Film Reviews by sb

FILM & REVIEW Julie’s Dassin’s bleak prison break drama has Lancaster as Collins the leader of seven men all cooped up in a single cell in an overcrowded powderkeg prison. It’s never revealed why he is there although we do see a brief backstory of why he wants to escape. The prison is run by an ineffectual warden with the real power wielded by Capt Muncie (Cronyn) who seems polite and softly spoken but is revealed to be a power mad sadist who will use any means necessary to achieve his aims. A plan is laid but it soon becomes apparent that Muncie knows and has laid a trap but the prisoners are so desperate that they go ahead anyway fully aware of the consequences. The final break is superbly staged with multiple action scenes as utter chaos descends and Muncie becomes totally unhinged. It’s a really bleak take on the human condition and for it’s time really quite violent - a stool pigeon is forced under a huge metal press and others characters are sacrificed in a increasingly pointless manner. Lancaster is as always solid in the role but it’s Cronyn with his skin crawling performance that you take away from it - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW Always been a fan of world cinema with the exception of Bollywood films. Always find the romance is over-ripe, the action scenes fairly ludicrous and the song and dance routines get in the way. But this got rave reviews so thought I’d give a it a go and glad i did as it’s astounding. Based on 2 real life Indian revolutionary’s in the 1920’s British Raj who for the purposes of this meet for the ultimate manly bromance. They are Bheem (Rama Rao) and Raju (Charan) - Bheem is searching for a local tribal girl who has been kidnapped by the British Governor (Stephenson) and Raju who is working as a Policeman for the British and is ranked with hunting down Bheem. The two meet and become firm friends without knowing at first who the other is but circumstances soon reveal this and set them on an a collision course of loyalties. Bheem sets out to rescue the girl from the clutches of the British while Raju sets out to stop him…..while it’s revealed he is pursuing his own hidden agenda. That may be the plot but its the way it’s brought to the screen that elevates it into something extraordinary. Director Rajamoli throws everything at it……huge insane set action pieces, bone crunching violence and sadism, epic song and dance routines that would give Gene Kelly a run for his money and at its heart the undying love between the two leads. There is a jaw dropping sequence at the mid-point which is about as insane as I ever seen topped only by the finale which has you watching in sheer disbelief as it’s just never lets up. It’s 187 minutes long but there is so much going in it never drags grounded in the two solid leads with Stephenson chewing everything in sight…..on Netflix and well worth the investment- 5/5

FILM & REVIEW Really unusual wartime drama from Powell and Pressburger. The Germans are dropping booby trapped bombs that don’t explode on impact but only if they are handled. Several children have been killed this way and Captain Stuart (Gough) is tasked with recruiting scientist Sammy Rice (Farrar) to investigate . He is a embittered man with a artificial foot that causes him considerable pain that the pills don’t help but whiskey does. - but he becomes out of control on the stuff. He is involved with Susan (Byron) who puts up with his surly moods as she is in love with him but he doesn’t make it easy. He also fights bureaucracy and the military and chafes under the leadership of Jack Hawkins. Meanwhile more bombs are discovered so they need so find one before it blows up. It’s got a very strange feel to it….Powell has said that a lot of the lighting and camera angles came from German Expressionism and a lot of the dialogue from minor characters seems almost deliberately stilted. Farrar is just superb in the tortured role with Byron matching him in intensity with a superb whiskey influenced surreal dream sequence which is quite remarkable and an edge of the seat bomb disposal sequence towards the end which is as good as I’ve seen. Add in Sid James and Robert Morley as the comic relief and you have an overlooked gem - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW Very clever thriller has Coburn as Elliott a one time academic now on the payroll of a large corporation. They have wangled him a top job in the White House but he has built up in London an organisation that provides information and services but to take on the new post he needs to wind up his contacts. He has a Foreign Office mandarin (Hendry), a scientist working on weaponry (Jayson) , a high class hooker (Kruger) and a masseuse (Andrews) . None of them know each other so he concocts a fiendish plan to get each one to kill the next in line - some are straightforward murders , others look like accidents so he sets his plan in motion. He is like a chess grand master moving each piece in turn with perfect symmetry as he scores each stage off in turn. He is also involved with a journalist (Grant) with this love/hate thing going on. It’s all very precise with great use of the wintry London locations and Coburn uses his suave charm to chilling effect. A little gem - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW Graves’ ferocious film set in the titular deprived housing estate - one of many that ring Paris. The youngest of three Algerian descent siblings is killed apparantly by riot police. - the elder brother Abdel (Bensalla) who is in the army and has links to the police appeals for calm but the firebrand middle brother Karim (Slimane ) throws a petrol bomb and all hell breaks loose. Escaping back to the estate with stolen weapons and vehicles the scene is set for a full blown confrontation with the Police . During one encounter a young riot policeman Jermaine is captured and is held hostage in return for the riot police who killed the younger brother. Abdel realising that things are escalating way too fast and volunteers to go in and rescue the hostage which sets him up directly against Karim and makes him question where his loyalties lie. Add in a drug dealer who is the half brother of the other two and an anarcho- terrorist intent on burning the world down and things are set for a final reckoning. It’s shot mainly using long single takes that propels you into the very heart of the carnage - when rioters slam into the riot squad so does the camera and the audience with it. The way the action is choreographed around the lens is just superb and the single opening take at well over 10 minutes is a breathtaking composition. Bensalla is excellent as the conflicted brother and as we learn that the rioting has spread all over France it’s as much a portent of the way France may be going as much as anything else. It really is a phenomenal piece of film-making and is on Netflix….5/5

FILM & REVIEW For me Antonionio was one the greatest film directors of all time…..his alienation trilogy in the early 60’s are just stunning. He left his native Italy to make Blow-Up in London then into LA to make this. Steeped in the radical counter culture of the time it was a box office disaster and panned by the critics although as is the nature of these things it’s reputation has increased over the years. There is no real plot to speak off - Daria (Halprin)who works for Rod Taylor’s real estate developer agrees to drive to his house in Arizona. Meanwhile Mark (Frechette) gets fed up with the endless student protest Marxist debates, buys a gun and gets involved in a campus riot. He flees and steals a light plane and flying over the desert buzzes Daria and landing hooks up with her. They finally make love in the desert (surrounded by other amorous couples)then he leaves to fly back to LA and his fate. She arrives at her boss’s place but leaves immediately and imagines the house exploding.…..and that’s it…. It does tie in with his earlier films as the two leads keep a remote distance (apart from the sex) and nothing seems to ever be resolved….but it’s stunning to look at.. The Death Valley sequences both from the air and on the ground are quiet beautiful and the extended finale where the house explodes in orange flames is shot from endless angles and in slo-mo set to Careful with the Axe, Eugine by Pink Floyd - it’s quite a remarkable sequence. Halprin went to marry Dennis Hopper in his drug addled 70’s period and Frechette joined a commune , did a bank robbery and died in prison at 27……which does give the film another dimension . Quite what it all means is anyone’s guess and although it’s a long way from his earlier masterpieces it’s still worth a watch - 3.5/5

FILM & REVIEW Pete Walker is the king of British 70’s horror with a series of increasing lurid films…..this is one of his earlier works and is quite restrained in comparison but still quite effective . Group of youthful thesps are hired by a mysterious company to improvise a play in an old disused end of pier theatre in the bleak midwinter. Led by Ray Brooks with Robin Asqith and Jenny Hanley among the cast they are all broke so bed down in the chilly theatre. It’s not long before one by one they start to meet gruesome deaths with several among the cast as suspects. Meanwhile an avuncular retired Major (Barr)seems to have more than a passing interest in proceedings. It’s all very creaky with loads of gratuitous boobs and bum shots but the use of the broken down theatre and the icy beach (Cromer in Sussex) is quite effective and there is a B&W flashback sequence from 1944 where what is really going on is revealed that is really effective. It’s more of a dry run for his more Grand Guignol works but is worth a look if you are fan of the genre - 3.5/5

FILM & REVIEW Another cracking Jules Dassin movie which once again is shot entirely on location. Conte plays Nick who returns from the war to discover his truck driving Dad has been paralysed in an accident and has been ripped of by a fruit merchant in San Francisco. Nick hears of a deal to transport freshly ripe apples to the same dealer and with his new partner Ed (Mitchell) drives the 400 miles down the coast. On the way both trucks break down and have blown tyres and although Nick is unsure of Ed at first the two reach an understanding. Nick arrives first and haggles on the load with Mike Figlia (J Lee Cobb) who tries to barter him down and has him distracted by a local hooker (Cortese)but she falls for Nick and reveals Figlia’s plan to rip him off. Figlia initially agree to pay in full but has Nick mugged and robbed of his money…. Meanwhile Ed is nursing his increasingly unstable truck over winding mountain roads….. It’s absolute gripping….who knew transporting fruit could be this dangerous with great performances throughout. Conte is solid and Cobb does his always terrific snarling turn but it’s Cortese as the tart with the heart that is the real standout. Terrific use of the dockside locations it’s a real overlooked gem - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW Robin Hardy’s much maligned sequel to his 1973 classic which I found to be a lot better than I expected. This time two naive born again Christian’s (Beth and Steve) are send from Dallas to convert the heathens of Scotland. She is a evangelical singer who used to be a much raunchier act and they have taken the silver rings of purity until marriage . She seems fine with abstinence but Steve is struggling. After spreading the word of Jesus falls on deaf ears in Glasgow they are transported by a local laird Sir Lachlan to a remote village - and when he turns to his partner Delia and says “they are prefect - this time it will work” you know where we are headed…. Beth feels that the word of Jesus is better received here and agrees to be the May Queen without realising the consequences while Steve is led astray by a local horny groom (Honeysuckle Weeks from Foyle’s War minus clothes in several scenes). The scene is set for their appointments…. To add a modern twist Sir Lachlan runs a local nuclear power station which a few years ago suffered an accident rendering all the locals infertile so this time it’s not just a crop failure. It can drift into silliness at times and the two leads are less than ideal but overall it’s an effective take with some quite nasty twists….add in a cameo from Christopher Lee and i do feel it doesn’t deserve all the manure that was thrown it it. And it’s better than the Nic Cage remake …..by a long chalk….4/5

FILM & REVIEW Another sci-fi oddity from Benson and Moorhead and even by their standards it’s a a real left field one. Basiscly a two hander with the directors playing the 2 characters. Levi is a washed up stoner who rents a run down apartment in LA and encounters John who seems to the only other inhabitant of the Complex. Levi discovers a crystalline object that seems to have extra dimensional powers and he and John decide to make a documentary about all the weird things that happen around it. From the outset neither Levi or John are telling each other the whole truth about themselves and as we see them making the documentary we see them practicing re-enacting parts of it for the camera so are they really telling us the truth either? Add in esoteric investigations into numeroligy and secret societies and the fact that LA was apparantly built around a plan based on ancient ratios and you have the basis for some really interesting stuff. Unfortunately although some of this comes through it does tend to get bogged down in both guys bitching about each other and each time some hidden truth is about to be revealed it’s just another sleight of hand played on the audience. It’s worth a look but anyone expecting the level of some of their previous work is going to find it fairly hard going - 3.5/5

FILM & WATCHED Just out on MUBI so as always not too many details. On the one hand a story of a precocious 11 year old girl going on holiday with her estranged father which as the film progresses becomes something more meaningful and sadder. Superb performances from Mescal and Corio (the latter who is quite remarkable) and it’s the kind of film that engages up to a point when watching but really hits home as you think back on it and realise just how effective Charlotte Wells in her debut has accomplished this. I swear you will never hear Under Pressure in the same way ever again. - 4/5

FILM & WATCHED Just out on Netflix so no real details. Liked the look of this one and have a weakness for historical detective stories and this has a fine cast with a variety of familiar faces. But for me it just really plodded……never really engaged the attention and the conclusion was very unconvincing……not helped by a very over ripe performance by Melling as Edgar Allen Poe…Bale does his usual moody and intense turn and it does look good but just found it a real letdown……3/5

FILM & REVIEW Oh dear - Argento’s take on the much filmed Laroux novel has high production values and sets but lousy acting, atrocious dubbing, laughable dialogue and even the obligatory impalings , beheadings and disimbowlings all seem rather lacklustre. Sands looks like he’s from a gothic Spinal Tap tribute band and Argento’s daughter Asia once again proves that nepotism is very rarely a good idea. Compared to the glory of his earlier films this is another on the run of films from the early 90’s onward that would probably have been better off unmade - 2/5

FILM & REVIEW In the Naked City Jules Dassin took his cameras out of the studio and shot the whole thing on the streets of New York - Don Siegel used the same trick using San Francisco as his canvas. Heroin is being smuggled in using unwitting tourists as carriers but the cops become aware when one robbery/pickup goes wrong and a local cop gets killed. To clean up two very strange bagmen are sent to sort out the mess. They are Julian (Keith) and Dancer (Wallach) who have this very odd relationship- Julian is the senior man whose job seems to be to keep Dancer in check as it’s soon apparent the latter is a stone cold psycho. They go round the city collecting the drugs from the various Oriental gifts but soon things to unravel and the body count rises. It’s a very cold and cynical film for it’s time and Wallach is just superb is the hitman always bordering on boiling point as the Police net closes in……the use of the cities locations are terrifically used and the final showdown is a master class in tension. Cracking stuff from one of the finest directors of his generation. - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW During his Hollywood exile Joseph Losey made a series of films in England where he dissected the mores of the English Upper Class with a chilly remote eye. His most famous film is The Servant and here he again re-unites with writer Harold Pinter and actor Dirk Bogarde. Bogarde plays Stephen a austere fastidious Oxford Don living with his wife who is expecting their third child. The film opens with a late night crash where William (York) is killed and his girlfriend Anna (Sassard) survives and who may or not have been driving. The rest of the film takes us up to this point and adds in Charley (Baker) who is a fellow Don with a disintegrating marriage. It’s obvious that Stephen is falling in love in Anna but over a very boozy Sunday ( the amount sunk is colossal) it’s revealed that Charley and Anna are having a long term affair…..that William may or may not know about. Add in Stephen reigniting with an old flame as events become more complicated. It’s very well acted and written - as always with Pinter the dialogue can be elliptical with glacial pauses and quite often it’s not clear that what you are watching is in fact really what is going on. It proves once again that Bogarde was one of the finest actors of his generation and says more in a glance or a tight smile that others would need a lot more dialogue to convey - very good indeed - 4/5