Critical Week: At the movies

It's been an odd week at the movies for me, with only a couple of in-person screenings, plus a few films to watch online. These included the Japanese anime Pompo: The Cinephile, based on a manga about a hyperactive young film producer who gives her assistant the chance to direct a movie. It's energetic and rather nutty, but an enjoyable homage to moviemaking. From Ukraine comes the prescient wartime drama Sniper: The White Raven, an internalised thriller set around Russia's 2014 invasion. It's dark and involving.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Nitram • The Princess
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I also had a chance to see the historical drama Hill of Vision, which recently opened in Italy. It's a warm, involving and inspiring true story of survival during WWII and then adaptation to a new life. The London Indian Film Festival closed today with Superfan, an entertaining Canadian documentary about iconic NBA fan Nav Bhatia, who attended the screening and the party afterwards. This was screened with the Indian short Jaagran, which won the Satyajit Ray Prize from the jury I participated with - and director Ritviq Joshi was also on hand for the afternoon. And earlier in the week I attended the second Iris Prize Fellowship event, which honoured iconic TV writer-director-programmer Jacquie Lawrence.

Among films I'll see this coming week at press screenings or online links at home are Chris Hemsworth in Thor: Love and Thunder, Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in The Gray Man, Adrien Brody in Clean, Winona Ryder in Gone in the Night, the British indie All Is Vanity and the shorts collections Boys on Film 22: Love to Love You and Girls Feels: Into the Blue.

31st Flare: Pamper yourself

The British Film Institute's 31st Flare had a bit of a scare today, as a crazed madman attacked Parliament just over the river. But London carried on in defiance, and the festival had another busy evening. One major event was the Iris Prize party at Ministry of Sound, a lovely event celebrating the world's premiere LGBT short film festival. Here are some more highlights...

The Handmaiden
dir Park Chan-wook; with Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri 16/Kor ****
Korean maestro Park Chan-wook adapts Sarah Waters' novel Fingersmith into a stylish, twisty drama set in Korea and Japan during WWII. It's a visually ravishing film about passion and subterfuge, told in three chapters that flip the perspective in unexpected directions. So even if the themes are a little thin, the film looks so amazing and has such a wickedly labyrinthine plot that it's thoroughly riveting... FULL REVIEW >

Out of Iraq
dir Eva Orner, Chris McKim; with Nayyef Hrebid, Hayder "Btoo" Allami16/US ****
This documentary tells the story of two young Iraqis who take a journey together in very different ways. It has two basic narratives, a romance and an immigration odyssey, and both are so compelling that the film becomes utterly gripping. It also packs a strong emotional kick as these young men struggle against cultural realities that are difficult to imagine.

Pride?
dir Ashley Joiner; with Michael Salter, Peter Tatchell 17/UK ****
A fast-paced, pointed documentary about London's Pride movement, this film explores the rise in alternative events that have sprung up to avoid the crowds and commercialisation. And as it faces government budget cuts, the question is whether Pride has merely become a branding opportunity bogged down in bureaucracy. It's a timely, emotional and unusually balanced film that doesn't shy away from past and present issues.

Seat in Shadow
dir Henry Coombes; with David Sillars, Jonathan Leslie 16/UK ***.
Cleverly shot by rising-star cinematographer David C Liddell, and directed with quirky artistry by Scottish filmmaker Henry Coombes, this Glasgow-set drama is elusive and intriguing. It's nutty and outrageous enough to intrigue fans of offbeat cinema, and it's packed with deeper themes about human connections that resonate in unexpected ways.

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C R I T I C A L   W E E K 

In addition to Flare movies, I had my normal weekly releases to watch at press screenings. These included the police action-comedy CHiPs (comments embargoed),  the enjoyable sci-fi thriller Life with Jake Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Ferguson, the earnest Armenian genocide drama The Promise starring Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale, the intriguing Amazon exploration adventure The Lost City of Z with Charlie Hunnam and Robert Pattinson, the murky London noir mystery City of Tiny Lights with Riz Ahmed, and the offbeat Finnish refugee drama The Other Side of Hope. Films this coming week, aside from more Flare titles, include Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell, Orlando Bloom in the thriller Unlocked, and more.