The Shepherd and The Bear

Beautiful documentary on a dying occupation on the French-Spanish Border

Yves, is the elderly eponymous hero of the story. An ageing shepherd in the hills of the Pyrenees who is in the twilight of his career and life - the two are hand in hand. His life has been one of simplicity, but now being upended by an old foe. It could read like an old west narrative, and yet this is more of a tale of mortality. As it seems the bear of the title could very well be the death of him and his occupation.

This is a clash of order and chaos; the shepherds are the order of the land whilst the bears are the chaos - unabashed, unregulated. Yves and his community are pining for help amidst the clouds.

The clash of the old with the new; shepherds have their means of working the landscape whilst the introduction of an old method which was removed and now returned brings hardship to a traditional method. Coupled with an ageing work-force with little or no apprentices following in their footsteps, the younger generations having moved to urban landscapes. 

Yet for all the wide shots of misty mountains, sun-kissed hills and verdant forests, perhaps the most telling image is a close-up of the weathered lines on Yves’ face. They say every picture tells a story and you can see in the weathered face of Yves as he looks into another fire, the light upon his face shows the years worked and how the last embers of his being and belonging.

Visually arresting and ravishing in the cinematography by director Max Keegan and Clement Beauvois; they capture the natural world in all its beauty. This coupled with a delicate score by Amine Bouhafa evokes the passing of time mixed with an appraisal of tradition and community.

The Shepherd and The Bear is out from Conic Film on limited release from 6th February.

My thanks to them for the review opportunity.

Paradise Is Burning

 

Swedish Debut Festival Award Winner released 30th August in UK/Ireland

Winner of the BFI/LFF Sutherland Award for best debut feature at the 2023 London Film Festival, this debut by Mika Gustafson is highly touted and expectation is high for its release from Conic Films on 30th August.

Following a storyline, that is tried and tested, we follow three young Swedish girls who are trying to navigate a summer without parental guidance as a mother is absent from their lives.

We follow the girls get into scrapes and fights, steal food from supermarkets and play truant from school. Their lives are so entwinned that one doing something has a direct impact upon the other two, for instance the middle sister, Mira (12) gets into a fight, prompting the eldest, Laura (16) to intervene forgetting to put in her forged signatory letter in the relevant pigeonhole. This leads to a phone call from Social Services wanting to come and visit their house leading to some desperation from the eldest to make sure they and Steffi (7) do no lose their home.

An embracing film about sisterhood and the power of summer, how that affects your mood shifting from joy to despair, Gustafson has crafted a film of quiet craft featuring three amateur actresses (Bianca Delbravo, Dilvin Asaad, Safira Mossberg) who all conveying unexpexted performances beyond their young years.

Filmed with a real clarity, eliciting those fine performances from that trio of youngsters this is a film of real power and modesty. Filmed during the summer, it is a marriage of a coming-of-age film with that memory of a memorable summer; it calls to mind such films as My Summer of Love yet the parallel to Regan's UK feature Scrapper is so striking.

The children have to learn quickly that with glory there is pain, with unity there is loneliness and with youth there is the fear of growing up, when society can come crashing down on you exponentially rapidly. 

Gustafson cleverly mixes the elements of humour and tragedy - a powerful marriage in Swedish cinema from Bergman to Roy Andersson - with a deftness even mixing different photographic styles from quiet poetic moments to the rave-filled vibrancy of all night parties.

Also a winner of Best Director and Screenwriting at the Venezia 2023 Festival; Paradise is Burning is a film of immense promise from a young filmmaker with a unique voice and vision to share with the world. 

Paradise is Burning is released from Conic Films on 30th August

SheffDocFest 2024: The Boy and the Suit of Lights

First documentary feature from Edinburgh based film director set in Spain 

Inma De Reyes has crafted a fine modern-day document of an almost antiquated artefact of a bygone era in her hometown of Castellon, Spain. The Spanish title is El Nino Y El Traje De Luces.

Bullfighting is one of the most identifiable elements of Spanish heritage and yet it is a dying form of entertainment in the modern world with animal rights activists fighting for better care of the poor animals and also the stardom that came with the pastime waning due to the rise of better money in more mainstream sports such as football and basketball. 

De Reyes over the course of five years follows a young boy, Borja, as he navigates his puberty into young manhood with the dream of becoming a bullfighter while helping his single mother who works hard to provide for her and brother Erik. The other mainstay in his life is his grandfather, Matias, a man who could not fulfil his dream of bullfighting and so vicariously lives through his grandchildren.

The five year format - reminiscent of Linklater's Boyhood (2014) - does not use intertitles to inform the audience of a new year, instead we have the raising of a musical score to signify a movement in time sometimes bringing light to a new year or a dark cloud such as the passing of a loved one during the global pandemic. 

In terms of the lead character, Borja's expressive eyes allow us to see how he takes in this awe-inspiring arena of sport. He is very much aware of the opportunity to be something else in the world is being afforded in contrast to the underprivileged nature he finds himself in.

While filmed through the documentary medium, this is essentially a coming-of-age story for Borja and his younger brother; as they come to terms with the pressures of the decisions made in teenage years to better themselves and the hard work your parents do to keep the negativity of the world away from their children, and yet these obstacles cannot be ignored the older you become.

Empathetic in its tone and delicate handling of the complex sport while embracing the romantic notions bullfighting elicits in the Spanish cultural landscape; The Boy and the Suit of Lights is a film with lessons to learn and where even the best laid plans get changed. 

Financed by Screen Scotland, Chicken and Egg, Rustic Canyon and Women Make Movies; 

The Boy and the Suit of Lights receives its World Premiere at Sheffield DocFest on Friday 14th June in the International Feature Competition.

Sheffield DocFest: Sheffield International Documentary Festival (sheffdocfest.com)

Here

New film by Bas Devos out 7th June from New Wave Films

The story revolves around a Romanian construction worker in Brussels, Belgium who is considering going home until he encounters a Chinese specialist in moss. This unexpected connection between two wondering souls sparks the possibility of new beginnings for both in this 

The film was winner of the 2023 Encounters at the Berlin Film Festival and Best International Film at the 2023 Galway Film Festival

The film takes its time in bringing the two people together - they have a brief encounter about half an hour into the film, but the true connection does not take place until nearly an hour into proceedings. The attention to detail and our maintaining of attention upon the two leads is partly down to the restrained and nuance both convey. Stefan Gota has such an expressive face in the same vein as Matthias Schoenaerts, one that can be vacant yet also say so much with his presence alone.  Liyo Gong provides a performance of assuredness and calm nature.

The film, reminded me of Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem 'Nature' where Emerson relays about the essence of transcendentalism and gaining a divinity through nature, you can only understand reality through studying nature. Both of these souls like for instance Bob and Charlotte in Lost in Translation, are seeking answers in this mystery of life and find each other in this fleeting moment.

However, the star of the show is the director Bas Devos, a deliberate and methodical director, who is able to film wonderful images and allows the film time to breathe and not rush proceedings, much like the moss which as the forefront of the narrative for both of our protagonists.  These things take time.

But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile. In the woods, is perpetual youth - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The film is about connection and finding a place in this world that you can call home, when faraway from the first one; it will remind you of films you have seen before and yet is unlike anything you may have seen before. Reminiscent of the Dardennes naturally, a smidgen of the methodical technique of Tarkovsky and yet something of its own making and minute uniqueness.

Here is released by New Wave Films on Friday 7th June, my thanks to them for the review opportunity.

Slow - Film Review

This Lithuanian-Swedish joint production tells of a blossoming relationship between a man and a woman, who attempt to find a level of acceptable intimacy when the man reveals himself to be asexual - not attracted to anybody/anyone sexually. The film won World Cinema Directing Award at Sundance 2023.

Dovydas (Kestutis Cicenas) is a sign language interpreter - in his world - his language is sacroscant, his interpretation cannot be challenged as that is the universally accepted language for those fluent in it. He is restricted by these dogmatic ways, it is his way and he cannot be swayed by it.

Elena (Greta Grineviciute) is a dancer, a world where everything is open to interpretation and is objective from one person to the next. Dovydas s is a world of subjectivity it is what it is.

A two-hander for the majority of the film, the director has expressed she entrusted the two leads fully to find the truth within the the two protagonists and their stories.

Shot like many a small film, medium close-ups like a Ken Loach film for example, this film is an intimate film - one where the pace is deliberate and rewards the audience to stick with the narrative, and this is helped by the warm lead performances.

There is an intimate intensity to the scenes that is handled delicately and maturely with a subject that is alien to many an audience, yet in this age of people being more pronounced with their sexual behaviour and types of identity, this is a film that asks questions from Elena's position while respecting Dovydas' at the same time.

Film history is littered with famous love stories - Jack and Rose, Rick and Ilsa - yet they all had the clinch at the film's conclusion to state that finality, however, the two partnerships mentioned are apart at the end. Sometimes in film, love means not being with the one you want to be with most and in life, finding that common ground through exploration and togetherness.

The balance between soft and strong coupled with a very good soundtrack by Irya Gmeyer and Martin Hederos give credence to the film's plot and narrative.

Released by Conic Films, who are in a rich vein of form at the moment with their niche independent releases, Slow is another winning film that will garner attention due to the off-beat subject matter but will win acclaim due to its realistic portrayal of such matter.  A film that does not have an agenda about identity politics and instead is more about love and how to find it and keep hold of it.

That They May Face The Rising Sun

New Irish award-winning film based upon the novel of the same name by Irish author, John McGahern's final novel

Patrick Collins, an audio-visual poet who has created works of quiet solitude set against the picturesque setting of the lush Irish landscape has found the means to create a faithful adaptation to McGahern's work and a love letter to that beautiful countryside reflecting upon a simpler time without mobile phones and other modern day distractions.

Joe (Barry Ward) and Kate (Anna Bederke) have returned to their homeland to live the good life - to borrow from a late 70s cultural artefact - and what we would describe nowadays as off the grid. Joe is a writer (a conduit for McGahern himself), experiencing the place he lives in and soaking that into his daily writing. Kate owns and runs an art gallery in London, a reason for her to still return to the capital on occasion to visit friends. Yet they are living at a pace of their own making, with no children on the horizon seemingly, they are content to live in this happiness - the building of a shed or timber outhouse painstakingly over the year with little or no progression indicative of a life being lived slowly.

The couple, who would be described as bohemians I suppose, have an open door policy welcoming visitors, neighbours and family whenever ready for a cup of tea and sympathetic ear. These interactions with the community works as a sort of social currency, in exchange for information and conversing, the couple are thought of highly in that community.

This is Collins' third feature film and he is a vaunted documentarian, his keen eye of observation and minute detail works in perfect harmony with that of the relationship of the couple who fit perfectly within a suburban setting yet are finding solace with their lot in life, a path that they have made for themselves. The film is finding that balance between the rituals of life and work along with the passing seasons; we bare witness to one year in the life of this couple but it could be any year over a ten year period with the added fork in the road moments of someone's passing - world events do not occur in this world of County Galway, where principal photography taking place near the Mayo border.

Credit for the film's feel and look goes to Richard Kendrick, who has shot both of Collins' first two films Silence (2011) and Song of Granite (2017), there are moments when Joe and Kate are embracing and the film looks like an Austen adaptation per excellence and that is the general feel of the film as something approaching a comfort watch like All Creatures Great and Small or Doc Martin; a lovely teatime viewing that is nostalgic without feeling cheesy with a tone of maturity that is not patronising.

Collins in conjunction with Kendrick and the score by Irene and Linda Buckley which is soft and ambient yet very much in keeping with Irish heritage has crafted a film that is intelligent, adult and beguiling.

The film has just won Best Irish Film at the Irish Film and Television Awards this month, and is about to have a limited release at select repertory cinemas across the country. This is recommended viewing for those who miss those slow paced films that teach us a lot about the world we used to know, love and mostly miss; a film that rewards its audience for its patience. A virtue lacking in today's age. 

That They May Face The Rising Sun is out from Conic Films on 26th April

Kind Hearts and Coronets

 

Vintage Ealing Studio comedy released on 4K UHD from Studiocanal on 22nd April

In a series of re-releases and new prints upon the Vintage Classics label from Studiocanal, the company has taken the legendary series of post-World War 2 films from the Ealing Studios archive.

These films are long-established in the canon of British public consciousness and yet they remain vintage in every sense of the word - regal from a bygone era, original in their gestation and witty still despite the advancement of culture and society. This film appears as a satire upon the British fascination of nobility and the pursuit of social mobility.

After spending an hour and a half in the mere presence of Dennis Price's serial killing cousin, one will feel quite jolly and wish for the days when people would harken back to the days full of lavish production design and featuring the well-equipped acting of an ensemble who went from film to film delivering exquisite performances. 

While Price is the figurehead of the film and upon repeated viewings, his role is one of quiet restraint that is befitting a sociopath who is more in need of social ambition he feels is owed rather than earned. Yet this film remains most memorable as a showcase for the ever growing reputation of Alec Guinness. This is after his double bill of appearing in David Lean's Charles Dickens' adaptations most notably as Fagin in Oliver Twist. In this he portrays the D'Ascoyne family - those who Price as Louis - wants to dispose of so his lineage to the Duke of Chalfont can be obtained.

Guinness embues so much character into each of the family, it led to his scaling the heights of British film with The Lavender Hill Mob and The Ladykillers to follow before Hollywood and his Award winning role as Captain Nicholson in Lean's The Bridge over the River Kwai.

What is most striking though along with the performances is the erudite script that while based upon a novel is witty and astute in its understanding of social class, aspiration and norms in the post-war era. Credit also to Robert Hamer for marshalling proceedings with such precision and care.

If film fans have not heard nor seen this film, they should seek it out and enjoy the darkly black comedy that became familiar from the Ealing Studios, in a post-war world which should have been full of optimism, there remained those grains of doubt and pessimism that maybe good times may never return and you have to set out and make your own path in life perhaps to better yourselves.

The film is released on UHD on 22nd April, it features an introduction by fan John Landis, an audio commentary by film critic Peter Bradshaw, director Terence Davies and Matthew Guinness, an alternate US ending, gallery and trailers.

Kind Hearts and Coronets is released on UHD from 22nd April 

The Lavender Hill Mob

 

Ealing Studio classic THE LAVENDER HILL MOB

 rereleased in 4K Restoration from Studiocanal

Originally released in 1951, Ealing Studios' veteran Charles Crichton with a script by T.E.B Clarke and starred Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway and Sid James as the most unlikeliest of gold bullion robbers.

Guinness plays Henry Holland, a faithful bank transfer agent of 20 years who has never put a foot wrong and is non-descript to his employers. He dreams of the perfect gold bullion heist, yet does not know what to do with the bullion when stolen. Holland befriends new housemate Pendlebury (Holloway) who as a smoulder, they happen upon the idea of forging the gold into miniature Eiffel tower paperweights smuggling it from England to France.

The pair hire two professional criminals Lackery (James) and Shorty (Alfie Bass) and together the foursome put the plan into place full of unexpected twists and turns.

To think this film is over seventy years old is how swift and economical the script is and it is not surprising that the film won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Yet the x factor of the film is Alec Guinness, whose chameleon like ability to become an character he inhabits is to the fore again in the role of Henry Holland. When we first encounter Holland he is in some Caribbean island flaunting his wealth and fame around the resort, flirting with a young Audrey Hepburn and giving money to the help around the hotel. He promptly tells the story to someone sitting with him and so the story is told in flashback as all good heist films tend to be. Guinness up to this point had been the supporting player in such works as Oliver Twist and Kind Hearts and Coronets, yet this was the launching pad for his leading man career garnering a Best Actor nomination from the Academy Awards.

Shot at Ealing Studios but also embracing the post-war London with real-life locations for chases near London landmarks, the film is a breath of fresh air throughout. One note of criticism would be that once the heist is completed, the hapless pair running around Paris is somewhat not wanted but that is merely a slight note to be forgotten.

The moral integrity remains by the film's end and all you can remember is that the smiles elicited by the cast are real, the story is well told and Crichton deploys an even hand across proceedings.

The new 4K restoration is being released in cinemas from 29th March (Easter weekend) and will garner a 4K UHD and Digital release from 22nd April. Kind Hearts & Coronets will be released on UHD from 22nd April also.

The release offers a treasure trove for the British film lovers. Essays and Q&A's by Benedict Morrison and Paul Merton. An introduction by Martin Scorsese, audio commentary by film historian Jeremy Arnold, stills, two posters, four pop-art artcards by Art and Hue. Pre-order here

My thanks to Studiocanal UK for the review copy

Wilfred Buck - WORLD PREMIERE review

 

World Premiere scheduled for 18th March at the CPH:DOX Copenhagen International Documentary

Written and directed by Lisa Jackson, known for her ground-breaking cross-genre work, Wilfred Buck is a hybrid feature documentary that follows the extraordinary life story of the eponymous charismatic and irreverent Cree Elder, who overcame a harrowing history of displacement, racism and addiction by reclaiming ancestral star knowledge and ceremony.

The film serves as a rich mix of nostalgia and heritage as we navigate the indigenous communities across the American north. Cree is seen as a respected gentleman, who espouses a wealth of his knowledge upon those who wish to learn with a smile on his face and his effusive spirit radiating to all who encounter him.

Adapted from his freewheeling memoir I Have Lived Four Lives, a beat poet’s insider view of colonization that took Buck from the land to the streets to the stars, the film blends verité, archive and stylized re-enactments to reveal what it means to heal and reconnect with Indigenous knowledge that is as relevant today as ever.

The technique utilised is a mixture of documentary footage but also the knitting of library footage from the archives of Native Americans through televisual history to tell the stories Cree spoke of in his memoir. He speaks how a large group of people so built upon a foundation of community are now dispersed across the states with sun dances and rituals taking place all over the country.

Cree travels the country and we follow him as he drives the highways, he is an expressive talker but not a loud one. He talks with authority and assuredness combined with a passion and a somewhat yearning for what life could have been; yet this seeing new generations of people growing up gives him a push to improve their lives and learn from his mistakes.

You always find with documentaries or ask yourself a question as to why is this being produced, what lesson can be learnt from this viewing experience. The notion or hypothesis should be that the layman or blank canvas of a viewer can witness a story being told and you come out with a greater understanding of the subject at hand with a balanced argument. Wilfred Buck has had to overcome struggles and obstacles from societal circumstances which affected his own mind and being; yet those circumstances are not the reason he finds himself in despair, he recognises his own failings and being complicit in hitting rock bottom.

Beautiful camerawork around meteorites and rock formation along with space constellations that firmly the establishment and belief that we are all stars and in one with the universe. This melts into the work Buck does giving planetary lectures and inspiration through a greater understanding of our place in the universe.

Wilfred Buck premieres at the CPH:DOX festival on Monday 18th March. 

My thanks to AR Publicity for the review opportunity.

Memory - Film Review

Directed by Michel Franco, Memory is a searing film giving insight into two souls who have had a huge array of trauma amongst their lives and are dealing day-to-day with the ramifications of the actions by others.

At the start of the film, we first encounter Sylvia (Jessica Chastain) at an AA meeting. She is a recovering alcoholic of 13 years and she has brought her daughter to the meeting for the first time, at the meeting Sylvia is being served platitudes from other people recovering from crippling addiction.

Shortly after, she attends a high school reunion with her sister, Olivia (Merritt Weaver). Feeling uncomfortable and wanting to go home, she heads for the elevated train where she is followed by Saul (Peter Sarsgaard) who then spends the night outside her home. The next morning Sylvia phones her support sponsor to pick him up.

A few days later they make contact and Saul does not remember following Sylvia home due to his short term memory problems relating to addiction. Saul requires day to day care while his brother and family work, Sylvia is a nurse at an adult day care facility and is asked by Saul's family to look after him.

From there, a kinship between the two and the comfort they feel in each other's company blossoms into an intimate relationship as time passes. Sylvia has long felt unsafe around men, this is due to being abused by her father from a young age, she resents her mother for supporting the father's behaviour and this led to Sylvia's alcoholic dependency.

Therein, lies part of the problem with the film, while it has two stellar lead performances from an outstanding Sarsgaard and always excellent Chastain who elicits the right level of vulnerability; the film does not hold your attention in terms of its low-key production design and overall bleak cinematography. 

Case in point the big scene where Sylvia’s mum - the frightening Jessica Harper - and family confront her in Olivia’s home, the scene is blocked quite awkwardly with Mum’s back to the camera, like a confrontation in a theatre production it feels like the scene was shot hastily and without much care or perhaps the fractured haphazard approach is reflective of the breaking of memory amongst the lead characters.

The milieu and mise-en-scene displayed is very middle of the road and grey from the costumes of the characters, to the non-descript homes they live in, this is a New York set film but apart from key points like the elevated train this could be set in any American city which is part of the film's intention.

There are big points being raised in the film, ideas about addiction and how it grips the person and their families, the way the people who experience sexual assault and/or abuse are victimised further by people not believing their story to the warm solace hurt people find in each other. 

The film has a slow cinema feel where an explosion of action or sound - in this case a hum of Procol Harem's 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' for the second or third time - jolts the viewer back to regain their attention. This is partly down to the performances of the other actors who are merely peripherals on the edges of the main leads, and the slow build of deep underlying emotion that never comes to the surface. Instead, our leads part and then are brought back together by the film's conclusion for an embrace that ends with that song again.

All in all, this is a film that has big intentions but is subdued in the execution and overall conclusion leaves the viewer wanting more than what was given despite the brilliant dual lead performances.

Peeping Tom

Released by StudioCanal Michael Powell's derided upon release but now lauded 1960 masterpiece is issued with a new 4K restoration release.

Starring Bohm and a plethora of British acting talent from the late 1950s, this is a rich and lush film ripe for the technical upgrades a restoration will provide.

His tale of voyeurism and a sympathetic serial killer, the film was released the same year as Powell's countryman Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, a film that shares similar DNA and has had a shared revisionism to them both.

Carl Boehm elicits such a depth of vulnerability to the killer Mark, his aloofness and foreign-ness playing into the hands of the viewer. A criticism that would be aimed at Anthony Perkins' performance, the appeal of finding something within somebody evil made it seem unseemly for filmgoers, but the 1960s was a dawn of a new era of film-making with colour everywhere and new horizons abounding.

Having watched the film years ago, one forgot that the mother of Helen (Anna Massey), the girl downstairs who Mark takes a shine to, is in fact blind therefore she cannot be a victim of Mark. It is such a clever narrative idea in terms of character growth, development and a layer of intrigue for all.

As ever with Powell, there is a richness in the cinematography and the detail of production polish is paramount to the film being so well admired by all comers especially Martin Scorsese.

Powell does wonderful tricks with editing, sound design and a use of location - he borrows from Hitchcock in terms of building up tension such as with Moira Shearer's death where he constant moving puts us on edge as Mark hovers around her creating a murder scene without her knowing.

Peeping Tom is out on Blu-Ray/DVD from StudiocanalUK. Special features include an essay by Sir Christopher Frayling, a featurette Restoring Peeping Tom, intro by Scorsese, interview with Thelma Schoonmaker (2007), Powell's wife and an audio commentary by Ian Christie.

Parachute - Raindance Review

Debut directorial feature by Brittany Snow 

Brittany Snow, American female actress who starred in Pitch Perfect won the Audience Award at SXSW for her directorial debut, Parachute. An original film about addiction and self-abuse.

Riley (Courtney Eaton - Yellowjackets) is a well to do young woman, who we first meet when leaving rehab for her bulimia and addiction to Instagram. She does not like the woman she sees when comparing herself to every girl on social media, when to the naked eye she is a young and attractive woman. At a party shortly after her release, she meets Ethan (Thomas Mann) who is genuine and kind to her plight providing support for her.

And yet Riley's demons will not abate and she cannot stop looking at social media and comparing herself. She wards off good intentions of her remaining friends, yet finds a job in a murder-mystery dinner theatre where her aspirations of writing may come to fruition.

Riley has inherited her good fortune, the huge apartment and yet cannot shake off the entitled streak within her. She believes that she will be a great writer and will be beautiful to any bachelor, yet the film makes the comment that for all her attempts to avoid the lure of social media it is unavoidable and therefore her suffering will persist and dismissing Ethan's genuine feelings for someone she feels she is entitled to.

Halfway through the film you hope this is a nice love story between Riley and Ethan in the wonderful setting of New York, yet the demons return and we have to endure some hard watches for Eaton to depict some genuine dark moments. The script co-written by Snow with Becca Gleason about her own battles, is a personal project for her and she admits she knew how to shoot the film from storyboards to production. The interweaving of intimate shots of the two leads as their courtship grows is a nice touch, but by the end it becomes the focus of lost moments than forever love.

Helped by some great casting and support by known names, Joel McHale as Ethan's alcoholic father who he cannot help, Dave Bautista as Riley's new employer and Gina Rodriguez as Dr. Akerman, Riley's therapist.

Special mention also to the soundtrack and original score by Keegan DeWitt (check out his work on 2010 film Cold Weather) who weaves a great atmosphere here, along with Kristen Correll's cinematography.

Parachute was screened at the 2023 Raindance Film Festival. Hopefully it obtains a distribution deal in the near future.

Beyond Utopia

 Brand new documentary released by Dogwoof on Friday 27th October

This new documentary directed and edited by Madeline Gavin, is sobering and equally heart-breaking. It delves into the recollections of North Korean's who have taken the brave step to leave the totalitarian regime and seek a new life over the border in either China or South Korea.

The regime of North Korea goes to great lengths to paint a picture that all is rosy in their country, one newspaper, one television channel, one dictator leadership, and the lengths to keep the population in the country with barbed wires and the bullying tactics of the police force through this feedback is startling to the viewer. The crossing across the Yalu River is daunting and petrifying, using footage by those seeking refuge which makes this as thrilling as any found-footage film as we witness first hand the struggles.

The film follows the efforts benevolent pastor Kim can sometimes get double digit requests for people wanting to move and he obtains footage of apartments in North Korea, built with no lifts and they use wood for cooking and heating. Two stories run parallel one is the five person family Ro who give up everything to seek freedom and reunite with family in Seoul, South Korea and the other a mother Soyeon Lee awaiting the news of her son escape attempt. 

You see elders and youngsters fighting back tears as they recall the journey to get to safety, how they are taught that the western world and America are the most evil people in the world and yet the majority of North Koreans live in poverty and squalor.

The realisation upon most of the evacuees' faces as they learn of the true depiction of the Kim regime is refreshing, and how in this world which has a whole heap of problems to deal with constantly, anyone born must have the will to move where they wish. North Korea denies their citizens that basic liberty and then lie to them to make them think this is as good as it gets. Those who soldier on to China or Thailand learn the truth.

An eye-opening document that the whole world should see and by focusing on the people and not the politics makes the documentary both brave and frightening and most importantly accessible to the plight suffered.

Beyond Utopia is out from Dogwoof in selected UK/Ireland cinemas from Friday 27th October

Typist Artist Pirate King

 

New Carol Morley film based upon Audrey Amiss released by Modern Films on Friday 27th October 2023

Carol Morley is one of Britain's most creative film-makers and yet she remains for the most part unknown to the mainstream film watching public. From her debut feature, she has navigated a career of unique features building upon real life stories, autobiographical content and the role of women in modern society. This is not a filmmaker looking to the past to explain the now, this is the here and now, best to understand it as best you could.

Her influence for the new feature is the similarly unknown avant-garde artist, Audrey Amiss (Monica Dolan) whose diaries inspired Morley's film. Incorporating the tropes of the road trip genre as Amiss seeks recognition for her career, she convinces her psychiatric nurse Sandra Panza (Kelly Macdonald) to escort her back to where it all began with many a diversion in place.

Amiss documented her experience of the world and how she saw it through the prism of her own self-proclaimed lunacy; this is a road trip between an eccentric and a reluctant chauffeur.

What is so pleasing about the this film - apart from obviously passing the Bechel Test - is that you get two top notch performances at the helm of the film. Dolan, so often the ensemble player and erstwhile supporter, is given free rein to go for glory and she sinks her teeth into the role of Amiss with aplomb and relish. From the outset, she plays her as a firebrand and rebel and yet one who has been misunderstood for much of her adult life and artistic career.

The partnership of Dolan and Macdonald is key to the film's success and how it will translate to the mainstream, how refreshing to see a film led by two females and in Macdonald returning from Hollywood, willing to play second fiddle to Dolan's lead. The medium shot set-up of the two head on as they drive on their road trip is indicative of this partnership in a moving vehicle, the fondness for the two initially frosty is slowly one where warmth grows similar to that of Jimmy and the Duke in Midnight Run. 

NB (I as a male writer realises this is stupid to write and compare this to an all-male bond when the ultimate companion to this film would be Thelma and Louise surely, where both women's roles alter from the film's beginning and find themselves upon the journey.)

As they drive around, the everyday people they encounter become conduits or people from her past who Amiss use to vent her frustrations with her misgivings and incidents. The constant conflict and unease Amiss creates could be unnerving were it not for the performance of Dolan who incorporates equal rage and equal vulnerability.

The story untangles as more about Audrey's past culminating in the admission that she suffered a major fall when she was 19 leading to her mental health issues and the estrangement between her and her sister Dorothy (Gina McKee) who is the ultimate goal of the journey.

Interspersed with pictures/drawings from Amiss' extensive archive and featuring music she would have wholeheartedly approved of upon the soundtrack, this is a call to arms of a film questioning roles of female artists in general and the biases we may have towards those with mental health issues, everyone is capable of something and that the support they receive is what matters. 

A winning formula with strains of British film-making history from the absurdity of Audrey hitting upon an Anglo-Saxon v Viking re-enactment which smacks of Monty Python to the influence of Ken Russell in the melding of an artist's life with dramatisation, this is a film shot with a softness and a kindness to the crippling nature of mental health, Morley should be applauded for this film that is sympathetic and energetic to a character she is quite fond of.

This is a film that should be commended and enjoyed by a wider audience.

TYPIST ARTIST PIRATE KING is released in UK/Ireland cinemas on Friday 27th October.

OUR RIVER...OUR SKY

 Out Friday 20th October on limited release, a new film by Maysoon Pachachi

Distributed by Tull Stories and produced by the BFI and the National Lottery, Pachachi is a Baghdad born, British raised female director who has returned to her roots to create an intertwining narrative about the individuals who live within the cloud that pervades them in Baghdad in the days leading up to the death of former leader Saddam Hussein.

This is a period of deep transition for the whole region as the rule of Saddam is coming to an end, the various characters we encounter are going through changes themselves and others are still seeking answers for solace amidst the surrounding madness.

The veritable lead Sara (Darina Al Joundi) is the well meaning woman who pervades everybody and she is mostly worried for the future of her daughter Reema (Zainab Joda), for instance how is she going to get to school if the driver has been shot and she gets asked questions is she Sunni or Shia, Sara's response is, 'You are Iraqi'.

Shot beautifully by Jonathan Bloom in actual locations, the film is a wonderful and stirring embodiment of the human spirit. The power with which these characters have to go about their every day business is commendable as bombs go off so unexpectedly and without warning. 

However, the notion of an intertwining story was perhaps not the best means to tell this story. If the film had focused solely on Sara and her family with the periphery characters intruding upon her life may have served the story better. The film is an achievement in being made and yet it could have been so far-reaching and universal if the script was a bit tighter.

It reminded this viewer of a film called Heights (2005) by Chris Terrio, a 24 hour film set in New York again when five characters lives collide and remember that film failed to nail the drama despite having good actors at its disposal. In this instance, the film was unable to nail the message despite the drama and performance being present.

Released by Tull Stories, the film is memorable for existing and yet the final image of the film following news of Saddam's death is one of less of optimism but the fact that the cloud that they live under may never totally rescind - the pessimism is there for all to see. And following recent atrocities in a not too distant location from Baghdad in the last few weeks, we are no nearer to peace in the Middle East which makes this film all the more poignant.

OUR RIVER...OUR SKY is out on limited release in UK/Ireland from 20th October

My thanks to AR-PR for the review link.

CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY

 

New 4K Restoration for little seen anti-apartheid film set in South Africa

This 1951 release was directed by Zoltan Korda (The Four Feathers), based upon the novel by Alan Paton and starring Sidney Poitier and Canada Lee, in his last film role while being photographed by Robert Krasker, who shot The Third Man, this is a welcome addition to the StudioCanal library

The film follows the story of a black priest Kumalo portrayed by Lee, who leaves the township he resides over to go to the big city, in this case Johannesburg to search for his estranged son, played by Poitier. Each step on his journey, much like Joseph Cotton's he is blindsided by sudden revelations that leave him shattered, from the discovery that his sister is a prostitute to finding his son has been charged with death for the murder of a prominent white figure in the community.

Meanwhile, back in the village white farmer Jarvis (Charles Carson) who is indifferent to the injustices of apartheid, hears of the murder of his son who was an activist combating the oppression of Black South Africans and so learns more of their struggles and begins to understand.

This is a story adapted from Alan Paton's novel of the same name, and it marks out as a key text in the unification of grief and the admonishment of the apartheid rule, two fathers dealing with the death of their sons and how this could bring peace amidst the turmoil.

Shot on location in South Africa, this is a deeply poignant political drama and it is a marked segway between two different styles of picture. The white farmer scenes are shot like the dressing room dramas that is reminiscent of Ealing Studios perhaps while the location shots of Johannesburg shows a new brevity and bravery in film-making, shooting on location makes the city a character and with illustrious actors such as Lee and Poitier being so prominent shows a production unafraid to comment on racial injustices by putting the oppressed front and centre instead of this becoming a white saviour narrative; unfortunately that would become the norm in Hollywood cinema such as Mississippi Burning or A Time To Kill but British cinema has never been afraid to voice the stories of black characters such as Horace Ove.

Extras on the Blu-Ray and DVD include an interview with Mona Z Smith - biographer of Canada Lee, archive footage of the production, a documentary on cinema under apartheid and interviews with African filmmaker Lionel Ngakane and writer Alan Paton as well as a fascinating 16 page booklet.

CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY is out 9th October on Blu-Ray/DVD from Studiocanal UK

OINK - Fragments Festival

 

OINK, the first stop motion animation film made in the Netherlands

The first animated film to win the Golden Calf (Netherlands Oscars) in 2022, tells the story of a young girl Babs who is granted the birthday present of a pig by her eccentric grandfather. Based upon the book Revenge of Oink by Tosca Menten and directed by Mascha Helberstad.

Following in illustrious footsteps of Aardman and Burton, the animation says as much about human life as any live-action depiction could do. Acerbically satirical yet endearing towards the human relationships it depicts there is so much to admire in the production here.

Babs at the film's beginning is a sort of vegan who bemoans the meat industry, and yet when she is bestowed the gift of Oink it is love at first sight for her. 

Entertaining for all the family (with some scenes that may be unsuitable for young ones), this is a wonderful film that translates across many languages about belonging and responsibility.

OINK is part of the Fragments Festival at Genesis Cinema this weekend, screening at 10.45am 

www.twitter.com/FragmentsFest

My thanks to them for the screening link