No. 98 (2022) BONES AND ALL. Nov. 22nd.

 

Film No. 98 (2022)  November 22nd.  6.30 PM   Cinema 5.  LUNA,  Leederville.

 

"It's only love that will set you free". (A segment of the  lyrics that thump in the background of the trailer.)

 

Winner : Best Director & Actor, Silver Lion (Luca Guadagnino & Taylor Russell)  Venice Film Festival 2022.

This may be a difficult piece of advice I'm about to offer, never the less I'll offer it. Try to look past the blood and gore that floods the screen occasionally in BONES AND ALL. The fact our "heroes", Maren (Taylor Russell) and Lee (Timothy Chalamet) are cannibals is no more significant than if they were green people or double headed. They belong to a significant minority. Themes of love, longing, loneliness and belonging are recurring veins (yes, I know!) which wind their way through the tale that is BONES AND ALL.

The fact that cannibalism is at the seat of Maren, Lee and Sully's (Mark Rylance) existence heightens our senses. A heightening that will leave you less comfortable in your cinema seat. It will give you a greater sensitivity to the feelings of our characters. Let me tell you, it's a very unique love story.

My love of this piece of cinema is all to do with the creative flair of Luca Guadagnino (SUSPIRIA, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME). He has created a road movie depicting heartfelt love, dripping with an awful sense of foreboding which forces audiences to react because of the brilliance of the film-making. BONES AND ALL will shock, but for good reason. And all hail Warner Brothers/United Studios/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; big studios taking risks like this bodes well for the future of the industry.  10GUMS.

 

No. 97 (2022) ROGUE AGENT Nov. 16th.

 

Film No. 96  (2022) November 16th.  11:30 AM  LUNA  Cinema 1, Essex Cinemas,  Fremantle.

"Here's my card. You might want to buy a car or ... have dinner with me" (Freegard begins his push to get into the life of Alice Archer).

Infamous con-man Robert Freegard gains further notoriety via this competently made thriller, ROGUE AGENT. 

James Norton (also producer), fresh from his award-nominated performance as a terminally ill, wonderfully compassionate father in, NOWHERE SPECIAL, showcases his versatility, playing the slimiest of slime-balls Robert Freegard. Norton along with Gemma Arterton give ROGUE the credibility it deserves through the key two years of 2002 to 2004 when Freegard finally met his match in Alice Archer (Arterton).

I'm loathe to delve into the storyline of ROGUE AGENT. There will be those who know of Freegard and want to see his exploits highlighted on screen, and then there are those like me who came with no knowledge of the sleazy Freegard. There are plenty of thrills for both types of ticket holders. The WTF? moments for those in my faction are definitely more impactful. NB Alice Archer is an amalgamation of women who were wronged by Freegard and who played a role in his arrest. 

THE GOOD LIAR and OFFICIAL SECRETS are better films than this, but if you like what they had on offer, you'll enjoy ROGUE AGENT. They all exemplify the bad behaviour of a minority of those we share the planet with and add spice to life with stories too hard to believe for most. Let's hope we, and others close to us, evade their web of lies and deceit!  8GUMS.

      

No. 96 (2022) KOMPROMAT Nov. 14th.

 

Film No. 96 (2022)  November 14th.  6.30 PM   Cinema 1.  LUNA,  Leederville.

 

"Listen to me. You'll be sentenced to ten to fifteen years in prison. Get out of here". (Mathieu is whispered these instructions as he is hugged by his lawyer). 

KOMPROMAT is not a great film. It is however a rollicking good yarn which will take two hours of your time in a manner similar to that in which thrill seeking cinephiles like to ingest their popcorn. And what is it about that Liam Neeson look? Gilles Lellouche (GOLIATH, FAREWELL MR HAUFFMAN), our falsely accused hero Mathieu Roussei, in look and story trope would surely gain Liam's stamp of approval.

From the opening caption "This story is based loosely on true events" we know that a grain of salt will need to be taken. The terms loosely and events say it all, yeah?

I'm sure there have been foreigners arrested and falsely accused of who knows what during this Putin regime in dark, dank Russia. Here our fictional Roussei is a French citizen living and working in Moscow. His home life is strained, but his love for his daughter is unquestionable. He's the instigator of an edgy dance performance, presented for locals, which sparks antagonism from the less broad-minded Russian authorities. His house is stormed and he is placed under arrest. Charges of paedophilia and child abuse are levelled at him. And so begins the rollicking ride to regain his freedom against all odds.

The need to leave rational thought at the candy bar is essential here. The unlikely love (or in this case infatuation) angle which helps to spice Matthieu's plight as he acquires his one great ally in Svetlana, (steamily played by Joanna Kulig) asks us to stretch our imaginations extraordinarily. But that's what you're there for. A rollicking good ride ... KOMPROMAT won't let you down. 8GUMS.        

 

      

No. 95 (2022) THE LOST KING (Palace British Film Festival) Nov. 13th.

 

Film No. 95 (2022)  November  13th.  3.00 PM   Cinema 2.  LUNA,  Leederville.

 

"A feeling is something you get when you sit on a bus seat and it is still warm!". (A university executive suggests that Langley needs to provide more than her belief that Richard III is buried in a carpark). 

Nominee : Best Leading Performance (Sally Hawkins)  British Independent Film Award 2022.

This could be a fairy tale but the nub of The Lost King, is totally true - Phillipa Langley did indeed find the bones of King Richard III under the tarmac of a company carpark in Leicester. Here is Phillipa's story.

Phillipa's is a feel good story and in the hands of Stephen Frears (PHILOMENA'S STORY) this tale takes us on a journey where a mother, wife, middle-manager and everyday woman conquers challenges set by others, to exhume the bones of the much (possibly the most) maligned king of England. And in the hands of star Sally Hawkins (Langley) the film is a pleasant indulgence indeed. The camera loves Hawkins and Frears uses every ounce of her talent in this feature.

As expected some licence is taken to compact the story into 110 minutes. The real time frame of Handley's vigil was seven and a half years. The drama of her arm-wrestle with the bureaucracy of the Leicester University, in receiving funds and gaining rightful recognition, is in dispute. So it may be a case of why let the odd fact get in the way of a good story. Given this, co-writer Steve Coogan (Hawkin's co-star as husband John) first saw  Handley's story presented as a documentary and always felt she was under-recognised for her achievements. Coogan, it must be noted, is a man of exceptional integrity on the international film landscape. 

The story of Richard III and how he came to be under the tarmac of a carpark is a many layered yarn in itself. Many of the historical facts are explored and the aside of Philippa interacting with her imaginary Richard helps to give insight. 

THE LOST KING is an entertaining, "tick the boxes" retell of an extraordinary true story. I enjoyed my Sunday afternoon in the hands of Sally Hawkins alongside family and friends with a choc bomb in hand. 9GUMS.               

      

No. 94 (2022) AFTERSUN (Palace British Film Festival) Nov. 9th.

 

Film No. 94 (2022)  November  9th.  6.30 PM   Cinema 1.  LUNA,  Leederville.

 

"There's a feeling that when you leave where you are from that you don't totally belong there again". (Callum responds to Sophie's question asking is he would ever return to Scotland). 

Winner : Best Emerging Director (Charlotte Wells)  Munich Film Festival 2022.

If I'm not mistaken, AFTERSUN feels like a film for critics and connoisseurs not one for the masses. Don't get me wrong, Charlotte Wells has created an emotional memory piece, but it does have a few "WTF is going on?" moments.

Aftersun is described as fiction, melded with memory of the last holiday Wells shared with her father in the late '90's on the Turkish coast. Wells is 11 year old Sophie (Frankie Corio). Using a naturalistic style that takes the work of Ken Loach to a new level, we view how Wells reflects on an impactful short period in her life. A time of significance which is seen with far greater clarity now she is thirty-something.

AFTERSUN is not filled with dramatic moments. That is the charm of the film. Callum (Paul Mescal) is a young man, on holiday with his daughter, but he seems lost, trying to come to terms with a daughter rapidly becoming an adolescent. He is low in self esteem and the world is beginning to leave him behind.

 

For Wells it's as though "the penny has dropped". She understands her father now, her recollections make sense. When she was eleven, going on sixteen, she had her own agenda. This film is a vivid recollection with dots to connect but she leaves that to our imagination. There is so much that is unsaid in AFTERSUN.

Corio and Mescal (Normal People) shine here. A father and daughter we totally believe in. We could be fellow hotel guests looking on. Wells has created an original film, but it won't connect with everyone. Long scenes capturing close ups and atmospheric sounds takes patience and a meditative spirit. A hard film to recommend, but one I was pleased to become invested in.  9GUMS.             

 

 

No. 92 (2022) EMILY. (Palace British Film Festival) Nov. 4th.

 

Film No. 92 (2022)  November 3rd.  11:00 AM  PALACE Cinema 4,  Raine Square,  Perth City.

 

"Anyone can speak, but what I really want to know is, what can he actually do?" (Emily has her say in relation to the new curate, Weightman).

WINNER:  Audience Award Best Film; Cunard British Film Festival 2022.

Frances O'Conner joins a select list of debut feature film directors to cause many heads to turn - in a good way, of course. EMILY, takes us into the world of the Bronte sisters, through the deeds of Emily around the months leading up to writing her creative masterpiece WUTHERING HEIGHTS.

O'Connor presents an interpretation of a stage (early twenties) in the life of the Bronte sisters, living in the Yorkshire wilds of West Riding. Windswept and mostly bitterly cold, sisters Emily (Emma Mackey), Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling) and Anne (Amelia Gething) live under the care and guidance of their pastor father (Adrian Dunbar) during the initial stages of their creative twenties. The girls have prodigious talent. They are keen rivals.

The strongest thread in the film is the love that grows, then steams, between Emily and newly appointed curate, William Weightman. It's a moody affair, full of secrecy and passion. Emily is safe in the company of men. She adores brother Branwell and he is her distraction from the discipline and jealousies (sisters) most prevalent in her 20 something life. O'Connor has captured magnificently, the dreary, isolated world the Brontes' existed in.      

Emily is O'Connor's interpretation of an era of life for a  famous literary family. It is predominantly a love story. Those who have read varying interpretations of this time and place may like to take Frances to task. There will be a few. Me, well I enjoyed the bleak and eventually heart-breaking tale. More importantly I'm looking forward to our Aussie girl Frances', next project.  9GUMS.

     

      

                                          

No. 93 (2022) CAUSEWAY Nov. 5th.

 

Film No. 93 (2022)  November 20th.  7.35 PM   APPLE TV,  Mt. Hawthorn, West Australia.

 "Hey look, if it gets dark now, you just ride it, okay?." (Lynsey listens to her new friend James who advises her on feeling low and working through those feelings).

Nominee : Gotham Ind Film Awards; Brian Tyree Henry (Best Supporting Role).

Jennifer Lawrence is a mega-star because of her blockbuster roles (THE HUNGER GAMES, AMERICAN HUSTLE) on screen, but to see her in CAUSEWAY is to appreciate what a talent she really is.

There is nothing new on offer in CAUSEWAY. On meeting Lynsey who is suffering a brain trauma after service in Afghanistan, we know the film is going to take us for the ride on her recuperation and recovery journey. She's back in the U.S., beginning her recovery in Nebraska, then drifting home to New Orleans. Once home, fragile and with only one thing on her mind (getting back into military service) Lynsey meets James (Brian Tyree Henry), her accidental mechanic, and a man with a big heart, and his own demons. 

See, you've heard these setups before. So why would Jennifer Lawrence (producer) back this made for Apple streaming pic? Because she gets to play a complex character, so simply, but drawing on her prodigious talent. Lawrence has us in the palm of her hand from her first close up. And may I say, without her big screen make up, 32 year old JL could be an angelic eighteen year old in selected scenes here; we know she's not, but she has the ability to depict a fragile innocence we are totally invested in.

It is Lawrence's film; she is simply transfixing. Henry is good to. Their relationship legitimate and heartfelt. He must be pinching himself in snapping up this role.  10GUMS.       

      

No. 91 (2022) LANCASTER. Nov. 3rd.

 

Film No. 91  (2022) November 3rd.  4:00 PM  LUNA  Essex Cinemas,  Fremantle.

"You knew you were facing death, night after night after night, after night. It's just a thing you accepted" (A Lancaster pilot from WWII reflected on life as he knew it in the early 40's).

My father flew fighter planes during WWII. I remember him talk of his admiration for deeds carried out by his fellow compatriots, those who followed the orders of Bomber Command. The boys who flew Lancaster's. The boys who risked their lives on horrendous bombing missions over Germany. LANCASTER gave me an opportunity to truly understand the gravitas of my father's words. He often referred to them as, "those poor bastards".

After their compelling production, SPITFIRE (2018), David Fairhead and Ant Palmer have created, LANCASTER, a cinematic memorial to the plane, and those who flew her. And contrary to some beliefs, "The Lanc" had as much influence on the outcome of the war as the fighters. If you enjoyed SPITFIRE for it's diligent insight, then you'll enjoy LANCASTER equally. 

The key to LANCASTER'S riveting story are the recollections, told to camera, from those who were there. A Lancaster flew with 7 on board. Pilots, equipment operators and gunners made up the crew. The first hand insights from the folk (all in their 90's) who recite stories as if they happened yesterday, link the film's narrative perfectly.  

Sadly there has been bitterness about how these brave men and women were treated at war's conclusion. Because of the destruction and obliteration of German cities of the likes of Hamburg and Dresden, U.K. politicians spoke of their embarrassment at the senselessness of the Lancaster pushes across Europe. Brave war heroes carrying out the orders which ultimately gained the stamp of approval from the PM himself, Winston Churchill! They had a right to be miffed. 

The story of 96 Lancaster's lost in one sorte over northern Holland (the launching site of the V2 rockets) in 1944 shocked me. Hundreds of air personnel sitting and eating together one day; empty chairs and a silent dining hall the next. The futility of war is once again highlighted in LANCASTER.  9GUMS.   

  

No. 90 (2022) ARMAGEDDON TIME. October 31st.

 

Film No. 90 (2022)  October  31st.  6:15 PM   BACKLOT  Private Cinema ,  West Perth.

 

"He'll have his dinner with kings if he plays his cards right".(Irving pinches his son's cheek light-heartedly but there is seriousness in his voice as he plans Paul's future). 

Nominee : Palme D'Or (James Grey) Cannes Film Festival.

There is nothing formulaic about ARMAGEDDON TIME. If someone asked my opinion, along with the often repeated adjunct, "what film is it most like?" My simple answer would be" like none I can recall".

In ARMAGEDDON TIME, James Gray (AD ASTRA, THE IMMIGRANT) has made a very personal coming of age film. Most of his films delve into the human condition and the stresses and challenges we overcome to be who we are. Here, he shoots long, theatrical scenes that give insight into his journey from childhood to adolescence. Paul Graff (Banks Pepeta) is Gray's alter-ego. We love Paul from the first scene.

Paul is angelic in looks and artistic of nature. He doesn't really fit in. His hard nosed Jewish upbringing requires him to not dream or imagine, but to work towards academia. A career in law or commerce is deemed suitable. But he has allies; allies who give him the strength to make his own path. Grandfather Aaron (Anthony Hopkins) tells stories and makes analogies reinforcing the importance of following dreams. Paul's black friend Johnny provides adventurous companionship, the sort that allows for some risk taking.

For some, ARMAGEDDON will be like watching paint dry. I'm of a generation where school and family life was indeed as Gray depicts it. It brought back memories for me. Not memories I wanted to linger on, but that's a part of the reason I love film. 

Finally the work of Hopkins, Hathaway and Strong is worth the price of a ticket. These actors bring a power to the screen which surely has the thoughtful Gray infused with pride. Actors of this quality have captured, in truth, the moments so important to his story.  11GUMS.         

No. 89 (2022) ON THE NIGHT OF THE 12th. (LA NUIT DU 12) October 30th.

 

Film No. 89 (2022)  October  30th.  4.00 PM   Cinema 8.  LUNA,  Leederville.

 

"We fight evil by writing reports". (Marceau dejectedly talks about the repetitive nature of his job; the job of solving crimes). 

Nominee : Official Competition (Dominik Moll)  Brussels and Cannes Film Festivals.

One of my favourite films of 2022, LA NUIT DU 12, takes cinema lovers into the world of policing and the people who solve crimes. 

We follow a  team of french detectives, led by Yohan Vives (moodily played by Bastien Bouillon) who work towards solving the cruel murder of Clara Royer, a  vivacious young girl with the world at her feet. The backdrop is a large slightly tired French metropolis on the outskirts of Paris. The key to the film's captivating quality is the intimacy with which we are drawn to the characters. Yohan is easy to like and root for.

All the tropes of a good police procedural drama are in play here, even though we are told in the opening caption, the crime (fictional, based on an event) will remain unsolved. Don't let this reveal stop you from experiencing THE 12TH. Every scene leads us with precision towards understanding the toll a case like this has on people under stress. 

I wondered why this atmospheric gem was in its 5th week at my local cinema. What film lasts more than 3 weeks on the big screen these days? Good films, via word-of-mouth, that rapidly gain a reputation, that's what! LA NUIT DU 12 is one such film.  11GUMS.

      

 

No. 88 (2022) THE ALMOND AND THE SEAHORSE (Palace British Film Festival 2022) October 26th.

 

Film No. 88 (2022)  October 26th.  3:35 PM  PALACE Cinema 6,  Raine Square,  Perth City.

 

"You're not who you used to be. You're not the same person I married" (Sarah looks into Joe's vacant stare and cradles his face in her hands).

OFFICIAL SELECTION Best Film; Zurich Film Awards 2022.

The title, surely, must create some form of intrigue? Well, it did for me. I saw no trailers, read no reviews and was reasonably engaged with THE ALMOND AND THE SEAHORSE. Plus, the significance of the title is, indeed, intriguing. 

Sarah (Rebel Wilson) and Toni (Charlotte Gainsbourg) don't know each other, but we meet them dealing with similar domestic challenges. Their partners are suffering brain trauma for different reasons, but the amnesia they suffer is similar in nature. The people who love them are essentially our focus because it is they who grapple with their own emotional trauma. They remain devoted to someone who remains the same in physical form, but is no longer the person they loved.

I'm not sure how SEAHORSE translates to film. I've not experienced the play. Reading reviews of the play suggests a highly emotionally charged stage show. Celyn Jones (Joe in both this film and the stage production) has been the driver of this project. He, along with the original playwright, Kaite O'Reilly have devised the screen play. Celyn has composed the soundtrack in its entirety. Some feat I must say. I'm not sure that he hasn't bitten off more that he should have. It's just that I would have liked to have loved SEAHORSE more than I did. As it is, I liked this film, and I'm full of admiration for both Jones' performance as Joe and his labour of love. But his casting of Wilson and the bombardment of the music diluted my enjoyment. 

Meanwhile, questions about life and "cards dealt" to good people is on show here. Life challenges will always be the subject matter of good story telling. T.A.A.T.S. takes an original strand to engage its audience. Jones, Gainsbourg and Meera Syal as Dr Falmer are all actors who do just that, engage. The camera likes Wilson and I'm sure many will disagree with my comments re her casting. I'm hoping most people will like her as Sarah! The final twist, while not surprising, is very satisfying.  8GUMS.