Film Pick UK

In May last year I reviewed 'Beast', a film in the First Feature Competition of The London Film Festival 2017, written and directed by Michael Pearce and produced by Lauren Dark. I sang its praises loud and long. I was thrilled to see them go on to win at this years BAFTA award ceremony in the category of Outstanding Debut by a Writer/Director/Producer. Michael Pearce decided at sixteen that he wanted to make films and has spent 20 years honing his skills to reach this stage in his career. Consider the monumental task of filmmaking. You have an idea, you write it down, you write a script, you write and you re write, again and again and again. You plan the entire film out shot by shot, making storyboards. You find a location, you then need to obtain permission to film there. You need equipment, lights, cameras, costumes, make up. You need a crew, you need those fabulous mercurial beings known as actors.  You will have none of these without funding, so get ready to sell yo...

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Private War  - True story detailing the life and work of Marie Colvin during her time as war correspondent for The Sunday Times. A woman fiercely driven to report the human cost of armed conflict, risking her own physical safety and mental wellbeing. Colvin was killed in 2012 whilst reporting from Syria. A striking film and an arresting performance from Rosamund Pike. Only You  - British Film in the First Feature Competition at the London Film Festival 2018. A chance encounter on New Years Eve brings two people together. The relationship which quickly develops between them, is touching and authentic. A significant age difference is not an issue until they are unable to start a family. This is an honest and fresh portrayal of modern love. An impressive debut by Harry Wootliff, I look forward to seeing more from her. Sometimes Always Never  - The sombre subject of this charming film is lifted by the wit and sensitivity of the script and the sublime per...

Disappointing  ⭐👎👎👎👎 I cannot remember the last time I was so disappointed by a film. Lanthimos steals from here, there, and everywhere to create this hideous parody. In particular, from the work of Peter Greenaway which is a big mistake as no one does Greenaway like Greenaway.  It is visually beautiful, thanks to Fiona Crombie's outstanding sets. Filmed almost entirely within the confines of the royal household  apart from a few external shots.  The use of a fish eye lens in order to warp perspective is a welcome and much needed point of interest in what feels like an overly long and tedious film. About an hour in I found myself wondering 'how much longer'? Another hour to be precise. I am not sure why it was necessary to appropriate real characters from British history in this period pastiche. There is so little fact, that the entire film, characters and all, may as well be fictional. The story leans heavily on the rumour that Queen Anne was...

        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mr Happer (Burt Lancaster) snores through a board meeting at Knox Oil & Gas. Plans to build an off shore oil refinery in Scotland are discussed in hushed tones so as not to disturb him.  An employee called Mac chosen for his Scottish name is subsequently sent to Scotland to buy up a remote village and its coastline. The film challenges our perceptions of those who live in small rural communities. The canny villagers in the fictional village of Ferness are all looking forward to becoming millionaires. They play a crafty game of cat and mouse with the American, but who is the cat and who is the mouse?  You may also ask who exactly is the ‘local hero’? Is it the wily Ben who makes a living working the beach? Is it Marina the enigmatic marine biologist who, when told of the plans for the refinery says simply ‘No, I don’t see that happening here’ Is it Mr Urquhart who runs the hotel with his wife and doubles up as the village accoun...

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Orlando, 1992, Sally Potter, A film which takes its title and shall we say its direction, from the novel by Virginia Woolf, but is in itself a completely separate and distinct work of art and must be seen as such. Potter has meticulously shaved Woolf’s prose to the bone. Her ruthless editing has accomplished a tight, lean script that is not without humour. Potter spins words into pictures; Her dreamlike, gender fluid working of this filmic adaptation is timeless, and I have no problem saying that I prefer the film to the book. We follow Orlando, on a sweeping journey through time. Orlando begins as a man who by virtue of his youth is favoured by the aged Queen Elizabeth I, played by Quentin Crisp. The old Queen gifts Orlando with title and property and finally commands him never to age. Thus begins, Orlando’s immortality as someone who lives through several centuries, eventually becoming a woman. As soon as this femininity comes to light Orlando loses all rights...

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Written by Jed Mercurio, produced by the BBC, and starring Keeley Hawes and Richard Madden. I was on the edge of my seat from about 4 minutes in and I stayed there. The Bodyguard is utterly gripping. I will not drip feed you the plot, there are no spoilers here, suffice it to say that set in the UK today it is both relevant and believable. Power, its uses and abuses are interestingly observed in a variety of ways. David Budd (Madden) war veteran turned protection officer, is assigned the role of Bodyguard to the Home Secretary Julia Montague (Hawes)  It's great to see Keeley Hawes back in full stride, playing a role that so becomes her. I am not a fan of The Durrell's, any of them. I am an Ashes to Ashes fan, to me she is forever immortalised as D.I. Drake. Here, she is back in kick ass mode playing a ruthless, ambitious politician who pulls no punches.  Jed Mercurio writes well for women, no paper cut out dolls here. Hawes gets to deliver s...

  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I named Beast as one of my favourite films of 2017 therefore it's great to see this first feature by Michael Pearce on cinema release. Beast is a beauty of a film, that lures you softly and slowly into its darkness. Enigmatic, and laced with cunning, its a cool thriller. The film opens with the scenic beauty of a rugged stretch of Jersey coast. The wind sweeps through the tall grass carrying with it a choir of heavenly voices that lead us to Moll. Its all quite beautiful and yet not quite right. The singing stops and the stoney faced choir leader singles Moll out for criticism. This steely, domineering woman is Molls Mother, powerfully played by Geraldine James.  Moll (Jessie Buckley) with her mess of red hair is pale and nervous, she hangs back, hovering awkwardly on the sidelines of her own birthday party. I felt uneasy as a somewhat creepy older man pins a police badge to her summer dress. Who is he? surely not her brother? Next Molls sister makes a toas...