Critical Week: Anger issues

It's a busy Valentine's Day weekend for new movies, as British audiences have the hers-and-his double whammy of Bridget Jones and Captain America to choose from. I caught up with Captain America: Brave New World this week, and enjoyed it more than expected. It's a bit more focussed than previous Avengers movies, grittier and less bombastic, so of course most critics are complaining that it's not big enough. It's all very blunt, but I enjoyed the more nuanced performances from Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford (who red-hulks out!).

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
To a Land Unknown • Bonus Track
Memoir of a Snail • Desire Lines
ALL REVIEWS >

I liked the slightly pushy comedy-drama My Dead Friend Zoe, which stars Sonequa Martin-Green as a veteran grappling with trauma. Solid acting all around, plus knowingly complex characters bring it to life. I also really enjoyed Bonus Track, a gentle British coming-of-age drama about two outcast teen boys who find each other. It has some terrific stars in side roles, including Josh O'Connor, who came up with the story. 

The Sloth Lane (aka A Sloth Story) is a lively Aussie animated adventure about a family of Latin American sloths. It's silly but sweet. From France, Holy Cow is a wonderfully loose, full-of-life comedy drama that follows a tearaway teen as he tries to become a cheesemaker. And from Greece, To a Land Unknown is an engaging and powerful drama about two Palestinian migrants trying to catch a break. I also caught the hilarious stage show Miss Brexit at Clapham's Omnibus.

The Bafta Film Awards take place this Sunday, the biggest precursor to the Oscars two weeks later. I have rather a lot going on around that event, but also a few films to watch, including the British vampire movie Drained, the Dutch action thriller Invasion, the Chinese animated epic Chang'An and the documentaries Ernest Cole: Lost & Found and I Am Martin Parr.

BFI Flare: Reveal yourself

The 38th BFI Flare wrapped up on Sunday, after Saturday night's closing ceremony and the world premiere of Lady Like, starring Lady Camden, who brought her starry glamour to the evening. It was a great festival, with lots of excellent films. Although without a delegate centre or team, it was tricky for press to see the films. And of course the best thing about this event each year is catching up with my Flare friends! Here are some final highlights, plus comments on the relatively few short films I managed to see and my 10 best films of the fest...

Lady Like
dir-scr Luke Willis; with Rex Wheeler, Shiloh Brody-Clarke 24/US ***
There's a terrific story at the centre of this documentary, tracing the life of drag star Lady Camden from her London childhood to TV stardom and beyond. Filmmaker Luke Wheeler has wonderful access, capturing Camden's alter-ego Rex Wheeler with unusual openness and authenticity. But the film itself isn't edited together with momentum or a clear structure, circling around and repeating emotional points. So it's entertaining, but never as moving as it wants to be.

Unspoken
dir-scr Jeremy Borison; with Charlie Korman, Michael Zapesotsky 24/US ****
Sensitive and introspective, this teen drama plays out almost like a mystery thriller. Sharply shot with a vivid attention to detail, the film has a focussed perspective that's both riveting and involving. Writer-director Jeremy Borison maintains narrative momentum along with a knowing sense of how it feels to be gay in a religious community. And because the story is connected to history, it carries surprising weight and complexity.

Love Lies Bleeding
dir Rose Glass; with Kristen Stewart, Katy O'Brian 24/US ****
Cleverly using excessive audio and visual flourishes to heighten the mood, filmmaker Rose Glass takes the audience on a pitch-black adventure that propels forward without mercy. The film is dark and often intensely gruesome, but there's a terrific undercurrent of raw emotion even in the more outrageous situations. So as it closes its grip on us, the movie becomes a skilfully lurid, heady mix of romance, murder and bodybuilding.

Orlando, My Political Biography
dir-scr Paul B Preciado; with Paul B Preciado, Oscar Miller, Janis Sahraoui 23/Fr ****
Breathtakingly original, this drama-documentary hybrid is a loose adaptation of Virginia Woolf's classic novel blurred inventively with portraits of trans people who connect with and elevate the book's story and ideas. Writer-director Paul Preciado maintains a cheeky tone, mixing plot elements with real-life details to create a movie that's colourful and often hilarious. And it also takes on several enormous issues with wit and knowing observations, challenging audience preconceptions.

Baldiga: Unlocked Heart
dir Markus Stein; with Jurgen Baldiga, Ulf Reimer 24/Ger ***.
Shot and edited with a contemplative, artful sensibility, this documentary focusses on thoughts and feelings as it recounts the life of German photographer Jurgen Baldiga, remembered depicting the truth in his images, which was uncomfortable to gay men during the Aids epidemic. Even if it's a bit slow and ponderous, the film is a remarkable depiction of a man who was hungry for everything life had to offer.

Flare Shorts

I wasn't able to watch as many shorts as I hoped to see, because they didn't make them accessible to the press this year. So I only managed to catch 12 of them - including the Five Films for Freedom. My favourite was from Spain, The First Kiss (dir Miguel Lafuente), a sharply clever drama that goes from funny to cute to intense in 15 minutes. I also really enjoyed The Lime Green Shirt (UK, Kaushik Ray), a lovely mother-son drama that's moving and provocative; Halfway (India, dir Kumar Chheda), a simple and inventive relationship drama with a quirky twist; We Collide (UK, dir Jason Bradbury), a two-minute thrill ride through a nightclub; Car Wash (Spain, dir Lucas Sogas), a complex drama about closeted football players; and A Bed for Three (Germany, dir Jan-Peter Horstmann), a silly but pointed comedy with a witty Ikea kick.

Rich’s Best of the Fest

1. 
   Crossing
2. Orlando, My Political Biography
3. The Summer With Carmen
4. Unspoken 
5. Unicorns
6. Love Lies Bleeding
7. Toll
8. Calls From Moscow
9. Riley
10. Desire Lines

All full reviews will be posted soon and linked on Shadows' BFI FLARE PAGE >
For festival information, BFI FLARE >

LFF: Take a break

I feel like I hit a wall today at the 65th BFI London Film Festival, as my wall-to-wall schedule finally overwhelmed me. So I'll be skipping a couple of movies tomorrow just to regain my equilibrium. It's difficult to miss films at the festival, as I'm already only seeing about a third of the movies I really want to see. But something had to give, and I'll be slowing things down a bit over the final four days just so I survive until the end! Here are some more highlights...

The Lost Daughter
dir-scr Maggie Gyllenhaal; with Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson 21/Gr ***.
As an exploration of motherhood, this film has a remarkable complexity that sets it apart, especially since it centres around yet another mesmerising performance from Olivia Colman. Writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal takes an internalised approach that's engaging even it if sometimes feels meandering and indulgent. It also taps into sharply resonant themes using a range of interconnected mothers, fathers, daughters, sons and lovers. And it finds truth in contradictions.

A Hero
dir-scr Asghar Farhadi; with Amir Jadidi, Sahar Goldust 21/Irn ****
Iranian master Asghar Farhadi continues to take a nuanced approach toward morality with this striking drama about justice. It's a hugely involving story that quickly gets under the skin, then takes a series of twists and turns that challenge perceptions of the characters and situations. In his usual earthy, unflashy style, Farhadi makes bold comments about how difficult it is to do the right thing in an unfair society.

Luzzu
dir-scr Alex Camilleri; with Jesmark Scicluna, Michela Farrugia 21/Mlt ****
The title of this Maltese film is a type of traditional fishing boat locals use to maintain traditions. Writer-director Alex Camilleri creates a documentary-style realism that's instantly involving, following earthy, likeable people through everyday highs and lows. This is captured with a sharp eye by cinematographer Leo Lefevre, both in the sun-drenched seaside scenes and some colourful nighttime sequences. And the complex narrative takes a series of unpredictable turns... FULL REVIEW >

Natural Light
dir-scr Denes Nagy; with Ferenc Szabo, Laszlo Bajko 21/Hun ***.
With a documentary approach to realism and minimal dialog, this gritty World War II drama relies on the moral dilemmas faced by a central character who gives little away to the audience. Writer-director Denes Nagy creates beautiful imagery in a cold, muddy place while exploring complexities of wartime interaction. So its slow pace is strikingly involving, although the icy approach to emotion leaves it more academic than moving... FULL REVIEW >

Full reviews of festival films will be published as possible and linked at Shadows' LFF HOMEPAGE 
For full information, visit BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 

 

Critical Week: Let the race begin

Awards season officially kicked off this week with a flurry of accolades including the New York Film Critics and the British Independent Film Awards. I've been voting already, and have more to do in the coming weeks. In my last few days in California, I caught up with a few more contenders, including Angelina Jolie's biopic Unbroken, starring Jack O'Connell as Olympic runner Louie Zamperini, who later survived 47 days adrift at sea before being captured by the Japanese during WWII. It's a staggering story of resilience, made with unexpected subtlety. Tim Burton's Big Eyes is another gorgeously made biopic. It stars Amy Adams as Margaret Keane, who painted all of those sad-eyed children in the 60s and 70s while her husband (Christoph Waltz) took the credit. It may look sunnier than most of Burton's films, but it's just as gleefully deranged, and it carries a big emotional kick.

But of course the biggest film screened to the press this past week was Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, another enormous epic of a film, packed with lively characters, first-rate effects and huge, expertly staged action sequences. Frankly, until some engaging personal drama emerges in the second half, it's a bit exhausting. Somewhat smaller films included The Face of Love, a gimmicky, melodramatic romance starring Annette Bening and Ed Harris. And The Great Museum is a riveting fly-on-the-wall doc about the backstage workings of Vienna's national gallery.

Coming this week: Julianne Moore in Still Alice, Ben Stiller in Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Quevenzhane Wallis in a remake of the musical Annie, Christian Bale in Exodus: Gods and Kings, Aardman Animation's Shaun the Sheep Movie, the acclaimed Spanish anthology Wild Tales and the British drama Wasp. I'll also finally catch up with the sequel Dumb and Dumber To, although frankly I'd rather not.