Reviews
Film round up
Jeremy Clarke
Hail, Caesar! (cert 12a; 106 mins) sees the Coen Brothers
lampoon Hollywood, Biblical Epics and more. Risen (cert 12a; 108
mins) is a surprisingly effective police (or rather Roman officer)
procedural reworking of the Gospel narratives from Jesus' death
onwards. Religion underscores Song of Summer in Ken Russell: The
Great Composers (BD/DVD combi, cert PG; 3-disc set) as a Yorkshire
Catholic helps Delius work while his faculties fade. Ken Russell:
The Great Passions (BD/DVD combi, cert 12; 3-disc set) comprises 3
further, worthwhile BBC arts documentaries.
The powerful Desert Dancer (cert 15; 98 mins) is set in Iran
where dancing is illegal. Experimental Czech outing Something
Different (DVD, cert PG; 81 mins) contrasts a motivated dancer with
a bored housewife. Single take wonder Victoria (cert 15; 138 mins)
follows its heroine through a night hanging out in Berlin towards a
cathartic resolution. Sheba, Baby (BD/DVD combi, cert 15; 91 mins)
is a likeable Pam Grier blaxploitation vehicle. Extraordinary
Israeli drama Next to Her (cert 15; 90 mins)i concerns a woman
caring for her mentally disabled sister. Hirakazu Kore-eda's Our
Little Sister (cert PG; 128 mins) compellingly posits some young
women getting to know their half-sister.
The intriguing Couple in a Hole (cert 12a; 105 mins) has a man
and woman living in woodlands. Welsh slow burner The Passing (cert
15; 89 mins) employs a similarly isolated environment. Jacques
Audiard's gripping Dheepan (cert 15; 115 mins) has three unrelated
refugees pose as a family to access French citizenship. Unnerving
thriller Disorder (cert 15; 98 mins) probes the effects of military
service on ex-soldiers. Character study Mojave (cert 15; 93 mins)
cleverly plays cat and mouse. Jeff Nichols' superlative Midnight
Special (cert 12a; 114 mins) is a supernatural chase thriller.
The quietly hilarious Black Mountain Poets (cert 15; 85 mins)
holes up two criminals as Welsh poetry festival celebs. Eddie the
Eagle (cert PG; 106 mins) entertainingly recreates the Winter
Olympics contender who made up for lack of skills with sheer
enthusiasm. Engaging indie Nasty Baby (cert 15; 101 mins) has a gay
couple attempt to father a child. Enjoyable British silent Shooting
Stars (BD/DVD combi, cert PG; 101 mins) exposes the fledgling movie
business.
Marc Cousins' I Am Belfast (cert 15; 84 mins) lovingly documents
his home town. Nic Roeg's masterpiece Eureka (BD/DVD combi, cert
18; 130 mins) has Gene Hackman, having achieved his life goal,
struggle with wealth and boredom. Miguel Gomes' difficult yet
rewarding three volume Arabian Nights (cert tbc; 125+131+125 mins)
looks at present day Portugal through that popular narrative's
framework. Japanese romance turned horror thriller Audition (BD/DVD
combi, cert 18; 115 mins) has a tough to watch finale. Son of Saul
(cert 15; 107 mins) brilliantly carries us inside the Holocaust as
slave labour disposes of the bodies. Finally, sixties BBC efforts
Culloden/The War Game (BD/DVD combi, cert 12; 69+46) are two
anti-war films; a terrifying chronicling of nuclear war which needs
to be widely seen.
Jeremy Clarke