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Burden (2018)
Courageous Love
A praiseworthy film which sets out to show how the power of love can transcend a highly emotively charged existence governed by hate, frustration. bigotry and resentfulness, polarised between black and white communities living at subsistence level. The three principal characters are severely tested in different ways. Worst hit is Mike, a brilliant subtle in depth portrayal by Garrett Hedlund to match his Dean Moriarty in 'On the Road' He has to suffer a transformation where he is assailed and reviled on all sides except in his relationship. His lover Judy is strong enough to be prepared to sacrifice her love if he continues his life of violence - once he has proved his love to be stronger, she commits herself to him come what may. A strong and convincing portrayal from Andrea Riseborough whom I have watched and appreciated as Margaret Thatcher, Wallis Simpson and Stalin's daughter from this amazingly versatile performer. And of course the always excellent Forest Whitaker, who preaches love but organises demonstrations which risk provoking violence, has to prove he really can practice what he preaches. There are no perfect heroes here - just a lesson in how current issues could be addressed if cooler attitudes could prevail.
Ride Like a Girl (2019)
Standard Plot Well Told
It's a surefire feelgood result for a story featuring sporting triumph over adversity, and movies have exploited the genre regularly throughout cinema history. In a horseracing context, I felt that 'National Velvet' and 'Champions' raised issues echoed in this production, which lacks suspense and tension as a result. What makes it special is the excellent acting from the always dependable Sam Neill, Teresa Palmer, very believable as the determined single minded and pugnacious Michelle, and Stevie Payne, producing a truly delightful performance as himself. Skilfully scripted and providing a cocktail of humour and pathos in right quantities, the overall experience added up to a very enjoyable hour and a half.
Emma. (2020)
A Sheer Delight
I have a keen historical interest in the Regency period and I could find no fault in this spectacular recreation of the time and place. The photography drew me intimately into the action, the costumes male and female were gorgeous, the hats outrageous and straight out of Gillray and Rowlandson cartoons. Despite knowing the book and numerous screen depictions, I am sure I have never before laughed so openly or so frequently, at the sublime visual reactions of all cast members to telling points in the dialogue. As an example, Emma's face when Jane starts to play is an absolute picture. I sat through this very familiar tale with bated breath in anticipation of this ingenious and refreshing treatment of the development of the action. It would be unfair to single out individuals - a superb team effort.
The Reckoning (1970)
A Celebration of Brutishness
50 years ago anti-heroes sold movies, though thankfully not this one. Audiences were delighted that there was no longer a required convention for villains to get caught, and directors exploited the new freedom to excess. This is a prime example of that excess. Our hero is a schizophrenic, one moment delighting in the rich mans trappings - flash car, large property in fashionable Surrey, wife with all the social graces, conventional senior management position in solid London based corporation, the next behaving like a football hooligan when he rediscovers his roots. His treatment of females is so despicable I'm not surprised that distributors wouldn't touch this film.
At the end I wished that I was back in the fifties and that he was the one due the reckoning. No such luck.
The film has some merit for the acting and camerawork but as entertainment it just left a nasty taste in the mouth.
The Favourite (2018)
Totally absorbing
Well researched historical fact, skillfully enhanced with fiction when necessary timewise to emphasise the development of attitudes and relationships, and the odd surreal sequence, make a fascinating blend that provided me with two hours rapt enjoyment. Not only is the acting faultless but the decor and costumes facilitated my travel to a time when the European Royal Courts were claustrophobic capsules of opulence idleness and decadence. We are only thirty years or so on from the Restoration and the Court of the Merry Monarch Charles II. Morals were lax, language was sexually explicit, encouraged and practiced by the King himself. The young bucks of that era were now in late middle age - the types of weird practices portrayed in the film were common.at Anne's Court.
Lanthimos is clearly in love with his characters. His cameras dwell long moments in close up on their motionless faces. A free spirit, he will leap out of period to provoke extreme emotional response. Without giving anything away, we have hip hop/dirty dancing to provoke jealousy, unarmed combat skills to illustrate dominance in courtship. These surreal sequences are hilarious..
I cannot speak too highly of the performances of the three main characters. Olivia Colman as the Queen handles the complex character and sudden changes of mood as totally believable - imperious without ever losing the air of vulnerability and fear of isolation. Rachel Weisz as Sarah is impressively dominant, hugely self confident until everything suddenly changes for her - beautifully handled. Emma Stone is quite ravishing as Abigail - I stood by her even at her most dastardly! The lesbian activity? It certainly heightens the tension and there is historical documentation that there were suspicions voiced that both affairs actually took place..
I have rarely felt so sorry to see the titles rolling after two fleeting hours, not because the end was not clear - the message was there for all to see - but because I just wanted this film to go on and on...
Momma Don't Allow (1956)
A REAL TREASURE
Of all the films catalogued in the the BFI archive denied widespread attention, this unique social historical document must be one of the most important. Reisz and Richardson proved a brilliant combination. At the time Richardson probably had the edge on creativity, Reisz provided the sharp observant camerawork. But with his later 'We are the Lambeth Boys' definitely more 'fly on the wall', 'Momma' is infinitely more perceptive. We catch the momentary anxiety in the eyes of the patient in the dentist chair as the drill descends to her open mouth. A classic extended rear shot of three cleaning ladies walking away from us on completion of their shift succeeds in conveying relaxation at the end of their arduous physical labour, and hints at the close bond between them. A conversation between our heroine's boyfriend and a pretty girl as they dance to a slow blues conveys a level of intimacy that we understand would make any girlfriend furious. A glimpse of a male dancer in battledress reminds us that this is era of National Service, for the young men a hugely disruptive factor which ruled their lives for two years between the ages of 18 and 20 - two years. Several of those present have short haircuts suggesting they are in or shortly demobbed from the services.
Our directors highlight the universality of the music by choosing subjects for focus across the rigid class system of the time. Our carriage cleaner would be lower working class, our butcher upper working class, our dental assistant middle class. It was the era of the 44 hour week - these three worked 48. The upper class 'Hooray Harrys', who briefly visit the club are clearly there to enjoy and not to patronise, although the driver feels it necessary to remove the mascot from the bonnet of his expensive car!
The film was shot mainly in the early months of 1955, a time of major change in the UK music industry. The U.S dominated pop scene had held sway for decades with bands formed by celebrity leaders and swing-based line ups, and vocals featuring celebrity singers. Countrywide, ballrooms and major hotels provided live dance music on Saturday nights, the main outing of the week for the young.
By 1955 however, thanks to early post war pioneers like George Webb, with sufficient influence to cut records and promote concerts, traditional jazz music had forced its way into the national consciousness. Older generations, unable or disinclined to unravel the harmonics, branded it as hideous cacophany. Cue for the young to adopt it as their own and invent their own style of dancing in jazz clubs, which sprang up everywhere in the many available vacant sites, often below ground.
The Chris Barber band was at an early stage of recognition and happy to accept a booking at the typical slightly sleazy Wood Green club. We see new boy trumpet player Pat Halcox, replacing the hard line New Orleans purist Ken Collyer, who proved a bit too pure for the rest of the band Singer Ottilie Paterson was another newcomer. On arrival in London from her Ulster home, she had been turned down when she approached them to sing during a gig. At the end of the evening she persuaded Johnny Parker, the pianist on the hit 'Bad Penny Blues' to play while she sang 'Careless Love Blues.' The band listened and hired her on the spot.
I understood them. I first heard Ottile's fantastic black voice on record on 'Bad Woman Blues' 'When i was nuttin' but a chile, all you men used to drive me wild.' Surely this was the great Bessie Smith reincarnated.
The film was instant nostalgia for me as I was part of that long ago scene. One evening at Macks in Oxford Street the retaining screw on Ottilie's mike stand sheared and I sat at her feet on the edge of the stage with right arm outstretched holding it together. After two consecutive protracted blues my muscles ached excrutiatingly but she thanked me graciously and the pain magically disappeared! .
Mary Magdalene (2018)
A Struggle to Stay Awake
A huge disappointment after 'Lion' - a film with great emotional appeal, and if it could have been criticized for minor deficiencies in structure editing and pacing, they are all hugely evident in this depiction of the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus. Garth Davis' overriding motivation is to show that Mary was not a prostitute . Rooney Mara's delicate beauty and implied sensitivity make this a most unlikely circumstance to start with. This combines with the sadly limp and at times scarcely audible dialogue to dispel any tension in the story, and sets our minds wandering into the dangerous frontiers of the land of Nod.
On his way , Garth does a demolition job on the New Testament version. Mary's demons are not cast out by Jesus - the attempted exorcism, one of the few dramatic moments in the first hour, is sponsored by her father. When father and brothers come to the disciples camp to reclaim Mary, the disciples refuse to let her go - shades of current dubious religious cults, and hardly Christian in spirit. Jesus meanwhile, played by a hopelessly miscast Joaquin Phoenix, shambles around like a down and out rising from an all nigher under a cardboard blanket, showing no signs of the charisma the real Christ must have possessed. He doesn't ride into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and his wrecking of the tables is no more than minor vandalism of some planking before he is restrained. Peter is an African, and Judas, the villain, is portrayed as the most lively and likeable of the disciples and so it goes on.
In the end, does it really matter if Mary Magdalene had been a sex worker? The Gospels show that such so called sins mattered not one jot to Jesus.
My rating reflects the excellent photography and costumes, and a fine attempt to recreate a sense of time and place.
Dunkirk (2017)
So Disappointing
The aerial sequences were very well filmed and realistic. I'm afraid that is all the positive comment I have to offer. The beaches laughable by their emptiness. Three hundred thousand saved? The impression was that if they had got three hundred off they would have been lucky. Christopher Nolan seemed fixated by a few spectacular disaster scenes and the rest filled in anyhow - never mind historical inaccuracies or anachronisms which were abundant. And then the plot, such as it was - parts of it corny and unbelievable melodrama. Tricks with the timing? Nothing special, the three scenarios could be view in isolation without worrying about the clock.
The 1958 Leslie Norman movie with John Mills and Richard Attenborough - a tried and well-proved WW2 movie combination - gave a far more realistic and highly believable representation of what actually took place. But being much closer in time to the actual event, Norman needed to be much more careful with so many actual participants in the potential audience, and the advisors had all survived the horrors of that beach. If you have a military or historical interest in Dunkirk, this is the movie to watch.
There is also a very good French film 'Weekend at Zuydcoote (Dunkirk)' directed by Henry Verneul and starring the great Jean Paul Belmondo. It is based on a book by Robert Merle who was actually rescued by the British from the Dunkirk Beaches.
Either of the latter two films recommended but Nolan - Oh dear, you can do so much better.