paulron-58449 Reviews

Back to Black (2024)

A wonderful talent - lost so young.

[7/10 · 22 April 2024]

Sam Taylor-Johnson has produced a fine movie of the self-destructive, short life of singer Amy Winehouse; not easy subject material and still raw for many people of a wonderful talent, lost so young. We seem to be in an age of Biopics which isn't necessarily a good thing. The quality, direction and screenwriting is patchy, to say the least. Some are frankly awful.

Back To Black takes a median position in amongst the plethora of recent biopics which is to its credit considering this is no way a high financed, major international production. In fact, its very Englishness, indeed its London working-class parochialism gives it its characteristic charm and personality.

We open with Amy (Marissa Abela) as a teenage singer - songwriter working the local pubs and trying to break into the music business, searching for a record deal and making it clear she's different, 'I ain't no Spice Girl' she tells a potential Agent. Her upbringing from a working-class Jewish family singing Jazz songs around the dinner table, her own eclectic musical tastes and style set her up as a unique talent during a period of shallowness in the British musical scene. She was always head and shoulders above the opposition - a superb talent with a monumental future ahead of her.

Despite family advice from her father, Mitch (Eddie Marsan) and Grandmother Cynthia (Lesley Manville) Amy, always a rebel, sets out on her tragic journey to destruction. Alcohol and an unfortunate penchant for choosing the wrong partner play their terrible part in her short life. I'm not sure just how significant was her relationship and marriage to Blake (Jack O'Connell) in her demise - other factors including the Media and the lack of a decent management team probably played out their role, but sadly it's a story we are all too familiar with in the Pop/Rock world - Joplin, Hendrix, Morrison, Moon and even Presley travelled the same road as Amy.

The movie is saved from just another pop-biopic by its portrayal of Amy Winehouse as a teenager with remarkable talent growing up in a working -class community in North London with some credit going to Abela for what was a difficult part to play. It has a feel at times of Biopics of the Beatles' early days in Liverpool. What comes across is a likeable, pretty, talented and funny teenager looking forward to a full life. A life that was not to be.

Everything Went Fine (2021)

A stellar cast for a difficult subject.

[8/10 · 7 April 2024]

The whole debate regarding assisted dying is contemporary and topical; cinema and TV are reflecting this with a number of productions, none finer than this 2021 French movie which avoids the obvious pitfalls of over-sentimentality, over the top ethical pronouncements and poor storytelling. Here we have a stellar cast (Marceau, Dussollier, Pailhais, Rampling and Schygulla) that adds international gravity to this sensitive subject material.

Andre (Andre Dussollier) is an 85 year old man who suffers a stroke that leaves him with life changing health issues. He makes the decision that he wants to end his life and asks his two daughters Emanuele and Pascale (Sophie Marceau, Geraldine Pailhais) to help him. We observe a family torn, twisted and uncertain about his request, yet Emanuele makes the decision to support her father in his 'project.' Assisted suicide is strictly illegal in France so they decide to take the only option open to them - get him over the border into Switzerland, where it's legal.

Despite a life-long love-hate relationship between them, there develops a latent bond between father and daughter amply realised by superb performances from Andre Dussollier and Sophie Marceau. Marceau has finally shed her Gallic pin-up girl image and developed into a fine actress, picking up serious parts that suit her in middle age.

Aspects of Andre's life and his relationship with family members come to the fore in the period before the date set to go to Switzerland, especially one particularly difficult one that had previously ripped the family apart. There is something forlornly upbeat about this film: a sense of Parisian sarcastic humour prevails when things look particularly bad and when Andre is at his most acerbic and bitter. The family put down their differences and pull together, even if they don't always agree with the 'project.'

A timely and significant film that manages to keep upbeat and realistic as it deals with a major issue of our time.

Stockholm East (2011)

Slow moving - interesting plot.

[7/10 · 4 April 2024]

Swedish cinema has largely dipped over the previous 20 years due to the expansion of several internationally successful TV series, stars and directors heading for Hollywood, along with a certain identity crisis following the passing of Ingmar Bergman.

This short, slightly Bergmanesque movie from 2011 has recently been pushed on Netflix so I gave it a watch. Despite no recognisable stars, limited location shooting and a slow, darkish feel the film does work on a basic level. It's the storyline that was always going to cause problems for the viewing public. Some may find it somewhat taboo, weird or even disturbing and disgusting, others, boring or unrealistic. Whatever your views, on one level this is a tragic love story which I personally believe is not entirely unrealistic; on another, it does pose some questions about morality, a certain emotional emptiness and sparseness of direction.

It cannot be classed as an Arthouse film, although it sometimes would like to swing in that direction. The two main characters, Anna and Johann are two ordinary people plunged into a nightmare situation that they both try to deal with in their own, individual way. They are both vulnerable, depressed and with other partners. This is a slow burning relationship that develops organically - but obviously heading for disaster from the start.

The movie is slow, dark and depressive at times, despite some almost forced happy scenes between the couple. This overall black mood is in line with the script, however, some of the acting is fairly amateurish at times. Worth a watch for the individualistic script.

The Zone of Interest (2023)

Shattering

[9/10 · 17 February 2024]

How is it even possible to give a dispassionate, subjective evaluation of this film? It's sheer originality alone defies categorisation. On one level it can be looked at as another film about The Holocaust, yet this wouldn't even begin to address its shattering effect. It does have a subtle documentary feel and has to be approached in this way.

Rudolf Hoss (Christian Freidel) wife Hedwig (Sandra Huller) and their children live in blissful luxury adjacent to the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz. As commandant, Hoss and his family enjoy an idyllic, if surreal life. Just a few feet away unimaginable horrors are taking place. However, we never see these things, but we do hear them - an ever present, distant aural nightmare that continues constantly, night and day.

Life goes on as normal in the Hoss household. The kids go to school, Hedwig keeps house and looks after her garden. She kisses and waves off her husband as he goes to work every morning to oversee mass-murder, torture and hate on a monumental, industrial scale. It's the normality and banality of this everyday life as they take their primary role in 'the worst crime in history' that really hits home; like a giant hand coming out of the screen and dragging you in to be a part of this madness and horror.

All the time the factory sounds of mass murder, torture, executions and beatings along with the acrid black smoke rising above the camp is omnipresent. This makes for difficult viewing, made all the more hideous when contrasted with Hoss and Hedwig's total indifference and dehumanisation of the victims. I left the cinema exhausted, shaken and vindictive. This is serious, topical and necessary film making in these uncertain and dangerous times. Freidel and Huller are brilliant - you actually end up hating their characters. Sound Recordist Johnnie Burn creates a masterpiece and I hope the film wins all its deserved Academy Award nominations.

Don't Look Now (1973)

A Forgotten Classic

[10/10 · 16 February 2024]

I first saw this excellent film upon its release 50 years ago. I was fascinated, intrigued and left wondering why it didn't receive the recognition it throughly deserved. Half a century on I decided to watch it again and I'm still amazed its not considered a classic.

Nicolas Roeg was one of the '70s more interesting and intelligent directors and he gives this surreal thriller a stylish, timeless twist. The two stars, Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie make an almost perfect pair - arguably both putting in their finest cinematic performances. Christie is beauty personified, vulnerable and brittle as glass following the death of a child. Sutherland, her archaeologist husband plunges himself into his work to try and escape the hurt. They travel to Venice where he's been commissioned to renovate an ancient church. They love each other deeply and both try to compensate and support each other through their recent loss.

Venice is a wintry, misty and forlorn stage for a series of odd, surreal, bizarre, yet sometimes beautiful scenes that weave into each other seamlessly. Even one of cinema's most famous sex scenes doesn't detract from the narrative and slots in perfectly.

Roeg's use of flashbacks, synchronicity, sound effects and cinematography were groundbreaking for the time and the movie remains classy, arty and watchable to this day. If you've never seen it and even if you have, watch it again - a forgotten classic.

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

Did She... ?

[9/10 · 4 February 2024]

A Courtroom Drama par excellence, augmented by great direction (Justine Triet) and acting, especially, but not exclusively from Sandra Huller. I was expecting something special from this Palme Dor winner and wasn't disappointed.

Set in the French Alps Sandra (Huller) a popular author lives with her tutor husband, Samuel and her 11 year old son Daniel (an exceptional performance from Milo Machado Graner) Samuel is found dead after a fall and the investigation leads to Sandra being indicted for murder. All pretty straightforward until we reach the trial. Under the French legal system of an accusatory system of justice the prosecution attempts to find the truth and build a case against the accused in court. A perceptive, intelligent and flamboyant prosecutor (another marvellous performance by Antoine Reinartz) tries every trick in the book to break down, demean and belittle Huller to convince the jury she's guilty.

On the other side of the court the accused is ably represented by her calm and clever lawyer Vincent (Swann Arlaud) Huller is measured, stoic and simply brilliant under intense and vigorous questioning. What verdict will the jurors bring in?

There are so many metaphors that Triet brings to this intelligent and erudite film; Sexism, Parenting, Domestic strife, Culture, Class and Xenophobia included. Understandably Oscar nominated. French cinema at its finest.

All of Us Strangers (2023)

The Power Of Love

[9/10 · 29 January 2024]

We are currently blessed with a fine cohort of British and Irish actors across the whole spectrum of international film and TV. Four of them star in this fabulous low-budget movie that I was hard pressed to find any faults with and proves that great acting, direction and screenwriting will always win through.

I'm not going to attempt to classify this movie so I'll leave it there. Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal star and each gives a powerful performance of alienation, loss, love and grief. Claire Foy and Jamie Bell play out their hardly secondary roles perfectly, bringing up the cast list. The basic idea of loss and how its dealt with is as old as cinema itself, yet here is handled in a simple and moving way that is largely shorn of sentimentality, but just might have you wiping away a tear or two.

Along with super direction and an impactful script there is an excellent electronic score that keeps the storyline moving, together with some very relevant pop music from the 1980s. In the end the power of love tells you everything you need to know. Wonderful.

Foe (2023)

Odd Yet Interesting Sci-Fi Movie Falls Flat.

[6/10 · 25 January 2024]

Foe had a limited release in the UK and I've just caught up with it on Amazon Prime. This in itself was for me an issue as the claustrophobic nature of the movie required a big screen, as did the scenes where it moved outside. It's a difficult movie to classify: Sci-Fi, Dystopia, Love Story, Climate Change film et al. As there are only 3 characters, except for a few non-speaking, very fleeting extras the acting and script needed to be top-notch, which wasn't always the case.

Ronan and Mescal do an excellent job considering the limitations. Here are two young actors who are a credit to their profession and have a great future. Paul Mescal probably just wings it ahead of his female counterpart, but it's close. Aaron Pierre is a poor third behind the two leads and frankly, miscast: a shame because his role is integral in such an insular story with a tiny cast.

It's 2065 and the earth is burning up; no doubt due to the mistakes of the past. Hen (Ronan) and Junior (Mescal) live on an old farmstead in what is now a desert environment. The trees are dead stumps and water is rationed. There is a sense of doom and despair, although they seem happy enough, until they get a visit from a mysterious visitor (Pierre) who offers them some form of escape. I won't go any further because of Spoilers except to say that the script doesn't always do justice to the fine acting of the two leads.

This failure of the script to deliver is a problem for many movies these days. Whilst the storyline is good, with a fine ending, when it moves to the screen it falls flat. With some creative direction scripts can sparkle but I didn't see it here. A pity because there was a fine movie in there somewhere. Rated at 6 mainly for the acting of Ronan and Mescal.

One Life (2023)

The Best of British.

[8/10 · 24 January 2024]

This is the true story of Nicholas Winton (Anthony Hopkins) who as young Englishman in 1938/9 managed to evacuate 669 refugee children from Prague who would almost certainly have been murdered during the Nazi occupation. The film switches between Winton as a young man, played by Johnny Flynn and later in 1987 when the modest Winton's story is finally made public.

There is something here that is very relevant to today, especially the Britain, and the British of 1938 when we contrast the same country and it's people 80 years on. Winton was a wealthy middle-class banker of German/Jewish descent who was prepared to not only go the extra mile, but to risk his life to rescue those children. He explains his motives to a sceptical Rabbi in Prague as one of simple humanity and decency along with patriotism and a measure of socialism.

Hopkins is a superb older Winton. He's lost none of his earlier modesty and idealism and watch out for an excellent scene with fellow Welshman Jonathan Price as one of his old team in Prague as they reminisce about their days in Czechoslovakia.

Helena Bonham Carter is marvellous as the young Winton's mother, always ready to take on the British Establishment and find foster parents for the children. Flynn shines as the young Englishman abroad, always motivating and encouraging even when things appear hopeless.

Nicholas Winton was eventually bestowed with a Knighthood for his work - an honour richly deserved.

Lina Olin plays Winton's wife in later life and Marthe Keller is a sympathetic Lady Maxwell, wife of newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell, originally a Jewish Refugee from Czechoslovakia.

There is something poignantly topical and a little concerning about this film. The British showed great bravery and warmth in welcoming these refugees in 1938 as they did with the children on the Kindertransport from Germany and Austria. Many lives were saved and many of the children have gone on to live full and successful lives as British citizens. The older Winton became concerned that things had changed, not necessarily for the better. Today, the word refugee has unfortunately other connotations than it did previously.

The End We Start From (2023)

An Excellent Jody Comer Pulls This Soggy Disaster/Dystopian Movie Through

[6/10 · 20 January 2024]

This is Jody Comer's film throughout: the camera hardly leaves her from start to finish. Its a low-budget disaster/dystopia movie with some obvious references to climate change and how it could impact on ordinary people and society. The End We Start From isn't a classic disaster movie with overused CGI, a cast of thousands and a budget running into several hundred millions (thankfully) Its an insular, intimate portrait of one woman and her newly born baby trying to survive a terrible natural disaster and on this level, it largely works.

Comer gets some sterling, if fleeting acting support from Joel Fry, Katherine Waterson, Benedict Cumberbatch and Mark Strong, yet every scene is a platform for her acting ability. Sometimes she says nothing at all, just shows some wonderful maternal love and support for her infant and displays a naturalistic presence in the face of hopelessness.

The movie itself is sparse to say the least. It just about gets across the message of how things could be in this type of situation. However, many scenes are far too abstract and simplistic. A little more context is required, even just a background radio giving out emergency bulletins or a broken road sign along a soggy road to give some geographical placing. Society breaks down, as it inevitably would and the Brits show their legendary stoicism, but it's all on one level, not much horror and no humour - both essential in any successful disaster, dystopian movie; it borders on the boring.

In the end the excellent Comer pulls it through.

Priscilla (2023)

The Banality of Superstardom

[7/10 · 15 January 2024]

If there's one thing that Sofia Coppola's biopic left me with it was the dullness and banality of Superstardom. The director captures this perfectly with her superb attention to period detail and meaningful mis-en-scene. Whether it's lying on the bed popping pills with her loved one or waving him away from Graceland as he goes off to make another trashy movie and make out with yet another bimbo: Priscilla's life is quite simply one of subservience and that of trophy bride to the most famous man on the planet.

We first see Priscilla when she arrives in West Germany in 1959 as a childlike 14 year old with her military family. Elvis is introduced to her at a party and she becomes blindly infatuated, as most young girls would. The age difference is somewhat disturbing but The King's motives do seem honourable, at least at first. Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla) does a tremendous job throughout, from a young girl to a beautiful mid-1970s woman. Its a thankless task being married to Elvis Presley and any sort of normal life, impossible. Jacob Elordi as Elvis is impressively tall and carries out his role manfully, despite being facially different to Presley.

The couple and their entourage seem unaware of the huge societal and cultural shifts going on about them during the 1960s. This living in a bubble musically and otherwise had repercussions. By the birth of daughter Lisa, Elvis is old-hat, outdated and outmoded. Rock has arrived, the British Invasion has prevailed and attempts to re-launch his singing career means more time away from Priscilla and baby, more and more drugs and even more girls. The writing was on the wall for the couple and Priscilla takes the initiative.

Coppola builds towards the break with a skilful musical score reflecting the new, progressive music and youth culture that had moved on from Elvis. There is one final, sad scene between them before Priscilla leaves. Overall, a fine Biopic of Priscilla Presley that Sofia Coppola never falls into the trap of making this yet another film about one Elvis Arron Presley.

Parallel Mothers (2021)

Continues in the tradition of the Director's excellent film making.

[8/10 · 7 January 2024]

Pedro Almodovar's 8th film with Penelope Cruz sees director and leading lady cement their splendid working relationship further. Two storylines run together throughout, both instigated by Janis (Cruz) She believes she has found the mass grave of relatives and friends murdered during the Civil War. She needs the help of forensic anthropologist Arturo to help her locate and exhume the remains. An intimate relationship develops between both and Janis becomes pregnant, a desirable outcome for her, despite the fact that Arturo is married - single motherhood is just fine.

Whilst in hospital she meets a young girl, Ana (Milena Smit) also about to give birth. A warm relationship builds between them despite the age difference. Both women give birth to baby girls on the same day. Afterwards Janis continues her career as a professional photographer whilst Ana goes home to live with her overbearing mother, Teresa.

The women keep in touch and this is where the movie really moves into hyperdrive. This is very much a woman's world; every character from Janis, Ana, Teresa, the housekeeper and the babysitter, Elena, Janis' employer and the beautiful models Janis photographs all dominate. Almodovar builds this cosy theme wonderfully well with his legendary use of colour and cinematography, the colours just that more pastel reflecting the fairer sex. The performances by Cruz (Oscar nominated) and Smit are superb throughout and reach a peak as tragedy and hurt strikes, as we know it inevitably does in Almodovar's emotional, Latin masterpieces.

A change for the director here - politics and the legacy of the Spanish Civil War is omnipresent and breaks into the relationship of the two lead characters in one difficult scene that for a short time threatens to damage a deep love and friendship. Perhaps sadly, this mirrors contemporary Spanish society still coming to terms with it's horrific past.

As if realising this himself Almodovar concludes in an optimistic and sunlit way without a trace of over-sentimentality. Whilst perhaps not as Avant-Garde and groundbreaking as some of his previous films this is a beautiful, feel-good movie that continues in the tradition of the autier's excellent film making.

Saltburn (2023)

Deep Black Satire that breaks some cinematic barriers.

[7/10 · 4 January 2024]

A deeply dark, black satire that has already ruffled a few feathers amongst some English establishment figures. This wicked class comedy is at times sharply damning of the system it stems from yet never quite manages to smash through the class ceiling and ends with a certain degree of sympathy for its intended victims.

There are some fine performances here from lady of the manor Rosamund Pike, her dippy, hippy friend Carey Mulligan and Barry Keoghan as a deceptive, head-working Scouser who comes to stay for the summer, or... maybe longer.

Downtown Abbey it is not: prepare to be shocked and shaken out of any preconceptions you may have about English country house dramas. There are some references to Brideshead Revisited, Women in Love, Harry Potter and other British class conscious films, yet director Emerald Fennell throws these out like confetti to throw us off the scent of what's going on.

We find that out during a madcap final 20 minutes. However, Fennel has already thrown us one or two rather stomach churning clues - this is a director not shy about breaking cinematic barriers, rather like a young Ken Russell did 50 years ago; and like Russell her films are all the better for it. You have been warned.