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Brixton Ritzy - upcoming films, reviews and opinions

I saw the documentary "Stories we Tell" at Ritzy. Looks like last chance to see it at Ritzy on Thursday.

It is very good. And I am not a fan of autobiographical docs. There are serious issues in the world that need coverage ( see "The Art of Killing") not navel gazing.

However this is more, at times, philosophical look at how we construct stories and the past.

It starts with quote from the writer Margaret Atwood. Saying that a novel/story starts as chaos. It is the act of writing that brings it to coherent narrative. But whilst one is in the process it is not coherent. A writer does not start with a finished story in the head.

One thing that one learns from this is that people do not lie. They construct and reconstruct there past and present. Sometimes through choice and often by chance.

I found this documentary more interesting than I imagined it would be. It is definitely more than just the director unearthing her family secrets.
 
Ben Wheatley latest film "A Field in England" is coming to Ritzy this Friday.

He did "Kill List" and "Sightseers".

This has been getting very good reviews. Heard the director talking about it.

Sounds it is part homage to 60s and 70s psychedelic films. Also really weird films like "Witchfinder General". The director also talked of being influenced by the camera work of Peter Watkins film "Culloden" ( Watkins- one of this countries great directors who worked mainly abroad. As he could not get funding here).

It is coming out on all platforms at same time. Some new films do this now.

It will be in cinema, on demand and also Film4 etc. So u could watch it for free on Film4.
 
"A Field in England" is on this coming week.

I saw it last week. Its worth seeing on cinema screen.

I liked it. Its was strangely moving in the end. You get to know the characters as the film goes on. It is a pychological film rather than horror like his last film "The Kill List". But like the Kill List the characters find themselves trapped in a nightmare they cannot get leave.

I however feel Ben Wheatley film almost work but for some reason just do not get to the top grade.

I was reminded of Tarkovsky "Stalker" and Bela Tarr "The Turin Horse". Stalker because its a small group entering this pychological space. A couple of scenes in A Field in England reminded me of it. The use of shots of the field , with no special effect, but making it mysterious for example.

"The Turin Horse" for the sense of entrapment and black humour.

I still think this is Wheatley best film to date. He gets across the sense of mystery. This film and The Kill List locate the English landscape ( and England) as something that , under the surface, is violent and uneasy. Which is imo accurate.

This is theme that is also in a film called "Robinson in Space"
 
At Ritzy this week "Easy Money"

Renamed as "Easy Money" for english speakers. I liked this a lot. Student moonlights as taxi driver to try to make money to keep up with his posh mates. Gets involved in drugs gang who need him as a front to launder the proeeds. His education in business administration comes in handy. Ha Ha. Some interesting tips on how to run a drugs business.

What I particularly liked about this film was the emphasis on the characters rather than on violence or car chases ( though its got good action scenes). The Student, the Slav and the South American all have reasons to do one final job to set themselves up and get out of this industry.

And the drugs business is that. The film is about how peoples relations with others is warped by money. The film is a critique of a world in economic crisis of capitalism. As the students lecturer say a crisis is also an opportunity.

Two hours but did not feel like it. Worth seeing in the cinema as the cinematography is good. See before the Hollywood remake.
 
Just spent to much time on threads about house prices.

It was a delight to see this film that extols the virtues of losers.

"The Worlds End" from the the team that made Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

I was not that keen to see it. Just another film about grown up men trying to relive there youth.

But came out thinking this is the best film they have done.

It also, to my surprise, had some serious moments. Without spoiling it this film has a dark edge to it. Its a particularly black view of modern Britain imo. I would call it a satire rather than a comedy. Its also funny and does not drag.

If they are humanity’s only hope for survival then its a pretty grim one.
 
Alpha Papa

Alan Partridge film.

At Ritzy now.

A slight disappointment. It has funny moments. The cast around Alan are very good. But it felt like the TV series but a bit longer.

Also like the Borat film it slightly softens the character up. All ends happily. The TV series was much more cringe making.

Still it got applause at end of film from the die hard fans. So must be doing something right.

Some of the best moments are when Alan goes on one of his monologues. His description of his "panic attack" , bursting in on the Board meeting and also the dreadful company party. Classic.

These, I now realise, are in the first section of the film.
 
Gramsci said:
Alpha Papa

Alan Partridge film.

At Ritzy now.

A slight disappointment. It has funny moments. The cast around Alan are very good. But it felt like the TV series but a bit longer.

Also like the Borat film it slightly softens the character up. All ends happily. The TV series was much more cringe making.

Still it got applause at end of film from the die hard fans. So must be doing something right.

Some of the best moments are when Alan goes on one of his monologues. His description of his "panic attack" , bursting in on the Board meeting and also the dreadful company party. Classic.

These, I now realise, are in the first section of the film.
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The Alan Partridge film looked terrible - thanks for confirming
 
Just got back from seeing Elysium

What a disappointment - was expecting more along the lines of District 9 - but no - far too many clichés and 'soppy' bits

And Matt Damon with shaved head wasn't even THAT easy on the eye
 
The Great Beauty - Mr SB loved it, me.... was a bit too long

Funny, odd and beautiful to look at

I'd never make a good reviewer would I?

Still tonnes better than Elysium
 
Upstream color

Best film I have seen for a while. By the director of Primer. This is his first film for eight years.

I liked the way it used images rather then dialogue. It needs to be seen in a cinema.

The plot? This film goes into Cronenberg weird territory. Maggots are used as a psychedelic drug.

A women has a maggot put into her body. The effects are long lasting. Altering the persons ability to deal with every day life. Every day sounds appear to take on meanings. Nothing is quite what it seems.

There are few special effects. Mundane reality takes on a paranoid edge.
 
A documentary about Stuart Hall is on at Ritzy this week.

Stuart Hall is political theorist who works has been influential on cultural studies.

The director of the doc Akomfrah is not as well known as he should be in this country.

Nine Muses, his previous film, is a stunning piece of work.
 
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"The Great Beauty"

Italian flm by director of "Il Divo " and "The Consquence of Love"

This film has to be seen in the cinema. What is it about? An ageing dilettante living in Rome seeks a meaning for his life. Its sparked by his 65 birthday. What follows is a celebration of Rome the city. In all its grandeur and folly. The Great Beauty is the city. Beauty that lives on as its inhabitants party and quarrel.

Great opening scene of his birthday party. The whole film is a feast for the eyes.
 


Saw the doc on Stuart Hall (see post 103).

It is worth seeing in the cinema. As with Akomfrah other work it is beautiful to look at.

It is a companion piece to Nine Muses. Nine Muses is a visual poem ( that is the only fitting way I can describe it). It uses footage of the Windrush generation coming to UK intercut with readings from the Odyssey and other works of literature. Not a straightforward history or sociological look at migration its more a psychological study using literature.

Likewise in this doc on Stuart Hall archive footage and voice of Stuart on various programmes over the years builds up a picture of the man and his work.

It is riveting viewing and not your standard documentary.

Stuart Hall was a pioneer of modern cultural studies/ postcolonial studies. This doc shows how his own life lead him to questions of social theory. He grew up in Jamaica at the end of the colonial period. His parents a middle class Jamaican family.

The major theme running through his life and work is the idea of "Hybridity". He says the Caribbean is a hybrid culture. To the question of where he comes from he can say several places. His family ancestors are African, Portuguese, and possibly East Asian. This is the norm in the Caribbean.

He translates this to say that a component globalisation is hybridity. Cultures are not pure. Do not worry this film is not an Open University course. It is , like Stuart comes across, a very humane film.

Like the protagonists in the Nine Muses Stuart has always felt out of place in different degrees. That also is an effect of hybrid culture.

For him this is a positive. The film charts his life in Britain. From a committed youthful intellectual in the radical 60s to know.

In the film, its interesting that he comes across as almost at home in 60s early 70s Britain. At end of film he says he feels out of place in post Thatcherite society.

Cannot help feeling that the concept of hybridity as a positive has not turned out in the way that he foresaw. Modern Britain is a hybrid of neo liberalism and social liberalism. Modern Capitalism can accommodate itself to hybridity of culture. Or co opt it.

I also disagree with his idea that hybridity can be extrapolated globally. The Caribbean was made out of slavery and imperialism to produce a new hybrid society. But other parts of the world do not have this history. Japan for example was never colonised. It is not a hybrid society.
 
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Saw "Rush" yesterday. Its on screen one at Ritzy.

Its about the Formula one rivalry in 70s between Hunt and Lauda.

You do not have to be into Formula one to enjoy this film. Its about the rivalry between two men. This is the 70s and women are girlfriends and wives. No sign of feminism.

This film is almost old fashioned in the way that its made. It is unpretentious. Its not an art movie like "The Great Beauty". It tells a story. Its nostalgic about the 70s. This has been done before. The police tv series a while back for example (Life on Mars). 70s portrayed as a time when men ( and it is men) did not have to be part of the corporate world. Both Hunt and Lauda are in a way "drop outs". Both obsessed with speed and danger not money.

The film is unashamedly full of stereotypes. British amateurism versus Teutonic efficiency.

The film shows how dangerous it was in 70s. Which is true. It does not glamourize the risks. This helps to make the film work.

The film is evenly divided between the racing circuit and the lives off circuit of Hunt and Lauda.

The scenes on the track are very well done. Takes u right there and gives feeling of what it must have been like.

I would call this film part of the new successful genre of nostalgic film. Like "The Kings Speech". Class is there but treated uncritically. Individuals might not fit well into there class (King, Lauda , Hunt) but they do not go against it. Ultimately these two films want to go back to a time that never really existed. They present themselves as about individuals and how they surmount problems.
 
"Metro Manila"

At Ritzy this week.

Cracking crime thriller set in Philippines. Directed and produced by new British director Sean Ellis. Did well at Sundance ( the only festival that would give this film a chance.)
Its a genre crime film so the premise is not that original. But does that matter when its as well made as this film? With plenty of twists and turns. I have a soft spot for films where the honest little man trying to feed his family is up against it it the big bad world where only money talks.

Heard the director talking about the film after I had seen it. He wrote script in English and then filmed it in Manila. The subtitles were part of the film editing. So its not like a foreign language film with the subtitles put over the film. He made sure that the subtitles did not interfere with the look of the film.

Its also well acted and shot.
 
Went to see "The Perverts Guide to Ideology". Weighing in at over two hours it is a tour de force from Zizek and well put together by Fiennes the director.

I did think that this might be dumbed down version of Zizek thought. He is better known as the "Elvis" of theory. Who is good at provocation.

Its not. It uses examples from high and popular culture to show how ideology works. This is subtle analysis of how ideology operates in late Capitalism.

I never understood his take on Christianity until now. The lesson to take is that we are alone. The is no "Big Other". Christianity is precursor of atheism. In that way Christianity is truly radical.

He makes use of film to show how ideology works. There is a great analysis of the Titanic. Be sure to wait at end of credits for Zizek to give one final swipe at the film.

I particularly liked the way that Fiennes recreated sets of films from which Zizek propounds his theories. It shows that film is not necessarily escapism. Film is a social construct not just entertainment.
 
In the Name of

Saw this Polish film which is on limited release in UK.

Mainly Polish audience at the Ritzy (London). Shows there is a market in London for more Polish film.

Malgorzata Szumowska is the new generation of Polish film makers. I have seen two of her previous films "33 Scenes From Life" and "Elles".

Both good films but flawed. I thought she had a very good film in her and this is it. Its is beautifully shot. Many scenes work through images rather than dialogue. What film should be.

This film was a controversial hit in Poland. It deals with homosexuality and Catholic Church. Heard at the Q&A at Hackney there was one irate person took objection to it.

It is a subtle film not agitprop. And better for it. Its not an attack on religion in the sense of spirituality. Its worth a second seeing.

I also felt it was an interesting look at masculinity in all male institutions. Quietly subversive film.
 
Gramsci said:
Went to see "The Perverts Guide to Ideology". Weighing in at over two hours it is a tour de force from Zizek and well put together by Fiennes the director.
Click to expand...
I went to this myself - having realised that on Mondays it "only" costs £6.50.
It certainly was a tour de force of films used to illustrate Zizek's philosophical position. I think his take on Christianity a bit odd, given his use of the film of "The Last Temptation of Christ", which takes a traditional theological position, albeit through the dramatic device of imagining what would have happened had Christ yielded to temptation on the cross. Loved the bits from Brazil.
I had expected a bit less intellectualising and a bit more shock horror, given the title of the film.

My favourite film of this type remains Dušan Makavejev's "WR Mysteries of the Organism" - which must still be the definitive study of Stalinism vs sexual liberation. I saw this at the old Academy Cinema in Oxford Street in 1972, following a rave review by Dilys Powell in the Sunday Times (she named WR film of the year)
WR Mysteries of the Organism is currently available in full on Youtube here: Can't recommend it enough!
 
CH1

I never had the pleasure of going to The Academy cinema in Oxford street . It has legendary status.

When Derek Jarman "Sebastiane" was first shown there they queues went around the block. So I have heard. Only cinema that would show it.

Thanks for link. Have heard of this Yugoslav film but never seen it. Made during a relaxation in censorship.

I did not know about Dilys Powell.

How people and films get forgotten. Whilst being well known in there day.
 
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Gramsci said:
CH1
I never had the pleasure of going to The Academy cinema in Oxford street . It has legendary status.
When Derek Jarman "Sebastiane" was first shown there they queues went around the block. So I have heard. Only cinema that would show it.
Click to expand...
I can't throw any light on the premiere of Sebastiane at the Academy - I saw it when it first came out, but in Rome, which was a bit of a mistake. The soundtrack of Sebastiane was in Latin and with Italian subtitles I was no wiser really.
I do clearly remember the supporting feature to WR Mysteries of the Organism though - it was a film called "Hetty King: Performer" and was a very esoteric documentary about the male impersonator Hetty King (Burlington Bertie from Bow etc). The documentary narrator was Lindsay Anderson. Extract here
 
Gramsci said:
Went to see "The Perverts Guide to Ideology". Weighing in at over two hours it is a tour de force from Zizek and well put together by Fiennes the director.
Click to expand...

Really enjoyed this, it's a bit too fast in places,would love to see the transcript to pick over the points made. Really want to see some of the more obscure films he mentions:
The Fall of Berlin, Seconds, Zabriskie Point, They Live
 
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Not completely convinced by Blue Jasmine despite a great performance from Cate Blanchette.

Male characters are rather wooden.
 
Captain Phillips.

This is on at Screen One in Ritzy. It was actually warm in there this morning . Must have sorted out the heating.

Greengrass , the director, did the excellent "United 93" about 9/11 fourth hijacked plane. Captain Phillips is made in similar way to United 93. It starts using an observational documentary style as u follow both the Captain and the Somali pirates starting the day at work. So to speak.

I have also seen ( at Ritzy ) the Danish covering the same subject "The Hijacking".

So I compared the two. The Hijacking concentrates on the negotiations to release the crew. Set in both Denmark and Somalia. It build tensions through discussions between both sides.

Both films are done in a documentary observational way. Both situate the films as be a particular aspect of the globalized insecure world that is now emerging.

Captain Phillips concentrates with the cat and mouse game the pirates and the tanker play with each other on the high seas in the first half. This works well. Barry Ackroyd the cinematographer deserves credit for what must have been arduous circumstances to film in. No CGI in this film. And the better for it.

The second half is on the confrontation between the crew and the pirates. I was impressed by the Somali who plays Muse as a mixture of desperation, courage and intelligence making sure this film is not just goodies vs baddies.

Evening Standard reviewer Charlotte O Sullivan says that,

"The first half of the film provides tough , spartan fare; the stuff on the lifeboat is American cheese."

I do not entirely agree. The stuff on the lifeboat is tense and claustrophobic. Reinforces the fact that these pirates are driven to it by economic reasons. They lost there livelihoods as fishermen because of war. As in the Danish film they are no different from the rest of us. Reminded of the discussion that the Captain has with his wife in beginning. Telling her the world has become tougher and more competitive. That he wants his children to be able to deal with this when they leave home.

However this film is made for a US audience. The bad guys cannot win. Bits of it in second half reminded me of Bourne film which Greengrass directed.

United 93 stuck to spartan documentary style. Also on purpose Greengrass did not use big name actors. I was expecting that more with this film. Also I am sure that United 93 used little music. As Captain Phillips is done in doc style I found the music in it deflected the realism. Turned parts into an action film.

Its an uneasy alliance of realistic spartan film and Bourne style action. But this reflects the America of being at once critical of itself but also proud of the power it can project. So in that way a comment on US.

What saved the film from "American Cheese" for me was Tom Hanks performance in last ten minutes of film. Will not say what happens but it undercuts the American Cheese that O Sullivan rightly criticizes.
 
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