David R. Walker

Archive for September, 2022

The Emigrants

Director: Erik Poppe

Cast: Gustav Skarsgard, Sofia Helin, Mikkel Brett Silset, Lisa Carlehed, Tove Lo, Laurence Kinlan

Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Running Time: 2 hours and 28 minutes

This film is in Swedish with English Subtitles

At a running time of 2 hours and 28 minutes, Swedish director Erik Poppe’s reimagining of the book The Emigrants written by Vilhelm Moberg published in 1949 and remake of the 1971 film, is long and arduous although held together by strong performances by the two main leads Gustaf Skarsgard, as Karl-Oskar and Lisa Carlehed as Kristina, a couple who decide to take the long and dangerous voyage from Sweden to America in his film by the same name.

The Emigrants follows the story of a young couple Karl-Oskar and Kristina who leave their family behind in Sweden and immigrate to a new world, the land of the brave, America. Only able to speak Swedish and having lost their farm in Sweden, them and a whole group of their countrymen make haste and leave Sweden with the promise of a better life in a new country.

The topic of emigration is just as relevant today as it was when this film is set in the 1850’s. The Emigrants deals with a range of issues from religious intolerance, language barriers, rural hardship and the most significant issue: the resettlement of the family and children in a new land where there are better opportunities. Most people leave one country to settle in another in search of economic security and a better life for them all.

The toils of emigrants arriving in a new land has been the subject of many films from the Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman 1992 film Far and Away to the more recent Oscar winning film Minari.

The 2021 film The Emigrants is a remake of the original 1971 film of the same name which starred Swedish acting legends Max von Sydow and Liv Ullman and was nominated for 5 Oscars.

Old prejudices from the homeland abound as Kristina initially resists friendship with local prostitute Ulrika played by Tove Lo, but soon as they both experience the hardships and opportunities of America, they become friends. While Karl-Oskar is busy preparing the farm in rural Minnesota for his expanding family, his wife Kristina yearns for her homeland Sweden and battles with differing religious convictions, the local Red Indian tribe and her children.

The Emigrants is epic in nature and is a story of resettlement told primarily from Kristina’s point of view and not so much from Karl-Oskar’s viewpoint which is apparently different to the original novel and the 1971 film. Interestingly, this version has a distinctly feminist slant.

Outside of the Swedish speaking world, many viewers will not be familiar with the backstory of The Emigrants, however as film, director Erik Poppe’s focus seems to linger too long on all the gory details and not so much on the general historical context era of the time.  

If viewers enjoy an epic and interesting historical adventure, then The Emigrants is recommended viewing. The 2021 version of The Emigrants gets a film rating of 6.5 out of 10.

The Good Boss

Director: Fernando Leon de Aranoa

Starring: Javier Bardem, Manolo Solo, Almudena Amor, Oscar de la Fuente, Tarek Rmili¸ Sonia Almarcha, Fernando Albizu

Film Rating: 8 out of 10

Running time: 1 hour 56 minutes

This film is in Spanish with English subtitles

The extraordinary depth of talent of Spanish actor and Oscar winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) can be seen in the humorous yet clever comedy The Good Boss starring Bardem in the title role as Blanco, the owner of a factory in Spain that makes scales on an industrial level.

As an inherited factory owner, Blanco likes to treats his employees as his family yet in the week whereby his company could receive a prestigious European industrial award, Blanco has to contend with a whole range of bizarre occurrences at his factory including the crazy antics of fired worker Jose played by Oscar de la Fuente who decides to create a single man strike right outside the company’s headquarters much to Blanco’s literal disgust.

As Spain’s official entry for Best Foreign Language film at the 2022 Academy Awards, The Good Boss is a superb almost cynical look at how a Boss manages to stay on top amidst his colleagues meltdown, a distraction by a beautiful yet provocative young intern Liliana wonderfully played with panache by Almudena Amor and the pestering Jose whose continued presence outside the factory causes a problem for Blanco.

Javier Bardem (Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Being the Ricardo’s) inhabits every aspect of this role as a duplicitous, commanding and ultimately egotistical boss Blanco who manages to outwit all these business and personal complications except for one. Bardem commands the screen and is brilliant as the wealthy yet slimy Blanco who appears to please everyone, but is ultimately protecting the company and himself.

The rest of the supporting cast are equally good although this comedy drama belongs to Bardem. The Good Boss is a cutting comedy of manners about workplace politics, illicit liaisons, scheming and betrayals while shining a cynical look on the hierarchal structure of industrial companies, from the boss to the head of production to the secretary and of course the misbehaving interns.

Like a work week, director Fernando Leon de Aranoa divides the film into days of the week, so it appears episodic in nature but in actual fact every little occurrence tips the scales of fairness against Blanco without him realizing it, adding the uncertainty principle into a series of events in which the boss appears to be in control. From the humorous exchanges between Blanco and the security guard Roman played by Fernando Albizu to Blanco’s deceitful affection towards his beautiful wife Adela played by Sonia Almarcha, The Good Boss is everything but decent.

The Good Boss is highly recommended viewing, a clever adult comedy about work politics, infidelity and underhand industrial tactics.

The Good Boss gets a film rating of 8 out of 10 and Javier Bardem is absolutely phenomenal. Highly recommended viewing.

Ali and Ava

Director: Clio Barnard

Cast: Claire Rushbrook, Adeel Akhtar, Shaun Thomas, Ellora Torchia

Film Rating: 6 out of 10

Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes

This film has no subtitles

The British entry for the European Film Festival is director Clio Barnard’s intimate film Ali and Ava set in an unnamed dreary Yorkshire city. Claire Rushbrook (Secrets and Lies) stars an Irish emigrant and Grandmother Ava who inadvertently falls in love with Ali, a Pakistani emigrant played by Adeel Akhtar (Victoria and Abdul, The Big Sick).

Ava is living with her youngest son Callum and his girlfriend and baby. Callum is played by rising British star Shaun Thomas, who is angry when his mother Ava brings home Ali for the first time. Both Ali and Ava come from almost closed separate communities. Ava from a white, working class Irish catholic neighbourhood and Ali from an emigrant Muslim neighbourhood. Ali is recently separated from his wife Runa played by Ellora Torchia.

Ava, on the other hand, is recently widowed from Callum’s father who she later confesses was an abusive alcoholic that used to beat her up.

Despite coming from different cultural backgrounds Ali and Ava find a tentative connection through Ali’s tenant’s daughter who Ava teaches, a young Slovakian girl with behaviour problems.

Ali was a DJ before getting married and his love of music is what makes the mutual connection with Ava although her hesitancy at getting involved is not unfounded after her son Callum finds out that she is dating someone from outside the community.

Writer and director Clio Barnard skirts over so many issues in this film and never really finds the right tone for such an intimate love story, often resorting to music as a method for replacing dialogue.

Although both Claire Rushbrook and Adeel Akhtar act really well, although there is not much to work with beyond the usual cross-cultural love story within the same town in contemporary Britain.

Issues such as abuse, domestic violence and cultural exclusion are never properly addressed and only really pinpointed in the last 40 minutes of the film. The first half of the film meanders with too much music and not enough storyline or character development.

Ali and Ava is a slightly disappointing film which could have been so much better, considering that the British are normally renowned for making really brilliant films.

Ali and Ava gets a film rating of 6 out of 10 and will have a limited appeal but does address cross cultural love and unlikely couples finding true happiness. This film will find a limited audience.

Where the Crawdads Sing

Director: Olivia Newman

Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Harris Dickinson, Taylor John Smith, David Strathairn, Logan Macrae, Garrett Dillahunt, Jojo Regina

Film Rating: 8 out of 10

Running Time: 2 hours and 5 minutes

Based upon the bestselling 2018 novel by Delia Owens, the film adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing is a handsome and beautiful production using nature as its yardstick, with slick direction by Olivia Newman and a sparkling musical score by Mychael Danna. At the centre of Where The Crawdads Sing is the mystery of the murder of Chase Andrews, a wealthy young man from North Carolina who gets involved in the beautiful yet illusive Marsh Girl, Kya Clark wonderfully played by British star Daisy Edgar-Jones.

Chase Andrews is found dead in the Carolina Marsh and Kya Clark is the only suspect. But who is the Marsh Girl?

Kya Clark was abandoned by her siblings and mother at a young age in the marshes where she lived with her abusive father Pa played by Garrett Dillahunt and then soon her father abandons her leaving Kya alone to fend for herself. Having grown up in the marshes and being intimately attuned to nature, Kya develops a talent for naturalist drawings of all the creatures in the marshes and she also develops a crush on the nearest neighbour Tate Walker played by Taylor John Smith who treats Kya with respect and compassion even though he is unsure how to date her initially.

After Tate Walker fails to keep a promise on Independence Day, Kya drifts into the nasty and privileged world of the brutal but dashing Chase Andrews expertly played by Harris Dickinson (The King’s Man, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil).

While trying to pursue a career as a nature illustrator to fund her purchase of the land and house that she is living in, Kya gets embroiled in an affair with Chase Andrews who proves not to be the man of her dreams, despite his charm and confidence.

After Chase’s body is found, Kya is arrested and luckily legal aid comes to assist her in the form of a benevolent lawyer Tom Milton played by Oscar nominee David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck).

Set in the 1960’s in North Carolina, Where the Crawdads Sing is an engaging story about a mysterious marsh girl, her hidden talents and her ability to fend for herself when local gossip is used as a weapon of exclusion because she is different, and not socialized into the urban community.

Covering themes of illiteracy, exclusion, abuse and hidden talents, Where the Crawdads Sing is a fascinating story about a mysterious girl who rises above all the ridicule to survive in a hostile world. Her only safe place is the Carolina Marshes where secrets and betrayals are buried.

Beautifully directed by Olivia Newman, Where the Crawdads Sing is highly recommended viewing especially for those that have read the book and gets a film rating of 8 out of 10.

Silent Land

Director: Aga Woszczynska

Cast: Dobromir Dymecki, Agnieszka Zuleska, Jean-Marc Barr, Alma Jodborowsky, Marcello Romolo, Elvis Esposito

Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Running Time: 1 hour 53 minutes

Language: Polish and Italian with English Subtitles

Having premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, first time Polish director Aga Woszczynska creates an angst filled character study about a seemingly perfect polish couple who rent a villa on a nameless Italian island complete with a swimming pool and beautiful views of the Mediterranean.

The couple in question are the beautiful Adam and his equally gorgeous wife Anna played respectively by Polish actors Dobromir Dymecki and Agnieszka Zuleska, a blond haired blue eyed couple whose beautiful vacation in Italy takes an unexpectedly weird turn, when the pool boy who comes to fix the villa’s broken swimming pool mysteriously drowns in the pool.

The pool boy’s untimely death sparks a communal interest from the swarthy locals especially the villa’s owner Fabio wonderfully played by Marcello Romolo and the kind police officer, the dashing Riccardo played with zest by Romanian Italian actor Elvis Esposito who appeared in the excellent  Italian series My Brilliant Friend.

As the investigation into the mysterious death continues, the brittle relationship between Adam and Anna begins to unravel. They make friends with a couple that run a diving school Arnaud and Claire, played by French actor Jean-Marc Barr who become famous with the spectacular 1988 film The Big Blue and went on to play Jack Kerouac in Big Sur. His wife Claire is played by French actress Alma Jodborowsky who was last seen in the Netflix series The Serpent opposite Tahar Rahim and Jenna Colman.

Director Aga Woszczynska’s slightly slow moving film Silent Land is similar to Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Oscar nominated film The Lost Daughter although not nearly as good. In both films, characters are placed in foreign lands and begin to unravel emotionally when something menacing occurs.

In Silent Land, it is really the disintegration of Adam and Anna’s relationship that transpires amidst the lustful and hot landscape of Mediterranean Italy, as their Polish sensibilities break down in a foreign environment and their inner selves are revealed.

Silent Land is a fascinating character study and a revealing mystery tale, although the film’s editing could have been more effective.

Despite its drawn out length, this Polish film ironically set in Italy is revealing and fascinating particularly the two main stars that hold the suspense together. Silent Land gets a film rating of 6.5 out of 10 and is recommended viewing as an art house film.

Ticket to Paradise

Director: Ol Parker

Cast: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Kaitlyn Dever, Maxime Bouttier, Romy Poulier, Lucas Bravo, Billie Lourd

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

UIP Film Preview Release as seen at Suncoast Cinemas

Running Time: 1 hour 44 minutes

Oscar winners George Clooney (Syriana) and Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) unite for a romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise directed by Ol Parker (Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again) who play a high powered divorced couple David and Georgina Cotton who against their will have travel to Bali when their only daughter Lily falls in love with a handsome local boy Gede played by French Indonesian actor Maxime Bouttier. Carrie Fisher’s daughter Billie Lourd plays Lily’s hapless friend Wren Butler.

The laughs start on the plane ride to Bali when David discovers that his ex-wife is having an affair with the gorgeous but dorky airline pilot Captain Paul played by Emily in Paris star Lucas Bravo. As the divorced couple get to Bali and meet Lily and Gede, they hatch a rather selfish plan to prevent the wedding at all costs, fearing that they will lose the only connection they have to each other: their beautiful headstrong daughter.

Lily is wonderfully played by Booksmart star Kaitlyn Dever who holds her own in the scenes with these two veteran film stars as onscreen parents as she tries to navigate around her parents complicated marital history.

While many of the Balinese customs are subtly introduced into the film, director Ol Parker makes full use of the exotic and vibrant location of Bali, Indonesia. Ticket to Paradise really focuses on the complex relationship between the parents, both superbly played by George Clooney and Julia Roberts who are no strangers to romantic comedy. In fact Julia Roberts become famous with the biggest romantic comedy of all time Pretty Woman back in 1990.

Sexy silver fox star of TV and film, George Clooney who really makes this film is also no stranger to romantic comedies having appeared in Intolerable Cruelty opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones in 2003 and in One Fine Day opposite Michelle Pfeiffer in 1996. George Clooney is particular good as the over-protective but goofy father in Ticket to Paradise.

Ticket to Paradise is a witty, vibrant and exotic romantic comedy set in Bali about finding first love and old love rekindled, a light-hearted story which should not be taken too seriously with all four stars acting on point while Lucas Bravo provides the laughs as the really out of sync but dashing airline pilot who seems to always turn up in that awkward moment at a Balinese villa.

There are lots of bitter innuendo’s, emotional heartbreak and eventual family bonding, but if audiences feel like a light and colourful film, then book your Ticket to Paradise now – you won’t be disappointed.

Ticket to Paradise gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 and is worth seeing. Recommended viewing.

I’m Your Man

Director: Maria Schrader

Cast: Maren Eggert, Dan Stevens, Sandra Huller, Hans Low, Jurgen Tarrach

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

Running Time: 1 hour and 48 minutes

Language: German with English Subtitles

This film is being screened as part of the European Film Festival from 13th to the 23rd October 2022.

German actress Maren Eggert won Best Leading Performance at the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival for her central role as Alma an anthropologist who indulges in a scientific experiment of taking on a humanoid or robotic man as her partner in director Maria Schrader’s fascinating comedy drama I’m Your Man starring the delectable British actor Dan Stevens (Beauty and the Beast, Blithe Spirit, The Man who invented Christmas) as the gorgeous looking rather robotic Tom, complete with startling blue eyes and a good physique.

In a rather strange opening sequence in which Alma is first introduced to Tom at a bizarre social event complete with jazzy music, martini’s, holograms and humanoids, she is not completely taken with the idea of spending time with a robot who is not essentially a pulsating, lustful man, complete with conflicting emotions like aggression, compassion and righteousness.

Director Maria Shrader’s fascinating narrative about the complex relationships between humans and artificial intelligence is intelligently explored in I’m Your Man as Alma eventually agrees to take the beautiful Tom home with her but she has limits about her companionship with this humanoid, not allowing him to share a bed and limiting his capacity for neatness, an algorithm in which he is programmed to provide happiness for the associated human.

When a long awaited Anthropological research paper about love and metaphors in ancient civilizations surrounding Persia is debunked by another author, Alma’s career stumbles and she decides to take Tom out of the city to meet her demented father and sister in the country. There is a stunning scene whereby Tom is wondering around the deer in the park, who are oblivious to any threat as he has no human odour as he is a robot.

On the sexual front, things are far more complex, as Alma discovers that while Tom is programmed to stimulate her, he cannot actually impregnate her. Alma’s initial revulsion to Tom is overcome when loneliness is replaced with curiosity and she does share a bed with Tom. Dan Stevens’s performance as the expressionless Tom is brilliant, creepy and pitch perfect, like the cipher of a man without any of the complexity or emotional nuance.

While Alma decides from an anthropological point of view that it is extremely unwise for humans to become attached to robotic companions, she herself falls into the same trap when she travels to Denmark to reignite a forgotten childhood memory. Director Maria Shrader’s I’m Your Man is a thought-provoking tale about companionship, love and the ethical complications of humans attaching themselves to artificial intelligence.

I’m Your Man gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 and is held together by two brilliant performances from Maren Eggert and Dan Stevens. Recommended viewing.  

Beast

Director: Baltasar Kormakur

Cast: Idris Elba, Sharlto Copley, Leah Jeffries, Iyana Halley, Martin Munro

Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Running Time: 1 hour 33 minutes

Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur brings Beast to the big screen starring Idris Elba (Molly’s Game, The Mountain Between Us) as an American doctor Dr Nate Samuels who takes his daughters to their late mother’s homeland in South Africa and fits in a safari adventure that turns into a nightmare.

Beast is shot entirely in South Africa near the borders of Zimbabwe and Namibia, Beast tracks the survival story of Dr Samuels and his two daughters as they team up with a South African game ranger and anti-poacher played thankfully by South African actor Sharlto Copley who made his breakthrough in Neil Blomkamp’s sci fi Johannesburg epic District 9 and went on to star in such Hollywood films as Gringo and Maleficent.

When a gang of vicious poachers kill a pride of lions but leave the male lion free, the ferocious male lion takes revenge on everyone in his territory including a Venda village and some of the poachers. When Dr Samuels and his South African friend Martin unknowingly step into the rogue lion territory all hell breaks loose and he has to fight this monstrous beast in the rough terrain of the South African veld while protecting his two daughters Norah and Meredith Samuels played respectively by Leah Jeffries and Iyana Halley.

As the rogue lion persistently threatens Dr Samuels and family, poachers are killed as well as innocent villagers however Beast does feel one dimensional with no counterpoint to the bush fight to balance the film out.

Using some ethnic dream sequences, Dr Samuels reminisces about his late South African born wife, however these vivid flashbacks are not sufficient to create a credible backstory for his character.

As a story about anti-poaching and conservation, Beast works efficiently, like nature fighting back at the evils of mankind although ultimately the rogue lion steps into another pride’s territory and soon has to deal with the laws of the jungle. Unfortunately the script writer could have fleshed out the story’s premise more accurately to allow some credible background to the central character. Fortunately Idris Elba is a good enough actor to make the audiences believe in his instinctive fight for survival, which is both exciting and scary.

It is comforting to watch a film being made in South Africa which focuses on the issues of wildlife poaching and the importance of conservation while making Beast a thrilling, edge of your seat ride about man versus beast, with the former trying to outwit the latter in some horrific scenes ending in a savage showdown.

Beast is an enjoyable survival film with a distinctly African feel and gets a film rating of 6.5 out of 10. It’s a refreshing take on the man versus nature scenario in line with films like Jaws and to a lesser extent Anaconda.