I review new cinema releases on here all the time and focus more on older films in specific features, but I wanted somewhere to discuss the variety of films that I watch all the time. New and old films, new to me and old favourites, I want to share my at-home cinematic experiences, so here we go…
This week was a top-tier film week for me as I had a couple of movie days (highly recommend just going back-to-back with a bunch of great films if you get the chance) which meant I could lock in on some good old-fashioned 3+ hour epics and really get into some classics.
So, without further ado, this is what I watched this week…
An asterisk* denotes where this was my first viewing of the film
To Die For*
This Nicole Kidman starrer feels far too under the radar these days. A pitch black, terrifically observed commentary populated by an ensemble of stand-out characters and with some pretty cutting things to say, it deserves to be talked about more. The film stars Kidman as Suzanne Stone, a woman who will let nothing stand between her and her goal of being a famous TV journalist – an ambition that leads to lethal consequences. It reminded me of I, Tonya which I’m sure owes it a great debt. I enjoyed this a lot – it showcased a different side to Gus Van Sant than I’d seen before and gave me what might now be my favourite Kidman performance. Witty, deliciously dark and daring, this is a real treat.
Barry Lyndon*
A film that has been on my list for a long time, this Kubrick epic glides through its 3 hour runtime at a steady pace that never drags. Not the stuffy period drama it may appear to be on first glance, it is entertaining with a dry wit and satirical undercurrent that skewers our protagonist Barry alongside the society he finds himself climbing through, yet it doesn’t undercut the seriousness of the drama. The visuals are grand and striking, with Kubrick’s flair for precision and eye for cinema so fully on display. Featuring a great turn from Kubrick’s longstanding ostensible assistant (really he did so much behind the scenes, check out the documentary Filmworker if you haven’t), Leon Vitali, and a dodgy accent from Ryan O’Neal (who otherwise fulfils the part very well), it is deserving of its place in Kubrick’s filmography.
Three Colours: Red*
Ever the idiot, I somehow thought this was second in the trilogy when it is really the final chapter. Luckily, these films truly standalone with thematic links that I don’t think it mattered much, although I’ll find out when I see White. This is a beautifully human film to sink into, the kind that discusses everything that makes us who we are and who we are in the greater context of each other. It is about other people as much as ourselves and features two beautifully rendered central characters brought about by two luminous, yet understated, performances. A reminder that stories don’t have to be of a large scale to discuss big things.
The Mustang*
A heartfelt indie, the film details a prison rehabilitation programme where prisoners help to break in wild mustangs before auction. Metaphors abound but the humanity with which the film approaches its subjects shines through. It has the bones of redemption stories we’ve seen before but its unique setting and a luminous performance from Matthias Schoenaerts (I’d love to see him back on the big screen soon) gives it power.
The Red Shoes*
Another one I’d been meaning to watch for a while, if only because Powell and Pressburger is a huge blind spot for me and Martin Scorsese brings up this film any chance he gets. And, wow, I did not know what I had been missing. The film as a whole was excellent but the central ballet sequence is one of the best things I have ever seen in my life. It brought me to tears in the way that you don’t notice until one escapes and slips down your cheek. Until you let out something between a sob and a sigh. I can’t even quite articulate what it was that brought on this reaction except it was everything; the music, the dance, the filmmaking, all brought together in perfect synchronicity to produce something astounding. Let alone the effects that were created in a film that is nearly 80 years old. It reminded me of just what art can do. The rest of the film’s narrative and filmmaking are brilliant and it poses a lot of questions around love and love for the arts, which is the driving factor in your life and what will you do if you are asked to choose. Unforgettable.
Schindler’s List
Steven Spielberg’s vital masterpiece never wanes and its importance only grows as the years go on. Unflinching in its portrayal of the real horrors of the Holocaust, it is an important memorial to the millions of lives lost as it serves to remind and educate us on what has happened and what can happen. A masterful film, it draws you in and doesn’t loosen its grip for the entire 3 hours. It captures the time with a feeling of authenticity, added to greatly by its myriad of excellent performances, whether that is Liam Neeson or Ralph Fiennes in central roles, or actors who are on screen only for moments. A must watch for all as a matter of humanity.
In the Mood for Love*
Yet another that has been on my list for a long time but harder to track down, Wong Kar Wai’s subtle yet powerful love story of almosts and lost time. The relationship that builds between two neighbours who find out their spouses are having an affair with each other is restrained in action and speech, but it is in what is not done and not said that the film holds its real power. Aching in its emotion and absolutely gorgeous in its visuals (every frame is truly a painting), it reminds us of the dignity in each of our inner lives. A touching and absorbing study, it is easy to see how this was so quickly canonised into the oeuvre of classics.
The Sugarland Express*
A second Spielberg of the day and entirely different to the first. This was Spielberg’s first cinematic release, chronicling the true story of a woman who breaks her husband out of jail and ends up kidnapping a policeman on a long drive to try to retrieve her son from his foster home. At times thrilling, funny and sad, there is a lot tonally going on here but the film manages to undulate between them all fairly successfully. A lot of later Spielberg trademarks are on display here and it is fascinating to see where he started (after Duel, of course), coming out of the gate swinging, with Jaws only a year away.
Doctor Zhivago*
David Lean’s epic (amongst his many others) charting the fortunes of the titular GP and poet and his future lover Lara as Russia undergoes revolution and civil war in the early 20th century is an epic in every sense of the word. It carries its three-hour runtime well and is a ravishing feast for the eyes with sweeping vistas, bustling crowd scenes and every shot framed carefully. For me, the central romance is subsumed by the historical events, which may very well have been the point, but I didn’t feel the sweeping love or devastation for Yuri and Lara in a way I expected for a film commonly listed among the greatest romances of all time. That isn’t to say it is without its tender moments (Omar Sharif had some of the most emotionally expressive eyes ever set to screen), and it keeps you invested in the characters’ lives as they traverse time and country. You can see why it’s a classic, even if it is so iconic it makes it a little hard to get past the ‘I’m watching Doctor Zhivago’ feeling.
Bring Them Down*
Sheep farming in Ireland gets the Western treatment in this intense and dark tale of rivalry and revenge. Starring Christopher Abbott and Barry Keoghan this is a gripping and unpredictable tale with layered characters pushed past their moral limits and a narrative structure that keeps you hooked. One of the most seamlessly-crafted films and assured debuts to come out of the last few years, it is sorely underseen and offers a nuance and depth to a story that could be much more reductive in lesser hands. A brutally tense atmosphere permeates the film, assisted by a nerve-jangling score by Hannah Peel. It marks writer-director Christopher Andrews as one to watch.
As always, watch widely, watch a lot, and you never know when you’ll have one of the great cinematic experiences of your life.
