The Man Who Laughs

Released from Eureka Entertainment, this classic silent film garners a new restoration in 4K as a part of the label's ongoing Masters of Cinema series.

Made in 1928, the film was made by Paul Leni famous German Expressionist director from the early 1920s and his cinematographer Gilbert Warrenton who had made The Cat and the Canary (1927). This film is considered an early entry into Universal Studios now famous purple patch of horror movie classics under the stewardship of producer Carl Laemmle. From the studio head down, along with art director Charles Hall and make up guru Jack Pierce this collaboration was married with a defining performance at its centre by Conrad Veidt.

Veidt plays Gwynplaine, a carnival performer whose face is mutilated into a permanent ghoulish grin by his executed father's royal court enemies. Gwynplaine struggles through life with blind Dea (Mary Philbin) as his companion, and despite his disfigurement Gwynplaine still considers himself unworthy of Dea's affection.

The make up on Veidt's role has been acknowledged as direct inspiration for the first portrayal of the Joker in the DC Comics of Batman in 1940 and has become common place in screen portrayals through the years culminating in Heath Ledger's Oscar winning turn in The Dark Knight (2008).

Featuring moments of humour, tragedy, doomed romance and swashbuckling fight scenes, The Man Who Laughs remains as one of the most stylish entries into the American silent cinema era. With the sound era about to burst prominently onto the scene and the monsters of Universal pictures being able to talk come 1930-31 with Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster; it is wonderful to see the richness and detail within the film's production from costume to sets to narrative construction.

The film has been restored from Universal's 4K transfer to Blu-ray and features a score by the Berklee School of Music along with featurettes by horror expert Kim Newman and a booklet by Travis Crawford and Richard Combs.

The Man Who Laughs is available now on Blu-Ray from Eureka Entertainment

The Levelling

The stunning debut feature from writer-director Hope Dickson Leach reaches DVD and Blu-ray on 17th July from Peccadillo Pictures.

Against the backdrops of floods that have ravaged her family home, Clover (Ellie Kendrick - Game of Thrones) returns to the family home to confront her estranged father, Aubrey (David Troughton - The Archers).  Upon return, a tragic event sparks conflict and regrets among the family as father and daughter attempt to repair old wounds within their troubled relationship.

Shot with a keen eye by director Leach whose camera does not appear to be intruding upon Clover in unusual surroundings confronting the harsh realities of life and the decisions that have led to this point.  At times the camera may have an almost documentary feel lending it a neo-realist feel but the combination of charismatic performances by the two leads and the delicately handled family drama rises it above the level of documentary subject matter.

The title of the film may be construed as prescient and a double meaning of both a term referring to a piece of land where the family home resides but also the death of her brother can perhaps lead to a plateauing of their relationship with an understanding and appreciation of each other.

A film at times feels part dream, part social realist document on the post-austerity Britain and a statement on the fragility of family dichotomies and relationships, Kendrick breaks out from the ensemble of Game of Thrones to mark herself out as a talent to watch, matched by the experience of Troughton.

The Levelling is out on DVD/Blu-ray from Peccadillo Pictures on 17th July

John Wick: Chapter 2

Keanu Reeves returns as the eponymous character John Wick, in the sequel to the surprising 2014 hit with Reeves playing a retired hit man who just cannot avoid his forcing him back into the game he wanted to walk away from.

Directed again by Chad Stahelski - whose stunt work has graced The Hunger Games, The Wolverine - the film continues not long after the first film's conclusion. On this occasion, John must do a favour for Italian crime lord Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scarmario) who wants a seat at the top table of the crime syndicate, or the crime world will descend upon him.

The film features some amazing action sequences shot in some beautiful locations especially in subways and nightclubs, the film culminates with an ingenious mirror sequence.  The other stand out scene is when John must flee the catacombs of a Roman tomb and you become almost a point of view from John as he encounters wave upon wave of people out to shoot him, it is reminiscent of a Call of Duty or other first person shooter video games. The scene is both exhilarating yet at times bewildering.

Whilst Reeves is never going to win Oscars for his performances, you have to admire the way he has found this niche role for his minimalist range combining his star persona and Matrix martial arts skills to promote a run of the mill action role into a franchise keeper. 

This film would be a lot different with a brooding Jason Statham or ranting Liam Neeson; and because of his zen like centre the somewhat over-the-top action scenes are believable due to Reeves holding court with his range.

The film does not hold back from the off there is a rip-roaring stunt car scene, and the scenes between Reeves and Common, who almost steals those scenes, are handled effectively as a calm down before the next dynamic explosion of pulsating action.

Exhilarating and intense, John Wick: Chapter Two is a great addition to the hitman revenge action film genre, but it the quiet moments of reflection and dialogue stop it from becoming one of the greats, despite everyone clearly having a ball whilst doing it.

The Special features include never-before-seen content including 'Training John Wick', 'Car Fu Ride Along', 'Kill Count' and three deleted scenes.

John Wick: Chapter Two is available to own on 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray and DVD from June 12th from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

The Unknown Girl

The Dardennes brothers (The Kid With a Bike, L'Enfant) are back with their new film The Unknown Girl out on DVD from Curzon Artificial Eye on Monday 6th February.

The film tells the story about a young female doctor, Jenny Davin (Adele Haenel) in small town Liege, Belgium; who after a long day refuses to open the door to her clinic when already an hour after closing. The next morning policemen tell her that the young woman - a black African immigrant working as a prostitute.

This starts a moral guilt in our young female protagonist, a conflicting individual who is almost bullying to her young trainee doctor. The trainee is a male and she admits she did not open the door to the girl to instill a means of superiority.

She begins an investigation to find out the identity of the young girl who has been buried without a name so here family can be informed.

The Dardennes are famous for small town stories with universal themes, here are tropes of privacy, guilt and belonging. Jenny is unusual in the sense that we do not know her history, where has she come from; we are aware of her future more with the impending clinic she may well take control of. The story makes her reassess her decisions and she does alter from lacking bedside manner to becoming a better local GP by using her local knowledge to her advantage.

Shot with gripping hand held flourish in the same vein as classic neo-realism and the better Ken Loach films, bringing a sense of documentary realism to a fictional story.

It also has a political message on immigration within EU borders in today's current political climate providing a compelling platform for this intelligent film with a brave central performance from Haenel.

The Unknown Girl is out on DVD from Monday 6th February from Curzon Artificial Eye

Life, Animated

Released from Dogwoof Entertainment on DVD this Monday 30th January, the Oscar-nominated Life, Animated tells the story of a young man, now aged 23, who is graduating after overcoming the debilitating condition of autism from the age of 3 years old; and how the watching of classic Disney movies helped him overcome his affliction and interact with the world especially his parents and family who feared they had lost him 'to the prison of autism'.

Directed by Roger Ross Williams, the film follows Owen Suskind who from the age of 3 was diagnosed with autism and how his parents Ron/Cordelia learnt that Owen through watching Disney films - Peter Pan, Aladdin, The Lion King - understood emotions of empathy, love and friendship; whilst his motor skills were slower he could process through the oeuvre of Disney pictures a place in society and how Owen fits into this real world.

The film is cautious to show Owen with his therapists and how wary they are about how his worldview may be clouded by the Disneyfication, how perhaps there may not always be a happy ending. This notion is put sharply into context when Owen and his girlfriend, Emily after a three-year relationship full of hugs and cutesy emotion is ended (somewhat abruptly) by Emily. This prompts Owen to ask, 'Why is the world full of pain and tragedy?' to his Mum on the phone, but this is part of Owen's learning that the world is not like the fantasy of Disney and can be cruel and big.

The film uses original animation sequences to show the formative years of Owen and his growing up in hand drawn storyboards. These sequences are endearing coupled with the story Owen wrote as a young boy called 'The Land of the Lost Sidekicks' incorporating the fact that following a brief episode of bullying at a special needs school, Owen felt less of a hero and more of a secondary character in his own narrative like a Baloo, Rafiki, Iago.

As a documentary film, this is the perfect format for such a delicate matter where certain viewers may still be ignorant of autism and its affects on behaviour, yet the film credibly attempts to show you the effects on the rest of the family including a poignant moment for Owen's brother Walt on the occasion of his 26th birthday, when he reflects on a time when his parents may not be around and he will have to protect Owen himself. The genuine warmth and affection between the family radiates off the screen throughout and is a real joy to witness.

The drawbacks on the film although minor is how does Owen interact with other films (although Casper is on his shelf) even alternative animation fare or is it just Disney films he watches regularly; no mention is made of the Pixar catalogue when a film like Toy Story about growing up and becoming responsible would ring true to Owen.

Delicately handled and beautifully edited Life, Animated is a vital portrait of a condition that the majority still are reluctant and ignorant to address.

Life, Animated is released on DVD on 30th January

The Young Pope

Paolo Sorrentino, noted Italian auteur of such critically acclaimed fare as This Must Be The Place and last year's Youth, like many film directors has turned to the television medium to tell a greater story where he can tell it over 10 hours instead of the pre-requisite two hours you have in film.

Sorrentino, such a stylish and visual director from his earlier films to the more deliberate methodical dramas such as The Great Beauty, certainly lands on his feet in Rome.

It tells the story of a young (by Pope age) American Cardinal, called Lenny Belardo played by intense broodiness by Jude Law who has been recently appointed the new Pope Pious XIII. When we first meet Lenny he is giving his first public homily to St. Peter's Square - in which quickly becomes a satirical swipe at Catholicism and its blindness to the world with its ever changing notions of acceptable decorum and relationships.

Lenny then wakes up from his dream, and we are equally flummoxed; are these the actual beliefs of a young Catholic in modern day society, is Sorrentino speaking on behalf of all Catholics or embracing the laissez-faire mentality of current real Pope Francis, who did not question same-sex marriages for instance.

Lenny is introduced to his new cabinet most notably Cardinal Voiello (Silvio Orlando), an Italian whose true love is Napoli FC, who was overlooked for the top job and is eager to rock the boat. Whilst Voiello wants to control Lenny, our new pope is certainly not forthcoming ignoring his suggestions of cabinet positions and inserting as his special advisor, Sister Mary (Diane Keaton) the woman who took him into the orphanage at a very young age and has mentored him to this moment.

Other questionable characters such as fellow American Cardinal Dussolier (Scott Shepherd), who is alluded to like young flesh by foreign speaking Cardinals and Sofia (Cecile de France), the young head of marketing who embraces Lenny's ideal that his image should not adorn any merchandise and he remain invisible to his public. 'Only Jesus is present, I am nothing' as he states.

The difference between this being a run of the mill, behind the scenes drama of a world usually closed off to the public is that Sorrentino has tweaked the role of Lenny somewhat into that as a archetypal figurehead of that other Italian institution, the Mafiosa.

Law plays Lenny as a newly appointed head honcho of a criminal organisation; his way or the highway, he smokes openly, flaunting the line between confessional confidentiality by asking a priest to be his mole by telling him what people think of him in passing prompting a changing of positions in his cabinet swiftly and without remorse. You can sense Law had immense fun playing Lenny; with the ability to spin words to his will and a presence to match his movie matinee idol looks.

The cleverness of the premise is that this Pope, as played by Law, can run and run if Sorrentino maintains a hold of this vessel. Law is certainly an individual you want to keep watching and the neat twist on him being in question about his faith and the layers he hides despite apparently being without sin demands our attention.

The Young Pope has enjoyed some decent reviews since launching on Sky Atlantic, but in the newly released box-set on DVD and Blu-ray it warrants a rewatch.

The Young Pope is available on DVD and Blu-ray now from Aim Publicity 

The Great Museum

Out on Monday from Matchbox Films, this documentary The Great Museum directed by Johannes Holzhausen garners a release that may well push it to a wider audience.

This document is about the reopening of Kuntzhistorisches Museum in Vienna and it shares a bit of limelight with a similar film in this instance to Frederick Wiseman's National Gallery, which took the viewer behind he scenes of the London National Gallery.

Whereas the latter film is marshalled by a veteran director, this film is shepherded by a director who is trying to show you things behind the scenes in a 'look at what I happened upon' and Wiseman has this way of being shot so unobtrusively the effect is far greater albeit both films are thematically the same.

That may do a discredit to the film which does have its moments such as when a worker speaks up at a meeting saying she has never met people from different departments, there is the potential for the director to follow that lady and make a socio-political comment on office politics and class hierarchies in the workplace and yet that employee is quickly forgotten about.

 

Nevertheless the film should not be thought of as the Deep Impact to Wiseman's Armageddon or an Infamous to someone else's Capote; but rather another edition to the pantheon of documentary film about important buildings and what they stand for.  A document about life, art and the passion for both available in one place.

The Great Museum is out on DVD from Monday 9th February courtesy of Matchbox Films

Serena

 

Directed by Susanne Bier and starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence in their third film collaboration together following Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, Serena sees J-Coop go further back in time to the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina in 1929.

Cooper plays George Pemberton a timber merchant who wants to keep making money despite the onset of the crippling Great Depression, whilst fighting the government for the timber land he owns that they want to save to construct a national park in the nearby region. Pemberton owns land also in Brazil, he wishes to sell the land to the government for $1million dollars and then retire to South America.

However, Pemberton is a lonely man. Lonely in the sense that he has no wife, although he does not mind making women in town pregnant and then forego child support nor any notion of responsibility.  On a business trip to Boston and encountering his sister at an equestrian event he spies Serena (Lawrence) and in a kismet slow motion shot, Pemberton is smitten.  Although he goes to quite some extremes to make his feelings known, his first words to her, 'I think we should be married'. Whilst Serena guffaws, we the audience do something else.

Serena returns to the timber yard with Pemberton and she knows a thing or to about timber having grown up in the business, she sets her stall out by wielding an axe in the field to demonstrate a notch for the workmen. However, all is not well with Pemberton's business partner Buchannen (David Dencik) who takes an instant dislike to Serena much in the same way any first mate on a ship would do when the Captain falls in love with a native.

Shady business dealings foreshadow one characters premature end, and the way that death is handled with such a cold hand and heartlessness means that this film will not end well for all involved. Illnesses, lies, betrayals are all visitors to this timber merchants where the fog descending from the hills have this ominous quality. Phallic imagery and symbolism abound throughout the film, the men controlling guns and knives are never far from the old shadow, you live by the sword you die by the sword.

Bier is a renowned filmmaker but like her contemporary Lasse Hallstrom comes from Scandanavia, where the sense of melodrama is never far from view.  This is a problem for a film like Serena, it means well and with the sumptuous costume design and set production, the picture looks wonderful, it is such a shame that the film has muted ambition in terms of not telling us anything new of the era. The Depression was a terrible time, but why is there no message about the current economic climate perhaps or political allegory as say John Sayles did with Matewan during the 1980s amidst the Reagan administration.

It seems the ambition was restricted to the notion of dressing Ms. Lawrence to the nines in clothes of a wonderful bygone era, and yet it is not her fault that she is horribly miscast in the picture.  Serena strikes me as someone who should have been closer to Pemberton's age and not the mere nymph she appears to be here, Lawrence unfortunately is still very young in her own right and has nowhere near the life experience required for a role such as this, full of complexity and turmoil. If he hope was to dress Lawrence up and make her appear to be Carole Lombard then they succeeded, they just should have attempted to get the ambiguity of Barbara Stanwyck.

However, J-Coop do make a good fist of it and with their obvious chemistry handling the Pemberton's a constant simmering of passion in an otherwise lukewarm situation. Featuring able support from Toby Jones as the town sheriff, Rhys Ifans almost unrecognisable as a hand on the mill and Sean Harris, all providing the essential need of gloom amidst the mist in North Carolina.

If you want to see better work from this director seek out In A Better World from Bier's native Denmark, a startling portrayal of troubled individuals set against the changing tide of political correctness.

Serena is out on DVD from Studiocanal on Monday 23rd February