David R. Walker

Archive for the ‘Edward Berger’ Category

Conclave

Director: Edward Berger

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, Lucian Msamati, Brian F. O’Bryne, Sergio Castellitto, Carlos Diehz

Running Time: 2 hours

Film Rating: 8.5 out of 10

After his stunning Oscar winning film All Quiet on the Western Front, German director Edward Berger moves from the world of young army age men in World War 1 to the world of the Roman Catholic Church in his excellent and stylish new film Conclave featuring an utterly magnificent performance by Oscar nominee Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, Schindler’s List) as Cardinal Lawrence.

Conclave is a superb thriller, sophisticated, intricate and rare. The film studios don’t make these type of films very often in the new age of streaming.

With a brilliant supporting cast including Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones) and Oscar nominee John Lithgow (The World According to Garp, Terms of Endearment). Tucci and Lithgow play Cardinals Bellini and Tremblay respectively and both are captivating.

The pope dies and his room is sealed. The Throne of the Holy Sea is vacant. A conclave has to be held by the influential and ruthless cardinals of the Catholic Church as they sit isolated from the volatile outside world, wild Rome which is in chaos, as the cardinals must choose a new Pope by a reoccurring ballot system until there is an outright majority. There is an outsider. A new cardinal arrives from Kabul, Afghanistan, the Mexican Cardinal Benitez played by Carlos Diehz who throws his name into the ballot system, hiding a secret.

Cardinal Lawrence in a career best performance by Ralph Fiennes is taking strain as he has to manage the Conclave a very formal and grand affair where Cardinals undercut each other and expose each other’s secrets. Fiennes just perfectly captures the nuance of Cardinal Lawrence, his fluctuating anxiety only overcome through his driving ambition to complete the conclave and elect one of the most famous men in the world, the leader of the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Lawrence finds subterfuge everywhere is he confronts several disingenuous Cardinals including Tremblay and Adeyeni played by Lucian Msamati (The Good Liar). Lawrence often seeks unsolicited assistance from the all-seeing and virtuous Sister Agnes, an excellent performance by the iconic actress Isabella Rossellini (Blue Velvet, Death Becomes Her, Late Bloomers).

The shot compositions in Edward Berger’s Conclave are evocative giving the viewers a sense of claustrophobia as the cardinals are cloistered away to make a final vote while the chaos of the outside world finally breaks through.

Conclave is a thought provoking adult thriller, a relevant story of power, manipulation, prejudice and ambition. Director Edward Berger revels in this world of papacy, dark rooms with imposing figures in red alternating with sublime shots of an all white production design with a hint of the grandeur of the Vatican City in the background.

Conclave addresses so many fascinating issues, but ultimately it is a masterful film, a gorgeous piece of cinema whose shot compositions are going to inspire international films schools, held taut by stunning performances by all involved. In this case, casting was key. Ralph Fiennes deserves an Oscar nomination for his role as Cardinal Lawrence.

In a world of cinematic mediocrity, Conclave stands out as a superb thriller with an ending so unbelievable it will have audiences stunned.

The elegantly constructed Conclave gets a film rating of 8.5 out of 10. A highly recommended film that will entice viewers by its beauty and shock them by its revelations.

95th Academy Awards took place on Sunday 12th March 2023 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

Best Picture: Everything, Everywhere all at Once

Best Director: Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

Best Actor: Brendan Fraser – The Whale

Best Actress: Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere all at Once

Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere all at Once

Best Supporting Actress: Jamie Lee Curtis – Everything Everywhere all at Once

Best Original Screenplay: Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere all at Once

Best Adapted Screenplay: Sarah Polley – Women Talking

Best Cinematography: All Quiet on The Western Front

Best Costume Design: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Best Make up & Hairstyling: The Whale

Best Visual Effects: Avatar – The Way of Water

Best Film Editing: Everything Everywhere all at Once

Best Sound: Top Gun: Maverick

Best Production Design: All Quiet on The Western Front

Best Documentary Feature:  Navalny

Best Original Score: Volker Bertelmann – All Quiet on The Western Front

Best Original Song: Naatu Naatu – RRR

Best Animated Feature Film: Pinocchio – directed by Guillermo del Toro

Best Foreign Language Film: All Quiet on The Western Front (Germany) directed by Edward Berger

The 76th British Academy Film Awards, also known as the BAFAs, were held on 19^th February 2023 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2022

Best Film: All Quiet on the Western Front

Best Director: Edward Berger – All Quiet on the Western Front

Best Actor: Austin Butler – Elvis

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett – TAR 

Best Supporting Actor: Barry Keoghan – The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Supporting Actress: Kerry Condon – The Banshees of Inisherin

Best British Film: The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Original Screenplay: Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Adapted Screenplay: All Quiet on the Western Front

Best Costume Design: Elvis

Best Foreign Language Film: All Quiet on the Western Front

Rising Star Award: Emma Mackey

All Quiet on the Western Front

Director: Edward Berger

Cast: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Bruhl, Devid Striesow, Edin Hasanovic, Michael Witterborn, Sebastian Hulk, Anton von Lucke, Aaron Hilmer

Running time: 2 hours and 28 minutes

Film Rating: 8 out of 10

This film is only available on Netflix

Every year on the 11^th November at 11h00, England and some European countries mark Armistice Day which is when World War 1 ended but the significance of such an hour on such a day is clearly and brutally illustrated in director Edward Berger’s brilliant German anti-war film All Quiet on the Western Front, a 2022 remake of the 1930 film which won a Best Picture Oscar then.

This film is based on the famous German novel of the same name written by German soldier and World War I survivor Erich Maria Remarque published in 1929. The 2022 version has been nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.

If viewers love a really brilliant war film, then All Quiet on the Western Front is highly recommended viewing, an epic film masterfully directed by Edward Berger and featuring an entirely German and Austrian cast including Felix Kammerer as the main character Paul Baumer, a young and idealistic German teenager who like his compatriots at school get pulled into the blind patriotism of German war fever as the German army is battling the French in the incredibly brutal trench warfare on the Western Front, the border between Germany and France. For complete authenticity watch this film in German with English subtitles.

To counterpoint all the violence, horror and utter bloodshed, the narrative also focuses on the diplomatic mission led by Germany to sue for peace with the French, a task given to diplomat Matthias Erzberger wonderfully played by Golden Globe nominee Daniel Bruhl (Rush). The more famous Daniel Bruhl (Inglourious Basterds, 7 Days in Entebbe, Woman in Gold) also served as executive producer of All Quiet on the Western Front and was instrumental on getting this 21^st century version of the film made and premiered at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022.

As the hours approach for the ceasefire, a bloodthirsty general is determined to continue fighting the French right up until the last minute before the armistice takes effect, much to the detriment of the 78^th Infantry Reserve Regiment in which Paul Baumer is part of along with his fellow soldiers Kat played by Albrecht Schuch, Kropp played by Aaron Hilmer and Tjaden played by Bosnian actor Edin Hasanovic. Collectively they represent the Iron Youth of Germany.

All Quiet on the Western Front, like similar war films including Sam Mendes’s brilliant 1917 and Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan is a gritty, stark and bloody war film about the meaninglessness of trench warfare and the unnecessary deaths of over 3 million people, many of them young men.

Beautifully shot and extremely captivating, All Quiet on The Western Front gets a film rating of 8 out of 10 and is highly recommended viewing. It’s a fascinating anti-war film about the brutalities of close combat.