Author: The Reviews Hub - Film

Writers: Olivier Assayas and Emmanuel Carrère adapted from the book by Giuliano da Empoli Director: Olivier Assayas Adapted by Olivier Assayas and Emmanuel Carrère, and directed by the former, The Wizard of the Kremlin seeks to demonstrate how the rise of Vladimir Putin was pre-determined by events within Russia and the attitude of the Russian people. In 2019 American journalist Lawrence Rowland (Jeffrey Wright), in Russia for research purposes, is stunned to be invited to meet Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano) who is credited with helping Vladimir Putin (Jude Law) rise to, and retain, power. Baranov explains, as the health of…

Writer: Arthur Miller Director: Ivo Van Hove Winning two Olivier Awards, All My Sons, which took London by storm, is now in cinemas. The Wyndham’s show remains truthful to Arthur Miller’s play, and does the late playwright justice. All My Sons was the latest breathtakingly expensive West End play where extortionate tickets are justified by the presence of a Hollywood A-lister (in this case, Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad star, Bryan Cranston). It feels astoundingly contemporary. Capitalism, unemployment, war and corrupt businessmen are still very relatable themes. All My Sons, which first came to London in 1948, just…

Festival Director: Alison Strauss Live new music is the kiss of life to silent movies that have languished in archives and attics for decades. HippFest’s roster of specialist composer-musicians provide  sensitive and engaging soundtracks to films that are often – in story or visual terms, or both – hidden gems. This year there was a serious push to bring the hybrid artform to a much wider audience. The silent film festival in Bo’ness near Falkirk extended the viewing window for its ‘HippFest at Home’ offer from two to seven days. So a week after the sixteenth edition of the in-person…

Writer and Director: Ragnhild Nøst Bergem Ragnhild Nøst Bergem’s short documentary, Being Ola, is a work of gentle charm. Ola is a friendly thirty-year old man who for four years has lived in rural Norway in Vidaråsen, a community of some 150 people, some of whom, like Ola, have developmental difficulties. But everyone lives on equal terms, sharing meals, work and leisure. The opportunities for meaningful work are many: outdoors you can help on the farm or work in the vegetable garden. Indoors there’s a dairy, a large kitchen and a bakery – indeed we sometimes see Ola busy preparing…

Writer and Director: Sandulela Asanda A lesbian St Trinian’s? Not really. A lesbian Clueless? Closer. Black Burns Fast is set in an elite girls’ school in South Africa, where Black student Luthando has won a scholarship to attend. The teachers never let her forget it. She studies hard and keeps her head down. However, when new girl Ayanda arrives, Luthando suddenly finds she has new priorities. Sandulela Asanda’s debut film, closing this new year’s BFI Flare, is a fun-packed look at teenage sexuality. Luthando (a vivacious Esihle Ndleleni) has only got one friend: the nerdy Jodie. Both of them keep…

Writers: Grzegorz Puda and Maciej Sobieszczanksi Director: Maciej Sobieszczanksi Closing this year’s impressive Kinoteka Polish Film Festival is Brother, Maciej Sobieszczanski’s colourful slice of social realism. With a striking palette of bright blues, reds and swashes of yellow, this tale of two brothers dealing with their father’s imprisonment grips like a vice and is helped enormously by the strong performances of the film’s two young leads. Dawid is no longer allowed to go and visit his father in jail, so instead he shouts to him over the prison walls before school. Dawid is 14, a promising Judo player, but is…

Writer and Director: Yasutomo Chikuma There aren’t many films about asexuality. Two years ago, Marija Kavtaradze’s Slow, about an asexual man, was one of the standout films at the Flare Festival. However, The Deepest Space in Us, taking its title from a line of poetry by Rilke, is less successful, almost pushing the subjects of asexuality and aromanticism aside. Kaori is successful in her work in a Japanese city; diligent and kind. Yet, her co-workers find her cold as she rarely joins them for after-work drinks, and when she does acquiesce, they quiz her about first loves and ask which…

Writer: Lisa Baker Director: Celyn Jones On paper, Madfabulous should be the most enjoyable film at this year’s BFI Flare Festival. Telling the true story of the lavishly overdressed 5th Marquis of Anglesey, the film also features a rare performance by Rupert Everett. The music is splendid and the costumes spectacular, but unfortunately, Celyn Jones’s film also feels a little empty and is undone by an ending that is too cosy for its own good. Coming across as a camp version of Downton Abbey, it’s unclear who this movie is aimed at. Never outrageous enough for a queer late-night audience…