(London Film Festival, October 13th, 2018/Picturehouse Central, 20:45) (Release Info London schedule; November 6th, 2018/Picturehouse Central, 18:30) "Wildlife" Fourteen-year-old Joe (Ed Oxenbould), is the only child of Jeanette (Carey Mulligan) and Jerry Brinson (Jake Gyllenhaal), a housewife and a golf pro, in a small town in 1960s Montana. Nearby, an uncontrolled forest fire rages close to the Canadian border, and when Jerry loses his job, and his sense of purpose, he decides to join the cause of fighting the fire, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves. Suddenly forced into the role of an adult, Joe witnesses his mother’s struggle as she tries to keep her head above water. But Jerry can't deal with his new, secondary role. He takes on a badly paid job fighting fires in the neighbouring hills, which fuels the conflict at home. Joe can only watch helplessly as his family seems set to self-destruct. Awakening her fiery spirit and charm, Jeannette convinces the local 'YMCA' to give her a job as a swimming instructor. Joe, for his part, lands a gig at a local photography studio. Too prideful to look for work in town, Jerry instead joins in fighting the nearby wildfires. Alone for the first time in years, Jeannette finds herself with more independence than she can deal with. When she's befriended by one of her students, she begins to question her circumstances and her choices. Cautious and curious, Joe must learn how to navigate the complex dynamics of adult relationships and decide what to make of the woman who used to just be Mom. As simmering tensions begin to boil, the Brinsons must decide if their family is worth saving. "Wildlife" is elegantly adapted from Richard Ford’s novel of the same name. Actor Paul Dano makes an impressive debut as a filmmaker and Carey Mulligan delivers one of her finest performances to date as Jeanette, a complex woman whose self-determination and self-involvement disrupts the values and expectations of a 1960s nuclear family. It's about a kid seeing his parents change and their marriage break, and through his parent's failures, having to grow up. It's a coming of age story for all three: mother, father, and son. While it's about struggle and heartbreak and disillusionment, it's a film guided by love. It's a family portrait as a means of acceptance, and of letting go. With precise details and textures of it's specific time and place, "Wildlife" commits to the viewpoint of a teenage boy observing the gradual dissolution of his parent's marriage. This is a film about family. There's an extraordinary amount of love. There's also incredible turbulence. "Willlife" opens a window to that duality. It's an uncanny feeling of sharing an inner life with this book. Establish your own values, means, goal; leave the book behind so it doesn’t get in the way, and where it’s safest. The film explores feelings, ask questions about family and parents. To explore a loss of hope, a family unraveling, and then finally surviving. How even when the worst thing happens, we can still survive. We can still be family. We may never be the same, but we still have love. And we still have our lives to live. Cinematographer Diego Garcia's clean aesthetic, the film's authentic period design and Dano's precise, mannered direction ground the film in time and place, bringing focus to the characters. Dano chooses for his version a coming-of-age story, set in the postwar 'American Midwest', told through a feminist lens. The film strikes the meaning and the cost of 'The American Dream'. "Wildlife" paints a portrait of a family and an America ready to explode. "Wildlife" is made with a sensitivity and at a level of craft that are increasingly rare in movies.

(Release Info London/U.K. schedule; October 19th, 2018, Empire Cinemas) "Hunter Killer" Deep under 'The Arctic Ocean', American submarine Captain Joe Glass (Gerard Butler) is on the hunt for a U.S. sub in distress when he discovers a secret Russian coup is in the offing, threatening to dismantle the world order. With crew and country on the line, Captain Glass must now assemble an elite group of 'Navy SEALS' to rescue the kidnapped Russian president Zakarin (Alexander Diachenko) and sneak through enemy waters to stop 'WWIII'. This is the relentlessly tense situation audiences are plunged into in "Hunter Killer", aptly named for the sleek attack subs created to boldly approach the enemy without detection. It all begins as a Russian sub sinks in 'The Arctic Ocean'. Soon after, 'The U.S.' sub ghosting it also mysteriously vanishes. In the midst of investigating these unsettling events, military brass in 'Washington D.C.' are sent scrambling when they discover a rogue Russian admiral is attempting to carry out a bloodthirsty coup at a naval base in Russia. The only hope to halt a war of the superpowers lies in the efforts of two secret crews. First, a clandestine 'Black Ops' team of 'Ex-SEALs' must try to sneak into Russian territory to intercept the kidnapping of 'The Russian President'. Simultaneously, in the sea, Captain Joe Glass and the young crew of 'The USS Arkansas' are under orders to head towards the enemy. As a hunter-killer captain, Glass has mastered the rules of the cat-and-mouse game but will now have to courageously break them, as he realizes that this time the cat and the mouse may have to join forces. As the steely Captain Glass comes face-to-face with his stoic Russian counterpart, Captain Andropov (Michael Nyqvist), it becomes clear that the wary, distrustful bond between them may be all that stands between the world and nuclear catastrophe. Captain Joe Glass reveals a very different side to heroism as the fiercely intelligent and quietly bold Captain of 'The USS Arkansas' He’s an action guy who makes it all happen, but he does it from a position of authority rather than being the guy out there pulling the trigger. Glass knows that trust is the only sinew that can hold together a young and anxious submarine crew with so little contact with the outside world. But he has to forge that trust on his boat one savvy move at a time. At first nobody quite trusts Glass because he seems a little nuts. But you see him carefully build his bond with the crew as they begin to realize how serious their mission is. They start out as young men and women who are mostly playing at their roles and then you get to watch as they become incredibly honed warriors daring to attempt the impossible. The trust issues get far more complicated when 'The USS Arkansas' takes aboard a group of rescued Russians who, though ostensibly the enemy, may actually be the key to everyone’s survival. Glass is more about daring strategy than physical derring-do, which further boosted the development. What’s fascinating about Glass to is that he has to make decisions that will affect the world for hundreds of years because we’re talking about the immediate possibility of sparking an all-out 'World War III'. So he’s up against the highest stakes imaginable, and the way things unfold for him is both really suspenseful and surprisingly believable in today’s geopolitical circumstances. When 'The USS Arkansas' rescues the surviving Russian crew aboard a crippled sub, Captain Glass comes face-to-face with his alter-ego, a man who under other circumstances might be his most feared enemy, but who reflects a mirror image of himself. This is Captain Andropov, and both men will come to take enormous risks as they wrestle with how much to trust the other. He's a patriot in an 'Old School' way. What happens to him is a betrayal by his own country and he finds it unbelievable and that's very relatable. They’re enemies. But as individuals, they each have the ability to do things differently than anybody else would; they both can see above and beyond the normal rules of conflict and engagement. Andropov is an old salty dog of a warrior while Glass is a hard-nosed, blue-collar Navy man. Glass and Andropov trust each other as sailors and at the end of the day, these two captains find they're in the same situation. They have to help each other and that becomes a key theme of the story; trust. Yet they both have respect for the other and their almost silent relationship drives the outcome of the story. While Captain Glass wrestles with the right moves in the deep blue, the military brass in 'Washington D.C.' race to figure out the best response to the imminent global crisis for 'The United States'. The man leading the charge towards military action in 'The War Room is the resolute Admiral Charles Donnegan (Gary Oldman). He thinks that, sort of like a magician’s sleight of hand, that while 'The U.S.' is preoccupied with preventing a nuclear war, he’ll pull off his coup without resistance. But Donnegan feels his job is to respond to any threat with strength and intent. Opposing Donnegan in 'The War Room' with a more cautious 'POV' is Rear Admiral John Fisk (Common). He has to make decisions that are complex and have huge consequences in the world. He knows that the information he provides to his Commander-in-Chief can start or stop a war and he has to take every moment of his job very, very seriously. Donnegan is quick to believe that 'World War III' is already in motion. He has a certain way of thinking about conflict that Fisk sees as rooted in the past. Fisk is from a generation that's more open-minded and about seeking peace. So they represent opposite strategies at 'The Pentagon'. This film is based on the novel 'Firing Point', written by George Wallace, the highly experienced, retired commander of the nuclear attack submarine 'The USS Houston', along with author Don Keith. The book’s action-packed plot, based on Wallace’s extensive knowledge, twisted and turned through a Russian nationalist coup, a 'Black Ops Navy SEAL' mission and an attack submarine captain faced with decisions that could halt, or instantly ignite, 'WWIII'. Complex as it's, the story is so teeth-grittingly plausible it keeps readers up late at night. Even more than the thrills, readers are transported into life on a nuclear sub, immersed into the cramped, sun-deprived, nerve-shredding ambience where steadiness and honor are the only bedrock to be found. Indeed, the submarine movie has been a popular genre since the earliest days of commercial motion pictures. From the silent 'Secret Of The Submarine' in 1915 to a flood of nerve-wracking 'WWII' sub movies to the groundbreakingly visceral German film "Das Boot" to the adaptations of Tom Clancy’s "The Hunt For Red October" and "Crimson Tide" in the 1990s, the tightly-contained space inside a sub full of soldiers facing extremes of confinement, anxiety and danger has been rife with the stuff of drama. But in the wake of vast changes in submarine technology, and in the world, in the new millennium, no film had yet submersed itself into life on a '21st Century' naval submarine. 'Hunter Killer' is a naval vessel, especially a submarine, equipped to locate and destroy enemy vessels, especially other submarines. Deep beneath 'The Icy Surface' of 'fhe Arctic Circle', 'Fhe Cold War' never really ended. Here, at extreme depths invisible to the world, U.S. and Russian submarines continue to play ultra-high-stakes rounds of hide-and- seek through harrowingly narrow passages, as a constant reminder to one another of the unthinkable costs of sudden aggression. Peril has only mounted amid heightened tensions as a new generation of highly sophisticated nuclear attack subs prowl the murky depths, persistently trailing and shadowing one another as if a full-blown battle is about to break out. But what if these charged war games suddenly stopped being a game at all? What if, as chaos erupts on land, there's only one shot to pull the world back from the brink of 'WWIII' and unthinkable nuclear conflicty? The film takes the classic submarine thriller, with all it's nail-biting tension, claustrophobia, physical and psychological pressure, into 'The Post-Cold War Era' when flash coups and counter-reactions can alter the balance of world power overnight. “Hunter Killer is about a fictional event, but it could easily occur in today’s world. There have been many recent news articles about how Russian and American submarines are chasing each other under water in dangerous ways. Yet, because it’s happening under the ocean, the public never knows what's going on. Two submarines ghosting each other through the ocean; resulting in an incident that quickly escalates to the brink of war. These are people who drill and drill and drill so that when things hit the fan, they can make the right moves, like it’s in their sleep. Everything has to be automatic because when you've got freezing cold water coming in, the carbon dioxide is building, there's a fire going on, the place is full of smoke and you know your sub is to go down, you need to be able to act in half a second. Learning about that was very, very enlightening. You see that it takes certain kind of individual to be able to lead in this very hazardous narrow tube. The film’s action moves from deep sea to land and back again. But most of all, "Hunter Killer", captures 'The 21st Century' world of the so-called 'Silent Service', the men and women who serve by patrolling the deep, while their boldest exploits often go unheard and unseen. It’s a classic story with a heck of a lot of great action, a heck of an intricate plot and a whole cast of fantastic characters who are heroes from different walks of life. It feels like an exciting way to revive the submarine thriller for these times. The film takes the audience into the world of submarine culture in a way that's contemporary to our times. You've all the claustrophobia and contained anxiety of being on the sub and then you've the 'Black Ops' team operating amid gunfire in these big, wide-open spaces. That combination keeps things really interesting. "Hunter Killer" is chance for audiences to experience a lot of military action but you also will get a chance to see another core part of Navy life; honor, courage and commitment being demonstrated against all odds. We live in a time now in which a lot of people are afraid, but maybe we can trust more and we can talk to each other more. If you don’t believe in your prejudice and your fears, we might have a better world.

A re-watch was a very long time coming. I barely remember being that annoying kid at Age 3 constantly bothering my parents to put that VCR in the player. The video cassette got lost sometime in the 90s. A year ago, I 'discovered'' it once again. It was as good as I remembered. As a 26 year old, I appreciated the darker, more adult content I did not understand. 'Sorry, wrong pocket' as Carey accidentally whips out a used condom. The Mask was a light hearted, cartoonish view of what can happen when nobody, Ipkiss, gets his hands on a mask that transforms him into a man he always wished he was... confident, suave and popular. If only we could all find something similar! 1994 was definitely the year for Carey with Ace Ventura and Dumb and Dumber. Breakout star indeed. He plays Stanley Ipkiss and his 'alter ego' so well in The Mask. Fantastic film which will always remind me of my youth.

(Release Info London schedule; January 15th, 2020, Curzon Home Cinema) https://www.curzonhomecinema.com/film/watch-stardust-film-online "Stardust" Meet David before Bowie. One of the greatest icons in music history. But who was the young man behind the many faces? In 1971, a 24-year-old David Bowie (Johnny Flynn) embarks on his first road trip to America with 'Mercury Records' publicist Ron Oberman (Marc Maron), only to be met with a world not yet ready for him. "Stardust" offers a glimpse behind the curtain of the moments that inspired the creation of Bowie’s first and most memorable alter ego, 'Ziggy Stardust', capturing the turning point that cemented his career as one of the world’s greatest cultural icons. At the time the film is set in 1971, David Bowie is performing a lot of covers, including work by 'The Velvet Underground', 'Jacques Brel', 'Cream', 'The Who' and 'The Yardbirds'. In the film he performs work by 'Brel' and 'The Yardbirds', as well as 'Good Ol Jane'. The script centers on a particular moment in David’s life, as a young artist starting out before he’s really famous, before 'The Ziggy Stardust' years. That's always a really interesting time in Bowie’s life because he's trying really hard and kind of failing a lot. Looking at that point in somebody’s life who goes on to become such an iconic voice and personality in our times. As an artist who influences so many people, where's he before that moment when he brakes through? It’s really clever the way the story focuses on a few months in his life, on his trip to America, which is so important to him. It’s where you see him gather the references and influences that go into 'Ziggy Stardust' that's basically his breakthrough moment as an artist. The David Bowie who arrives in America for the first time in January 1971 is not a star. He's an ambitious but insecure young man, with just one hit under his belt that most of the music business had dismissed as a novelty record. And he also has a deep fear that he would soon suffer the same fate as the man who practically raised him; his half-brother, Terry Burns (Derek Moran). Born ten years before David, Terry gives his younger brother a musical education, takes him to his first ever gig, buy him his first record. David’s maternal aunts and grandmother had all suffered bouts of mental illness and in 1967, when David was just 20, Terry had a complete mental breakdown and was sent to an asylum. David’s fear that he too could be struck down by schizophrenia is very present on 'The Man Who Sold the World'. Singing about his fractured inner life probably helps him to stay in one piece. But it didn’t bring him the fame and recognition he craved. Very little has been written about that first trip he made to America. In some respects, it's a disaster, without a visa or musician’s union paperwork, he couldn’t even perform the songs he's there to promote. But instead he finds some of the ideas and influences that he would meld together to create his alter ego, 'Ziggy Stardust'. Ziggy is the culmination of David’s struggle to experience madness in a safe way. It's a means to develop multiple personalities without becoming a case of multiple personality disorder. It converts the potential delusion that he's to be a world famous rock star into a reality. But above all, it's born out of his family dynamic. The film is very much grounded in fact; but it’s also a work of speculative fiction. The film has a slightly heightened, playful tone, but it's true to the spirit of where David is at around that point in his life. Finding a musician who could connect with that experience of an artist starting out, figuring out his identity as a performer, is far more important than physical resemblance. To be a young guy in America, before the Internet and before that sort of constant commercial integration between 'European' culture and 'American' culture, it's such a separate universe. America is huge. The steam coming up from the subway and the yellow taxis. It’s just so intense. The first time you travel so far from home is so exciting and inspiring and that’s what we’re telling in this story. For David to go to America at this time, in 1971, when it’s even more American, not cross-pollinated with any other culture, is just so staunchly American. This is the era of 'The Vietnam War' and it’s an interesting time when Americans have just been through social change at the end of the '60s'. It’s probably quite a divided country where there’s a lot of what still looks like the '50s'. David goes there and he sees diner culture and all that, and he walks up wearing a dress. He goes to 'The Factory' and meet Andy Warhol; all these massive American cultural references kind of just seeps into him. He mixes 'French' chanson with 'American' garage rock. He really put on a character and slowly reinvents himself over the years. He's a sponge for different musical styles. There are pictures of him at these parties playing little sets in a dress and long hair, which the film replicates. It becomes something completely new and exciting through his own interpretation. How can you play Bowie in a sensitive way that doesn’t betray his legacy and him as an artist?” David Bowie had many different faces and almost looked completely different at various stages throughout his life. There probably are great David Bowie impersonators but that’s not what it’s about. Regardless of whether it’s David Bowie or not, it has to be a truthful character. It's a pretty real set of circumstances that we know he went through, so it feels good. It flows really beautifully and the relationships that are portrayed provide a kind of dynamism and intention. It's a film about what makes someone become an artist; what actually drives them to make their art. That someone is David Bowie, a man we’re used to thinking about as the star he became, or as one of his alter egos; 'Ziggy Stardust'; 'Aladdin Zane'; 'The Thin White Duke'. Someone we only ever saw at a great distance, behind a mask; a godlike, alien presence. Even in his perfectly choreographed death, he didn’t seem like a regular human being. Rather than make a biopic, or a spin through his greatest hits, the idea is a film about what we’ve not seen; the interior journey David Bowie might have taken to become that artist. We've been fascinated by Bowie ever since we'rema kid. We bought every record, read every interview, every biography. What surprised us is how little most people seemed to know about his family background, about his life before that first real flush of fame. Besides music from the period, the soundtrack also includes work from contemporaries like 'Marika Hackman' and 'The Wave Pictures', who are all life-long Bowie fans.  

(Glasgow Film Festival: Film At Home; Wed 24 Feb to Sat 27 Feb) https://glasgowfilm.org/glasgow-film-festival/shows/minari-n-c-15 "Minari" It’s 'The 1980s', and David (Alan S. Kim), a seven-year-old 'Korean American' boy, is faced with new surroundings and a different way of life when his father, Jacob (Steven Yeun), moves their family from 'The West Coast' to rural 'Arkansas' in search of their own 'American Dream'. David and his sister Anne (Noel Cho) have mixed feelings about this move; at first excited by their new mobile home, they soon grow bored being in a backwater. His wife, Monica (Yeri Han), is aghast that they live in a mobile home in the middle of nowhere, and naughty little David and Anne are bored and aimless. When his sly, equally mischievous grandmother Soonja (Youn Yuh-jung) arrives from 'Korea' to live with them, her unfamiliar ways arouse David’s curiosity. The arrival of their foul-mouthed, but incredibly loving grandmother brings new energy to the family dynamic, but Jacob’s determination to make it as a successful farmer throws the family’s finances, and it's relationships Meanwhile, Jacob, hell-bent on creating a farm on untapped soil, throws their finances, his marriage, and the stability of the family into jeopardy. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged 'Ozarks', "Minari" shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home. It all begins as recent 'Korean' arrival Jacob whisks his family from 'California' to 'Arkansas', determined to carve out the rugged independence of farm life, even if it's one on shaky ground in 'The US' of 'The 1980s'. While Jacob sees Arkansas as a land of opportunity, the rest of his clan is flummoxed by their unforeseen move to a new life on a pint-sized piece of land in the far-flung 'Ozarks'. But it's two unlikely family members at opposite ends of the spectrum, wide-eyed, unruly seven-year-old David; and his equally defiant, just-off- the-plane-from-'Korea' grandma Soonja, who start to forge the family’s new path. In the midst of profound change, they clash at first, but soon discover the imperfect but magical bonds that root the family to their past as they reach towards the future. Jacob takes deep pride in his self-reliance while his wife Monica pragmatically tries to keep family life intact amid the chaos Jacob has whipped up with the move. Oldest sister Anne rapidly gains savvy and responsibility as she's handed big, unasked-for responsibilities, while David mischievously tries to repel his newly arrived grandmother Soonja, who upends the fragile peace with her foul-mouthed but perceptive commentary. Then there’s the humor and humanity of Jacob’s employee Paul (Will Patton), a fervent 'Pentecostal' in a perpetual state of repentance. He has a more unusual vision for his life. You root for Jacob because he’s doing this terribly risky thing, taking his family to this crazy place without even consulting them and putting them on the edge of disaster. You could easily despise this guy and not trust him at all. We've to understand of what it’s like to be Jacob, to be thirtysomething and to have kids relying on you but also have this fire to pursue your own ideas of success and happiness. Jacob holds firm to the idea that ultimately David and Anne will benefit from his dream, once the dust settles. But while Jacob’s wife Monica admires his aspirations, that doesn’t mean she can easily embrace life in an 'Arkansas' trailer in the middle of nowhere. She’s anxious about the family’s isolation, and about where her own life and marriage goes from here; even as she transforms their trailer into a place that increasingly feels like home. As "Minari" builds, David witnesses his father’s dream waver on the edge of absurdity, then near catastrophe as it seems the family’s future might literally go up in smoke. David offers an impish, joyful way into complicated memories, but he also offered something else, that open, awed-by-it-all spirit that can illuminate the beautiful strangeness of life. With his lack of language for what it means to be an immigrant, David becomes a conduit for the feeling of an entire unmoored family trying to find their bearings. Conjuring David’s boyish exuberance, angst, and cheekiness is a particular revelation, merging the child and parent within him. There’s a dance going on where David is a creation of two opposing things; out inner memories of being scared, excited, and curious as a kid. An important part of Anne’s character is that she’s serious about caring for the people she loves, There are so many little moments, like when Jacob’s digging the well and David’s sits there looking bored. The film’s momentum completely opens up when Soonja arrives. She’s vulgar and has a wicked sense of humor, but what we find interesting is that quite often salvation comes from someone like that. Somehow, she might embody ideals of tolerance and love more than anyone. For all the tumultuous changes in David’s life, nothing sets off more sparks than the arrival of Soonja, who, much to David’s abject horror, moves into his bedroom, making them instant rivals. To David, Soonja can’t possibly be a real grandmother. She certainly doesn’t bake cookies or tenderly dote. She smells weird, gets a kick out of teasing him, and is as foul-mouthed as anyone he’s met. Nevertheless, in ways David cannot immediately see, he and Soonja share much in common; both are spirited rebels, both are physically vulnerable, and both are linchpins of the family, with Soonja connecting them to where they’ve come from just as David points to an unseen future. And when David pulls a boyish prank on Soonja, hoping that will make her go away, it instead binds them closer as David realizes Soonja understands him better than he could have known. Salvation is more directly sought by the family’s invaluable neighbor, who lends Jacob the help he needs to tend to his crops. This is Paul, a completely committed 'Pentecostal$ who speaks in tongues but doesn’t say much about the reasons he's driven to make so many amends. Even as the ferocity of Paul’s faith is a mystery and at times an affront to Jacob, no one in David’s family can quite shake the strange, poignant beauty of Paul’s kindness to them. The film uses the intensity of Paul’s belief as a means to reveal who he's as a person. Paul is always an important character. The companionship he finds with Jacob speaks to how two people can come from entirely different backgrounds, yet find a closeness rooted simply in shared work. Like Jacob, Paul’s a man living in the gaps. He's alone, misunderstood, and burdened. Jacob relates to that intrinsically, even if he sees himself as a man who believes only in science and hard work. They both have their beliefs, but at core, they’re just two lonely dudes trying to do their thing, which is their connection. Jacob and Paul discover they can simply be themselves. As 'The Arkansas Dream' threatens to dry up and upend each member of the family, the film explores how a family navigates not only the very specific dilemmas of assimilating into rural America but also broader questions of elemental humanity, the gaps we all wrestle with between family ties and independence, faith and skepticism, feeling like an outsider and yearning to belong. Though each character has their own comic plight, there's no judgement or satire. Too often you see people in American films speaking English who would not in their real lives. But the more authentically a film depicts the details of how people really live, the more meaningful it's. There’s a dissonance to speaking 'Korean' at home that you can’t get at any other way. Two human beings trying to exist together is difficult enough, but when you add the pressure that they’re under there are going to be cracks. Just as working his own patch of land is the lure for David’s father to head for Arkansas, so too is the power of the land woven throughout "Minari". This family might speak 'Korean', but their fates are as tied to the potential and peril in 'The American' soil as the characters in John Ford’s "Grapes Of Wrath", George Stevens’ "Giant", William Wyler’s "Big Country", or Terrence Malick’s "Days Of Heaven". There’s a constant level of risk in farming that so few movies let you feel. Named for a peppery 'Korean' herb that thrives best in it's second season, "Minari" is a tender, funny, evocative ode to how one generation of a family risks everything to plant the dreams of the next. The film unspools with all the vividness of a lived memory. While in it's basic outlines "Minari" might seem to be a story we know; a tale of immigrants making a go at their own vision of 'The American Dream; the film brings a fresh and illuminating take. For within the film’s at once playful, powerful, and candidly detailed family remembrances comes a larger story: the impact of the journey on a new generation of young 'Americans'. It's a deeply personal immersion into reconciling two worlds, with boundless affection for both. There’s so much more drawing us together as human beings than the superficial categories we have created. For some, "Minari" might be a chance to see a 'Korean American' finally telling the story, but we've find these characters mean just as much to people from 'Arkansas', or from 'New York', or anywhere. Loving people is a lot of work, and things will go awry at times, but at the end of the day you have that love and it’s real and so meaningful. All people have their masks, all people have their triumphs and their failings.

(Release Info U.K. schedule; February 26th, 2019, Everyman Mailbox Birmingham, 116 Wharfside Street, The Mailbox, Birmingham, West Midlands, B1 1RF, 19:00 PM) "Serenity" The tranquil cerulean waters of a tropical island are known as a vacationer’s paradise, but not to Baker Dill (Matthew McConaughey), a scarred fishing boat captain who earns a living by taking obnoxious tourists game-fishing aboard his twin-engine boat christened ‘Serenity'. To make it worse, 'Serenity' docks in a beachside village called 'Plymouth' whose residents relish a little too much in staying on top of everyone else’s business; an annoyance to someone like Dill who makes it a habit to keep to himself. Dill’s only true companion is his first-mate Duke (Djimon Hounsou), an islander with an ingrained sense of responsibility that's only cultivated with age and hard-work. The two men could make a profitable living if it wasn’t for Dill neglecting his customers due to his obsession with catching a blue fin tuna that continuously eludes his grasp. After another vacationer’s excursion goes awry, Duke reminds Dill that if he intends to salvage their business, he has to give up on his blind obsession of capturing an elusive tuna and give the customers what they want; an escape from the realities and stresses of life. Dill refuses to listen to his friend’s wise advice and instead drowns his sorrows in booze at the local bar or in the arms of Constance (Diane Lane), who offers him solace as well as cash when he can’t quite make ends meet. One day, out of the blue, Dill’s ex-wife Karen Zariakas (Anne Hathaway), who abandoned him years earlier for a wealthy man with suspicious business practices, appears on the island. She reveals that her life has not been idyllic and that their teenage son Patrick (Rafael Sayegh) has become withdrawn, spending all his time playing video games. On top of that, her husband Frank (Jason Clarke) physically abuses her, and she's worried about Patrick’s safety. She wants Dill to take Frank fishing, get him drunk, and push him overboard for the sharks to feed on his corpse. In return, she will pay him ten million dollars. Dill balks at her proposition and refuses to agree. But as visions of his son begin to haunt him and Frank displays his true colors to Dill, Dill starts to re-think Karen’s proposal, despite Duke pressing him not to give in to temptation. What complicates things even more is the appearance of an odd traveling salesman named Reid Miller (Jeremy Strong) and the eerie feeling that the locals know more about Karen and her scheme than they should. While Dill weighs Karen’s unseemly proposal, he slowly begins to realize that things are not all they seem; and uncovering the mystery will determine what he decides to do next. 'Fishermen' are quite obsessive about catching fish, and this film is about someone who’s obsessed about catching a particular fish. Baker Dill is slightly heightened, larger than life, he's a sort of character that doesn’t give off himself too readily, someone who’s closed in. Dill is a guy who has had a life, he was in the army, and he’s washed up on this amazing paradise island, but we need to feel that this is a guy who has really lived a life. He’s not trying to hide from what has gone on in his life, but he certainly wants to protect other people from what was within him. Dill believes that he’s making the choices, and then slowly begins to wonder, ‘Am I actually making these choices or are these choices being imposed upon me'? On the surface it’s about a man who's obsessed with catching a fish, but underneath this storyline are themes of how our realities are created and the power we've in the choices we make. For the character of Dill, the film is inspired by ideas of classic masculinity going all the way back to Bogart or Brando. It's really about playing with the level of truth and grit and masculinity and a refined sensibility. But as the story progresses you realize might be a very truthful reflection of the life that he’s living. Karen is a mother who on the surface seems very gentle and meek, but who underneath is very much a warrior. She's defined by the love for her child and that every decision she makes is for his wellbeing. She presents a lot of questions in how she presents herself, always elegantly, always meticulously. There's a very serious question throughout the movie as to who Karen is. With that audiences would be looking towards Karen’s clothes for answers as to who she really is and what her motives really are. One of the most fun parts of the job is figuring out when to provide clues and figuring out when to make sure that there were no clues. Frank is a character that we hear a lot about before meeting him, so the audience’s expectations are going to be pretty high. By the time we meet him, as a designer, get to sort of play into the audience's expectations of who this man is, and it turns out that he’s quite a snappy dresser. Frank is always impeccably put together, and his costumes are essential to helping audience understand him as a character, the world that he comes from, and the world that he expects to always play around him. The character of Duke is actually based on a real person. He's the first mate on the boat. Duke is the emotional, spiritual core of the movie. He's a man whose entire appearance has to convey his humility and his simplicity, but also to play with color in a way that makes Duke one of more vibrant figures in "Serenity". He's really saturated. Duke is an incredibly important counterbalance to the kind of washed out world that the movie creates. "Serenity" is set somewhere in the tropics on a fictional island called 'Plymouth'. 'Mauritius' is sort of undiscovered in terms of movie making because it has only recently opened up it's doors. In other words, 'Mauritius' could be 'India', 'The Caribbean', 'Africa', or it could be 'France' depending on where you're and in terms of the ethnic make up of the people. Everyone is here, everyone is mixed and everyone seems to rub along together nicely. Being in 'Mauritius' is a huge factor in understanding the looks of 'Plymouth'. The characters are on a tropical island in the middle of 'The Indian Ocean'. It’s incredibly beautiful, the ocean is crystal blue, the weather is heavenly and the sand is powdery white sand. The people of 'Mauritius' are very specific. They're incredibly generous and peaceful. In seeing the way they dress, living a true island life, has definitely informed my understanding of how life might be on 'Plymouth'. The film incorporates 'Mauritius' and the understanding of some of the character’s attitudes, relaxing things a little bit and dialing back any contemporary references. When you’re here, you realize that on an island you’re living in your own world. Shooting on a boat is very difficult, as it's very slow and expensive, and there are issues with weather and inconsistencies in the light as well as the water. The unique advantage of shooting in 'Mauritius' is that it’s a volcanic island surrounded by a reef. However, because Mauritius reef gives a lagoon effect that's only two meters deep, it almost entirely mimics the physical characteristics of a tank Effectively, you've this gigantic tank and the reef acts as the line between the still water and the ocean water, which is exactly how you shoot in a tank. We're in a fictitious tropical location, and we don’t know where that place is narratively, but the film uses 'Mauritius' and all it's physical attributes to build that world. It’s an intriguing mélange of the actual appearance, what you can see on the screen. There's the real level and there's the subconscious level and there the deep level. Mauritius offered up a lot of opportunities because of the isolation of the island. It means that it has got a lot of intensity, from the mountains you see behind the rivers, to the coastline, and then the beautiful cities and shorelines, and the fishing. The film works with bold colors, but to control it so it isn't garish. The sunlight is very strong and the film deals with a lot of primary colors. Overall, it’s about retaining some of the beautiful primary aspect to the island, but just taking the edge off that so it’s not an oversaturation. While not a traditional noir thriller, "Serenity" certainly pays homage to classic films of the genre as well as literature. In terms of dialogue and setting and mood, it's a conscious nod to Ernest Hemingway and Graham Greene, absolutely. It also references to some of the classic movies of the ‘40s and ‘50s. What's really fun about designing consumes for "Serenity" is that there's a duality to all the characters, to their stories, to their world and their understanding of their predicaments. The film approaches it from the truth that the characters found themselves in and also the archetypes that would have informed the way the characters like these may have been seen in movies of the past, including especially the classic noir movies. It's really using the classic noir movies, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and asking how they might be translated into a contemporary esthetic. At first glance "Serenity" is the story of a fisherman’s obsession with catching a fish, but the film wants audiences to see it on a deeper level; people can choose to view it as a conventional thriller or they can choose to view it as something else. The film is interested, on various levels, in good people doing bad things for a good reason, which is what happens in this film. It's also about the idea of choice and free will, it’s impossible to resolve whether we've them. Because once you’ve made a choice, that’s it and that choice, is it always going to be there or did you choose it? You know, a fable has a moral to the end of the tale and the film deals with the game of life, and the long-term view of what it's to win and connections that go beyond life and death, love and the end of love.

(Release Info London schedule; September 26th, 2018, Gate Theatre, 18:30) "The Wife" After nearly forty years of marriage, Joan Castleman (Glenn Close) and Joe Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) are complements. Where Joe is brash, Joan is shy. Where Joe is casual, Joan is elegant. Where Joe is vain, Joan is self-effacing. And where Joe enjoys his very public role as 'Great American Novelist', Joan pours her considerable intellect, grace, charm, and diplomacy into the private role of 'Great Man’s Wife', keeping the household running smoothly, the adult children in close contact, and Joe’s pills dispensed on schedule. At times, a restless discontentment can be glimpsed beneath Joan’s smoothly decorous surface, but her natural dignity and keen sense of humor carry her through the rough spots. It’s 1993, and Joe is about to be awarded 'The Nobel Prize' for his acclaimed and prolific body of work. Joe’s literary star has blazed since he and Joan first met in the late 1950s, when she was a demure Smith student and he, her married creative writing teacher. From 1960 to 1993 to our present vantage point of 2018, we observe Joan and Joe Castleman in the context of their times, and ours. En route to Stockholm for 'The Nobel Prize' ceremonies, Joan and Joe are accompanied by their son David (Max Irons), an aspiring writer in his twenties who feels that Joe belittles his work. Sulky and resentful, David wears his wounded heart on his sleeve. There’s another man on board who also wants something from Joe; Nathaniel Bone (Christian Slater), a journalist who plans to write the definitive biography of Joseph Castleman, authorized or not. To crusty, arrogant Joe, Nathaniel’s just a pest to be brushed off, but to Joan, making an enemy of Nathaniel is a risky matter. As always, she’s the conciliator between Joe and David, Joe and Nathaniel. Amid the nonstop round of ceremonial festivities in Stockholm, Joan and Joe are swept into familiar, long-worn roles; Joe is flattered and schmoozed, while Joan stands by his side wearing her quiet smile and flinching only slightly at 'no, Joan’s not a writer. As we see in flashback to Joan and Joe’s early days in the late ‘50s, Joan not only had her own writing aspirations, she had the talent and the looks to capture the attention of her teacher, Joe. A caustic encounter with Elaine Mozell (Elizabeth McGovern), an embittered novelist, gives Joan a warning preview of the obscurity awaiting the lady writer, no matter how talented. As Joan and Joe embark on a love affair, it fits a certain literary template of the time; she’s the well- bred WASP-y daughter of bland privilege, he’s the scrappy Jewish striver with the Brooklyn accent and the edgy stories to tell. With Joe’s first marriage busted up, they live the bohemian life in a 'Greenwich Village' walk-up. Joan gets a job at a publishing house, encountering enough casual sexism to squelch her own ambitions but spotting a chance to forward Joe’s career as the next hot young discovery. Thus is established the self-sacrificing partnership that continues right up to the Nobel gathering decades later. Another familiar, long-worn dynamic plays out in Stockholm as Joe is trailed by an attractive young woman photographer assigned to document Joe’s every public moment. Joan recognizes the predictable progression of flirtation and indiscretion that she has stoically overlooked through so many years of Joe’s serial infidelities. This time, Joan’s had enough. Serving Joe notice that she wants no place on a pedestal as his passive muse; matching wits with a prying Nathaniel Bone; letting her own grievances flare, for once, instead of smoothing over everyone else’s problems; Joan finally reaches for self-determination. The Castleman marriage and literary legend will never be the same. What are the compromises that we make in a marriage and a great partnership? Are there secrets that we keep as a couple that are legitimate? As a husband, how do you respect and love your wife? "The Wife" examines forty years of give and take between literary lion Joe Castleman, and the person who knows him best, supports him steadfastly, resents him deeply, and possibly loves him anyway; his wife Joan. The character of Joan Castleman is a deeply contained, elegant and shy woman who has taken the back seat to her brilliant husband. Joe’s anger and narcissism and infidelities are driven by inadequacy and insecurity and feeling emasculated. Through different times and different mores; from the 1950s and ‘60s of the Castlemans’ youth, to the 1990s of their mature relationship and it's high-profile crisis moment at 'The Nobel Prize' award ceremony, and up to our current-day perspective, we observe two talented and ambitious lifelong partners reckoning with power dynamics between men and women that continue to bedevil us today. It’s a timeless but also very timely subject. Could we possibly sustain the kind of bargain that Joe and Joan Castleman sustained for forty years? Whatever our contemporary take may be on the sexual politics at work in the Castleman marriage, it’s all about the grey areas. This isn’t an easy black-and-white story. Ultimately, it’s about power, the power that Joan gives up and finally reclaims. It's hard for us to imagine what it's like to be in that world where women weren't expected to achieve high things the way men were. Joan may be part of the generation of our mothers and grandmothers, but her struggles with creativity, motherhood, and fulfillment ring out clearly to us today. She has the soul of an artist, the curiosity, the focus, the wildly fertile imagination. But her lack of confidence is part of the cultural climate. "The Wife" is adapted by Jane Anderson from the Meg Wolitzer novel of the same name. Meg’s novel tells a story that's so subversive about what it means to be a female writer. Our industry is now willing to embrace films that are driven by a female protagonist. "The Wife" interweaves the midcentury story of the couple’s youthful passion and ambition with a portrait of a marriage, thirty-plus years later, a lifetime’s shared compromises, secrets, betrayals, and genuine, mutual love. It's the story of a long, complicated marriage affords great actors the chance to reflect all the knots and nuances of their brainy, funny, perplexing, deeply compromised, but deeply compelling characters. This film is like music; two instruments playing a duet. The story unfolds in various timelines, often in flashback, and in three different locales. You've a puzzle to solve, how much are you influenced by reality and the recreation of a period, and how much can you explore it, and then make it your own. At times we’ve tried to absolutely replicate certain things, and other times we’ve just taken it as a guide, then we've gone off and done what we want. So much talent marshalled to tell a story about so much talent has yielded a film to admire. The film conveys the dance of marriage, the compromises made, the agonies lived through, and the familiarity of two people who've known each other intimately for a very long time, but they also address some fundamental, pressing questions about men, women and power.

(London Film Festival, October 11th, 2019, Vue West End, 3 Cranbourn St, Leicester Square, London WC2H 7AL, United Kingdom, 18:00 pm) https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=givemeliberty&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id= "Give Me Liberty" Victor (Chris Galust), a hapless young 'Russian American', drives a handicapped transport in Milwaukee. He shares an appartement with his grandfather Steve (Steve Wolski). Already late on a day when street protests break out, Vic reluctantly agrees to ferry his grandfather and a dozen elderly Russians to a funeral, but they’re distressed when he stops first in a predominantly 'African American' neighborhood to pick up Tracy (Lauren Spencer), a black woman with 'ALS'. On the verge of being fired, Vic’s day goes from bad to worse. The central character is a driver in Milwaukee who would be driving around a number of people with disabilities or people from just different walks of life. The medical transport driver job has a lot of hilarious, touching, wonderful, moving stories. And that's the starting point of the story. A wild slew of hilarious characters, combining comedy and investigation; almost like a detective story and love story and road movie with the main character driving the van, but some revisions later it became a day-in-the-life of this character Vic. He possesses this animal charisma that translates into any culture. He's formidable physically. Dima (Max Stoianov) is basically a fighter with a one-million-dollar smile, who walks into the room and just charms everyone. He has the physique of a boxer, boxer charisma, all the qualities of a person who would charm every member of the audience within five minutes. And being from a Russian, or 'Soviet', background. We just didn’t know where to turn. All of a sudden, we're receiving headshots of metrosexuals from New York who just want to look tough with a three-day stubble but nothing else to show for themselves other than clearly going to the gym every day and mixing it with yoga. We just didn’t imagine at the time how we would gather the right professional talent from all over the nation, given our resources and given our task. It’s probably easier to write characters than to find them sometimes. Set in Milwaukee, with locally cast non-actors, the film creates a genuine atmosphere of chaos without having the entire production fall apart. A group of non-English-speaking octogenarians, people with disabilities, a multi-ethnic local non-professional cast, and a few Russian-based actors. Let’s top that off with a 'VAN', the film’s main location, crammed with cast and crew location that doesn’t stop cruising at 40-75mph through America’s most-segregated city. To sum it up, in order to create the right sense of chaos in film, a form of controlled chaos needed to be invented; the kind that would allow us to be blessed with the spontaneous and the sublime. It’s refreshing to set a movie in an American city that isn’t Atlanta or Louisiana, or whichever state is currently offering the best tax incentives. The city of Milwaukee is very inspiring. People outside of Milwaukee can't wrap their heads around Milwaukee either. But it's an interesting city in many respects. It’s the backbone of America. It’s a historical American city. It’s a segregated city with a lot of ethnic history that retains it's authenticity in 2018, which can’t be said for a lot of cities in America. It has it's own character, it's own mood. It's seasonal changes. There’s a quiet beauty to it, which is not as obvious as, say, New York, for instance. A raw, inventive 'Day In The Life Story' about marginalized characters encountering literal and figurative roadblocks. A charming, comedic look at ordinary people and a rigged system, "Give Me Liberty" has a flavor of 'The Czech New Wave', using a supremely light touch, wry dissent, nonprofessional actors, and unscripted moments. It's heart and soul rests in wonderful moments of impromptu interaction that are so genuine and contain a universe of compassion and understanding. "Give Me Liberty" deals with the concept of 'The American Dream". Those who are really happy to announce the death of 'The American Dream' fundamentally don’t care about it and do not understand it. Certain political issues are touched upon without being touched upon. We're talking about things without talking about them. And this is great that this question is there. 'The American Dream' is not something that's here waiting for you. 'The American Dream' is something that people who come to America must bring with them. 'That’s 'The American Dream'. So if you come here and say 'The American Dream' is gone, well then you didn’t bring it with you. Because 'The American Dream' is only dead if it’s dead within you. It’s not out there, it’s not sitting there waiting to be grabbed. In this sense, we're all idealists. We really believe in this country, as imperfect as it may be, as every country is. Certain things we strongly dislike, certain things we admire. It’s a wonderful place. 'The American Dream' is a big part of the foundation upon which the house of 'Give Me Liberty' is built. It's this concern for the idealism, the fading of which we lament in America. And it comes through in a subtle way, that this is part of the palette of America today; we've people from different walks of life, of different colors, of different ages, of different desires, in this small van, shuttling through one of the most segregated places in America, through a turbulent time of an extreme liberal and conservative divide, and yet none of it's there on that shuttle. What we've on that shuttle is just a motley crew of humanity! A motley crew of humanity who finds their common denominator. Whether it’s at the cemetery, you know, they’ve gotta go to the cemetery, they’ve gotta go to 'The Eisenhower Center', they’ve gotta go to all these places, but they end up sitting at the same table celebrating life and embracing it as it's. Because at the end of the day, as pathetic as it may seem, as infused with pathos as it may sound, it’s about honoring people in the frame, people who are trying to the best of their ability to live their lives with dignity. But what we've today is nothing short of destiny. We need to be practical, but we also cannot negate the spiritual side of this profession. We respect it a lot. We understand that things like inspiration, the metaphysical tissue of the matter, they’re important! To deny it, to not acknowledge that, would be foolish.

(Release Info London schedule; Februar 5th, 2021, Curzon Home Cinema) https://www.curzonhomecinema.com/film/watch-simple-passion-film-online "Simple Passion" The story of a 'simple passion', that of Hélène August's (Laetitia Dosch) passion for Alexandre Svitsin (Sergei Poluniv), a young Russian diplomat, whom she barely knows, whom she nevertheless sees with the same intensity each time they meet. Since last September she waits for him to call her and come to her place. Everything about him is so precious to her, his eyes, his mouth, his childhood memories, his voice. The character of Hélène seems to be astonished by this state of siege, at once sweet and insidious. Pure dopamine. A drug, really. Hélène is an unfettered, free-spirited, woman. A mature, self-assured woman. Ultimately, she's a woman who submits herself out of love. But it's her decision. This is how we've to see the story of 'Passion Simple'; from a voluntary, not a victim’s viewpoint. Alexandre represents a free man, with a complex and elusive personality. He's the objectified man in the film. It's a complex vision of woman, the character is not a model of independence, because she's completely addicted to this man. And she's a bright woman, on top of that, who raises her son alone, who teaches literature at 'The Sorbonne', and yet she says that for a whole year, the only thing that mattered to her is this man. The protagonist waits for her lover anywhere, not only at home, thanks to today’s new technologies, to cell phones. So that she can wait for him anywhere in the world, even though the world is shrinking around her because all she ever does is wait for him. Yet she's always active and wanting, even if she submits herself to that man’s desire. To be an object of desire, to desire, to wait, to fantasise, isn't it the antithesis of an independent woman? It's a sexual film. Filming bodies is a way to glamorize characters. Characters who are comfortable with their own bodies. In the film, the evolution of their passion follows that of the choreography of their bodies. The film is based on Annie Ernaux’s 90s' bookseller 'Passion Simple'. It established a perfect and precise picture of passionate love. It inspires you with a lot of courage. Her words make you want to be honest without being ashamed. They give you the energy to be precise, sincere, not sappy. You've to dig really deep into your own neuroses to understand Annie Ernaux to the full extent. And when these neuroses are looked by a filmmaker who infuses passion with some radiant energy, then it's pure bliss. The ultimate power of the book is that it doesn’t try to explain things. Passion probably involves a will to submit yourself to the other person, either a man or a woman, and to put your whole self into it. Moral judgement has nothing to do with it. It's really brave to explore so meticulously female desire, passion, that place where there's freedom but at the same time a total dependence on the other person. It's scary. We've to understand where it’s coming from. We don’t judge her. It's a story about how lucky you're when you fall in love. About the emotional rollercoaster it actually is. The absolute loss of control when you meet someone, when you idealize that person. The film sparks off a debate around the issue of feminism. With today’s 'MeToo' climate, of course, But it's a precious thing that there are so many different visions of woman in films, that some might arouse controversy, or bring out tensions. The worse thing would be to have women who are all similar, to have everybody agreeing, it would mean that we've left a norm only to confine ourselves to another. We do not want to see only models of flawless independent women. The situation is interesting because it's vertiginous. Beyond morality, neither black nor white.

"Border" Tina (Eva Melander) is a border guard who has the ability to smell human emotions and catch smugglers. When she comes across a mysterious man with a smell that confounds her detection, she's forced to confront hugely disturbing insights about herself and humankind. At a ferry-port customs checkpoint, Tina is one of many polyester-uniformed guards standing watch. Short, with her features broadened and by a congenital genetic condition, and one of many in her polyester uniform, she blends into near invisibility, a cog in the system. During the day, she keeps a close eye on travelers; off the job, she has a small place surrounded by primal forest and a normal life of family, friends and work right down to her ailing dad (Sten Ljunggren) and her indifferent boyfriend Roland (Jörgen Thorsson), a dog-trainer. The only thing exceptional about Tina's work is how exceptional she's at it; in a way even she can't quite explain, Tina can literally smell guilt, fear and fury seeping off of some travelers, and her results speak for themselves. Mostly she detects booze-smugglers and other minor transgressors, but two separate travelers give off clouds of strange scent that give her reason to look closer. One is a suit-clad smoothie found to be carrying a cache of child pornography, the other is a smiling, swaggering rambler named Vore (Eero Milonoff) whose silent ways and familiar-strange features pull Tina closer. Her search for belonging crystallises when Vore passes through customs. As Tina's strange skill and determination see her helping the police work up the chain of sex criminals she caught a small link of at the terminal, she has to go to the grey city streets and perfect 'IKEA' apartments of her suspects. Back at her home, in the woods, wild and waters, she and Vore talk and grow intertwined, as he reveals more and more secrets about his life even as he confounds and confuses her. He has many of the same scars as her, knows more about her past in some ways than she does, and soon Tina has to decide just how much of her life she's willing to upend in the name of belonging. Almost instantly, she can tell something is off about him but for the first time she can’t quite put her finger on what it's. Strangely attracted, Tina strikes up a friendship that soon blossoms into romance as she gradually learns uncomfortable truths. When the true nature of the case Tina's working and the lies about her childhood past she's uncovering lead towards friends and family, Tina will discover, for herself, who she truly is. This film is based on the short novel 'Let The Right One In' by John Lindqvist. His way of writing and his universe is very specific, and he doesn't write 'feel-good' literature. He works in fantasy genres, or subgenres, but it always has a twist. The way he treats his characters, he uses a lot of space and effort in describing their inner conflict, and their feelings, and their emotions, and their thoughts, which is the kind of thing that you would kind of expect from 'serious literature'. Even if he's known as a fantasy writer, underneath there's always something unsettling, and something very serious, and other conflicts going on, which makes it hard to just see it as 'fantasy literature'. "Border" is about being an outsider, but when you think about where the story comes from, John is a white guy that's totally adapted to his society, and as for being an outsider, that's not why he wrote. The experience of being outsider is not exclusive to if you're brown in a white society, or if you're a woman in a man-dominated society. You can be perfectly fit for the society you live in, but still experience. You end up in a job you don't like, or you end up in a marriage you don't. Every person has experienced how it feels to be an outsider, and that's why, in a strange way, everybody is an outsider. Or at least they know how it feels. There are always groups and places that exclude you. This story is stylized, it's not realism; there are other elements, and it's elevated. The film stylizes shots or framing that kind of signals something special is going on. It's a kind of anchors the realism. Because it isn't real, you probably wouldn't care about Tina. We've this theme through the whole film, nature versus nurture, or nature versus civilization, or whatever you want call it. The society and the socio- economic situation is really important. It's easy to justify how Tina is more human than Vore is. Tina has the context to develop empathy, which is the most critical part of being human. The film creates a contrast between the ferry terminal and the forest, and again, as for the realism of it, that place in reality does sit exactly like that. The ferry terminal is kind of like a piece of concrete landed at the shore, just a slab on the edge of a forest. And you go inland to the forest, and then there are some small communities of houses, and the film is what the surrounding community looks like. And then there's a city an hour's drive from there. The set design is not that far from reality, and of course, the film choses more shades. The idea of monster is very connected to the idea of human being. Because monsters are always defined as; you don't call a fox a monster. The idea of monsters has always been where there's enough humanity, or elements of humanity, so that we can relate to it as some kind of human-like creature. But it's also far away enough from us so that we know that it's not human. That space is how you define a monster. The film is interested in the psychology of nature versus nurture, of what happens when you're at the limit of humanity. And what's it that defines humanity, which is a very relevant question. It isn't just an artistic or existential question like it maybe was in the eighteenth century. Not anymore. Because soon, we're going to have legal, ethical, and technical questions to answer about humanity. And one of the core questions of the movie is, what does it take to be a human being?' It's about how nature versus nurture and similar thinking underlies a difference between Democrats and Republicans. Generally speaking, Republicans put an emphasis on nature. If you don't have a job it's because you're lazy, if you're a crack addict it's because you like drugs, if you're a criminal, it's because you've a bad nature. And generally speaking Democrats put an emphasis on nurture. If you're poor maybe it's because of the socio-economic situation, or your context, or our society. And of course, it's neither 100% this or that. To say more would spoil many of the film’s surprising revelations, but the ease with which the film infuses a social dimension with 'Scandinavian' folklore without ever losing his footing, in reality, is nothing short of breathtaking. "Border" is one of the most original and unique films of recent years. The film weaves folklore, tragic romance, and existential questions into a highly affective cinematic tale.

(Release Info London schedule; November 30th, 2018, Everyman's Kings Cross, 18:00) "The Favourite" Early 18th century. England is at war with 'The French'. Nevertheless, duck racing and pineapple eating are thriving. A frail 'Queen Anne' (Olivia Colman) occupies 'The Throne' and her close friend Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) governs the country in her stead while tending to Anne’s ill health and mercurial temper. When a new servant Abigail Masham (Emma Stone) arrives, her charm endears her to Sarah. Sarah takes Abigail under her wing and Abigail sees a chance at a return to her aristocratic roots. As the politics of war become quite time consuming for Sarah, Abigail steps into the breach to fill in as 'The Queen’s' companion. Their burgeoning friendship gives her a chance to fulfill her ambitions and she will not let woman, man, politics or rabbit stand in her way. The film is set in the 'Stuart Period' (1603-1714). Anne was born in 1665 under the reign of her Uncle, 'King Charles II'. Anne faced upset and disruption in her life from a young age. Between 1669 and 1671, she lost three very close family members, her grandmother, aunt, and mother. Anne and Sarah Jennings met in 1673 when Sarah, at age 13, entered the court of Anne’s Father. Anne and Sarah developed a close friendship in their youth; they invented 'pet names' for themselves, 'Mrs. Morley' (Anne) and 'Mrs. Freeman' (Sarah), which they continued to use after Anne became Queen. They also wrote sentimental letters to each other, a selection of these letters remains at 'The British Library'. Sarah married John Churchill, 10 years her senior, in 1677. In the early 1680’s, Abigail Hill’s father died after declaring bankruptcy and reducing his family to poor circumstances. Abigail was sent to work as a servant of Sir George, '4th Baronet Rivers'. Abigail’s mother, Elizabeth Jennings, was Sarah’s aunt. Sarah eventually learned of her cousin Abigail’s misfortune and offered her employment in her own household at 'St. Albans'. Abigail, on her father's side, was also a second cousin of Robert Harley, 'Earl Of Oxford'. Anne married 'Prince George Of Denmark' in 1683 and Sarah was appointed as a 'Lady Of The Bedchamber'. Anne had at least 17 pregnancies during her marriage. Most ended in miscarriages or stillbirths and only 5 babies were born alive. All of these babies died in early infancy. Her father 'James II', became King in 1685. 'Mary II', Anne’s older sister, and Mary’s husband, 'William III', became 'Queen & King' in 1689. Mary died in 1694 and William remained King until his death in 1702. Anne suffered from health problems throughout her life. She was sent to France at the age of three to seek medical treatment for an eye condition. By the time she became Queen in 1702, she was already stricken with gout, leading to a largely sedentary lifestyle and subsequent overall decline in her health. When at Court, Anne was often carried in a sedan chair or had to use a wheelchair. Sarah was promptly made 'Mistress Of The Robes', 'Groom Of The Stole' and 'Keeper Of The Privy Purse'. John Churchill was given a 'Dukedom', the highest rank of aristocrat, as well as made 'General Of The Army'. John and Sarah became 'The Duke & Duchess Of Marlborough'. Sarah rose to be one of the most influential women of her time through her close friendship with 'Queen Anne'. Sarah’s knowledge of government, and intimacy with 'The Queen', made her a powerful friend and a dangerous enemy. Leading public figures often turned their attentions to Sarah in the hope that she would influence Anne to comply with requests. Sarah was famous for telling 'Queen Anne' exactly what she thought and did not offer her flattery. 'Queen Anne' gifted 'The Duke And Duchess Of Marlborough' a large piece of royal land in Oxfordshire and money to build a large new country house there, to be called 'Blenheim', following the Duke’s victory at 'The Battle Of Blenheim' in 1704. After a tenure of satisfactory service, Sarah brought Abigail to work for Anne, first as a form of maid in around 1700 and from 1702, once Anne became Queen, as a bedchamber woman. As 'The Duke' commanded troops in 'The War Of The Spanish Succession', Sarah devoted much of her time to overseeing construction on 'Blenheim Palace', causing her to be regularly absent from Court. In 1707, Abigail Hill was privately married in 'The Queen’s' presence to Samuel Masham, a gentleman of 'The Queen's Household'. Abigail became Lady Masham. Sarah found out about Abigail's marriage months after it occurred. She also discovered that Anne had been present and had given Abigail a dowry of £2000 from 'The Privy Purse'. This proved Anne's duplicity to Sarah as 'Keeper Of The Privy Purse'. Sarah had been unaware of the payment. From this, Sarah also learned that Abigail had, for some time, enjoyed considerable intimacy with Anne. In 1710, at a final meeting, Sarah threatened to expose Anne’s impassioned letters written to her. In late 1710, Sarah was dismissed from her appointment at Court and asked to return her gold key, the symbol of her authority within 'The Royal Household'. Abigail Masham took her place as 'Keeper Of The Privy Purse' until 1714. 'Queen Anne' awarded Abigail and Samuel aristocratic titles and they became Lord and Lady Masham. In disgrace, 'The Marlboroughs' left England and travelled in Europe. Given his success in 'The War', 'The Duke' was a favorite among the German courts and 'The Holy Roman Empire' so the family was received in those places with full honors. 'Lord Godolphin', who served as 'Lord High Treasurer' from 'Queen Anne’s' accession in 1702, was ejected from office in August 1710 and replaced by Robert Harley. Harley served until 1714. Sarah and Anne never made up their differences or saw each other again. 'Queen Anne' died in 1714 at 'Kensington Palace'. When 'The Queen' died in 1714 Abigail Masham lost her influence and lived out the rest of her life in obscurity. After a long illness she died in 1734 at 'The Masham's' modest house in Essex. The title of 'Baron Masham' bestowed on Samuel by 'The Queen' was inherited by his son but the title became extinct when the son died childless and bankrupt. Sarah, 'Duchess Of Marlborough' retained social and political influence throughout her life and died a very wealthy woman in 1744 at the age of 84. 'Queen Anne' may be England’s least known ruler, not least of all because she left no heirs to speak of her, despite an extraordinary 17 pregnancies. In fact, had Anne left an heir, there may have been no United States as such, since 'George III' may never have been King. Ascending to 'The Throne' at the turn of 'The 18th Century', essentially because no other Protestant successors to 'The Stuart' royal line are available, she assumes the role of Queen just as England is on the verge of a tidal wave of changes. Anne oversees a war with France, considered the first world war of modern times, and the uniting of England with Scotland to forge 'The Kingdom Of Great Britain'. She also confronts a shocking new era of acrimonious national division, with 'Whigs' and 'Tories' taking sides as partisans and bitterly battling each other for influence as a young two-party political system is born. For the world of rapidly enlarging personal and political agendas in which she moves, Anne is not an obvious match as Queen and ruler. Plagued by incessant ill health, notoriously meek, anything but glamorous with her myriad skin and joint ailments, and having only a limited education, she's perceived as highly susceptible to manipulation. This in turn means Anne is beset upon by a flurry of people competing to gain influence by finding a way to gain her trust, or perhaps, her heart. Encumbered by grief, gout and insecurity though she may have been, 'Queen Anne' is nevertheless handed enormous authority and power, and in the screenplay for "The Favourite" she moves like a pendulum between extremes of would-be panache and pathos. She's not what she seems. She's a spoiled, mercurial and manipulative monarch. Though she appears to be an invalid and even simple in the beginning, you start to realize that she should actually aware of her power. It’s just that she chooses erratically when to use it, which makes for a very intriguing character. Just as much as Sarah and Abigail, Anne is a survivor. She has extraordinary strength. She wants to be seen as a good Queen, but she just didn’t have the confidence to do it. She can never be sure who to trust and who has been through the unfathomable loss of 17 children. If anything, her isolation, heightened by the vast, echoing rooms of 'The Royal Palace', only seems to increase her many appetites, needs and bunnies. There’s so much sadness in her background, she must have been terribly lonely, because in her position, you never really know if people genuinely like you or if it’s only because you’re 'The Queen'. At the same time, she's quite childlike. Part of the learning curve on "The Favourite" is diving into Anne’s sexual desires, and the switching of her affections from Lady Sarah, who had been essentially running the country in Anne’s stead, to her new favourite, Abigail, who appeals to her in an entirely different way. She and Sarah have known each other since they're little girls and they’ve always protected each other. But with Abigail, Anne is just so thrilled that someone is so attentive towards her. She just thinks, ‘oh, this beautiful young creature is looking at me’ and she’s completely struck by that. But the tragic part is that 'The Queen' thinks it’s all for real, and it’s not. What interested most are these three characters, their power, their fragile relationships and how the behaviour of so few people could alter the course of a war and fate of a country. It's also a love story that can be quite funny and dramatic and gets dark. The film focuses on the female triangle in 'Queen Anne’s' bedchamber and this shift in Anne’s affections from Sarah to Abigail. The two women who make their way deep into Anne’s inner sanctum create a triumvirate of female power-players uncommon for any time period, let alone in the so-called days of pre-Enlightenment. Pulling strings behind the reign of 'Queen Anne', and propping her up in more ways than one, is her right-hand woman, the legendarily sharp and alluring Lady Sarah Churchill, 'The First Duchess Of Marlborough'. Lady Sarah Churchill is Anne’s 'BFF' since childhood who, once Anne took 'The Throne', became a primary political adviser and perhaps, according to rumors that have swirled for centuries, her lover. The second is Abigail Masham, who's Sarah’s cousin by birth but reduced to destitution by family bankruptcy, joining the royal household as a lowly maid. Nevertheless, Abigail would set in motion an epic, impassioned battle with Sarah to become Anne’s new favourite, making herself indispensable to 'The Queen', while pushing Anne in the opposite political direction that Lady Sarah is pulling. While a vivid picture of Sarah has been painted by her own memoir, the original evidence for Abigail is sparse and comes mainly from Sarah. There are interesting snippets to be found elsewhere where Abigail emerges as a ruthless chambermaid, and her trajectory clearly reveals her ambition. That's the historical account. But the bones of the story come to life with a psychological and sensual resonance that escaped the history books. Lady Sarah is one of the most powerful political figures of her times, the woman who kept 'The Queen’s' purse, bent 'The Queen’s' ear and blackmailed her when she feels it necessary. She met 'The Queen' when both were young daughters of powerful men, secluded in the boring confines of 'The Royal Palace'. Their friendship would develop into something both symbiotic and highly intimate, the real Anne indeed wrote Sarah passionate letters with lines such as, 'I hope I shall get a moment or two to be with my dear, that I may have one embrace, which I long for more than I can express'. Though Sarah married John Churchill, who was soon named 'The Duke Of Marlborough' by 'Queen Anne', the closeness between the two women continued long after. When Anne ascended to 'The Throne', she named Sarah to several key positions including 'Mistress Of The Robes', the highest title that could be held by a woman in that time, and 'Keeper Of The Privy Purse'. Sarah took those opportunities for all they're worth. She becomes Anne’s most indispensable adviser, holding forth on matters of policy, politics and intricate war strategy. Renowned for her fierce intelligence, her savage temper, her gutsy frankness and also her oft-mentioned beauty, Lady Sarah also drew a circle of sycophants and influence-seekers around her. Sarah has the whole package. She’s very intellectually powerful, she’s very sexually powerful, she’s physically quite powerful and politically she's said in charge of, well she would say, she’s in charge of the entire country. She has the clarity and decisiveness of any modern political leader. But for all her brilliance, Sarah cannot deny that her leadership positions stems from one source only: her ever so co-dependent relationship with 'Queen Anne'. 'The Queen' and Sarah have a very complicated relationship that's constantly shifting. Neither politics, nor battle tactics nor running the country is Anne’s strong suit, but that’s all very appealing to Sarah. Yet, they're also childhood best friends who make love to one another. Their relationship gets into all kind of themes of sexual politics, power games, power struggles, emotional needs, emotional dependence, dominance and subjugation, as well as pain, protectiveness and healing. Even amid all the men making power bids in the court of 'Queen Anne', Lady Sarah has few rivals. So it takes her by surprise when the woman she chose to become Anne’s bedchamber maid, her subservient cousin, Abigail, becomes her greatest threat on every level. Sarah really misjudges Abigail. She perceives Abigail as being needy and weak because she’s fallen on such hard times, and because her father lost his own daughter gambling. Sarah initially feels tenderness and compassion towards Abigail. She wants to protect her and teach her how to be a strong woman. It turns out, Abigail needs no help whatsoever. From the moment Abigail tumbles from her carriage into the stinking mud outside 'The Royal Palace', she begins to skew the balance of power within. Throwing herself upon Sarah’s mercy, she takes a job as a scullery maid but soon ingratiates her way deep into 'The Queen’s' bedroom. If Sarah has always dominated the fragile Queen, Abigail soothes her, and the student overtakes the master in the balance of power. As with her cohorts in the film’s triangle, Abigail is made of contrasts; her cool, shrewd pragmatism, the fruits of a hard knock life, mix with her seemingly unlimited capacity for charm. She has a great amount of confidence and she's a real survivor. The reason why Abigail is able to win the wary Queen’s trust is that Abigail senses her need to be loved for who she's, rather than for her enormous stature and power. She always listening and paying attention and using what she learns. Then there's the royal protocol. In 'The Palace', everything is so formal and so presentational. That's all fascinating to learn. Abigail has to back out of the room because you don’t turn your back on 'The Queen'. Abigail is the lightning rod who sets the story in motion. She transforms from a stranger to a very dangerous political and romantic operative. Instead the idea of who's a villain or a victim is one that shifts and changes and moves from one character to another. This way you feel for what they each do and you aren’t be able to make absolute judgements on their characters even if they do a horrible thing. The rule of 'Queen Anne' is marked not only by the first modern worldwide war and the uniting of 'The United Kingdom', but also by the emergence of partisan politics, or what's called at the time 'The Rage Of Party', rife with vicious, personal in-fighting and ideological stand-offs. 'The Queen- sat atop a constitutional monarchy, sharing power with an elected parliament made of 'Whigs' and 'Tories' beholden to their constituents. 'The Whigs', largely of landed aristocracy, supported the war and initially have the monarchy’s support. 'The Tories', the opposition party, sought to bring the war, with all it's mounting costs in blood and treasure, to an end. Although both parties were of course entirely made up of men the film emphasizes the women in action and in control; while the flamboyantly rouged and blinged-out men are reactive. The men may be greater in numbers but not in spirit. Everyone in this film is using one another, whether it’s for power, position, influence or sex. 'The Tory' opposition leader is Robert Harley (Nicholas Hoult), '1st Earl Of Oxford', considered one of the modern world’s first master practitioners of spin. Though he would ultimately become 'Queen Anne’s' chief minister, in the film Harley finds his access to 'The Queen' constantly blocked by Sarah. It's only the arrival of Abigail that reverses Harley’s fortunes, allowing him to make his case that the war is a financial disaster. His character, the kind more often in the historical foreground, in fact gets relegated to a secondary position in the film, reliant on Sarah and then Abigail to gain influence with Anne. Harley is quite manipulative, noting that to get 'The Queen’s' ear, Harley has to weave his way in through an alliance with Abigail. One historical reality that's reflected, albeit stylized, in the film is Harley’s fondness for a flashy outfit. Harley’s political rival is the most powerful politician of the day, Sidney Godolphin (James Smith), '1st Earl Of Godolphin', who served as 'First Lord Of The Treasury' under 'Queen Anne'. Though a 'Tory' by name, Godolphin aligned himself with 'The Whig' leader John Churchill (Mark Gatiss), 'The Duke Of Marlborough', to find ways to fund England’s war with France. John Churchill is a soldier and statesman whose influence spanned five monarchs, and who commanded English, Dutch and German forces in the war against France. The historic Churchill married Sarah when she was still a teen, but later his wife’s curiously tight bond with 'The Queen' would prove to be of great advantage. Under her reign, Churchill amassed not only power, with Anne naming him to his dukedom, but a considerable fortune. In the film, they're truly a power couple. Sarah is effectively running the country, and brilliantly playing the game of dangling political favors, while John is conducting the war. John acknowledges that his wife is better than he's at politics and she’s the more important one in this relationship. Rounding out the male supporting cast is Samuel Masham (Joe Alwyn), who's only too happy to allow Harley to broker his marriage to Abigail, finally affording Harley the access he’s long pursued. For Abigail, the marriage is equally valuable, raising her rank, bringing her closer to her quest to fully unseat Lady Sarah as 'The Queen’s' favourite. There’s an immediate physical lust and interest for Masham, and being obviously higher up rank, he expects he’ll be the one in power in their courtship. But Abigail quickly subverts that idea. Her wit and her boldness catch him off guard. He’s turned on by the playful banter and each scene is a power struggle to see who comes out on. When you make a film set in another time it's always interesting to see how it relates to our time; you realize how few things have changed apart from the costumes and the fact that we've electricity or internet. There are so many ongoing similarities in human behaviour, societies and power. The film discovers a period in 18th century English history where women held power and influenced events on the British political and European stage. The setting for "The Favourite' has been plucked from real history, from the veiled world of 'Queen Anne', the last and historically most ignored of 'The Stuart' line of Britain’s rulers, who infamously gouty, shy and disregarded, nevertheless reigned as 'Great Britain' became a global power. It's through Anne’s intricate relations with two other women of cunning and aspiration, her lifelong intimate friend and political advisor Lady Sarah, and Sarah’s penniless cousin turned social-climbing chambermaid Abigail, that the film dives into a whirlpool of manipulations and emotions that define the phrase palace intrigue. A dark yet comic story about three hugely commanding women jockeying with raw abandon for love, favor and power that actually feels very contemporary. The film creates it's own very alive universe, playing freely with the external events of the day to service and motivate the inner lives and personal politics of his characters. And speculations aside, no knows what went on verbally, physically or otherwise behind the doors of 'Queen Anne’s' court, let alone in her bed. For a story of such sprawling history, "The Favourite" takes place in a very insular world; largely within the confines of 'The Royal Palace’s' walls where power plays, seductions, blood orange throwing and the occasional duck or lobster race transpire, detached from the realities of the outside world. Though the film plays like a bedroom farce with global consequences. We're inspired by the real people and stories but largely reimagined them in order to make films that alludes to similar issues that we all can identify with or recognize in our everyday contemporary lives. The story is about how complicated love is, and how who you're as a person can be perverted and deformed by those complications. It’s about these people who love each other, but there are so many other aspects of their personality and aspects of what they want in the world-at-large that get in the way of staying in love. People are all sorts of things at any given time and they also do the unexpected. The vision of the world is that there’s a broader way of looking at people and that the deeper you look, the more complicated, perverse and strange people become. Audiences really respond to that because that's true of what people are like. And even though we knew this was society of manners at that time, underneath the film shows a sort of casual cruelty. Society is rigid and you stuck where you're, so all you've is your ability to influence other people and to shift yourself and your motive; to shift your ground. That's why people operate with such hardcore cruelty.

(Release Info London schedule; September 22nd, 2019, BFI Southbank, London SE1, Belvedere Road, South Bank, London, UK, SE1 8XT, 12:15 pm) https://film.list.co.uk/listing/667778-farmageddon-a-shaun-the-sheep-movie/ "A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon" Strange lights over the quiet town of 'Mossingham' herald the arrival of a mystery visitor from far across the galaxy. "Farmageddon" takes the world’s favourite woolly hero and plunges him into an hilarious intergalactic adventure he will need to use all of his cheekiness and heart to work his way out of. When a visitor from beyond the stars, an impish and adorable alien called 'Lula' (Amalia Vitale), crash-lands near 'Mossy Bottom Farm', Shaun (John Fletcher) soon sees an opportunity for alien-powered fun and adventure, and sets off on a mission to shepherd 'Lula' back to her home. Her magical alien powers, irrepressible mischief and galactic sized burps soon have the flock enchanted and Shaun takes his new extra-terrestrial friend on a road-trip to 'Mossingham Forest' to find her lost spaceship. Little do the pair know, though, that they're being pursued at every turn by a mysterious alien-hunting government agency, spearheaded by the formidable 'Agent Red' (Emma Tate) and her bunch of hapless, hazmat-suited goons. With 'Agent Red' driven by a deep-seated drive to prove the existence of 'Aliens', 'The Farmer' (John Sparkes) unwittingly dragged into the haphazard chase, can Shaun and the flock avert 'Farmageddon' on 'Mossy Bottom Farm' before it’s too late? 'Shaun The Sheep' is already an 'A-List Star', beloved by millions of all ages worldwide for his hit TV series and cemented as a movie star in smash spin-off "Shaun The Sheep Movie' in 2015. But, for his second outing in cinemas, the film pushes the character to places he has genuinely never been. And in ways that are bigger, more like an epic, 'Sci-Fi Movie'. Trying to make it feel like a very big, cinematic, very much 'Sci-Fi Extravaganza', and open up Shaun’s world in a way that we’ve never seen before. Shaun is always naughty, you know he’s always going to be skirting the corner of trouble. Shaun is the guy who will always press the red button, but he’ll always know he’s done something wrong when he has. Shaun is always about a spirit of rebelliousness, but always with a good heart. He'll always know he’s done something wrong when he has. If you see Shaun walk past the sweet shop and see him stop and look in the window, you think aye-aye. Something is going to go on here. And 'Lula' doubles that jeopardy. She's even cheekier and more out-there than Shaun. Shaun has to keep 'Lula' secret from the world at large, hidden from 'Agent Red' and her cohorts. Shaun is a very clearly defined character and always has been. But in this movie, we definitely see new levels to Shaun. He's given responsibility. And we see how he deals with that. It starts off as organic and then themes start to emerge. The film contrasts the everyday, deliberate plainness of his home farm with the colourful and surreal alien world and hardcore military tech. Shaun’s world in the TV series feels quite contained, quite small in a way. And that 10,000 light years away there's another planet. Then his world just gets huge. The visual elements become more exciting the bigger the journey he goes on. He's excitable and naughty. He’s a flawed character, but in an innocent way. In "Farmageddon", 'Shaun The Sheep’s' blissful, if occasionally mischievous, everyday existence is upended entirely by the arrival of an extra-terrestrial, a cute, crazy, sparkly purple-blue one; 'Lula'. And she’s not just an excuse for some hilarious and action-packed set-pieces, but a character who throws Shaun’s beloved family dynamic into chaos. 'Lula' is an alien who has crash-landed on Earth and finds herself pursued by the dastardly 'Agent Red' and her hazmat-suited goons, a bunch of secret and sinister government types out to prove the existence of aliens and capture their quarry by any means necessary. It’s up to Shaun to get 'Lula' home safely. But he’s going to have to pull off all of his greatest ever tricks if he’s going to do it. We've some fun in space. An element of 'Lula’s home is her spaceship and we get to spend a lot of time in that. For him, the spaceship is like the most amazing toy he could imagine. It’s Shaun having to take on responsibility and discovering what it’s like to have to deal with someone who's like Shaun, his naughtiest sibling, basically. Because this new character we've, 'Lula', has emerged as this beautiful thing from a beautiful world. It's decided that she would have certain otherworldly skills and party tricks. But until you put them into the plotting, you don’t know how they’re going to reveal themselves. Also, everything she does has to reflect that character and those attributes. She has to be consistent. If we’re saying she's cheeky and a bit of a handful, she has to be that. 'Lula' is in real danger because there are forces out there that will take her away. Shaun has to step up. These are feelings that many people with siblings will identify with. 'Lula' is the key creatives talk this brand-new edition to 'The Shaun The Sheep' universe, his new alien best buddy who's blowing early audiences away. She's a new element of nuance, of Shaun growing up. She’s a young alien who has crash-landed on Earth, and who needs Shaun’s help to get back home. She's a puppet unlike any other in 'The Universe'. She’s stretchy. She moves at a speed that no other character can. Her eyes bug out. Where 'Lula' has ended up is that she’s got such a warmth and charm that she’s quite irresistible. Highlighting her vulnerability and innocence is key, showing that aliens could be just as scared and sensitive as us. You’ve got think about what works in the world of Shaun because she has got to stand next to these characters and feel like she’s from that universe. 'Lula' has emerged as this beautiful thing from a beautiful world, who's beautifully designed. She has certain otherworldly skills and party tricks. But until you put them into the plotting, you don’t know how they’re going to reveal themselves. Where Shaun can, you know, throw a ball and smash a window, she can levitate tractors. She's chaos on another level. It adds a bit of chorus fizz and unusualness. 'Agent Red’s' underground lair is all very 'James Bond'. The stakes are raised in that way. First you see the government agents just in their sinister black van, then you find out they've a secret base deep under 'Mossingham'. The base is called 'MAD', 'The Ministry Of Alien Detection'. It’s been where it's since way, way back, even though they’ve never actually found a 'UFO' before! That’s why 'The Bond Theme' fit, because this place is set up around the time of those earlier movies, in the ‘60s. Not that things ever get too sinister, of course. It’s not quite life or death, but you know they're out to get her. Get ready to meet the dastardly 'Agent Red'. The sci-fi genre is famous for it's iconic villains, and the film delivers on that. So, we've various meetings trying to figure out who she's. There are lots of different approaches. We've a character that isn't black and white, who isn’t a villain just for the sake of being a villain. And she really is a great villain, even if the people she's surrounded by are useless! In particular, she has a team of guys in bright yellow hazmat suits. They’re kind of a comedic troupe that acts almost like a single character. They tend to sort of run around in a little gang, like idiots. Really, when you’re editing them, you deal with them like one character. One failed, not very successful, alien detector character! They frustrate 'Agent Red' greatly, but she’s not just the ‘uptight boss, she’s got much more depth than that. All the way through the film wrestles with who 'Agent Red' is. We realised that if we're going to redeem her, she has to be misunderstood. It’s taken a long time to find the right combination of shots and backstory, to make you understand her. She’s not cruel, she’s driven. She’s misunderstood. It’s easier to have someone just be a plain baddie when you've no dialogue. In many ways, the film makes this way more difficult for us But 'Agent Red' isn't that simple. Her human story makes for a much better resolution. You know, this is a film for kids. At one point 'Agent Red’s' motivation is that she wants a promotion, but for kids that doesn’t mean anything. What she wants needs to be clear from a child’s point of view. Money or promotion doesn’t resonate with children. It has to have a deeper emotional connection. As the film wrangles a vast flock of creative types, it's perhaps no surprise that the favourite character is that of authoritarian big brother, Bitzer (John Sparkes). But while Bitzer is synonymous with taking himself too seriously, the films attitude is a mix of both the serious and the silly; the perfect qualities to steer Shaun on his biggest adventure yet. The most important thing when you're in a position to make decisions is to make a decision quickly and concisely and if you're wrong at a later stage then make the right decision and learn from the mistake you made. In the first movie, Shaun and his mates had a simple goal; they wanted a day off, to get out from the farmer rules. In this the film looks at the relationship between the brothers Shaun and Bitzer. How would that play out? Not that Shaun wants to get rid of Bitzer. He just wants to be free and always do what he wants. So, the film gives him a new character that would force him to take on the Bitzer role, where he has to feel what that feels like, where he would start to appreciate what he does for him. And through this whole story, Bitzer realises that he takes himself too seriously, that his rules are too much. Mischievousness is close to anarchy, in a good way. Youthful rebellion, that’s his modus operandi, isn’t it? There he's, in a very small world. The world of 'Mossy Bottom' farm is deliberately very small and domestic. 'The farmer', as far as he’s concerned, he keeps his sheep in the barn, that’s all he’s aware of. So, they should have a very constrained worldview. But good old Shaun, he doesn’t accept that. He's always pushing the boundaries. Usually the rebel of the stories, straining against the authoritarian rules of the long-suffering sheepdog Bitzer, while always trying to make sure his antics remain unseen by 'The Farmer', the film sees Shaun discover an all-new, and deeply terrifying, emotional frontier. In "Farmageddon" the world’s favourite woolly wonder goes where no sheep has gone before. "Farmageddon" at once elevating the world of 'Shaun The Sheep' to epic new genre heights, but never forgetting the sheer pure heart beating beneath it's woolly exterior. This is a movie that’s about friends and responsibility and what it’s about to meet someone and become best friends. But then we also bring some villains in. We've top secret government organisations, robots, gadgets and gizmos so this whole world opens up. We’re always asking ourselves questions like, ‘what if 'Lula' is as cheeky as Shaun? What does her planet look like? Why do they get along so well? Is her home a bit like his home?’ The film always plays with those ideas. Shaun’s farm is set up almost like one in 'The American Midwest', isolated, with an expanse of cornfields around it and a big horizon in the distance, so the film plays some great crop circle gags. But in terms of the mood, this movie is quite eerie at points. It’s quite cheeky. It’s high summer as far as the corn is concerned, but everywhere else it’s autumn. That gives you your misty forest stuff for the scary bits and also some stunning colouration for daytime in the woods. The difficulty, because of how simple Shaun is, is how to get a human expression out of him. It’s when you get something meaningful out of something simple, that's really quite magical. And Shaun does that. It’s funny. One idea often spawns the next, and you don’t even know it at the time. Shaun is almost a silent movie star with a big heart, and he appeals across the ages. He’s the perfect character for this divided world. It's very timely, isn’t it? This film is something that everyone, adults and children, can sit and watch and all laugh together. There’s nothing better than a laugh to let people forget their differences. What 'Shaun The Sheep' is good at is sending up the way we're as humans. A lot of the premise of 'Shaun The Sheep' is that a lot of what these characters are doing is behind the backs of humans, but we're privy to that. "Farmageddon" is at once a tribute to the classics, and an hilarious, Shaun-shaped reinvention of it's many established tropes. It really plays to that classic, Steven Spielberg-style 'Sci-Fi Genre'. Capturing that spirit of classic sci-fi, and appealing to all ages, is crucial for the film. Most great animation crosses divides, it reminds people that we’re all the same. This is a story about an alien coming to our world and getting accepted. It's a film that works for adults and kids. It's like a Amblin films, these big popcorn family movies. And animation has moved more and more into that space. All characters have a backstory written down somewhere. Because it’s important that everyone has the same understanding of a character. Because if you’ve got 20 animators all animating the same character, they've to all have the same idea of who that character is. It’s essential. You try to keep the characters as concrete as they can be. The only time you might break that's for comedy, for a moment that's funny. And people know these characters. If you talk to kids, they will be able to tell you who Shaun is, who the farmer is, who Bitzer is, and what they’re like. We grew up watching 'Wallace And Gromit', obviously. And Shaun has a tiny amount of screen time in ‘A Close Shave’, but he was just the most adorable and funny character. And his story that has come out of that since grew organically but had these really strong foundations, in that the characters are very clearly defined. Really, it’s all about family. Shaun’s stories are told through the eyes of a boy and his mates. And there’s limitless appeal to a sheep doing things in the human world that the humans don’t see. He’s a challenge to create because in some ways the possibilities are limitless. But there are certain rules without dialogue. A lot of this is based on ideas that relate to our lives. This is a bit of a learning-to-grow-up story. That's sort of the start point. Okay, so we've this alien story. Something happens, the character learns something and moves on a bit. But what does that mean?’ You’re working backwards, always trying to think what’s next for the characters, what’s next for the relationships? The other interesting thing about these films, unlike other feature films, is that they're a serial, so you’ve got to end up back at square one. You need to find accessible things, for a young audience. That doesn’t mean showing them their own lives, necessarily. The film takes the view that there are certain experiences that are fairly common to most people, and certainly one of those is having a younger sibling, or a younger friend, coming along and sort of taking some of the limelight, the spotlight. The experience of being obliged to take responsibility. Initially he has no desire whatsoever to take responsibility, to be a caring fellow. He just sees it as being great fun! An enormous potential for fun. It’s a selfish choice, initially. And then there’s the fundamentally comic idea of the guy who has always been the mischievous one, now getting a taste of his own medicine. We're preparing for our future. The creation of an employee trust is the best solution we've found for our highly creative culture. And of course, those that create value in the company will continue to benefit directly from the value they create. British comedy in America has always been a mysterious thing. A few things cut through and work really well, and it’s really hard to predict what. We've done incredibly well in that world, to make such an impact. We very consciously set out to not take ourselves too seriously, because Hollywood movies for children often contained a very, very strong moral message. It’s become part of the package now. It’s what people positively expect now. That’s okay. But we’re pretty subtle with that moral message! The most important thing is that goodness wins out. Goodness, optimism, humanity wins out, and cynicism and calculation and evil doesn’t. Goodness in the most profound sense. But you don’t have to labour that point. "Farmageddon" is an epic adventure featuring space travel, an alien, a sinister government agency and a quest for the perfect pizza.