collided with a large metal cargo container.

We immediately see he is calm under pressure, scooping out water and doing the best he can under the circumstances: patching up the hole and trying to fix the wet radio.

Who is this man?

Cryptically listed in the credits as ‘Our Man’, perhaps he is a retired businessman who took up sailing. Maybe he is a professional sailor. Who knows?

Perhaps he represents any human being caught up in a desperate situation. The point of this film is to put us in there with him as he battles the elements.

Chandor and his crew slowly build the tension as we see all manner of obstacles: the leaking boat, storms and sharks.

Apart from a few words, it is free of dialogue, meaning there is a relentless focus on Redford and his situation.

This is surprisingly riveting, as previously routine acts such as putting up a sail or jumping into a raft become critically important.

But Chandor also has a few more tricks up his sleeve, most notably the casting of Redford. The movie star brings a grizzled gravitas to his part in what is his best work in years.

Cinematographer Frank G. DeMarco brings an immediacy to the action on the boat, whilst visualising the beauty and danger of the oceanic environment.

Cleverly blending in location shooting with work in tanks and visual effects, it paints a hauntingly plausible scenario of what it is to be stuck at sea.

The sound design is outstanding and the large sound team, headed by Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns, does sterling work in capturing the many different aural textures aboard the boat, life raft and ocean.

For writer-director J.C. Chandor this marks another remarkable film after his feature debut, Margin Call (2011).

That still remains the best feature about the financial crisis, and seems to be a world away from All is Lost.

But look closely and there may be parallel themes: crisis, dread and the aforementioned survival.

The building and firm in Margin Call which created their own financial problems could be a cousin to the boat in All is Lost – both are sinking fast.

With these two films Chandor has already created powerful parables for our time and the degree of skill and intelligence he applies to his work only makes me hungry for his future work.

All is Lost screened at the London Film Festival on Oct 12th, 13th and 14th

(It opens in the UK on December 26th)

> Official site, Facebook page and Twitter
> Reviews at Metacritic

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Cinema Festivals London Film Festival Reviews

LFF 2013: 12 Years a Slave

Chewitel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave

Based on the true life experiences of a free black man forced into slavery, Steve McQueen’s latest work is a stunning achievement.

The kidnapping and enslavement of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) from 1841 until 1853 form the spine of this harrowing tale.

Northup endures a hellish odyssey as he is chained and sailed down to New Orleans, where he encounters the brutal truths of the slave trade.

One owner is relatively benevolent (Benedict Cumberbatch) but his psychotic assistant (Paul Dano) forces a sale, meaning Northup eventually ends up picking cotton for the ruthless Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender).

Amongst the other important people he encounters are a slave trader (Paul Giamatti) who renames him ‘Platt’; a fellow slave (Lupita Nyong’o) and a sympathetic Canadian who may be able to help him (Brad Pitt).

From the opening scenes until the closing credits, fans of McQueen – and I remain a huge admirer of Hunger (2008) and Shame (2011) – will recognise his mastery of the visual and audio language of cinema.

But here, he and his collaborators are painting on a bigger canvas and the result is a stunning historical drama which is likely to be the definitive film on the subject for many years to come.

The production design by Adam Stockhausen and use of the Louisiana landscape gives everything we see a remarkable authenticity.

This in turn is aided by the superb ensemble cast who chew up John Ridley’s dialogue with relish.

At the centre of all this is an incredible performance from Ejiofor as Solomon Northup.

We see him go through many episodes of mental and physical torment whilst maintaining his quiet dignity and hope.

It is a moving, subtle and rich performance which shows just what he is capable of with the right material.

Cinematographer Sean Bobbit continues his fruitful visual collaboration with McQueen and the beauty of the South is evoked alongside an air of dread and menace.

An agonising one-take sequence of a lynching is just one of many scenes that stay with you long after the film is over.

The icing on the cake is Hans Zimmer’s haunting score, which at times resembles his orchestral work on Inception (2010) and The Thin Red Line (1998).

In addition the use of spiritual songs as the slaves work in the fields, adds another human touch, hinting at the defiance which would later spawn the Civil War and ultimately the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

There has long been a curious reluctance for mainstream US cinema to examine the dark chapter of slavery.

Aside from the stylised world of Django Unchained (2012), realistic films haven’t really been made about the subject.

Even this project took a British director and several production companies (River Road, New Regency, Plan B and Film 4) to eventually bring it to the screen.

Perhaps the oddest aspect is how this particular story was dormant for so many years.

Although it was published around the same time as Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the book remained a relative obscurity.

Maybe it was a reluctance to confront the ghosts of the past, or perhaps it just wasn’t good box office.

Intolerance still lies beneath the surface of American life, even in the age of a black US president, but this film is a powerful reminder of the cruelties of racism and the endurance of hope.

12 Years a Slave screened at the London Film Festival on Fri 18th October, Sat 19th and Sun 20th

(It opens in the UK on Friday 24th January 2014)

> Official site
> Reviews at Metacritic

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Cinema Festivals London Film Festival

LFF 2013: Inside Llewyn Davis

Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis

The Coen Brothers are in a more reflective mood for this beautifully crafted drama, set amongst the New York folk scene of the early 1960s.

Opening with folk singer Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) performing in a Greenwich Village nightclub in January 1961, we soon discover he is a man struggling against the odds, in both his personal and working life.

His record label are useless in paying his meagre royalties, a hectoring ex-girlfriend (Carey Mulligan) tells him she is pregnant (and she’s unsure who the father is), he frequently has to couch surf and also manages to lose a friend’s cat.

Despite all of these mishaps he plugs away in search of a bigger break, travelling to Chicago and back again in the winter, trying to convince people to take a chance on his music or a least help him out financially.

Wilfully subverting the traditions of the rags to riches music biopic, it focuses on a man whose existence appears to be an ever decreasing circle of fame and money.

Imagine if Bob Dylan hadn’t quite made it and you’ll soon get the idea.

If this seems like a gloomy tale, don’t forget that the Coens are past masters at mixing light and dark and this is along the lines of A Serious Man (2009) and Barton Fink (1991).

Like those movies, it features many funny scenes populated with memorable characters: two friendly academics (Ethan Phillips and Robin Barrett); a sister (Jeanine Serralles); singer and ex-partner Jean (Mulligan) who is now seeing a rival Jim (Justin Timberlake).

One of the most striking episodes – which may be related to the film’s title – is a road trip to Chicago where Davis hitches a lift with a silent driver (Garrett Hedlund) and a rotund jazz impresario (John Goodman), on the way to see a promoter (F. Murray Abraham).

This sequence, and the film as a whole, bears all the hallmarks of their very best work: immaculately shot by DP Bruno Delbonnel, it also features some stunning production design by Jess Gonchor, who recreates the era in meticulous detail.

At the centre of all this is an excellent performance by Oscar Isaac, who manages to capture the weary melancholy and outsider attitude of a struggling – and not particularly likeable – artist.

As for The Coens, this seems to be another of their more personal films where a Job-like protagonist is constantly struggling within a comically hostile universe.

But the aforementioned connection with Bob Dylan is an interesting one: like the legendary folk singer, they moved from Minnesota to New York and a scene near the end is perhaps more than just a tip of the hat to him.

As for the soundtrack, the Coens team up once again with executive music producer T Bone Burnett, who memorably collaborated on the O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000) soundtrack, and the result is arguably as good.

One of the year’s most impressive films, it is a strong addition to the Coen’s canon and a memorable depiction of a struggling artist.

Inside Llewyn Davis screened at the London Film Festival on Tues 15th, Thurs 17th and Sat 19th October

(It opens in the UK on Friday 24th January 2014)

> Official site
> Listen to the soundtrack
> Reviews of Inside Llewyn Davis at Metacritic

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Cinema Festivals London Film Festival Reviews

LFF 2013: Blue is the Warmest Colour

Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux in Blue is the Warmest Colour

The winner of this year’s Palme D’Or is a frank but absorbing study of a young girl’s sexual awakening.

Running close to three hours of screen time this is an epic of the heart and disarmingly in-depth depiction of falling in love.

When we first meet the protagonist, Adele (Adele Exarchopoulos) she is a 15-year old girl about to begin her first serious relationship with a classmate Thomas (Jeremie Laheurte).

However, a chance encounter with an older blue-haired woman named Emma (Lea Seydoux), leads her to question her emotions and feelings towards her own sex.

But this is just the beginning of the long journey which director Abdellatif Kechiche takes us on, as emotionally charged highs are gradually mixed in with heartbreaking lows.

Despite taking place over a number of years – I would roughly estimate around six – Kechiche cleverly uses the narrative, so key episodes gradually fade into another.

These segments could almost be short films in themselves: an early encounter at a lesbian bar; a tender scene in the park; and two awkward dinner parties are just some of the memorable scenes as Emma and Adele fall in love.

This is all depicted with remarkable authenticity, with the telling silences providing a neat counterpoint to the natural, flowing conversations.

The intensity of the film is heightened by the decision to mostly shoot in widescreen closeups, with cinematographer Sofian El Fani capturing the emotions and actions with piercing clarity.

Even in exterior environments, which are relatively rare in the film, the focus is on the characters, especially Adele.

This depiction intimacy spills over into the explicit sex scenes, which have attracted a lot of media attention since the premiere in Cannes.

In truth there isn’t a great deal to discuss other than the fact that they are more brightly lit and longer than most movie sex scenes.

The fact that three scenes has coloured discussion of this film for several months perhaps says more about certain journalists than it does about what is on screen.

Whilst the bravery of the two actresses should be noted, it as part of a much wider story, with many tones and textures.

Just as notable is the film’s embrace of the complexities of sexuality and human relationships, with both characters behaving in believably erratic and confused ways.

The themes of commitment, trust and social anxiety are all explored as the film progresses, and it says much about the skill of writer-director Kechiche that none of it ever descends into cliche or pat conclusions.

He is aided by two outstanding lead performances from Exarchopoulos and Seydoux, with the former taking the greater share of screen time.

Displaying a remarkable assurance in front of the camera, she not only has a natural screen presence but manages to convey emotion with the slightest of moves and expression.

Given that nature of how this film was shot – in searching, close-up compositions – it is a testament to their acting that the audience may feel like they’ve been in a relationship with the pair.

A rich, draining and highly accomplished drama.

Blue is the Warmest Colour screened at the London Film Festival on October 14 and 17th. (It opens in the UK on November 25th)

> Reviews at Metacritic
> IMDb link