top of page
Search Results
Type
Category
806 items found for ""
- "IP Man 4" written by Gregory MannIn Film Reviews·December 19, 2019(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'.00806
- "Beats" written by Gregory MannIn Film Reviews·May 1, 2019(Release Info London schedule; May 8th, 2019, Cineworld Leicester Square, 5-6 Leicester Square, London WC2H 7NA, UK, 20:00 pm) https://film.list.co.uk/cinema/42944-cineworld-leicester-square-london-wc2h/coming-soon/#times "Beats" It's 1994, a small town in central Scotland. A new legislation effectively outlaws raves or public gatherings around amplified music characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats. Best mates Johnno (Cristian Ortega) and Spanner (Lorn Macdonald) share a deep bond. The first is living with his criminal brother Robert (Brian Ferguson), the other is facing a move to a new town with his family and his potential new stepfather Sergeant Ian Black (Stephen McCole), who happens to be a cop. Now on the cusp of adulthood, life is destined to take them in different directions, Johnno’s family are moving him to a new town and a better life, leaving Spanner behind to face a precarious future. The party is well and truly over. But this summer is going to be different for them, and for the country. In pursuit of adventure and escape, the boys head out on one last night together to an illegal rave. The two friends steal cash from Spanner's older brother and journey into an underworld of anarchy, freedom and collision with the forces of law and order. Under the hazy stewardship of pirate radio DJ D-Man (Ross Mann), the boys journey into an underworld of anarchy, freedom and a full-on collision with the forces of law and order. After "Glasgow Girls’", this is Brian Welsh's second feature set in Scotland. "Beats" is based on Kieran Hurley’s 2012 play of the same name. It's a story about a 15-year-old boy going to a rave at the time 'The Criminal Justice Act' is introduced. The film weavers the personal story of Johnno and Spanner together with the wider socio-political discussion about Scotland in 1994, what 'The Criminal Justice Act' means, and the ideas it represented. This may make it sound dry, but it’s important to mention that this is all done in a way that's both hilarious and profoundly moving. The screenplay is a piece of single-voice narration, telling the story of the time, the place and a journey to a rave using the inner voice of multiple characters; Johnno, Spanner, Robert and Alison (Laura Fraser), Johnno's mum. It has very few actual scenes. It feels authentic and timely and a lot of people recognised themselves in the story. Young people loved the energy of it, but there’s also an intergenerational thing in it too, and a lot of older people connected with it through the character of Allison. Great characters, great scenes, and the right balance between a party’ film and a film that actually has something meaningful to say about this shared cultural moment. Many of the characters in the film are young and idealistic. The sad thing is that this idealism can be fleeting. We all have to fight hard as we get older to try to maintain this idealism. This is one of the ideas of the film. The best thing you can do as a young person is to disobey because without disobedience how can we carve out a new direction, how can we look to the future with hope? The sad thing about disobedience is that when it catches, when it becomes fashionable or cool, it inevitably becomes the mainstream, it’s monetised and sucked into the system. In the film, it’s important to mention that we're coming to this rave at the fag-end of the dance scene. 'The Criminal Justice Act' stamped out the embers of the free-party scene. Since then, dance music culture, along with every other aspect of our lives, has become commercialised. The film itself goes on a varied musical journey from some of the unsophisticated but banging hardcore tracks that the boys would have listened to in their bedroom to these big, profound, mind-expanding tracks from Detroit in the rave. The way a lot of the tracks have this reggae roots vibe. This brings a playful energy and humour to the images and seems to capture the spirit of the boys. When a lot of the raves are kicking off in London in the very early days, Jamaican sound systems would be borrowed and at times the music would borrow this flavour too. Music is integral to the film. Back in the 90s the film makes endless mixtapes and it feels like a chaotic cassette mash-up, with beat-matching and tracks playing over each other. 'The Sub Club' is the spot and 'Optimo' at that time is widely regarded as the best night. First time Jeff Mills played 'The UK' was at 'Pure'. The rave is a pivotal scene in "Beats". It's clear from the outset that in order for the rave to feel real the film has to have a proper rave, with proper music, in a proper venue. And not only that it has to be 'The Rave', an absolute mega stomper, with everyone going nuts. The score feels as if a mixtape has been laid to picture. Put together by 'Keith McIvor', aka 'JD Twitch Of Glasgow’s' long-running 'DJ Duo Optimo', the 30 tracks uses in "Beats" not only help tell Johnno and Spanner’s story but also capture the excitement and adrenaline rush of getting caught up in the thrill of the rave. Drawing on exhaustive musical knowledge and recollections of parties in early-90s Glasgow, the soundtrack takes in big-hitters at the time such as 'The Prodigy', 'Orbital', 'Leftfield' and 'LFO' alongside cult techno tracks by the likes of 'Plastikman', 'Joey Beltram', 'N-Joi' and 'Model 500'. There are key releases from the pioneering Belgian dance label 'R&S', and classic rave anthems from original Dutch heavyweights such as 'Human Resource', 'Phantasia' and 'Inner Light', all of which would have been played at the time at clubs and free parties across 'The UK'. The soundtrack brings together music from the original Detroit techno trio known as 'The Belleville Three', 'Juan Atkins' ('Model 500'), 'Kevin Saunderson' ('Inner City') and 'Derrick May'; via 'Francesco Tristano’s' version of ‘Strings Of Life' as well as 'Motor City' jams from 'Carl Craig' and 'Richie Hawtin'. 'Hawtin’s Plus 8 Labelmate Vapourspace' appears with his celestial epic ‘Gravitational Arch Kf 10’, first released in 1993 and which scores a pivotal scene in the film. 'The Orbital Brothers' have recorded a new version of their rave anthem ‘Belfast’ especially for "Beats. Threaded throughout are tracks from 'Sextant', 'David Cunningham'', John Broadwood', and cavernous dub from 'NYC’s Liquid Liquid'and 'UK' hardcore of 'Kaotic Chemistry And A Homeboy'. The mood is more important than being very strict about historical accuracy with regard to the music, though the majority of music used is of the era. Some music from completely beyond the world of dance music made it in there. Something like ‘Blue River’ by David Cunningham made it. Tracks by 'Carl Craig', 'Model 500' and 'Inner City' feature in the film. There is a deep connection to the music of Detroit here. That's the favourite music/visual moment in the film. It's the closest we've ever seen any film get to truly showing what those moments could be like. At the end of the film you release that everyone else has the same reaction, whether they had grown up in the 90s or the 60s. You come out of the cinema feeling you're actually in the middle of it, in the middle of a big, illegal rave. In the mid-1990s, 'The United Kingdom' was overrun by ravesil, legal parties with heavy beats and an endless supply of drugs. The explosion of the free party scene and the largest counter-cultural youth movement in recent history is happening across 'The UK'. 'The Criminal Justice Bill' introduced by 'The Government' in 1994 criminalised gathering around repetitive beats. This led to massive protests and even more raves. Against that background, "Beats" showcases the unlikely friendship; between teens Spanner and Johnno in a Scottish town. Filmed in black and white, "Beats" finds real poignancy in the bond between these two innocents as they enter a wonderland of rebellion and romance. A heady solidarity is forged in the sweaty bodies, casual encounters and carefree exuberance of youth gathered in the pursuit of a good time. This universal coming of age story of friendship, rebellion and the irresistible power of gathered youth, is set to a soundtrack as eclectic and electrifying as the scene it gave birth to. A wildly entertaining end of an era party that brings a lump to the throat. The film takes place during the mid-1990s’ free-party era, 'Castle Morton', 'Spiral Tribe', and there’s a strong 'Us vs Them' narrative running through the film. It's 25 years ago. But when we looking back at the 60s or 70s as a teenager, that era was pretty cool. We enjoyed fantasising at the revolutionary counter-culture power of 'Woodstock'. We feel the same about 'The M25' parties or 'Castle Morton' and the sense of anarchy, freedom and togetherness these represented. Talking about it now, you still get butterflies and a bit twitchy. You love the music, you love the sense of sheer lawlessness, but mostly you love the people. The film feels like a memory. Something from a scrapbook of your teenage years, an important moment held sacred, almost mythologised. It seems to capture something about entrenched power’s inherent fear of young people and the weird radical possibility of young folk and social outsiders claiming shared space on their own terms, even when that’s just to dance and have a good time. If in and through that they find themselves thinking about how we as a society regard young people, about the importance of togetherness in spite of an individualistic society that alienates us from one another, and about the role of the police in that society, well, that’s even better. You’re left with a love letter to the dying days of the second summer of love.0041
- Why Is 'Shame' My Number #1 Film?In Film Reviews·May 15, 2018Now to finally review my Number 1 favourite film of all time. There is a reason why Shame is my favourite film and takes my number 1 spot, but I’ll get onto that later. First a little summary of what the film is about. We follow Brandon who is a sex addict living in New York. Portrayed by the brilliant Michael Fassbender. The film is a character study into the mind of a sex addict and the effect it has over the person in general. A study shows that sex addiction can have negative impacts on the person it's affecting. Either in social, financial and work life. A sex addicts main thrive is to constantly pleasure and feed there need. Releasing endorphins in the brain. The way this inflicts on there life in general is by the means to fulfil that addiction. Financial wise, they waste their money buying porn and paying for prostitutes. Work wise it can inflict on their job. If they are caught watching or having porn at work it is bordering on being fired. In social life it can impede on their relationships. A sex addict will struggle to maintain a romantic relationship with a partner. Ever needing to feed their desire will strain their relationships. Now sex addiction on a whole is a very touchy subject to work on. I should know, I wrote and directed a film on the cause and effect of Sex addiction and child abuse. 'Where Demons Hide'. The research was long and tedious. Finding people who would openly talk about their addictions was very difficult to ascertain. Only by going to AA meetings and talking to therapist did my actor portraying a sex addict find the reality of the addiction. However my film was set in the UK, I experienced first hand the struggle that the crew of Shamehad in finding the correct source material and research. That's why Shame is based in New York as apposed to the UK. People in New York were more willing to open up and talk openly about their addictions in order for the crew to tell a realistic story and representation of the condition. Anyway, what has all of this got to do with Shame? The character of Brandon portrays all of the aspects that the effects of Sex addiction has on you. He watches porn at work and nearly gets caught. However he has such a good relationship with his boss that it's passed off. His boss knows that being with and around Brandon allows him to pick up girls, so he brushes the whole thing under the carpet. Brandon's social life is affected. He tries to start a relationship with a co-worker, but because of his addiction and how he is used to sex with hookers, he can't get little Brandon to work. This doesn’t help his self-esteem over his whole situation either. Above all Brandon's personal life is inflicted. When his sister comes to stay at his flat Brandon has to cope with his addiction conflicting with his chance to have a normal life. His sister coming to stay really kick-starts his desire to rid himself of the addiction. But like with any addiction, the withdrawal is the hardest part. There is a brilliant sequence near to the end of the film titled Unravelling, which really gets into the mind-set of the withdrawal effect and how it messes with your mind, conflicting your thoughts and your actions. Unravelling your life until your unsure of what you must do. Now I mentioned this was my favourite film. You might find it weird how I can re watch a film about sex addiction over and over again. That's because it's more than a film about sex addiction. It's a character study. It's a film that gets down to the very roots of what makes us human. Why our actions affect others. The what if's. The looming question to what could my life could be like if I just decided to act? Shame really expresses all of that to its audience. Not just with Brandon, but all the other characters in the film. They have believable traits that relate to Brandon's state of mind. His sister is the part of Brandon that want's to break free and have a normal life. His boss is the part that want's him to continue and indulge in his desire. Even the city of New York feels like a character in this film. It feels alive. If you notice when watching Shame there is a sense of power to the locations that Brandon is portrayed in. His apartment, his work place, the hotel room he hires and the restaurant where his sister sings. They’re all high up above the city. What this suggests to me is a metaphor of how the addiction affects Brandon. A feeling of Highness. The addiction makes him feel high and feel in power. By being positioned high above the city this gives that power of being above other people. It's where he feels in control. However when he is below on the streets this is where he is less in control. On the subway where we start the film, he see's a woman on the train and tries to follow her and ends up loosing her. He runs along the streets in order to vent off his addiction. Most of the Unravelling sequence takes place at street level. And above all he breaks down emotionally at the docks. The street level is where the addiction is not in his control. New York feels alive because of this very reason. The cinematography is beautiful. Steve McQueen is an artist. And Sean Bobbitt really expresses this art style. By having shots linger and hold on situations and characters really draws you into their state of mind and brings reality and realism to the scene. It makes you more immersed in what is going on and makes you connect more with what you are viewing. The way Steve McQueen and Sean Bobbitt chose to portray New York was a brilliant decision. Actually going out and identify what colours New York actually holds and expresses really helped bring the city to life. By far one of my favourite pieces of the film is the Soundtrack. There are only 3 pieces of scored music by Harry Escott. Tracks titled "Brandon", "Unravelling" and "End Credits" These pieces of music are so powerful they really help convey the essence and the message of what the film is about. The choice to use the Goldberg Variations by Glenn Gould was also a fantastic choice. Having classic music as powerful as that really helps express Brandon's state of mind. And let us not forget Carey Mulligan's brilliant and moving performance of Frank Sinatra's 'New York, New York'. Now in my mind I would say that this film is a cinematic masterpiece along side Mr. Nobody. However that's solely my opinion. My preferred films are Drama and films that focus on character study. This may not be the film for you. It's defiantly not one to watch with you parents. But it is a film that has heart and above all has a message. A message that is not to fear the unknown. If you have an addiction that is affecting your life, don't shut people out. Let them help you fight it. Because of that message, this is why Shame is my favourite film.0026
- 'Darkest Hour', Gary Oldman's 'Finest Hour'In Film Reviews·January 30, 2018On Monday 29th January 2018, I saw Darkest Hour at the Vue Cinema with my Mum and sister. The Darkest Hour is about the period of time in May 1940 when Britain needed a new Prime minister to guide our country through World War II. That Prime minister being Winston Churchill. The film shows the audience the struggle Churchill went through to be accepted as a 'victory' Prime minister and how his stubbornness and care for British people managed to get 300,000 men home from Dunkirk safely and through 6 years of war. I don't know if this is because I am English or if I just love our culture and feel good movies, but I absolutely LOVE British films. We have some incredible actors and that makes me feel incredibly proud. Gary Oldman was no exception, he was absolutely incredible as Winston Churchill, from the makeup to the stutter and articulate voice he was simply perfect. After the recent Academy Award nominations for Darkest Hour I expected a showstopper and it exceeded my expectations entirely. British films win in mise-en-scene as the film was perfectly shot with costumes and sets that fit the 1940's era and how London would have looked at the time. Along with how aesthetically pleasing the film is the historical aspects and learning about what Winston Churchill had to do to please the public and parliament and save soldiers in Dunkirk and still with a positive attitude was very inspiring. In the time of complete and utter fear he stayed humorous and confident that we'd win the war with resilience when others were willing to give up. I personally loved the scene when Churchill visited the public in the Underground when he wasn't supposed to, although he may have not done that specifically it was interesting to learn that he would often wonder off and ask the public how they want to respond to the war and that's why he was so well respected and got us through the war. Along with it being very serious with the situation at Dunkirk and Calais (which was interesting to see after watching Dunkirk in the summer) it was also funny and showed that Churchill didn't really care and was his own individual self. The film brought some comedy to it, some of it was quite obviously funny but as the film is a Drama and is supposed to be serious there weren’t too many moments of humour. The other audience members didn’t really laugh but there were some quite funny parts where Churchill wouldn’t take situations all too seriously and parts where he’d just walk around naked. Overall, I really thoroughly enjoyed the film and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to see a (hopefully, most likely) Academy Award winning performance as Churchill. It’s very light hearted and not too intense to watch. Definitely watch the film if you can while it’s out in the cinema, you’ll get a different experience then watching it at home.0027
- "The Square" written by Gregory MannIn Film Reviews·March 10, 2018(Release Info London schedule; March 11th, 2018, Curzon Bloomsbury, 11:00) "The Square" Christian (Claes Bang) is the respected curator of a contemporary art museum, a divorced but devoted father of two who drives an electric car and supports good causes. His next show is 'The Square', an installation which invites passersby to altruism, reminding them of their role as responsible fellow human beings. But sometimes, it's difficult to live up to your own ideals. Christian's foolish response to the theft of his phone drags him into shameful situations. Meanwhile, the museum's PR agency has created an unexpected campaign for 'The Square. The response is overblown and sends Christian, as well as the museum, into an existential crisis. Christian has a lot of different sides to him. He's both idealistic in his words and cynical in his deeds, both powerful and weak, and so on. He's a divorced father of two working in the cultural field, and committed to the existential and social questions raised by 'The Square'. He's convinced that 'The Square', is a ground-breaking idea and truly wants art to bring people new thoughts, but at the same time he's a social chameleon who knows how to play his high-status part at the institution and to navigate the expectations of the sponsors, the visitors and the artists. Christian, faces questions we all face, of taking responsibility, trusting and being trustworthy, behaving morally at an individual level. And when he encounters a dilemma, his individual actions conflict with the moral principles he stands for. Christian will appear as a walking contradiction, just as many of us are. At the end of the film, we must evaluate if he learned his lesson. "The Square" calls for a naturalistic and intimate style of acting. The loving relationship between Christian and his cheerleading daughters forms the emotional core of the film and shows, through concrete images, the idea of a quest for utopia. Indeed, the girls are united in a very efficient collective effort where every one of the individuals performing together plays an equally important part in the achievement. It's also a visual demonstration of the importance of trust to see a 10-year-old girl dive into a salto, trusting that the others will catch her. The cheerleader's focus and joy illustrates the best part of American society, a team player effect resulting from every American's distrust of the State. Christian's journey articulates the two socratic sources of justice; the social contract and the individual ethics. Justice is obeying laws in exchange for others obeying them as well, but more than that, justice is also the state of a well-regulated soul. So the just man will also necessarily be the happy man. This old and seductive idea that doing the right thing, that justice, can buy happiness is not outdated. Researchers in social psychology have observed increased trust in others amongst volunteers with a high degree of social and political interaction, and refer to the phenomenon as the helper's high. Maybe people will laugh at Christian's clumsy and humorously embarrassing actions, and at some other jokes in the film, but maybe also share the idea of justice underlying his journey. In 2008, the first gated community opened in Sweden, a gated residential area that only authorized owners could access, an extreme example of how privileged social groups shut themselves off from their surroundings. It's also one of the many signs of European societies getting more and more individualistic as government debt grows, social benefits shrink, and the gap between rich and poor widened continuously over three decades. Even in Sweden, once the most egalitarian society in the world, rising unemployment and the fear of a decline in status have led individuals to mistrust one another and to mistrust society. A prevailing feeling of political powerlessness has undermined our trust in the State and pushed us to withdraw into ourselves. But is this how we want our societies to develop? The inhibition of our helping behavior when other people are present is known by social psychologists as 'bystander apathy'. Experiments show that the probability of help is inversely proportional to the number of bystanders, because of the diffusion of responsibility that prevails in larger groups although there's also evidence that group cohesiveness can balance out collective indifference. In the 50s, Western society must have had a sense of shared responsibility. This reminds us that at that time, other adults were seen as trustworthy members of a community that could help a child if he ran into trouble, while today's social climate does not seem to strengthen group cohesiveness, nor our trust in society; we now tend to see other adults as a threat to our children. The film's title "The Square" is taken from the name of our project that was first exhibited in the fall of 2014 at 'The Vandalorum Museum'. The exhibition exemplifying the ideal of consensus that should govern society as a whole for the greater good became a permanent installation on the city of Värnamo's central square. If someone is standing in Värnamo's led-light version of 'Square', it's one's duty to act and react if one needs help. 'The Square' is a place of humanitarian values, drawing on the ethics of reciprocity that appears in nearly every religion as well as in 'The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights'. They're endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Most people chose trust people, but then had cold feet when later asked to leave their phones and wallets on the floor of the exhibition. This contradiction illustrates how difficult it to act according to one's principles. "The Square" exaggerates the worst tendencies that one can observe in our day and age, such as the way the media ignores their own responsibility when they reproduce the very problems they are reporting. You can draw parallels to extreme parties, in the US, France or elsewhere, which through provocative, polarizing debate, grabbed the attention of the general public. In Sweden, such a party captured the position as the third largest political party. Tragic irony has turned social media into the best promotion tool around for terror organizations. Everybody knows, but no one has learnt, from the media hysteria leading Europeans to join 'ISIS', or inspiring the killings in Copenhagen a few weeks after Charlie Hebdo was attacked. Some years ago, press ethics would have prevented a newspaper or broadcaster from showing shocking, dubious or manipulated images. But as expenses and jobs were cut and journalists were overwhelmed, media has turned to increasingly sensational images. Now as long as a picture has explosive content, it doesn't matter what the content is. The example of the picture of the drowned boy Aylan is alarming. A single picture suddenly changed the opinion about asylum seekers in many newspapers in Europe and around the world. It showed how strong an impact a good image can have if it's provocative or touching enough to break through the never-ending flood of information and images we're confronted with. The Square" faces the weakness in human nature; when attempting to do the right thing, the hardest part is not to agree on common values, but to actually act according to them. The rise of extreme poverty and the increase in the homeless population in first-world cities presents us with such a dilemma every day. The film is a sanctuary of trust and caring. Within it we all share equal rights and obligations. It's an elegant movie, with visual and rhetorical devices to provoke and entertain viewers. Thematically the film moves between topics such as responsibility and trust, rich and poor, power and powerlessness. The growing beliefs in the individual and the declining beliefs in the community. The distrust of the state, in media and in art. "The Square" tries to address this urgent question in a light-hearted, absurdist manner. At the same time the film provides us with exceptional access to the world; there are so many things we haven't actually done ourselves, but we've experienced them in our minds through films. Films can for instance enhance a critical way of thinking about the conventions and what we take for granted.009
- Don't hang up (2016)In Film Reviews·August 20, 2018Maybe it’s time for someone like me… to come over there and wipe that smug grin off your face. You know what’s fun sometimes? Haphazardly starting a film without knowing what it is about and afterward admitting you were pleasantly surprised. That’s my experience with this film. A film with a bit of suspense and tension. And thanks to the short playing time you don’t have the feeling it was a waste of time. Even though it isn’t a blockbuster. It’s also the first time that I didn’t feel sorry for the two teenagers Sam (Gregg Sulkin) and Brady (Garrett Clayton). In this movie, these two spoiled, annoying brats reap what they have sown. And the whole time I was expecting the rest of the gang to pop up suddenly and announce it was all one big joke. Extremeprank calls. Like many others, I found the two main actors irritating. But then you have to admit their acting was masterful. Because wasn’t that the whole point? After all, they are two obnoxious young boys who pull pranks on others. They make extreme prank calls. The only thing I couldn’t believe was the fact that those pranks were watched so massively after posting them online. Is that a reflection of what our society is evolving into? A society where gloating is self-evident? A mid-level psychological horror. “Don’t hang up” is a low-budget film. That’s noticeable. Everything takes place mainly in the parental home of Sam. The camera work is uncomplicated but to-the-point. Besides a camera moving through the set in a penetrating way, it generally looks mediocre. It gets bloody in this film, but the used “practical effects” don’t look spectacular either. And yet this film was worth a watch and can easily be added to a whole series of other films from the same mid-level. Yes, I have gloated. Because of the short playing time, the pace is swift in this movie and you don’t have to wait long before the unwanted caller turns up. And still despite the pace, one manages to increase the tension gradually. The sinister caller has a rather frightening voice (a Jigsaw-like tone), which in turn makes it extra creepy. His technological omnipotence was slightly exaggerated though. And despite the fact that it’s about pretty arrogant and unsympathetic youth, I found the friendship and expression of sacrifice commendable. But all in all, I couldn’t avoid to gloat and a convincing inner “Yes!” resounded at the end. My rating 6/10 More reviews here00122
- Slender Man (2018) - After reading opinions, you'll think this movie is a disaster. Oh well, it's not so bad.In Film Reviews·December 6, 2018Those who hear the three bells toll, accept his invitation. When you hear the first, you must close your eyes, keeping words unspoken. If one wants to hear, you must listen closely, for they are soft and distant. I was really curious about this movie. Not that I expected anything spectacular. But the photos with this cult figure, which popped up on the internet, were rather intriguing. Not really scary but mysterious. A faceless figure with disproportionate limbs who appears in the background while observing children playing. A kind of Pied Piper of Hamelin who lures innocent children and makes them disappear. The fact this creation is the result of an internet competition is widely known. I was only curious if this figure would convince in a horror film. Well, it’s not really innovative. You’ll see the same clichés again. And the same stupidities and bad decisions are made by those who are about to become a victim. And the same tricks out of “Horror for dummies” are applied. It’s not so bad. And yet, I didn’t think it was bad. “Slender man” certainly isn’t such a big fiasco as you might think. It isn’t as disastrous as the comments you can read here and there on the internet. It won’t go down in history as one of the most frightening or bloody horrors of all time. And the obscure and dark images creates an appropriate atmosphere but also ensure that you can’t see a damn thing most of the time. But I felt that constant threat and the fear among the four teenage girls. And no, I won’t have panic attacks immediately when hearing the sound of crackling wood. But these sound effects did create a creepy mood. This is a hip demon. Normally I am such a person who whines about the fact that too little background information is given in a film. You are kept in the dark (appropriate for this movies) in terms of the origin and arising of the particular creepy phenomenon. With “Slender Man“, however, I didn’t think this was necessary. It made Slender Man even more mysterious. Summoning malicious demons also isn’t exactly something new. Only recently you could see in “Pyewacket” how a frustrated teenage girl evoked something similar with the help of an occult ritual. And a long time ago, a group of young adults played a tape in “The Evil Dead” which caused Kandarian spirits to ruin everything. In “Slender Man” the cause of all the misery is a video on YouTube. Maybe that fits with today’s time, but perhaps this bothered me the most. They tried to make it too hip. Especially when afterwards this ancient legend also knows about mobile phone technology. They say it might be dangerous. Oh hell, what the heck. Maybe that’s the problem with this movie. They focused more on the continuation of the internet hype and tried to make a modern horror out of it. They lost sight of the concept of a well-thought-out horror. Maybe it fits perfectly with the life the four teenage girls Wren (Joey King), Hallie (Julia Goldani Telles), Chloe (Jaz Sinclair) and Katie (Annalize Basso) lead. A group of carefree teenagers who gained a certain popularity status at school (as seen in so many other Highschool films) and show an everyday affinity with current modern technology. They have more affection for their smartphone than for their fellow students. Yes, they display a kind of arrogance. To such an extent that they simply ignore the warnings for watching the video. Until one of them suddenly disappears and they realize that they might be stalked by this lugubrious figure. Javier Botet. I love this creepy looking actor. Want to know my conclusion in the end? The whole legend created around this Slender Man was much more interesting than the film itself. All in all, it wasn’t original and I didn’t see anything baffling new in this film. But I still found certain scenes successful. Such as the one in the library with the use of a sort of psychedelic footage. And throughout the film, there are more of those hallucinatory passages. Also, I didn’t think the acting was that awful. Ok, sometimes the four girls acted rather childish during meaningless conversations. And yes, some of their decisions were downright stupid. But that suited these young girls. And finally, I also thought the appearance of the mysterious Slender Man was reasonably successful. He blended perfectly with the background so you had this feeling that he could appear at any time. It’s Javier Botet again who has put his peculiar physique at the service to play this nasty character. Just like he did in “Mama“, “Don’t knock twice” and “Mara“. No, “Slender Man” wasn’t disastrous, but seasoned horror fanatics will look at it in a rather condescending way. Beginners, on the other hand, might be afraid this faceless figure will show up. After all, they’ve seen a large part of the illustrious video. Not? My rating 6/10 Links: IMDB More reviews here00113
- Seat 25 (2017) - No, it's not SF but a minimalistic, melodramatic portrait of Faye's life.In Film Reviews·February 12, 2019You 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: IMDB001585
- The Incredibles 2In Film Reviews·July 20, 2018Get out of the way kids, get to the back of the line, this is my time! I’ve waited 14 years, 14 long years. The anticipation, the excitement, the hope, the suspense. It was all there. All 22 of my years had these emotions. The 8 year old boy inside me who saw the first one was on the edge of his seat. Was it all worth it? Ehhhhh. I’ll be honest, the first Incredibles was brilliant, it wasn’t one of my favourite Pixar films, but it was real good. An animated film about superheroes at an age when I was so into Spiderman, this was my film, and as a kid I loved it. The more Pixar films I’ve seen since, the further down it’s gone on my list off favourite Pixar films. So I was excited to see it, but not over the top that will make this an impartial review. 📷Originally posted by imdcathsmeow This film continues straight from the first one, The Underminer destroys the city despite The Incredibles and Frozones best intentions to save it. The Government aren’t happy that they get involved and don’t revoke the law that prevents superheroes from being in the public eye. Frozone makes a contact with a super rich guy and his sister who wants to change that. Elastigirl becomes the poster girl for this and leaves Mr Incredible to be a house husband which he struggles with. The Screenslaver is the villain who turns and controls people using tv screens. Long story short, The Incredibles saves the day. I don’t want to ruin too much. This instalment is top stuff, it’s action scenes flow beautifully, the comedy pours out at every necessary moment. Jack-Jack completely steals the show, the scene where he is fighting the raccoon is brilliant. I laughed in the cinema, that’s very rare for me. There is enough there for me, as a sort of adult and fan of the previous film to be happy about, but also new fresh stuff that would make a new fan equally content with. 📷Originally posted by thekidd-n-side However I do have some criticisms with the due, nothing technically because it is wonderfully made, the colours, the sets, the pacing, the mise-en-scene is crafted superbly. It’s beautiful to look at, but that is the mark that Pixar films have set recently. As an audience we shouldn’t expect less than perfect from Pixar. The criticisms I have is that the film has too many messages that aren’t really explored. Normally Pixar films deal with a key issue that is explored but it is normally resolved. Bug’s Life - Class. Wall-E - Environmental issues. Inside Out - Mental Health. With Incredibles 2 however, gender issues, justice system and technology advancements are explored and act as issues that are explored within the film but they really come to nothing. Mr Incredible struggles with not feeling like a man because he is doing a role as the parent that historically been a womens job. He is the not the bread-winner, he doesn’t feel like a man because he doesn’t have a job. Gags are made throughout the film about this and in the end we really don’t see an acceptance of him being happy that his wife, love of his life is in the spotlight and getting the credit that she wouldn’t get as a mother. I shan’t go into details further about this, nor the other things I noticed because I realise that this is predominantly a kids film. Pixar do normally set a standard when it comes to important issues in their films, whilst their films are entertainment sometimes they can be a key lesson. I just feel that the messages they were putting across were too many, and not integrated into the film like they usually were. 4/5 A Pixar film that doesn’t flop, what a lovely surprise. A brilliant addition to the collection. It doesn’t have the emotional impact that has set Pixar apart from other animated films, nor do it’s messages draw a spotlight on a key messages as well as others have done. It’s great fun, beautifully made and full of action and laughs. Not exactly Incredible, but pretty close.0027
- "Master Gardener" written by Gregory MannIn Film Reviews·May 14, 2023/05/23/23/ 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 Mann00278
- "Gagarine" (2020) written by Gregory MannIn Film Reviews·September 16, 2021(Curzon Home Cinema, Available 24 September) "Gagarine" Youri (Alséni Bathily), 16, has lived all his life in 'Gagarine Cité', a vast red brick housing project on the outskirts of 'Paris'. From the heights of his apartment, he dreams of becoming an astronaut. But the plans to demolish his community’s home are leaked, Youri joins the resistance. With his friends Diana (Lyna Khoudri) and Houssam (Jamil McCraven), he embarks on a mission to save 'Gagarine', transforming the estate into his own starship; before it disappears into space forever. The huge, red-brick 'Cité Gagarine' housing project, boasting 370 apartments, was built in the early sixties in 'Ivry-sur-Seine', one of the communist municipalities that formed a red belt around 'Paris'. At the time, highrise buildings were shooting up in order to clear the slums on the outskirts of 'The French Capital'. In June 1963, Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, came to inaugurate 'The Cité' that bore his name. Within decades, however, these collective utopias had become neighborhoods that were often stigmatized and slated for sweeping urban renovation. In 2014, the decision was made to demolish 'Cité Gagarine'. The inhabitants were gradually rehoused, leaving 'Cité Gagarine' as an empty shell. The families left, taking their stories of lives of toil, migration, hope and disappointment with them. On August 31, 2019, the demolition machines moved in, watched by the former inhabitants. The film was shot on the cusp of the actual demolition of 'The Cité Gagarine' housing project in collaboration with it's residents in 'Ivry-sur-Seine'. One day Yuri Gagarin came to inaugurate the project in the sixties. A completely surrealist scene, with the first man in space returning from his mission and winding up in a housing project on the outskirts of Paris. You see the new inhabitants eyes, their outsize hopes of this place and this man. The cosmonaut and the building are symbols of hope and progress. That footage opens the film. The film.wants Youri to be impregnated by that, steeped in that heroic past, so that his space dream is born out of his home. Symbolically, the building is his mother’s belly, which he refuses to leave. It feels like there are two main characters in the film; a teenager and a building. Youri, the teen, and 'Gagarine', the building, are in a non-stop dialogue with one another. His parents Gérard (Denis Lavant) and Marie (Meta Mutela) moving into the housing project before his birth. Youri was raised there and developed an imagination the equal of the massive highrise. The prospect of it's disappearance means, for him, the death of his childhood memories and dreams. It also means losing his beloved community. The film gives a positive vision of a place and generation that are often caricatured. Youri loves his neighborhood. For him, 'Gagarine Cité' is not an outdated utopia, it’s his present, and the soil of his future. Leaving means losing everything: abandoning his family and his imaginary world. So he takes up resistance to alter the perception of the place and people, it’s as if you chose duality. Everything about Youri has another side, loner but always connected to people, attached to the past, but steeped in hyper-modernity. Youri is balanced. Roots in the housing project, but head in the stars, constantly navigating between dream and reality, between the place’s past and present. Like when a love affair comes to an end, as the prospect of demolition loomed ahead, there's a spurt of activity throughout the project. The film witnesses the inhabitants unfurling their wings. We discover a deep-rooted sense of community that the film infuses into the protagonist. It’s Youri’s family, it’s Houssam, his best friend, it’s Fari (Farida Rahouadj), a neighborhood activist who looks out for tenants around her, and it’s lots of people from one window to the next, who are connected, and whose lives echo up to Youri on the roof through the chimneys. He's full of very restrained love for them. What Youri is experiencing is tough. He symbolizes excluded youth, hurt by that abandonment, and withdrawing in on itself. Part of Youri’s struggle with growing up comes from his circumstances sapping his confidence. Youri sees his home as a spaceship. It's not.too sterile or clinical, but alive, grimy, and organic, because Youri builds the capsule with found objects. He goes through deserted apartments, collecting things the tenants left behind, anything that might come in handy. Each object is repurposed to become part of the capsule. It’s riffing on this idea of Youri walking a high wire between celestial bum and astronaut. Once again, life informed art. Despite the building’s scheduled demise, he tries to keep it alive at all costs. When he gives up, other forms of life step up. In the capsule, there are all kinds of plants. The vegetable world takes over. Through them, the visual and aural universe evolves into something more aquatic. A lot of noise disappears, replaced by sounds that are transformed, becoming increasingly strange until they disappear. Sound does not travel in space. The idea is to follow a trajectory that starts with roiling reality and moves toward silence. Telling a story of life up to the ultimate moment of Youri’s ejection from his building into the cosmos. There, in the vacuum, there's no sound. Symbolically, a journey in sound from life to death. Youri is a loner but not alone. Women play an important role in the film, and a very different role than the one usually accorded them. Through them, Youri accesses technology. The example of Diana springs to mind. Like Youri, Diana wants to understand how things work. That guides her. Compared to him, however, she has a very practical and concrete vision of things. She’s a mechanic. She can fix anything. The character of Diana comes out of something that struck us very forcefully. At the foot of 'The Gagarine Tower' blocks, there are Roma camps stretching out. Vertical and horizontal planes that never intersected. There are no points of crossover between those two worlds. The film witnesses an encounter between two people from those two places. Two characters rejected by society, who nonetheless affirm themselves by fabricating their own world and their own tools. 'Gagarine Cité' has now been demolished. It exists only in the film. The film is also a tool of remembrance, bearing witness to the architectural vision of the period, and above all to the people who brought the place alive. They're everywhere in the film, in visual and sound archives, on screen and behind the camera. The film shows that the building is important but in the end what’s left is the people. Their relationship to the place endures whatever happens. That’s what the film.captures and convey. Holding out a mirror that reflects the beauty and complexity of those lives. Politically, it’s urgent to revisit how people see this bountiful and diverse younger generation, which is often portrayed with negative images, as having no future. Those clichés do a lot of damage. They must be torn down! Grandparents, their children and grandchildren; three generations and multiple views on life and a single location. When you demolish a place, you destroy family histories. Magical realism is everywhere in France. The tempo of the directing is driven by that balance between realism and oneirism. The magical dimension allows the film to approach reality and it's violence from another angle. Introducing a form of magical realism facilitated the creation of a back-and-forth between the real and the imaginary, and navigation between the collapse of the character and the building and zero-gravity. We believe in the power of images to sway people’s visions of themselves. It’s what opens up imaginations.00125
- The Chrysalis: a psychosexual thrillerIn Movie Trailers·November 8, 2018Two sisters with vastly different sexual experiences get snowed into an abandoned theater where they form a relationship with a mysterious runaway. Proof of concept short film for feature script. https://vimeo.com/2889867180030
bottom of page