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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Song of the Sea is by far one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. It holds emotion in its backgrounds and wonderful colours. Most have never seen animation like it. Song of the Sea holds an element of wonder combined with sadness. It shows both the loss and gain of hope within a character's facial expressions. For example, when Saorise (one of the main protagonists, the selkie) falls ill - they manage to include lines, implying that she's tired. The way this is animated can suggest this is for children, including that the protagonists are only six and (roughly) ten or eleven, but it is not a children's film. The film battles with issues that most children would not be able to comprehend. Added to the Irish folklore, it's overwhelming. The film forces you to pay attention, just so you understand what is going on. It shows us what is beyond our imaginations. Some even suggest research before you watch it, which is a valid point to make. Characters have their own muse, with the father (Conor, voiced by Brendan Gleeson) having sadness, Saorise (voiced by Lucy O'Connell) has a muse of temptation. She struggles to hold back from the ocean, she finds it difficult to stay by her brother; forcing him to tie her by a leash. Ben (voiced by David Rawle) has an ongoing theme of envy, jealous, for his sister. Feeling as if she's praised more, being spiteful towards her for a long duration of the 93 minutes. Furthermore, the emotion. It can sometimes be difficult to convey such feelings within a voice and a drawing. There is a certain scene where Conor is in a pub, drinking a Guinness (adding to the ongoing Irish theme), and you can see his inner torment. Not necessarily from himself but from the lighting of the pub. It's dark, golden light reflecting off some places but not massively. It's dark enough to tell us that he's grieving, black lights connoting it heavily. Saorise is mute. She can't speak. All of her emotion, sickness, is conveyed through her face. For an animator especially, it's difficult to show how she feels within a scene. The storyline relies completely on her. Song of the Sea is execellent in showing her joy when she's swimming with the seals. Her eyes hold wonder and hope within them, it's incredibly clever. Ben, however, speaks as much as he can. Coming across as incredibly spiteful towards a lot of people, seeming very irritating. We learn that Ben is extremely envious of his sister, feeling as if she's more than he is. On her birthday, he's extremely rude towards Saorise and his grandma. The grandma, in fairness, isn't too nice herself. There is one thing that kept me from giving this a full five stars. Song of the Sea has plenty of unexplained plot-holes. At the end, the people and I who watched it had mountains of questions we wanted to be answered. For those with little to no explanation of Irish folklore, we don't understand how or why their mother leaves and why Saorise falls extremely sick. Overall, Song of the Sea is a brilliant watch. It's exceptional at showing the struggles of, even after six years, a grieving family and unexplained disappearances of their mother. For those who have expereinced losing a parent, not even from death, it shows the upset and gives a soft, delicate, punch to the heart. It is certainly not a children's film. It holds issues close that today's kids would not grasp. With visual aspects conveying emotion greatly, Song of the Sea smashes your expectations of thinking it's an animated children's film. It tackles myths and real issues in a way animation has only done a few times.

Oppenheimer (2023) Cold, dark and brooding, Oppenheimer misses the mark when it comes to narrative drama. Christopher Nolan’s $100 million summer blockbuster explores the making of the atomic bomb, and America’s tumultuous attempts to come to terms with what it unleashed.   Over three long hours, Nolan time-hops between the 1920s through to the 1950s as American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) develops the bomb and struggles with its moral and political fallout. Oppenheimer is brought on to the Manhattan Project by the US Army’s Leslie Groves (Matt Damon), and the story is woven with two complex love interests in Kitty Oppenheimer (Emily Blunt) and Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh).   Many of the post-war scenes centre on the jealousies and obsessions of Lewis Strauss (Robert Downie Jr.), chair of the US Atomic Energy Commission, as he seeks the Senate’s approval to join Eisenhower’s cabinet.   This is undoubtedly an all-star cast, but beyond the wry wit of Damon’s character, the ensemble inspired little feeling. Is this numbness an ingenious reflection of how most of us feel when trying to comprehend something so morally complex and shudderingly terrifying as nuclear weapons? That may be too generous.   The danger in biopics is that the meandering complexities of people’s real lives rarely lend themselves to excellent narrative cinema. By way of example, a line that jars most with the tone is when the President calls Oppenheimer a “cry-baby”. It felt limp and cheesy, yet a quick internet search later shows it is historically accurate that Truman said this. There’s an irony that if the best Hollywood writers were freed from the constraints of historical record, a more consistent tone could probably have kept the film on track.   Non-linear storytelling is Nolan’s bread and butter, but overall Oppenheimer’s sequencing leaves a lot to be desired. The fundamental flaw is the set-up of a rivalry between Oppenheimer and Strauss, where for much of the film it is not entirely clear what their conflict is even about.   The two main characters barely meet or interact on screen, leading to a frustrating absence of drama. Nolan has the skill to pull this off – he did so exquisitely with Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale’s rival characters in The Prestige – but he may have taken a time and space hop too far here, thawing any sense of friction between the characters.   Oppenheimer is packed with dialogue, but much of it is emotionally muted, faux scientific and essentially dull. Talking about science and showing how people work together in a lab might not sound like a winning recipe, but try telling that to the Oscar-winning writer of The Imitation Game, Graham Moore. The Imitation Game also uses flashbacks and flashforwards, but with a sense of purpose that makes the audience invest more in its main character.   Murphy’s Oppenheimer struggles to draw out the same emotion. Perhaps that is not surprising, given he is the father of the atomic bomb, but the lack of emotional connection to the main characters made it difficult to feel much when they faced tragedy or internal turmoil. Often cinema uses love or romance to help open up their main character, but in this Oppenheimer didn’t prioritise making the audience relate. Most of us aren’t so squishy and perfect as a Rom Com when falling in love, but most of us aren’t so grim and sad as Oppenheimer either.   The film is very America-centric, which may be a conscious choice given the themes of introspection (or lack of). When Oppenheimer is picturing the scenes of destruction caused by the dropping of the A-bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he visualises them within an American lecture theatre. The Americanisation of trauma is reminiscent of the old Vietnam War films made in Hollywood, which can feel a little crass in our globalised world. The moral questioning could have been more powerful if the audience was confronted with the devastation in Japan itself.   Space to explore the moral dilemmas was denied to the audience, perhaps as a reflection of the self-denial that the main characters are experiencing. But while that allows the audience into Oppenheimer’s psyche, it does not necessarily make for compelling viewing. An interesting dynamic is the use of a black and white filter for the scenes furthest in the future, reflecting how the world had stepped backwards since the making of the bomb.   No audience member could walk away without being acutely aware that we live with the means for our own extinction. The themes of Oppenheimer are also timely as questions remain unanswered over who will regulate or control artificial intelligence.   A metaphor about getting carried away with our own abilities might be appropriate as Nolan indulges his love of gritty time-jumps at the expense of viewer satisfaction.

"Corsage" Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Vicky Krieps) is idolized for her beauty and renowned for inspiring fashion trends. But in 1877, ‘Sissi’ celebrates her 40th birthday and must fight to maintain her public image by lacing her corset tighter and tighter. While Elisabeth’s role has been reduced against her wishes to purely performative, her hunger for knowledge and zest for life makes her more and more restless in Vienna. She travels to England and Bavaria, visiting former lovers and old friends, seeking the excitement and purpose of her youth. With a future of strictly ceremonial duties laid out in front of her, Elisabeth rebels against the hyperbolized image of herself and comes up with a plan to protect her legacy. We all grew up with Romy Schneider as Sissi. Depictions of Sissi are everywhere nonetheless. Sissi is certainly Viennas central tourist attraction. The trilogy still screens on television every Christmas. It depicts Empress Elisabeth as a young obedient monarch in a kitschy, folklore-style setting. This Elisabeth, on the other hand, is 40, so she’s an old woman by the standards of her day, grappling with her life and searching for some way to escape it's constraints. Why did Elisabeth have fitness equipment built for her? Why did she refuse to be painted after she was 40? This is the phase in Elisabeth’s life when, on the one hand, she begins to rebel against all the ceremony and, on the other hand, started to withdraw and isolate herself; a time when it had quite obviously become impossible for her to squeeze herself into a predetermined template. There’s that sense of always having to live up to an outsized image of yourself, as that’s the only way for you to gain recognition and love. She lives in a tight corset of self-restraint and societal censure. At first she's still keen to measure up to her own aspirations, as well as satisfying public expectations that she will conform to an idealized image. For decades she helped cement that image with her cult of beauty and iconic braided hairstyle. But Elisabeth has grown older and is tired of passing muster as an image of perfection. Riddled with despair, Elisabeth increasingly withdraws from her life. That’s exactly what the real Elisabeth is said to have done. In later life, she only appeared in public with her face hidden behind a veil, she travelled extensively, and even had a double to take her place on official occasions to avoid having to attend. This is a perpetual state of affairs in women’s lives. Being beautiful is still seen as a woman’s most important and valuable trait. What happens when we all stop pretending? Historical progress has not altered that, despite the women’s movement and emancipation. Women are still considered less valuable if they're overweight or older. An attractive female partner still boosts a man’s status. The only difference between then and now is that people used to talk openly about it; 'All you need to do is be appealing'. After a certain age, women can’t win no matter what they do; they're accused of being vain if they get some work done, but people comment on their wrinkles if they don’t. That’s a particular issue for women in the public eye, like Elisabeth, but it affects all of us because they've a kind of emblematic function. In "Corsage", Elisabeth is overwhelmed by fate. Depressive tendencies are also documented in her family. She's fascinated by poetry, by Heinrich Heine’s poems. Cocaine and heroin naturally penetrate deep into the brain and alter people’s perceptions. In addition, she constantly subjected herself to a kind of slow torture, with diets and endurance sports. Everything she tries by way of distraction appears to be in vain until ultimately the empress comes to a tragic end. What was it like being a woman in 19th -century Europe? Marriage market conventions in particular exerted enormous pressure on women. Back then, if a man married outside his class, for example, if a nobleman wed a commoner, which would have been quite unusual, the bride would promptly be given a noble title. The exact opposite applied for women. If a noblewoman married a commoner, she would need to find even more money to avoid slipping down the social ladder. Just like today, a woman was also expected to be the most beautiful, the most intelligent, the best of all. And of course, everyone lost out in that kind of competitive set-up. Above all, women’s influence steadily waned as they grew older. In those days, women essentially became invisible when they turned 40. Making herself disappear was also a desperate stab at self-empowerment on Elisabeth’s part. Written by Gregory Mann (Corsage • Showtimes London, Wed 21 Dec, Thu 22 Dec, Fri 23 Dec, Sat 24 Dec, Sun 25 Dec, Mon 26 Dec, Tue 27 Dec, Vue Cinema London - West End (Leicester Square), 500 m·Leicester Square, 3 Cranbourn Street, LONDON WC2H 7AL, United Kingdom, 19:45 Curzon Bloomsbury - 2,0 km·The Brunswick, LONDON WC1N 1AW, United Kingdom, 18:00 Vue Cinemas - 3,4 km·Islingto, 36 Parkfield Street, LONDON N1 0PS, United Kingdom, 19:45)

The film has divided critics quite a bit! Check out the Kong: Skull Island Trailer

Much hype has surrounded Spike Lee’s BLACKkKLANSMAN due to its political and racial content, drawing similarities and comparisons to the political climate faced by today’s society in the Donald Trump era of so-called divisive and extremely polarising policies. Based on the memoirs of 2014’s Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth, what does this film say, if anything, about racial inequalities from an era set 50 years before the current POTUS? THE GOOD: The Setup - What became the selling point for this comedy-drama was the hilarity of the plot where we encounter the goings-on of Ron Stallworth, the first black cop of the Colorado Springs Police Department. He quickly moves from the mundane, abusive file room, to an undercover cop who infiltrates the KKK by impersonating a ‘white guy’ over the phone. This endeavour becomes the catalyst for comedy and extreme laughter, highlighting and challenging ideas of ‘blackness’ and ‘whiteness’. The first part of the film is by far the most compelling, quickly setting up the tone, characters, and direction in an entertaining and comical manner. The story is an easy watch, never straying towards anything too complex or convoluted, instead concentrates on a strong script told by interesting, likeable protagonists. The Acting of the Protagonists - Impressive acting was abundant in this movie, including stellar, but limited performances from Alec Baldwin, Robert John Burke, Michael Buscemi, and Ryan Eggold. But it is John David Washington, playing Ron Stallworth who steals the show, whose performance was tight within moments of high-drama and comedy, to the more tender and romantic occasions. John Washington’s acting style has a strong resemblance to his father Denzel, and has clearly been influenced by his father’s mannerisms, tone, and eloquent recital of words. Although John Washington’s performance in BLACKkKLANSMAN isn’t Oscar worthy (but don’t hold me on that), it was still good enough to make us believe that he may one day follow in his father’s footsteps to achieve ‘Best Actor Award’ glory. A pleasant surprise performance came from Adam Driver who plays the more experienced undercover agent David Zimmerman. His character is equally important as Ron Stallworth and probably more interesting due to his Jewish ‘non-practising’ background. Whilst Ron initiates the infiltration over the phone, Driver continues it physically, but his ‘Jewish looks’ arouses suspicion to one of the more wacky members of the Klan who constantly goads David with questions about his background and motives. David Zimmerman reminds us that the Klan isn’t just a black-hating organisation, but one that hates everyone who doesn’t fall or fit under the category of ‘White Christian America’. Like Washington, Driver acts fairly uncontrived without being over the top or excessive, never taking any limelight away from Washington and instead, creating a fun, onscreen charismatic chemistry between them. Representation of the Minority - What seems to be a trend in films surrounding the historical inequalities of the black community (e.g. Hidden Figures, The Help), the representation of African-Americans in BLACKkKLANSMAN in a time of greater bigotry, discrimination and disparity than today, never fell to a poor state of sadness or depression, nor did they let the hate get the best of them (with the exception of one scuffle in the police station), always staying strong and optimistic with humorous interactions to fight against the debauchery of white supremacy. THE BAD: The Middle and End - As said before, BLACKkKLANSMAN takes on an interesting premise - undercover black agent infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan by impersonating a racist, xenophobic white guy over the phone. The pacing of the beginning and setup was fairly quick and helped move the film along in a way that kept the audience interested in what would happen next. However, after the infiltration occurs and Zimmerman meets the head of the faction and its members, the momentum and interest of the film takes a turn to a slower pace with nothing really happening in the story. It’s not boring per se, with romance, funny conversations with David Duke (leader of the Ku Klux Klan), and a scene involving a lie detector keeping us slightly enthused, but the change of pace compared to the beginning made the film drag slightly, and the excitement felt at the beginning disparates. Maybe one reason for the drag is that the film portrays the KKK as this violent, dangerous organisation. But it is never really felt that Zimmerman, or any members of the black liberation group were ever under threat, even though the film seemed like it was giving us hints that something major was about to happen. For example, when Stallworth drives away from the Klan after throwing a plant through their kitchen window, Felix, the most unstable member of the Klan, starts firing his gun, but Zimmerman snatches it from him and fires the gun himself only to purposely miss Stallworth. A few scenes later, Zimmerman and the Klan are on a firing range and Zimmerman hits the targets on point. Felix notices this, and it seems that Felix would work out that Zimmerman is not who he says he is. But nothing substantial ever comes of this. The biggest anti-climax though was the ending. Felix finds out through word of mouth. rather than logical deduction, during the after-dinner party of his initiation that Zimmerman is an imposter, so one would have expected havoc to take place, after all, they just initiated a Jew into their Klan and is eating at the same table as them. But like everything noted before, nothing; no drama, no action, no vengeance. Instead, the finale concentrates on Felix’s wife trying to plant a bomb in order to severely hurt and kill the members of the black liberation group. This part was OK, but rather than the occurrence being the result and natural sequential conclusion of what had gone before, it felt more like a quick ex-machina to wrap everything up, and before you know it, everyone is happy, justice is served, and everyone can go back to their day job. The Antagonists - It is most likely that the majority of the audience watching this film won’t be Donald Trump supporters, and so the biggest mistake Spike Lee makes is the characterisations of the KKK members; they are portrayed as paranoid (no matter how justifiably), feeble and stupid (really really stupid), a stereotype most middle Americans would find offensive and untrue. This is somewhat problematic, as the film does not address the issues why the support came abundant for Donald Trump. Now one could argue that these Trump supporters are paranoid, feeble and stupid, but it is more pragmatic to believe that ideologies like those is what made so many mid-Americans vote for Trump in the first place. Rather than addressing real issues and social depravations faced by white middle-America, it is quite lazy and dangerous for the film to suggest that it is stupidity that lead to the rise of the Trump presidency. What would have been more pragmatic in the film was to highlight the antagonistic character of Walter Breachway, the first member Stallworth contacts over the phone. Walter is the more level-headed, intelligent, charismatic member of the Klan, and one can see why mid-Americans would be drawn to his logical, reasonable, rational thinking, even though a blanket of racism and xenophobia underlines his dogma. Instead, the film decides to demote his status as the head of the faction and swerves towards concentrating on David Duke, a more flimsy, uncharismatic man in comparison. By concentrating on Breachway, at least the film would have offered some form of suggestion as to why supporters voted the way they did, instead of offering us this divisive reasoning, which ironically, can inadvertently bring a bigger gap to the divisions America faces today. The Message - It is clear that the message inferred in BLACKkKLANSMAN speaks about the comparisons of today’s American society under the presidency of Donald Trump, to the historical civil rights campaigns and protests of the 70s, and that after all this time nothing much has changed. It is an interesting ideology that has merits and truth, but the message in the film is so obvious and blatant that it feels slightly preachy, and seems to treat the audience with little belief that they are smart enough to work out semiotics in subtle ways. The last few images of the film were historical scenes of the KKK to the 2017 protests and rallies of Charlottesville, highlighting the tragic death of Heather Hayes, a victim who died after being run over from a vicious car attack. The shift in tone was so abrupt and juxtaposed from the light humour of the film, that the end sequences had a big, emotional impact. Were these images really necessary in any way? Not quite sure. Either way, it is fair to assume that the last few scenes had an impassioned strong-hold on the audience, and so BLACKkKLANSMAN may have had a different affect without it. The Verdict - It was ok. Not as tight or profound as Jordan Peele’s 2017 film Get Out, so not really a must see for the cinema, but no harm in watching it when the film does comes out online. The good humour and the good acting was a delight to see, but the overbearing message and the misuse of characters over-simplified recent historical events. The film neither asks the question or goes into depth as to why Donald Trump became the United States’ President, nor does it give any solution to the ‘Donald Trump problem’. Whilst the intention of the film can be applauded, it feels like the film is exploiting recent events rather than making a commentary about them. Rating: 6½/10

Yardie, based upon the book of the same name, is James Bond’s…sorry Idris Elba’s directional debut. It focuses on a young man who tries to escape his troubled past on the streets of Kingston, Jamaica, to London; only to remain on the same path that led him there in the first place. When he was a young boy, his peaceful older brother was gunned down by a ‘supposed’ member of a rival crew. It led D (Aml Ameen) to want revenge against the killer, only to find him on the streets of the East End where his old flame, and mother to his current child currently lives, in peace, away from the bloodshed.  I love Idris. He’s a brilliant actor and his performance as Stringer Bell in The Wire is the only reason I carried on watching it. I know, controversial, but christ that show is slow and tedious. As a director, well Yardie didn’t cut it for me. There were a lot of good things about it. The mise-en-scene was brilliant, in every scene I felt like I was in Jamaica in the 70′s, or Hackney in the 80′s. The music, the sets, the costumes were brilliant. King Fox, for example, just oozed class throughout the film. I was convinced by that. I just wasn’t convinced by the story. I wasn’t gripped. There seemed like a lot of ideas that put together, just created a complete jumble of nothing. At certain points in the film I thought to myself ‘ooo this is like City of God’ ‘oooo this could be Scarface’ ‘ooo this could be 8 mile’ ‘oooo this is could be This Is England’. But it didn’t pack a punch like these films did. I was disappointed that it felt like this, and this could be due to the trailer. A trailer that featured music that was prominent at the time the film was set, about a young man trying to find his way in the world, set in England and with action scenes. You tell me that isn’t a City-Of-God-8-Mile-This-Is-England-Scarface mash up and I shouldn’t get my hopes up about that.  📷Originally posted by dancebang The two lead actors were wonderfully chosen for the film. D (Aml Ameen) was very charismatic and lead the film superbly. Whilst the narrative was full of exposition, the acting was brilliant. Yvonne (Shantol Jackson) as the mother of his child and girlfriend was beautifully cast. She drove her scenes with the passion and emotion that she produced. She is a wonderful actress and she deserves to be in much more because in Yardie she was sublime. The worst thing for me about this whole thing though was the casting of Stephen Graham as Rico, one of the villains in the film and the drug dealer based in London. Stephen Graham is one of my favourite actors. As a character actor there aren’t many who come close to him. He deserves to be A-List. But my god what was going on here. I’m not annoyed that he was in the film. I’d cast him as anything. Working class hero. But throughout the film he put on a Jamaican accent, it wasn’t a bad accent but he kept flicking between this and the cockney accent because of Hackney. Now I was confused as to why the Jamaican accent was needed. I didn’t know if it was because he was trying to fit into the Jamaican community in London so he could get their respect and trust. He had Jamaicans working for him, who respected him, who at no point looked pissed off with him. Or if the character was culturally appropriating their lifestyle. By flicking between the two he is undermining them. But again, they were never any scenes where the other Jamaican characters looked pissed with him. I think it ruined the whole scene. He was much more menacing just doing the cockney accent. I cringed whenever the Jamaican accent was used. 2/5 Unfortunately as much as I was looking forward to it, and as much as I was hoping it would be amazing, it wasn’t. This could be down to the story not being originally written by Idris. There’s always a conflict when using an adapted screenplay. I hope and I’m sure we will see more of Elba in the director’s chair. There are far too many white, university educated film directors churning out the same pile of Hollywood crap. I want stories by a director from a working class background, I want stories from the Nigerian family, I want stories from the Muslim community. We need stories like Yardie to entertain, and more importantly, educate us. Just hopefully the next film from Idris is more entertaining than his first. p.s I really hope Idris doesn’t become the next 007. And not because I’m a right-wing gammon. But because he’s too good of an actor to be tied down to such a dead franchise. For sure he’d make it exciting. He’d bring it to life and bring the charm back to it. But he’s too good to be stuck as Bond. I wouldn’t complain if he was, I’d rather it be him than Tom Hiddleston or Henry Cavill or *insert another generic middle class name here*

(Wildhood ● BFI Flare London LGBTQ Film Festival ● Thursday 24 March 2022 17:50 BFI Southbank, NFT1 ● Friday 25 March 2022 15:20 BFI Southbank, NFT3) https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Flare/Online/default.asp "Wildhood" In a rural east-coast trailer park, Link (Phillip Lewitski) lives with his toxic father Arvin (Joel Thomas Hynes), his late Indigenous mother Sarah (Savonna Spracklin) and younger half-brother Travis (Avery Winters-Anthony). When Link discovers his Mi'kmaw mother could still be alive, it lights a flame and they make a run for a better life. On the road they meet Pasmay (Joshua Odjick), a pow wow dancer drawn to Link. As the boys journey across Mi’kma’ki, Link finds community, identity, and love in the land where he belongs. When watching "Wildhood", take note that there are two parallel stories playing out concurrently. On the surface, "Wildhood" opens at the point of no return for Link. His childhood, rough and troubled. The pressures of youth have created mounting frustration and anger that he aims inwards and outwards. Link at the start of the film is an untamed wild dog, effortlessly rebellious, someone who fights to the death to protect his kin, but who can also reach into those soft gooey bits that we all have. When he discovers a collection of birthday cards from his mother that his father has hidden from him, he realizes his mother might still be alive. He knows nothing about her or her Mi’kmaw people. For him, this unknown is a path he hasn't walked, and he senses that it might be the key to finding his place. There's nothing for Link in the trailer park where he has lived his whole life. So he moves forward and 'forward' is the woods, the forest, the back roads, the rivers, the lakes. Stepping into that world, he opens himself up to a connection that's always been there, but now, because he's made space, he allows those things to come alive and that relationship with the land to exist. Burning all the bridges behind him, he and his young half-brother, Travis head out. Travis is Link's half-brother from a different mother and brings a freshness and comedy into the story because he's young enough that he can interject moments of levity into serious situations. He can also deliver with piercing truths because he usually has the wrong thing to say at the exact right time, which in the end makes it somehow perfect for the moment. There’s a protectiveness that he has for Travis, that all brothers have, and the growing importance of the relationship with Pasmay, who becomes a protector for these boys. Link meets Pasmay at the most confusing time in his life. As much as Travis is this person Link has leaned on up to this moment, he needs someone his age, at his maturity level, that he can have real genuine conversations with and that's when Pasmay appears. These are two lone wolves spotting each other, and Pasmay wants to create his own pack. That's why he continues to stick around and help Link and Travis. Walking the land is a healing process in itself. Out of that newly opened space, he meets this oddball, handsome, charming, funny guy, Pasmay, who seems like he's got it together. Pasmay knows the Mi'kmaw language, and he recognizes something in this other teenager and so offers to help because Pasmay's looking for a family of his own. And so the three, Link, Travis and Pasmay, begin to travel together. In traveling to find Link's mother, there's a sharing of hardships and triumphs which in turn creates bonds, something Link had never experienced before with anyone other than Travis. Along this journey, all the people Link encounters, from the youngest to the oldest, have something to impart, but not in the Western notion of. Gradually, Link learns something more profound; to observe, to experience and to listen. He hears many things about his mother that paints an incomplete picture that's often at odds with itself. When things are discordant like that, there must be a truth buried somewhere. Pasmay and Link are from different worlds. What they're trying to do, they can't do alone. It's hard to do things alone. In Mi’kmaw language, there’s a conjugation that reflects two people doing activities together. This would have been more common pre-contact because everywhere you went, into the woods, fishing, hunting, there would be at least two people. Pasmay is a 2S person and he knows this, while Link is someone who's moving into that space, but he doesn’t know the depth or meaning of it yet. He's beginning his journey without that connection and it can take many years. He feels fragmented and unbalanced. The common thing for all of the different characters' paths is love, it's always there, but they aren’t ready to see it. Link moves through a fog, trying to find out who he's and where he belongs. Encountering culture, language, and the land help him to heal and rediscover his sense of self, his story. It brings him into that worldview and shows him that he's related to all of the things around him. In the search for his mother, Link doesn't get everything he wants. He gets something that he needs. He gets a connection. He gets to see where he came from. "Wildhood" is a road trip film, and a buddy film. Identity and language being so deeply interconnected, the presence of Mi'kmaw dialogue in the script supports the themes of the film. When connecting or reconnecting with Indigenous culture, you better understand life because the language is descriptive. It’s through the language that the relationship between the People and the land is found and can truly be understood. The language expresses a worldview, a way of seeing things, that's different from a Western way of thinking and doing. It's at the core of importance to identity and history. The Mi’kmaw language extends back over 10,000 years and contains the stories, the land that we live on. Because Mi’kmaw culture is based on oral storytelling and oral histories. Pjila’si guides the heart of Wildhood. It’s used in modern times to mean welcome. dig deeper and the root of the meaning that’s behind it's there, come and take your place. This phrase was used when someone came visiting and could be applied when entering a dwelling, or coming to the community itself. It implies belonging, that there's a place for each of us where we fit, and it's always there, waiting. Two Spirit is a contemporary pan-Indigenous term that encompasses the Indigenous perspectives of gender and sexuality that interconnects with spirituality and cultural identity. It may include any of the terms such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer. Being Two Spirit also binds the historical collective experience into our identity as Two Spirit. It honours the duality of male/female, non-gendered, and non-conforming expressions of gender. The term can be an expression of one's sexuality, or gender, or used interchangeably. It encompasses all of that. All the characters are on a journey of self-discovery. Being Two Spirit means your very nature challenges mainstream ideas of gender and sexuality. When you don’t fit into a rigid perception of identity, there's a struggle to break free, shed your skin, and understand yourself. There's still things to unlearn and to re-learn. And there's still things to discover, but life is certainly a lot better and happier. The result room for something to grow now. And instead of a poorly potted plant in a trailer park scorched to death by the sun, this is a plant in the forest, able to grow and turn into a tree and thrive and bring something back, bring something good. As with the film, the aim of the music is to express a sense of longing for connection and acceptance, of each other, of our surroundings, of the earth, Written by Gregory Mann Wildhood - FIN Atlantic International Film Festival FIN Stream at 7:00pm, September 16th, 2021 for 24 hours.

You decide to go to Mars forever and you forget to tell your husband? I’m open to all kinds of films. It doesn’t have to be a blockbuster with star actors. I love indies as well. And already several times I was lucky enough to see a gem of a movie. A film that’s not well-known to the general public. But to be honest, “Seat 25” is a film that has tested the limits of my stamina. Coincidentally I saw “The Martian” a few days ago on some television channel. “Seat 25” is about a young woman named Faye Banks (Madeleine Cooke) who has won a golden ticket. Just like Charlie in a very different movie. Not to immerse herself in a stream of chocolate in the factory of Willy Wonka, but to become a member of a team that booked a one-way trip to Mars. It all looks boring. Or not? So, are you looking forward to an exciting SF with the red planet as the central theme, then you can skip this one. Apart from some red-tinted images of a sandy, rocky landscape, there’s not much interplanetary to see. Sometimes it seems as if Faye is living on another planet. But don’t expect similar action sequences like Matt Damon did in “The Martian“. Or scenes with a large rocket. Or an overcrowded Control Center. The only thing that just kind of stuck with me is that it all seemed terribly boring and everything seemed so insignificant. Really everything radiates dullness. Faye is boring. Her family is boring. Her clothes look dull. Her work is boring. The colleagues are boring. Fay’s life in itself is boring. Mr. Popescu (Adnan Rashad) was dead tired of all the dullness in his life. The conversations are boring. The interior is boring (Yeak, those symmetrically placed pillows). You’d fly to Mars for less. Neighbor Peter (Stephen Lloyd) and his daughter Flossie are the only ones who breach this overall dullness. She’s also a science person. It’s not only the monotony of her life Faye wants to escape from. She also seems to have a degree in science. You can easily deduce this from the fact that her husband Jim (Nicholas Banks) persuades her to take a job at a certain moment, even though it has nothing to do with science (“I know it’s not in science, but it’s a job. We need the money “). That Jim-guy really is an intrusive and bossy fellow. And probably this trip to Mars is an unfulfilled wish of her. Seems quite obvious to me when you look at her box full of high-tech scientific material: a space helmet made of aluminum foil, a few pictures frames with space photographs and a pile of VHS tapes about planets from our galaxy. Probably these are remnants of demonstration material that she used for her thesis. The Mars issue isn’t the most important thing. Maybe it all sounds a bit sarcastic and it might be better to simply skip this film. It’s indeed all rather slow and boring. The whole story is infused with melancholy and sadness. So you won’t feel happy or excited about this movie. And yet it did fascinate me in one way or another. Forget about the science part. About a Mars trip. And you’ll discover an interesting story about how an individual is trapped in a daily routine. A life Faye isn’t really satisfied with. And maybe she expected more of life. Hence her candidacy for seat number 25. When is she going to tell it?. Madeleine Cooke isn’t only a fun and attractive appearance. She plays the role of the timid and introverted Faye in a perfect way. Even though it sometimes seems as if Faye is feeble-minded and spends more time looking at the sky. Or reads the discharge procedure for the umpteenth time in an apathetic way. Or has lunch on that bench in the park in an upright sitting posture while staring into space. And the whole time I was asking myself two things. Will she make the decision and leave everything behind to go on an adventure? And when is she going to tell she’s the chosen one? There really is a trip to Mars? No, “Seat 25” is not high-quality cinema. And no, it really isn’t SF. It’s rather melodramatic. Even though it sometimes comes across as humorous (but that has more to do with English correctness and stiffness). The film focuses more on the relations between everyday people. Faye has the choice between going to Mars on her own or staying in her current family situation. For her, the first option will be more satisfactory. Now she leads an ignored, misunderstood and numb life. With a man who has more eye for his own career and therefore is punctual and precise in terms of work. It’s a man who decides on his own that it’s time for them to have children. And Faye’s sister lives in her own pretentious world. And finally, her parents treat her as a stranger. Not really a rosy life. There was only one thing I doubted at first. And that was whether the whole thing about flying to Mars wasn’t something that only existed in Faye’s imagination. My rating 6/10 Links: IMDB

(Release Info London schedule; Curzon Victoria, 58 Victoria Street Westminster, London SW1E 6QW, The Courier, Fri 13 AUG, 11:00 15:30 21:00) https://we-love-cinema.com/cinemas/386-curzon-victoria/ "The Courier" "The Courier" is a true-life spy thriller, the story of an unassuming 'British' businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. At the behest of 'The UK's MI-6' and Emily Donovan (Rachel Brosnahan), a 'CIA' operative, he forms a covert, dangerous partnership with 'Soviet' officer Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) in an effort to provide crucial intelligence needed to prevent a nuclear confrontation and defuse 'The Cuban Missile Crisis'. On 16, October 1962, President John F Kennedy is handed high-altitude photographs taken from 'U-2' planes flying over Cuba that shows 'Soviet' soldiers setting up nuclear-armed missiles on the island. 'The United States' have been tipped-off that 'The Soviet Union' is putting nuclear warheads on 'The Caribbean Island'. 'The Cuban Missile Crisis' sees the world on the brink of nuclear war. Greville Wynne has a sense of humour, doggedness, and an unexpected strength. This guy goes on an extraordinary journey. From being an ordinary businessman, one who's quite severely dyslexic, almost to the point of illiteracy, to being a conduit for 'The West' to get the most important bit of secret information during 'The Cold War' and 'The Cuban Missile Crisis'. It's about an everyday guy in the centre of that world with all these thrilling elements and this massive global political backdrop while it’s about him and his family, and he ends up trying to save the world. Wynne’s mission is to make contact with a 'Soviet' military intelligence colonel named Oleg Penkovsky. They strike up a significant friendship. Penkovsky likes him and trusts him. And Penkovsky sees that loyalty returned when Wynne tries to help him escape. Wynne returns to Moscow even after being warned that he would put himself in peril by doing so. Wynne decides that he has to help his friend Penkovsky escape. 'The KGB' catches Wynne trying to help his friend, and he's arrested on 11 May 1963, and subsequently is sentenced to 8 years in jail. And then we get the tragedy of this very ordinary man being stretched to the limits of his endurance, physically and mentally in a 'Russian Gulag'. What he endures is all the more incredible considering he isn't a trained spook and he has no background or inclination to do the work he's asked to do. He's released from jail in exchange for the spy Gordon Lonsdale (Jonathan Harden) in 1964. The prison experience changed Wynne. He falls into a state where his mental health is challenged. He becomes an alcoholic and leaves his wife. He lost his business income and so, needed money. Then there's the secrecy that's part and parcel of espionage so 'MI6' never acknowledge his work even after he's released. 'The British' government never publicly acknowledged anything he did or thanked him for what he has done. "The Courier" culminates with Wynne shaven-headed and alone in prison. The film hints that even when he's released all will not be well. He's a broken man no longer at peace with himself. Oleg Penkovsky is a legendary source that 'The Americans' have in 'The Soviet Union'. Penkovsky, codenamed 'Hero', is a 'Soviet' military intelligence colonel during the 1950s and early 1960s. Born in Vladikavkaz in 1919, his father died fighting as an officer in 'The White Army' during 'The Russian Civil War'. He has to hide parts of his past because he's related to a man who's the enemy of 'The Communists'. He has to carry this on his back. Penkovsky is able to detract attention from his family history by proving his belief in the cause by joining 'The Soviet' army. He's very well respected in the military world but after the war, no one cared about this anymore. He has all of these medals, but he's just a high-ranking bureaucrat. This guy is fearless, narcissistic and self-obsessed. He’s like a forgotten actor who wants to have a big comeback. His ego is also what make Penkovsky think he could get away with being a whistle-blower. He's convinced that this would never happen to him because he thinks he's too smart and by the time 'The Soviets' would find out, he would already be living in Montana, in 'The United States'. The friendship with Wynne blossoms so quickly because they've shared experiences. They understand how much they both risked. There's a need to give each other support. It's quite interesting the idea that if you've someone and you do have a family and it matters to you, how do you manage when a big chunk of your life is off-limits. One of the things that push Penkovsky and Wynne together in the film is that they both share this problem. Sheila (Jessie Buckley) is Wynne's wife. There's hardly any information about Sheila at all. Sheila has to constantly keep a lid on her emotions. There are a lot of suppressed emotions in the sixties, especially a housewife who's unhappy and unfulfilled in life. Everything is smoke screens and smiles behind pained eyes. Basically, lots of quiet moments which are interrupted with sharp sips of martinis. Emily, 'The CIA' operative comes up with the idea of using Wynne to get information out of Moscow. She's a composite of a few of the real-life 'CIA' officers who worked the Wynne and Penkovsky operation. Emily is fictional, in the sense that at the time, the officers who worked on this operation are all men. Being a woman operating in a very patriarchal world, Emily has to be very strategic and clever to get her own way. Emily needs to use plenty of wiles to manipulate the men around her. Her male superiors need to believe that they're calling the shots even when they're implementing plans conjured up by Emily. Is it patriotism alone? Is it a desire to prove her worth in a male-dominated world, or even a male-dominated profession? Did she have a personal connection to this war that drove her? To get what she wants, Emily must appear non-threatening. That’s largely a period thing, but also a battle that women still fight today. Emily believes that she’s the smartest person in the room or at the very least, she has something valuable to This film is about the history of 'Russian American' espionage. There’s a long history of successful great 'Cold War' thrillers, the difference here's that rather than being about inscrutable people with inscrutable motives it has a clear emotional heart, and it's essentially about a relationship between two men who did something extraordinary. In October 1962, 'Soviet' ballistic missiles were being deployed in Cuba. President Kennedy demanded their removal. When Khruschev refused, both sides began preparations for a nuclear war. For 13 days, a policy of brinksmanship saw the world facing the threat of nuclear war. The world was going to end. People crowding into churches who had never been to church. This sent many around the world into a state of panic. The world sort of held its breath, it’s not just a fight between two countries, it’s every country in between them that would be affected. The film incorporates the crisis into the screenplay. Just trying to get a sense of that fear and helplessness that people felt that the world might end and there's not a 'God' damn thing we can do about it. You had ships sailing to Cuba with missiles, you had 'The Americans armed and ready and you had everybody hovering over buttons and codes. It only takes a few hotheads in charge of the codes, a few polarised opinions and people shutting off and not having a dialogue for catastrophe to happen. A generation had passed since the end of 'The Second World War', and new functional architecture had been appearing around the globe. The clothes were changing, but the swinging sixties had yet to arrive. The film shows the competition between 'The Soviet Union' and 'The United States'. Both superpowers were pursuing initiatives trying to demonstrate that their way of doing things created a better life for their citizens and more advanced technology. There's this big epic feeling of the architecture during that time because of the competition between the two countries, particularly in the sixties with 'Brutalist' architecture and 'Soviet' architecture. There was no nuclear war that such a scenario was not only feasibl but that many feared it would be inevitable. "The Courier" seems to be part of our history. The drama feels immediate and visceral. In the past four years, with Korea, Trump, China, and the pulling up all the old nuclear treaties between Russia and America, "The Courier" feels a little bit urgent in a rather scary way.

(Release Info London schedule; December 23rd, 2019, Hackney Picturehouse, 270 Mare St, London E8 1HE, United Kingdom, 20:30) https://www.picturehouses.com/movie-details/000/HO00010390/ip-man-4-the-finale-plus-q-a "IP MAN 4" Mixed martial arts superstar 'Ip Man' (Donnie Yen) is back for the final installment of 'The Ip Man Universe Franchise' in "Ip Man 4: The Finale". 'Ip Man' reprises his role as the legendary 'Wing Chun' master in the grand finale of the revolutionary martial arts series. Following the death of his wife, 'Ip Man' travels to San Francisco to ease tensions between the local 'Kung Fu' masters and his star student, Bruce Lee (Danny Chan), while searching for a better future for his son Ming (Jim Liu). From the action visionary behind "Kill Bill" and "The Matrix", witness the heroic sendoff to the saga that inspired a new wave of martial arts movie fans. Donnie Yen ignites the screen in a return to his iconic role of 'Ip Man', the real-life 'Wing Chun Kung Fu Master' who mentored Bruce Lee. A kind father, a gentle and caring husband, a just and involved citizen. 'Wing Chung' legend 'Ip Man' is a brave and righteous national hero and martial arts master who has impacted an entire generation. A 'Grandmaster Of Wing Chun' from 'Foshan', 'Ip Man' spent his heydays in Hong Kong. He survived 'The Japanese' invasion of China and endured the injustice of colonial Hong Kong but still managed to defend Chinese dignity through martial arts. Not only is he a highly respected martial artist but also a family man devoted to his wife and children. After his wife’s death, he and his son gradually grew apart. While looking for a school in America for his son, he encounters racial discrimination. The injustice faced by overseas Chinese prompted him to take on the responsibility of a martial artist once again. A 'Tai-Chi' expert who emigrated to San Francisco with his father as a young man, Wan Zong Hua (Wu Yue) has started a new life abroad and has put up with years of racial discrimination and injustice. He set up 'The CCBA' in Chinatown to unite and help fellow overseas Chinese. But when Bruce Lee defies the rules of Chinatown and starts teaching martial arts to foreigners, enmity developed between Wan Zong Hua and 'Ip Man'. The grandmasters also failed to see eye to eye on the issue of national spirit. When 'The U.S.' Immigration gives him undue trouble, he decides to fight back. Deeply influenced and inspired by 'Ip Man', Bruce Lee is an arrogant and gifted boy, a practitioner pursuing perfectionism and a rising star. In addition to 'Wing Chun', he also practiced other martial arts styles and is actively promoting Chinese martial arts. He invites 'Ip Man' to watch him perform at 'The International Karate Championship' in America. He starts teaching martial arts to foreigners and published manuals on Chinese martial arts in English. In doing so, he offenders 'The CCBA' but he receives endorsement from 'Ip Man' regarding his martial arts philosophy. The film uses 'CG' techniques to revive Bruce Lee on the big screen. All rights are generally divided between his surviving brother, Robert Lee, for the work Bruce Lee completed before his marriage; and the late Linda Lee Cadwell, Bruce Lee’s widow, for the work that Bruce Lee completed after his marriage. Bruce Lee remains to be 'Master Ip Man’s' most accomplished disciple, and the film presents the best visual representation of Bruce Lee for this installment of 'The Ip Man' films. Hartman Wu (Van Ness) is a 'Chinese-American' officer of 'The U.S. Marine Corps'. He takes an interest in Chinese martial arts after reading Bruce Lee’s book. He becomes Bruce Lee’s protégé and wants to incorporate Chinese martial arts into the hand combat training of 'The Marine Corps'. But his white supremacist commanding officer Barton Geddes (Scott Adkins) is repulsed by the idea and caused a series of conflicts between east and west cultures. He arranges for 'Ip Man' to fight Barton to prove that different cultures have their own merits. As hand combat instructor of 'The U.S. Marine Corps', Barton is a white supremacist who subscribes to 'American Imperialism'. He vehemently stopps Hartman from bringing Chinese martial arts into 'The Corps' and orders Collins to defeat the representatives of different martial arts sects and mercilessly beat up Wan Zong Hua as a manifestation of white supremacy. When he personally takes on 'Ip Man', he finally got a taste of his own medicine. Outsourced 'Karate' instructor for 'The U.S. Marine Corps', Collins Frater (Chtis Collins) is a firm believer that karate is invincible and sneers at Chinese martial arts. On Barton’s order, Collins shows up in 'Chinatown' on 'Mid-Autumn Festival' and defeats the representatives of different sects. He’s ultimately defeated by 'Ip Man'. Practiced by 'Ip Man' in the film and in real life, 'Wing Chun' is initially derided as only being suitable for girls. They change their tune quickly, however, after seeing the ferociousness with which 'Ip Man' effortlessly defeats opponents. Accounts on the origin of 'Wing Chun' differ, but the most common version names southern 'Shaolin' nun 'Ng Mui' as it's founder. While visiting 'Foshan' in 'Guangdong' in the late 'Qing Dynasty', 'Ng Mui' came across 'Yim Wing-Chun', the beautiful daughter of a tofu vender who was often harassed by local gangsters. To help her defend herself, 'Ng Mui' then taught her select moves that were suitable for girls. Being a talented learner, 'Yim Wing-Chun' soon gained a grasp on the essence of the moves. She developed a series of moves for practice and named them 'Wing Chun'. Developed as a method of self-defense for women, 'Wing Chun' is a practical school of boxing characterized by it's tall and narrow stance, relaxed softness, and directness of action in contrast with the low and wide stance and high-impact moves of other schools. Toward the end of the reign of 'Emperor Jiaquin', 'Master Yim' married 'Leung Bok-Sau' and taught him all she had learned. Leung eventually taught 'Wing Chun' to 'Wong Wah-Bo' and 'Leung Yi-Tai' on a boat in exchange for the manual of the six and a half point pole, which has since become an essential weapon used by 'Wing Chun' practitioners. 'Wong Wah-Bo' passed his 'Wing Chun' skills to 'Leung Chun', a respected local doctor with a very good reputation, extensive social network, and a passion for martial arts. Despite his wide exposure in martial arts, he was hardly satisfied with his skills until he learned 'Wing Chun' from 'Wong'. Recognizing the superb tactics and mastery of power and stance in 'Wing Chun', 'Leung' put his heart into it and mastered 'The Siu Nim Tau', 'Chum Kiu' ('Seeking Bridge') and 'Bil Jee' ('Darting Fingers') forms, as well as wooden dummy boxing, the six and a half point pole, and eight slashing knives. He also put 'Wing Chun' to practical use and gave local bullies and gangsters a hard time. 'Wing Chun' became well-known in 'Lingnan' as a result, while 'Leung' acquired fame as 'The King Of Wing Chun'. However, being a philanthropist, 'Leung' spent most of his time on his medical practice instead of 'Wing Chun' teaching, and only 'Chan' and 'Leung Bik' learned 'Wing Chun' from him. Although the legend was known by many, it was only practiced by a few and was therefore regarded as a mystery. Living in 'Chan' village in 'Foshan', 'Chan Wah-Shun' worked as a money changer in his youth and was known as 'Money Changer Wah'. He frequently visited Leung’s clinic for work and eventually became 'Leung’s' pupil and learned the essence of his art. After the death of 'Leung', more and more people approached 'Wah' for guidance on 'Wing Chun'. 'Wah' then quit his work as a money changer and concentrated on 'Wing Chun' teaching. He was the first 'Wing Chun Master' to establish his own wushu school. Apart from boxing sequences and individual moves, 'Chi Sau' ('hand-sticking') is another important element of 'Wing Chun' that requires extensive training to master. One-on-one coaching is required and 'Wah' was obliged to keep only a few pupils and charge expensive rates. Therefore, most of his pupils were boys from rich families and 'Wing Chun' acquired a reputation as boxing for rich boys. Among 'Wah's' pupils were 'Ng Chung-Sok', 'Ho Hon-Lui', 'Lui Yu-Chai', his own son 'Chan Yu-Gum', and 'Ip Man', his last pupil, who would eventually turn 'Wing Chun' into one of the most popular Chinese martial arts. 'Ip' joined 'Wah’s' wushu school at the age of seven. Then an old man, 'Wah' was very fond of the boy and taught him with great devotion. After the death of 'Wah', 'Ng Chung-Sok', his first pupil, took very good care of 'Ip' and continued to guide him in his practice. After three years of hard work, 'Ip' had learned the essence of 'Wah's' skills. Relocating to Hong Kong to pursue his studies, 'Ip', then 16 years old, met 'Leung Bik', the second son of 'Leung Chun'. 'Ip' then studied under 'Leung Bik' for three years. It proved a great opportunity for him, and Ip saw great advancement in his skills. Upon his return to 'Foshan', 'Ip' supported the cause of justice with his expertise in martial arts and once again brought great fame to the art of 'Wing Chun'. However, with the invasion of 'The Japanese', 'Ip' fled with his family and did not have a chance to teach. After 'The Sino-Japanese War', 'Ip' revisited Hong Kong and settled down to teach 'Wing Chun'. After painstaking scouting, he found a teaching job at a restaurant employees union on 'Tai Nam' street in 'Sham Shui Po' with the recommendation of his friend 'Li Man', and took up a career in teaching. Well-educated in western science and reason, 'Ip' taught 'Wing Chun' in a scientific manner, stressing the importance of logic, line, and angle of attack, control of force, and psychology, among other things. He also abandoned the traditional way of teaching and encouraged learners to look further than specific moves and instead try to grasp the essence, and strike as their hearts pleased. Ip taught differently according to the abilities of each pupil, ensuring each of them learned efficiently and developed their own talents. The art of 'Wing Chun' flourished with 'Ip’s' new way of teaching. Unlike many other teachers, 'Ip' encouraged his pupils to engage in combat with outsiders in order to understand their own weaknesses. This helped spread the name of 'Wing Chun' throughout the city and attracted many talented young people to 'Ip’s' school. The late kung fu superstar, Bruce Lee, who introduced Chinese martial arts to the world, was one of them. 'Ip' spent a lifetime teaching 'Wing Chun' and many of his pupils enjoyed great success, gaining enormous fame for the art of 'Wing Chun' in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and 'Southeast Asia'. With his invaluable contribution to the development of 'Wing Chun', 'Ip" came to be regarded as one of the greatest masters by 'Wing Chun' practitioners. From a method of self-defense for women, 'Wing Chun' developed into a powerful practical combat martial art over several decades, and from it's origin in 'Foshan', it has established fame and a keen following in different corners of the world. Highly regarded around the world, it's now the most popular form of 'Chinese Wushu' among foreigners. There's an agreed account on it's origin and development; founded by 'Yim Wing-Chun', the art took roots in the hands of 'Leung Chun' and blossomed under 'Ip Man'.

(Release Info UK schedule; January 17th, 2020, Glasgow Film Theatre, 12 Rose Street, Glasgow, G3 6RB, 13:30 19:30) https://film.list.co.uk/listing/1447804-a-hidden-life "A Hidden Life" Based on real events, "A Hidden Life" is the story of an unsung hero, Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl), who refused to fight for 'The Nazis' in 'World War II'. When the Austrian peasant farmer is faced with the threat of execution for treason, it's his unwavering faith and his love for his wife Franziska (Valerie Pachner) and children that keep his spirit alive. "A Hidden Life" is based on the true story of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian peasant farmer, who refused to take the oath of allegiance to Hitler during 'World War II', sacrificing everything, including his life, rather than to fight for 'The Nazis'. Born and raised in the village of 'St. Radegund', Jägerstätter is farming his land when war breaks out. Married to Franziska, the couple are very much in love and involved with the tight-knit community. They live a simple life in the fertile valleys and mountains of upper Austria, with the passing years marked by the arrival of the couple’s three girls Maria (Sarah Born), Rosalia (Karin Neuhäuser) and Aloisa (Franziska Lang). When Franz is called up to basic training, a requirement for all Austrian men, he's away from his beloved wife and children for months. Eventually, when France surrenders and it seems the war might end soon, he's sent back home. His mother and sister-in-law Resie (Maria Simon) come to live with them, and for a while things seem to go on as normal. Instead of retreating, the war escalates, and Franz and the other men in the village are called up to fight. The first requirement of a new soldier is to swear an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler and 'The German State'. Despite pleas from his neighbors, fellow soldiers and commanding officers, Franz refuses the oath; objecting to Hitler and 'The Nazi Regime'. With his quiet act of resistance he asks the question, if leaders are evil, what does one do? With a sense of personal responsibility and the inability to do what he believes is wrong. Meanwhile Franziska is left to deal with the aftermath of his decision. Not only is she now the caretaker of the family’s farm as well as her three young daughters, she's iostracized from her community. Fear of Hitler forces once kindly neighbors to turn their backs on 'The Jägerstätter Family'. Wrestling with the knowledge that his decision would mean arrest and likely death, Franz finds strength in Franziska's love and support. He's imprisoned, first in Enns, then in Berlin; and waits months for trial. During his time in prison, he and Franziska write letters to one another and give each other strength. After months of incarceration, the case goes to trial. Franz is found guilty and sentenced to death. While Franz’s faith drives him to resist taking the oath to Hitler, representatives from religious, civic, government and military institutions plead with him to disavow his beliefs and swear his allegiance, even if he's disingenuous, in order to save his life. Franz continues to stand up for his beliefs and is executed by 'The German State' in August 1943. His wife and three daughters survive. The relationship between Franz and his wife Franziska endures. The film portrays their bond as deeply as Franz’s devotion to his cause. At every turn Franziska is there for Franz; strong, unfaltering and supportive of his path while raising their daughters and running the farm alone, eventually with help from her mother-in-law and sister. Franz Jägerstätter is born on May 20th, 1907, in the Austrian village of 'St. Radegund'. His mother is an unmarried farm servant, Rosalia Huber (Jasmin Mairhofer). His father died in 'The First World War'. Franz’s formal education is slight and brief. From 1913 to 1921 he attends the one-room school in 'St. Radegund', where a single teacher taught seven grades. At a given time, there are about fifty to sixty children in all. But one sees from his writing that he's a quick learner with a well-organized and independent mind. Franz’s birthplace is as inauspicious as his education. The village of 'St. Radegund', on the 'River Salzach , is on the northwestern edge of Austria. The village, with a population of about five hundred, appears only on the most detailed maps of Austria. Mozart’s 'Salzburg" is to the south, 'Linz' to the east, 'Vienna' much further east. The closest major German city is 'Munich'. Hitler’s birthplace, the Austrian town of 'Braunau', isn’t far from 'St. Radegund'. Franz grows up mainly among farmers. 'The Jägerstätter' farm is one among many in the area. It's a region in which 'Catholicism' is deeply embedded. The idea of not being 'Catholic' is, for nearly everyone Franz knows, as unthinkable as moving to another planet, though he has a cousin who becomes a 'Jehovah’s Witness'. One reads in the accounts of saints lives how pious some of them are from the cradle to the grave. The stories local people tell of Franz as a young man go in the opposite direction. In his teens he isn't hesitant to get involved in fistfights. He enjoys all the pastimes that his friends enjoyed. Along with all his neighbors, he goes to church when everyone else did, but no one would have remarked on his being a saint in the making. In 1930, at age twenty-three, Franz works for a time in the Austrian mining town of 'Eisenerz'. Returning to 'St. Radegund', Franz surprises his family and neighbors by arriving on a motorcycle he has purchased with money he earned in the city. No one else in the area has a motorcycle. The most important single factor attributed to bring about a change in Franz is his marriage to Franziska Schwaninger. Nearly everyone who lives in the area saw this as the main border-crossing event of his adult life. Franz is a different man afterward. Franziska is six years younger than Franz. She's very strong having been brought up in that area. She comes from a deeply religious family; her father and grandmother are both members of 'The Marian Congregation'. Her grandmother belonged to 'The Third Order Of St. Francis'. Before Franziska’s marriage, she has considered becoming a nun. After a short engagement, the two marries on April 9th, 1936. Franz is almost twenty-nine, Franziska twenty-three. It's a happy marriage. In one of his letters to Franziska during his period of army training in 1940, he mentions how fortunate and harmonious have been their years of marriage. Years after her father’s death, 'The Jägerstätter’s' eldest daughter, wondering aloud whether she would ever marry, recalls her mother warning her that married couples often fight. They've three children, all daughters; Rosalia in 1937, Maria in 1938, and Aloisia in 1940. There's not a marriage out of touch with the world beyond their farm. Franz and Franziska are attentive to what's going on just across the river from 'St. Radegund' in Germany. On March 12th, 1938, 'The Eighth Army' of 'The German State' crosses 'The German-Austrian' border. Assisted by 'The Local Nazi' movement and supported by the vast majority of the Austrian population, German troops quickly take control of Austria then organized a national plebiscite on April 10th to confirm the union with Germany. With few daring to vote against what have already been imposed by military methods, 'The Annexation' of Austria by Germany was even ratified by popular ballot. Austria, now an integral part of 'Nazi-Germany', ceased to exist as an independent state. Well before 'The Annexation', Franz has been an 'Anti-Nazi', but the event that brought his aversion to a much deeper level is a remarkable dream he has in January 1938. Perhaps it's triggered by a newspaper article he has read a few days earlier reporting that 150,000 more young people have been accepted into 'The Hitler Youth Movement'. In his dream he sees a wonderful train coming around a mountain. This train is going to hell. The train, he realizes, symbolized the glittering 'Nazi Regime' with all it's spectacles and it's associated organizations, 'Hitler Youth' being one of the most important and spiritual corrupting. In 'St. Radegund' it's widely known that Franz, ignoring the advice of his neighbors, has voted against 'The Annexation', but, in the reporting of the new regime in Vienna, Franz’s solitary vote was left unrecorded. It's seen as endangering the village to put on record that even one person has dared raise a discordant voice. After all, as Franz is painfully aware, even Austria’s 'Catholic' hierarchy had advocated a yes vote. Afterward 'Cardinal' Innitzer (Thomas Prenn), principal hierarch of 'The Catholic Church' in Austria, signed a declaration endorsing 'The Annexation'. Having become citizens of Germany, every able Austrian is subject to conscription. Franz is called up in June 1940, taking his military vow in 'Braunau', Hitler’s birthplace, but a few days later he returns to his farm, as farmers are needed no less than soldiers. Franz realizes that a return to the army is not possible for him. Even at the cost of his life, he would have to say no. Franz readily talked about his views with anyone who would listen. Most often he's told that his main responsibility is to his family and that it would be better to risk death in the army on their behalf than to take steps that would almost certainly guarantee his death. While he would certainly do what he could to preserve his life for the sake of his family, Franz notes that self-preservation did not make it permissible to go and murder other people’s families. He points out that to accept military service also means leaving his family without any assurance he would return alive. Franz even managed to meet with the bishop of Linz, Joseph Fliesser (Michael Nyqvist). Franziska is in the adjacent waiting room. When Franz comes out of the bishop’s consulting room, Franziska recalls that he's very sad. They don’t dare commit themselves or it will be their turn next. Having gone through his training, nearly two years went by without Franz’s receiving a summons to return to the army. Throughout that period, each time mail is delivered to 'The Jägerstätter' farm, both husband and wife are in dread. Finally on February 23rd, 1943, the fateful letter arrived. Franz is ordered to report to a military base in 'Enns', near 'Linz', two days later. At the station in 'Tittmoning', Franz and Franziska could not let go of each other until the train’s movement forced them out to separate. Franz is already two days late for his appointment at 'Enns'. The following day Franz is placed under arrest and transported to the military remand prison in nearby Linz. No one knows better than Franziska how carefully thought out is the position Franz is taking. Even so, it's impossible for her not to encourage him occasionally to search for some alternate path that might not violate his conscience but perhaps would save his life. In the army base at 'Enns' people traps him by means of trick questions and so as to make him once again into a soldier. It's not easy to keep his conviction. It may become even more difficult. Without warning, on May 4th, 1943, Franz is taken by train to the prison at 'Tegel', a suburb of 'Berlin'. Here Franz would spend the last three months of his life in solitary confinement. On July 6th, 1943, a brief trial occurred. Franz is convicted of 'undermining military morale' by inciting the refusal to perform the required service in 'The German Army'. Franz is sentenced to death. On July 9th, 1943, Franz and Franziska have a last meeting. On July 14th, 1943, Franz’s death sentence is confirmed by 'The German State War Court'. During his time in 'Berlin', Franz was permitted to write only one letter to Franziska each month, plus a fourth that was written on the day of his execution. The four letters bear witness to his extraordinary calm, conviction, and even happiness. On August 9th, 1943, Franz is taken to Brandenburg where, at about 4:00 p.m., he's killed by guillotine. He dies with no expectation that his sacrifice would make any difference to anyone. He knows that, for his neighbors, the refusal of army service is incomprehensible, an act of folly, a sin against his family, his community, and even his church, which has called on no one to refuse military service. Franz knows that, beyond his family and community, his death would go entirely unnoticed and have no impact on 'The Nazi' movement or hasten the end of the war. He would soon be forgotten. Who would remember or care about 'The Anti-Nazi Gesture' of an uneducated farmer? He would be just one more filed-away name among many thousands who were tried and executed with bureaucratic indifference during 'The Nazi Era'. The film is set in 'St. Radegund' where the events depicted actually took place, including certain interiors of 'The Jägerstätter' house, which has over the years become a pilgrimage site, as well as by 'The Salzach' river near 'St. Radegund' and in the woods below the house. 'St. Radegund' is a small village of 500 people in 'Upper Austria', near Salzburg and 'The German Border', in the same province where Hitler was born and spent his early youth, not far from Berchtesgaden, his mountain retreat during his years as head of 'The German State'. The clock visible on the wall of 'The Jägerstätter' living room is the one that Franziska is listening to when, at four in the afternoon on August 9th, 1943, at the very hour of Franz’s execution, she remembered feeling her husband’s presence. The bedroom is theirs and looks as it did then. Her embroidery still hangs on the walls. Franz and Franziska’s three daughters, Maria, Rosalia and Aloisa live in, or near, 'St. Radegund'. The story plays in churches and cathedrals, farms with real livestock, orchards, up mountains, in fields and along rural pathways. Nature and the natural environment are part of the subtext and the locations provided us with a foundation to build up from. In addition to his work as a farmer, Franz Jägerstätter serves as a sexton at the local church. He cleanes, rang the bell, and prepared weddings and funerals; without compensation and in addition to his duties as a farmer. The family’s various pursuits required a wardrobe that reflects not just their interests but their economic status. There's always imagination with costumes. But in this case, the most important part is getting as close to the reality as possible. The historic background of the story requires modern buildings and signs of contemporary life. The film draws on actual letters exchanged between Franz and Franziska while Jägerstätter was in prison. The collection was edited by Erna Putz and published in English by 'Orbis Books'. Some lines have been added to the letters, and sometimes the letters are paraphrased. The story was little known outside of 'St. Radegund', and might never have been discovered, were it not for the research of Gordon Zahn, an American who visited the village in the 1970s. Franziska passed away in 2013, aged 100. Today, the fields around 'St. Radegund' are covered in corn, a crop that's not grown at the time, as well as with power lines and modern houses, some immediately adjacent to 'The Jägerstätter’s' own. "A Hidden Life" primarily uses natural light, turning to artificial illumination only on rare occasions. Changing lighting conditions requires a continuous attention for stop changes to ensure proper exposure. For all the other sets, including the prison cells, the film works with the sun, adjusting the schedule to the appropriate time of day. The film is shot digitally on 'The Red Epic Dragon' camera system. The camera is selected for it's ability to handle stark contrast within a scene, preserving details in both the highlights and shadows of the image, while still maintaining realistic color. The film focuses on the emotional journeys and crises of conscience of the characters, the music reflects their story. The solo violin throughout the film embodies the connection between the two main characters. It’s an extraordinary, enduring love story that investigates human reactions and motivations and just how far people will push for their beliefs and conscience. It asks hard questions; do you've the right to hurt people that you love in service of the greater good? Ultimately, it's a timeless story of devotion, love and forgiveness. People relied on each other, and at that time that also means that you could not break out and be different. You've to toe the line. For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in the unvisited tombs.

/05/23/23/ Picturehouse Central, 6:15 pm Fulham Road Picturehouse, 8:00 pm "Master Gardener" "Master Gardener" follows Narvel Roth (Joel Edgerton), the meticulous horticulturist of Gracewood Gardens. He's as much devoted to tending the grounds of this beautiful and historic estate, to pandering to his employer, the wealthy dowager Mrs. Haverhill (Sigourney Weaver). When Mrs. Haverhill demands that he take on her wayward and troubled great-niece Maya (Quintessa Swindell) as a new apprentice, chaos enters Narvel’s spartan existence, unlocking dark secrets from a buried violent past that threaten them all. "Master Gardener" is a potent tale of a man tormented by his past as a white supremacist gun-for-hire, which captures the racial tensions of contemporary America. Although not initially envisaged as a trilogy, "Master Gardener" marks the culmination of a tryptic of films that began in 2017 with "First Reformed". Like "The Card Counter" (2021) before it, "Master Gardener" is a bold new take on a man in a room narratives, where a lonely figure, wrestling with his past and hiding behind his day job, waits for something to change. The character first evolved with "Taxi Driver" (1976), which was an outgrowth of the existential hero of European Fiction. Each chapter of the trilogy concerns men who are facing existential crises, living lonely lives, hiding behind their day jobs, whether as a reverend, a card player or, as in the case of "Master Gardener", a horticulturist. At the heart of "Master Gardener" is Narvel Roth. He's someone who has a bit of Robert Mitchum about them, who you wouldn’t want to get into a fight with at a bar. It looks like that 1950s American physique, we've seen before with "Warrior" (2011). Narvel, like so many leading men, is a loner. He’s meticulous in his duties, carefully tending the grounds of Gracewood Gardens, a grand house owned by the wealthy dowager, Mrs. Haverhill. When Haverhill’s much-troubled niece, Maya arrives at Gracewood, Narvel finds himself caught between these two women, as his past, present and future collide with dramatic force. Whether it’s being a gigolo ("American Gigolo", 1980), or a drug dealer ("Light Sleeper", 1992), or a gambler ("The Card Counter", 2021) or a gardener, it’s about finding a metaphor. Gardening is a particularly metaphor, both positively and negatively. The films is alluring to a flashback Narvel has when he remembers a white supremacist saying it’s their job to rip out the weeds. But it's equally through gardening that Narvel finds redemption. It all comes back to that man in the room. It starts out with gardening, much like how "The Card Counter" started out with gambling. But this is only the start of the creative process. Why is this gardener such a recluse? From there we remember about the Witness Protection Programme, and again you ask the question, why is he in the programme? This mutes to the idea that he's a gun-for-hire for white supremacists. The story must follow a logic. Asking these questions, means his isolation becomes completely understandable. As his handler tells him, you’ll never be free from this shadow, which is echoed when he says that he wears it on his skin every day in the form of tattoos. Whilst bearing some similar narrative techniques to previous films, "Master Gardener" detours from what has come before. You must create a different social ambience with the film, and then start moving the characters around slightly. Here you not find new wine for your skins. Whilst the framework of the story is akin to previous man in the room narratives, the way the film manipulates and puts a spin on ideas is what leads to such stories. With "Master Gardener", there's the central notion of the triad, whether it's sex, race, and gender, or the character triad of Mrs. Haverhill, Narvel, and Maya. Here you've a man caught between two women, one old enough to be his mother, the other young enough to be his daughter. This is the first time since "Taxi Driver" that we see two women in one of these stories. What was once deemed acceptable on screen has changed dramatically. With this in mind the film wants to tell the story in a way that reflects contemporary society. We no longer accept the idea that a 55- year-old man and a 25-year-old woman is a perfectly normal arrangement. In the film, Maya is in her mid-20s, and Narvel is in his late 40s, whilst Mrs. Haverhill is older than them both. These age gaps to lean into the unease of the film. The age gaps of the characters to add to the unease of the situation. Rather than avoid these complex moral issues the film wants to explore these themes in the narrative. Age, race, and gender make for a good narrative triad, where all the corners of the triangle meet in different ways as they explore the subject matter. "Master Gardener" is a film where age, gender and race collide. This final chapter in the trilogy echoes the message of redemption through love. Across the course of the three films, the man in the room character does not offering new, intriguing perspectives on his tales. All three men find redemption, but often at a price. The intentionally ambiguous ending of "First Reformed" left audiences questioning whether Toller is alive or dead by the film’s end. In "The Card Counter", William Tell finds redemption, but his brutal acts lead him to be incarcerated. "Master Gardener" offers a different, more hopeful perspective, reinforcing the idea that the only hope these existential antiheroes have, is to be found in love. Written by Gregory Mann