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After Love (2020)
Affecting and humane
A lovely affecting story. I've read a few comments here about the implausibility of the premise. Don't let that put you off. The characterisation is genuine and heartfelt. So much unsaid directly, a glance here, a glance there, but the film ends up saying so much about how life connects people, even in the most unwelcome of circumstances. The distance between us may be near, it may be far, but we all have the capacity to reach out if the situation requires. It is what defines us. Hadn't heard of this writer/ director before and it seems it's his first feature film. I have added him to my favourites on this website!
Girl (2018)
Moving and unique
Here is a simple told story on a complicated personal subject. The film radiates humanity in every scene and I would defy anyone to remain unmoved by the hugely challenging journey undertaken by Lara. The touching relationship with her younger brother, her heart-felt conversations with her dad, the visually striking and punishing routines at the dance school; it all combines to create a unique viewing experience. Life is often pain but the film's prevailing theme is one of overcoming in despite of everything.
Elvis on Tour (1972)
Watch it for the performances
I went to the cinema yesterday to see the new Elvis film. It was enjoyable enough, just enough in fact to create a thirst for the real thing. I bought Elvis on Tour on DVD some time ago, after reading the excellent Peter Guralnick books, but had never got round to watching it. Here is the real thing in 1972: jumping into limos after a mad dash from the arena concerts, striking poses in his red, white and powder-blue sequinned jumpsuits, goofing around with his support crew (aka the Memphis Mafia). But that stuff is just at the margins. This film is about his performances on stage at numerous venues, with full songs from his back pages, as well as new material (he needs a lyric sheet for the opening to Burning Love). It's powerful, heady material. He is not the trim, lithe, beautiful early Elvis here (there's a brief montage covering that exalted period), but nor is he yet so fat that he can't cut some kung-fu shapes.
I'm only scoring it 6 because of what's not included in the film, which may be unfair, because it's about the tour performances. But there is no perspective here on the private Elvis, just hinted at perhaps when he looks forlornly out of the limo window. There's no-one there to ask, 'Whatcha thinking about Elvis? We'd love to know.'
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
Casts a spell on you!
A random find on the BBCi player on an overcast Saturday afternoon. Turns out this film has pedigree but I had no idea beforehand. More than anything, it's the setting that entrances; a rainy and, yes, stagy early c20th Vienna, the horse and carriages, the creaking doors, the wonderfully rendered champagne bars, the music. I could go on. And then there are the principal performances by Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan. There's a kind of magic between them which glows in every scene. Thinking about the film afterwards, the plot overall is somewhat uncanny, the motivation for some of the characters' decisions unclear, but perhaps that is part of the reason why it is so enticing. When people say, "they don't make 'em like that anymore," this is the film they're talking about.
Do yourself a favour, settle down, and drink deeply of this intoxicating cinematic wonder!
You Are Not My Mother (2021)
Thoughtful horror film with a heart
A little gem of a horror film. An ordinary setting on an Irish housing estate and a main character whose welfare you actually care about, thanks to the skilful writing and the subtle performance of the young female actor. It's a horror film first and foremost, but has themes of growing up in difficult circumstances, of being different but trying to fit in, of inter/ intra generational strife. The story is not complicated but overall it is effectively told and engaged me to the end. A long opening shot of the end of a street at night, lit solely by a street lamp, speaks to the director's horror-film reference points and the scale of ambition is in no way misplaced.
Radioactive (2019)
Good but not great: Marie Curie certainly deserves better
I came to this film knowing a little but not much about the life of Marie Curie and whilst I finished it knowing a lot more, I can't help feeling overall that there must have been more to tell. The acting performances are proficient enough, but the setting suffers from what appears a very limited budget. The film makes use of montages which don't illuminate and there's a curious look into the future to show how Curie's work shaped important scientific developments (both the good and the horrific). Whilst this makes sense in terms of making plain for a non-scientific audience the significance of Curie's work, the director takes it a step further late on by introducing a magical realism element, which definitely did not work for me.
I haven't read the book that this film was based on, so don't know to what extent it's considered a definitive account of Curie's life. But this film - at a parsimonious 90 mins or so length - surely cannot be the final cinematic word on the life and times of this most formidable and influential scientist.
Chanson douce (2019)
A difficult, unsettling watch
Watched this tense French language drama without knowing anything of the true story it was based on. Well, I looked up the story afterwards and I was glad not to have known. The tension is kept pretty taut, the nanny character managing to stay on the right side of believability, which is more ominous somehow than some cliched depiction of derangement. The parents of the two children ignore the warning signs out of self interest and convenience. You want to shake them from their complacency. A creeping dread prevails with each passing scene, a lot of it commonplace but just a touch (and sometimes more) out of kilter. Overall, it's worth 90 mins of your time.
Sweetheart (2019)
Decent survivor vs monster film
Formulaic but enjoyable. It stands or falls on the main character and she just about comes out on top! The desert island location adds interest. The monster, as usual for the purpose of suspense, the less seen the better!
Provenance (2017)
The setting is the star!
Some fabulous scenery to enjoy in this film. A tranquil village in southern France. A simple enough story about an older man and much younger woman, but with something of a dark, savage twist. Ok overall.