Review: Great Freedom

From what I read and heard going into this screening, I was expecting some sort of Holocaust film.

While the time period is set not long after that, the vibe still echoed that of a concentration camp given what our central characters suffers through this feature.

It's not the type of film I go looking for, but what made it work the most was how effective the pain of the characters were portraying on screen. You could really feel it and that just enhanced their struggles throughout and therefore made them very sympathetic.

The development was solid and it therefore made it an engaging watch. The added use of flashback helped as well and it gave us a fully fledged story that ended up being worth my time.

Franz Rogowski was a big standout in the lead and carried this film really well. The support from Georg Friedrich, Anton Vin Lucke and Thomas Prenn all worked well in their own sections of the film.

It may not be up there with say Shawshank Redemption. But it remains to be a solid piece of work with great authenticity in its dirty and grungy colour palette.

Rating: 7/10

Review: The Card Counter

Despite having a career spanning almost 50 years, many people director and writer Paul Schrader as maybe a one or two hit wonder. Those wonders being the writer of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull.

For me, I can kind of agree. However, I did rather enjoy one of his most recent features, First Reformed.

As for his latest feature, with an intriguing story and a fairly strong cast list, this had a lot of promise.

The first two acts are pretty solid. The lead character is engaging, has enough of a backstory to give you an idea of where this film is heading. Plus, the writing style felt almost like a poor man's Nightcrawler. There were even some interesting of camera lenses used for certain flashback scenes.

However, the final act seems to go off the rails. The build-up was all there, and then we suddenly skip a lot just to get to some sort of ending.

Oscar Isaac was pretty good in the lead, had a strong screen presence and gave us a very interesting character. The support from Tiffany Hadfish and Tye Sheridan was solid enough to be memorable.

But despite these positives, the execution of the final act left a bittersweet taste as I left the screening.

This was still just about passable in the end. The background and set-up is covered fairly well enough to give us an idea where this story is going. But the execution of the final act felt surprisingly rushed, felt as if the missing pieces were left on the cutting room floor and choices were made that felt out of character for me. 

I guess Schrader is still searching for his next Taxi Driver or Raging Bull.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Azor

A directorial debut for a feature film is never an easy thing.

Most of the time, it is usually something small that doesn't get much notice. But you do get the odd debut that gets a lot of heads turning.

Sadly, I cannot say the same for the debut of Andreas Fontana.

While a lot of critics have highly praised this for being unnerving and effectively subtle, this got nothing out of me.

I will agree it was subtle in every way and had that at times that something dark was brooding behind the surface of what our characters were saying and behaving.

But, it ended up being a lot of nothing for me. It's definitely not a bad film. It looks fine, some of the locations used were pleasing to look at, there were some nice camerawork and the costume design fitted the vibe and time period well.

So with the technical side saving this film to a point, I cannot give this a pass.

There were hints of the story starting to break out. But when the reveal of this film is pretty portraying a definition of the title, disappointed was an understatement. 

I got very little from this sadly and I can see many going 'That's it?' by the time the credits roll.

Rating: 6/10

Review: Petite Maman

Celine Sciamma has become quite an accomplished director over the last few years and could well the most critically successful female director right now.

After her previous feature 'Portrait Of A Lady On Fire' probably being her most successful film in all aspects, the follow-up isn't necessarily another guaranteed hit.

It wasn't until the final act when I realised we had another critical hit on our hands.

With something that isn't even 75 minutes, I would maybe have expected something with a more of a rompier pace to it.

But like with pretty much all of Sciamma's features, it tells it's story more through its visuals rather than dialogue.

I ended up with a big smile on my face by the end of it. This is a really sweet story that is told with the right amount of sentimentality to not feel corny. That is helped by the wonderful performances by twin child actors Josephine and Gabrielle Sanz.

Having that history of being brought up together gave us natural chemistry that will take you back to your childhood and finding that first best friend that you did everything with.

The production side is stripped back and very simple to give room for the story flourish. The camerawork is very effective in presenting the big reveals. There is a lot of wide shots with little cuts that just let's the imagery do the talking.

With the relatable themes such as family, memories, childhood, friendship involved, this is definitely a film for all ages.

I can also see this getting an American remake in the near future. This is a strong piece of work that I can easily watch again whenever I'm feeling down.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Spencer

So far, Princess Diana on film has not been that successful. 2013 saw the fairly dull 'Diana' with Naomi Watts playing the titular character.

Despite her sudden and tragic death being over 20 years ago now, the love the public has of her still feels fresh today. So it is clear, that it is still a hot topic.

What interested me the most about this feature, was the director being Pablo Lorrain. Ever since seeing 'Jackie' in 2016, I really liked his style and dangerously intimate camerawork that made it gripping. Along with the added buzz I was hearing of Kristen Stewart's performance, I was pretty excited to see if the hype was real.

While the choices that were made surprised me, I remained satisfied with what I saw.

In terms of style and general production, it is the high quality that I expected. The cinematography by Claire Mathon had that perfect mix of utilising the wide open landscapes as well as intimate interiors to make it feel almost like a prison for our central character.

While it did feel like a Lorrain film, some of the unsettling and almost nightmarish imagery showed hints of going towards something that Darren Aronofsky would make.

Those moments I felt perfectly portrayed this particular moment in history. 

The tone of portraying someone's internal thoughts manifest on screen was a bold choice.

It's not one for a mainstream audience. So I can see it alienating certain demographics. But I hope I'm wrong and this style choice is widely accepted.

The cast surprised me, as it wasn't just about Kristen Stewart. 

Stewart as Diana I felt gave a very honest portrayal of her at that point in her life whilst almost enhancing enough to match the tone. A nice blend of everything gave us a memorable performance, that I would be fine being a major awards contender.

Timothy Spall was a real scene-stealer. His overseeing presence constantly changed the mood of any scene he was in and had solid chemistry with Stewart.

It was nice to see Sean Harris, who utilised his moments on screen well.

Sally Hawkins was a nice surprise and was a great comfort for Stewart when needed.

As expected from a technical side, it's great to look at, the costumes are almost a character in itself and the locations are spectacular.

Given the topic, this is obviously going to be heavily discussed by many different spokespersons. But I hope the bold and risky style chosen will make it more than just Princess Diana.

This could almost be classified as a psychological horror at times. With Sandringham the haunted house and the Royal Family, the demonic possesors. Statements like that I feel is what makes this film a nice surprise. Even the score by Jonny Greenwood was purposely unsettling whilst also having a Miles Davis-esque vibe.

If I was being nit-picky, I would say some metaphors used were a bit repetitive at times. But I think it showed enough to not be annoying.

Plus, I think some set-pieces in the final act were a bit much for me.

But overall, I really liked this. I was gripped throughout. That was thanks to the ensemble cast, the gorgeous cinematography and the effectively messy score.

It will surprise you, both good and bad. But I hope it's the former, as Lorrain has given us a great vision into the mind of this beloved person.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Antlers

I don't often get interested by a horror film, let alone one that isn't part of a franchise.

But a combination of the people involved in front and behind the camera as well as the imagery coming out from marketing had me intrigued.

I sometimes check out films on a whim that I feel could be a surprise or hidden gem.

This one came frustratingly close to being one.

What I was liking early on, was the vintage dirty colour palette director Scott Cooper has in his film, the working class setting that he also has in his features, the variation of themes such as abuse, myth, folklore and poverty.

But in the end, it just showed the potential of all of those aspects. Everything is covered on a surface level and nothing more, which was such a shame.

Thankfully, I was still enjoying what was on screen. The characters were interesting, there were some good performances and I could see the potential of great this story could be.

Keri Russell is a solid lead in this. I always like her screen presence and she continues to take me back to my childhood. I will always see her as the babysitter from 'Honey, I Blew Up The Kid'.

It was nice seeing Jesse Plemons as he's always great. It was a serviceable performance in a role where he wasn't given much to do.

Stealing the show was child actor Jeremy T. Thomas. He had a wonderful haunting yet caring presence about him, and was definitely the most engaging character throughout.

From a technical aspect, it was pretty solid. The camerawork is good, the overall production design fits with the story well.

However with a lack of depth mentioned, this relates to the writing. It never explored it's themes beyond the introduction. Plus, the editing hinted at scenes missing.

All in all, I was disappointed with it despite nevertheless enjoying what I got in the end. My enjoyment and the potential I saw from it was enough for me to give it a pass.

This could have been a real surprise. But what we got in the end was a surface level flick with effective haunting imagery.

I can't see many people going down my way by giving it enough benefit of the doubt.

I hope this gets remade in around 10-20 years time, as the material is there for this to be hit. For know, we'll just have to see what might have been.

Rating: 7/10

Review: The French Dispatch

While I have always appreciated Wes Anderson's films. It's only until his 2011 feature The Grand Budapest Hotel where I went nuts for one of his works.

Anderson is as auteur as they come. You just need to see one frame from one of his films and you know exactly who the director is. His symmetrical imagery, the way the camera pans and tracks shots, the level of casting depth and the quirky tone in the dialogue and story structure is completely unique to him. While it is clear that he is not for everyone, his fanbase is strong and devoted.

I have definitely warmed to him in the last few years and I think it helped me with his latest piece as it is another enjoyable watch.

I think like with most of his works, it took me a while to absorb myself back to Anderson's world of story-telling. The pacing is slightly more relentless than his other works. So much so, that there are times when subtitles are, and you don't have time to completely read it before it disappears. Also, instead of going for a central story, the anthology story structure took a while to get used to. But once I could get to grips with the structure and the main theme being a love letter to journalists, I certainly appreciated what I had already seen as well as the rest of the film.

The performances across the board all played their part really well. Like with all Anderson films, the depth of star power is insane and the screen-time for most cast members is short but well utilised. Some usual collaborators with Anderson are back and some new faces fell perfectly into place. Some stand outs were Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton and Jeffrey Wright.

I do have some minor negatives with the film. As mentioning, the editing could have been improved as it can move a bit too fast to keep up with what is happening. Some of the writing I feel may borderline alienate even hardcore Wes Anderson fans and some of the choices in the imagery felt random for random sake. But I felt Anderson pulls back enough to not make it too pretentious or even self-mocking. However, I won't be surprised get turned off by this film for those reasons.

But for me, like with a lot of Anderson's films, it is infectiously charming. Whether it's to do with the production design, bonkers stories, pockets of randomness, switching from colour to black and white or live-action to animation, there is something for everyone to find enjoyment from. You can see the confidence Anderson has with his ideas and putting them onto screen knowing they will be appreciated. However, it is hard to see whether his confidence is making him less and less accessible. We'll have to wait and see on that theory.

In the meantime, I will praise this as it was enjoyable, yet strange, and that statement could be an Anderson film in a nutshell. There are some impressive set pieces and Anderson and his team's production design continues to amaze me in its detail. Every frame could easily be a painting on someone's wall and there a whole bunch of characters to get invested with.

Anderson could well be at his peak as he is having a bit of a hot streak at the moment. It will be interesting to see not only how long this will last, but also what direction his future instalments will go. Expect anything with this talented man.

Rating: 8/10