Venezia83: On the nose

It's my last full day at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, although I have more movies to watch tomorrow before (and after) my flight back to London. This trip has been a bit more work-intensive than previous visits to this festival, and I have't had much time to explore other things, including Biennale exhibitions or Venice Immersive. Still, I've seen a lot of movies, and had spare time to roam the city most days. Here are notes on five more movies...

Trick [Scherzetto]
dir Mario Martone; with Toni Servillo, Lorenzo Perrotta 26/It ***.
 Centred around a man and his young grandson, this Italian film mixes comedy and drama in a way that feels somewhat uneven. Filmmaker Mario Martone is gifted at creating complex characters and seeing the world through their eyes, so there are many layers to this story that speak to issues of aging, nostalgia and the disparities between generations. And actor Toni Servillo is a master at engaging with the audience.

Naza
dir-scr Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor; with Yuval Abraham 26/UK ****.
Don't expect something quietly informative here: this documentary's title is the acronym used by Israeli Military Forces to indicate the number of civilians who are expected to be killed in a strike against Gaza. Oscar-winning filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor use quiet conversations to tell this story, revealing that innocent people, including children, are being deliberately murdered as part of Israel's war on Palestine. 

A Bit of Light
dir Ali Asgari; with Missagh Zareh, Sadaf Asgari 26/Irn 
With a gently rolling pace and a quietly witty sensibility, this Iranian comedy-drama approaches a very serious premise with a superbly light-handed touch. Filmmaker Ali Asgari and his gifted cast create hugely likeable characters who support each other unconditionally, even if they'd rather not. It's a beautiful depiction of familial love in a place where government actions continually seem to obliterate hope.

One Minute to Midnight [Un Peu Avant Minuit]
dir-scr Nicolas Pariser; with Melvil Poupaud, Chiara Mastroianni 26/Fr ***
Talky and introspective, this French drama follows a 49-year-old man as he drifts from one intriguing conversation to another. All of this is very pointed, and writer-director Nicolas Pariser keeps it engaging by honing in on tantalising ideas about the disparity between memory and reality and connections between men and women. But while it explores hugely resonant issues, the film remains largely academic. 

Before the War
dir-scr Tommaso Usberti; with Piero Usberti, Luana Bajrami 26/It ***.
Beautifully photographed to capture a visceral feeling of summertime, this Italian drama is set in a rural community that's infused with a deep-seated culture of racism and machismo. So the romance at the film’s centre feels like it has little choice but to be doomed. But this is a bracingly honest, observational look at a guy in his early 20s only just beginning to see the nature of the world around him. 

Full reviews will be linked to Shadows' VENICE FILM FEST PAGE >

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C R I T I C A L  W E E K 

I haven't seen any non-Venice films this week, but I return to London tomorrow, and will quickly begin watching current releases again, starting with Brad Pitt in Heart of the Beast, Aardman's stop-motion Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, catching up with the cast of the French TV classic in Call My Agent! The Movie, Irish drama The Lost Children of Taum, and Scottish Ballet's Shakespeare-inspired These Violent Delights. Plus a live performance of Alvin Ailey: Legacy.

Critical Week: Movie night

With the sunshine blazing across Great Britain, cinema box office is likely to take a hit these days. Although maybe the air conditioning will lure people to escape from the heat. I've certainly enjoyed attending press screenings this week, a cool break from the sweaty sunshine. I caught up with Pixar's new animated feature Elemental, which premiered at Cannes. It's a little uneven plotwise, but the characters are terrific and it looks spectacular. And then there's the return of Chris Hemsworth in Extraction II, an even more confident thrill-ride. It's ripping entertainment, but very violent.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
You Can Live Forever • The Flash
Elemental • Extraction II
ALL REVIEWS >

Also at Cannes, Wes Anderson's new slice of whimsy is Asteroid City, in which a vast ensemble of A-listers circle around strange goings on in a desert crater. It's quirky and has moments of genius, but little resonance. Take That's songs were adapted into the British stage musical The Band, which has now become the comedy romp Greatest Days. But the laughs are undermined by several pushy dark plot points.  And I also saw two smaller films centred around addicts: God's Petting You is an offbeat, messy heist comedy about a junkie who teams up with a sex addict to rob a pornstar, while Sunlight is a likeable but contrived Irish drama about an addict trying to have a final connection with his dying sponsor.

This next week I'll be watching Harrison Ford in action in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, British drama To Nowhere, French drama Mother & Son and two documentaries: Baato from the Himalayas in Nepal and The Last Rider about the 1989 Tour de France.

Critical Week: Bust a move

With the warm, sunny weather this past week, it wasn't easy to concentrate on movies, so I spent a bit of time each day outside getting some exercise. And at home I spent more time catching up on TV series (including, after pointlessly resisting it, all of Tiger King). Otherwise, my lockdown routine has been pretty much the same as ever: watch a movie, eat something, watch a TV show, eat something, watch another movie, and so forth. And today they announced at least another three weeks of this.

There were a handful of big movies this week. The Dave Bautista comedy My Spy (above) is a surprisingly engaging action romp, although the comedy is a lot more fun than the thriller side of things. Chris Hemsworth goes all manly in Extraction, a gritty kidnap-rescue action movie that's riveting and violent. And Sam Claflin is at the centre of the farcical goings on in Love Wedding Repeat, a silly and charming romantic comedy with a magical cheat in the plot.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Ema •  Martin Eden
A White, White Day
PERHAPS AVOID:
Abominable • Butt Boy
Behind You

The best I saw this week was the indie comedy Faith Based, which premiered at Santa Barbara Film Festival in February before seeing all of its other festival slots vanish. It's a knowing, affectionate look at both moviemaking and America's religious film industry. Great characters, a funny script and some fabulous cameos too (FULL REVIEW). Two other independent films were a little less impressive: Getaway is an inventive inversion on the woman in danger horror movie, as three women turn the tables on some murderous rednecks; and Abominable is a yeti horror movie with only about half a script and no funds for sets or actual actors - so bad it's rather funny.

Finally, I caught up with 17 short films spread across three collections, released by New Queer Visions between November and February: The Danish Boys, The Latin Boys and The Israeli Boys. All of them are serious short dramas exploring issues of identity and culture relating to the gay male experience. Refreshingly, while the films are a bit of a mixed bag, there isn't a dud in the bunch. And a few of them are mini-masterpieces (REVIEWS).

Coming up over the next week are the action comedy Why Don't You Just Die, the controversial dark drama Cuck, the indie crime thriller Ghost and horror movies 1BR and We Summon the Darkness, plus three more Netflix movies: Wagner Moura in Sergio, the animated comedy The Willoughbys and the documentary Circus of Books.